NOTABLE OPENINGS THIS WEEKEND: It, Home Again
The last time there was a Box Office Predictions column was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man Tell No Tales
Ladies and Gentlemen…I’m back.
Oh man, I’m groggy. What did I miss? The last time we spoke the box office seemed to be doing okay, right? Geez, I go on ice for a few months, and look what happens: lowest summer box office in years. Holy matza balls.
To be honest, part of the reason I left this column for dead was because nobody cared about the box office anyway. I swear, it’s not because I’m lazy. That’s totally not the reason. Well, it’s officially time to put The Hitman’s Bodyguard $10 Million #1 winning weekends behind us. I knew for a while this was the weekend to make my triumphant return. After weeks of being comatose, the box office is about to get an influx of cash on the level of an Ivan Drago steroid needle.
I have nothing else to say but…
There are so many reasons It is going to absolutely obliterate the opening weekend record for horror. Let me count the ways. First of all, as we’ve talked about ad nauseam, there’s been nothing at the box office for weeks. This is like It playing Madden on rookie mode. It could literally have a -78% on Rotten Tomatoes and it would still break $50 Million. People have been clamoring for something remotely entertaining at the box office for weeks. Anything.
Aside from that, everything is breaking right for this movie. Good reviews. Check. Interest in franchise. Check. Good marketing. Double check. It’s no surprise this is a Warner Brothers movie. Damn, can they cut a trailer. When you have clowns who can’t get jobs because the trailers are scaring the crap out of the entire human race, you know the marketing has done its job.
The final piece of evidence on why this movie is going to clean up is me. What do I mean by that? I’m not a horror guy, and I’m going to see this. They’ve swayed the non-horror people, and that speaks volume.
The other major release is generic romcom counter programming whatever. Reese Witherspoon is a name people can trust, so it won’t tank, but this is a pretty innocuous film when all said and done. Whatever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP6v4T3VT7I
HOW WILL IT ALL BREAK DOWN…<
We’re all going to float this weekend. <It will be floating down a river of gold liquid. On a production budget of $35 Million (per Box Office mojo), WB executives may be throwing underground parties in sewers for crying out loud.
Get ready for It to make an unprecedented amount of money. This could very well be the most successful horror movie of all time.
1. It – $81 Million
2. Home Again – $10.5 Million
3. The Hitman’s Bodyguard – $6 Million
4. Annabelle: Creation – $5.5 Million
5. Wind River – $5 Million
