Box Office Predictions: Why Matt Damon Will Have the Last Laugh
Notable Openings This Weekend: Fist Fight, The Great Wall, A Cure For Wellness
We had a lot of fire power last week! Legos! OMFG, FIFTY SHADES SEQUEL!!!!! Keanu kicking ass! This weekend? Not so much. Much like a real lego, The LEGO Batman Movie should easily attach itself to the #1 spot once again. We have two weekends of dog doo until the Logan freight train comes rolling in. Let’s just get this over with. Here we go, it’s this weekend’s cavalcade of crap!
Let’s start with the wall. No, not that wall. Everybody relax. If you thought The Great Wall of China wasn’t used to keep out dragons and other random CGI monsters, you clearly didn’t pay attention in World History. This is a movie that should tank as poorly as a Gods of Egypt or Ben-Hur type. It’s your standard February dump starring a C-list Gerard Butler. I can’t imagine how much they begged and paid Matt Damon to be in this movie. Good for him. While the film looks bad, I have a gut feeling it’s not as terrible as it seems. I can envision this being good.
Leaving the quality aside, I’m sure you’re all pointing and laughing at the inevitable bomb this is surely to be, but here’s the thing – you’re already wrong. You can snicker at the trailers all you want, but the movie has already succeeded. With a production budget of $150 Million (via Box Office Mojo), the film has already made over $220 Million. It cleaned up in China. That’s right. Matt Damon is having the last laugh. And to be honest, it’s not going to bomb as badly as everyone thinks in the US. Damon can bring ’em in. This should get to $20 Million opening weekend, and that’s more than enough.
There isn’t much to say about Fist Fight. The timing is right for an R-Rated comedy. Charlie Day and Ice Cube have solid track records. The premise is marketable. It looks fine. his will do what it needs to.
In my Top 10 Most Anticipated Movies of 2017 piece, I pegged A Cure For Wellness as a potential Worst of the Year candidate. Full disclosure – Gore Verbinski and I don’t get along. He’s like the opposite of coffee. His films are an absolute CHORE to sit through. Overly long. Convoluted. A CGI mess. I don’t know what the premise is, but A Cure for Wellness looks absolutely horrendous. I feel bad for Dane DeHaan. He’s a good actor, but he must have Matthew McConaughey’s old agent or something. It’s your typical pretentious weird, not good weird. This thing will tank, tank, tank-a-roo.
HOW WILL IT ALL BREAKDOWN…
While The LEGO Batman Movie did well last weekend, it didn’t exactly clean up like many thought it would. Due to good word of mouth and a weak string of new releases, it should have a nice hold over. The Great Wall and Fist Fight are respectable.  Fifty Shades Darker PLUMMETS, leaving a surprising John Wick to over take it. Whoa.
1. The LEGO Batman Movie – $34 Million
2. The Great Wall – $20 Million
3. John  Wick: Chapter 2 – $18.5 Million
4. Fist Fight – $18 Million
5. Fifty Shades Darker – $16 Million
