In Theaters This Week (7/29/2016) – Jason Bourne, Bad Moms, Nerve

Bad Moms, Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell
Each Thursday we look at what is going to be coming out in theaters this weekend, show you the trailers for the big releases, predict the box office winner and just generally give you enough of a carrot to pull you through the rest of the work week.  July 29th brings three distinctly different films to challenge the crew of the Enterprise.  Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne in the self-titled fifth installment in the Bourne Saga.  Moms everywhere get their own Hangover as Bad Moms with Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell opens. The weekend’s other opener, Nerve, stars Emma Roberts in a thriller aimed primarily at teens.

Matt Damon, Jason Bourne
Jason Bourne
is the first new REAL entry in the franchise in nine years.  The question is, after all that time away, does the film have something new to add to Jason’s story, or will it follow the formula of the previous films without any of the kinetic energy that makes the so fun to watch.  The 123 minute running time worries me.  It’s about 20 minutes longer than the other Bourne films and doesn’t seem to imply the tightly edited mastery we’ve come to expect.  On the other hand, I’ve sat through three hour films that seemed to pass in no time at all.  It’s all in what you’ve got and how you present it.  Bad Moms comes from the writers of The Hangover and looks like it could be a lot of vicarious fun for all the good moms I know.  Nerve looks like kind of a clever twist on “Truth or Dare” that I may check out when it hits video.

Bad Moms (Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, R, 1hr 41min)

Jason Bourne (Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, PG-13, 2hr 3min)


Nerve (Emma Roberts, Dave Franco, PG-13,  1hr 36min.)

HOW DID WE DO LAST WEEK?
KT mad the easy call that Star Trek Beyond would take the weekend box office.  Though its opening was the lowest of any since the series rebooted, it still raked in $59.3 million, far surpassing The Secret Life of Pets which dropped to second with $26.9 million.  Star Trek IV or (XIV) has already been greenlit, so Beyond’s box office will not determine the future of the franchise, which is probably good with Bourne and Suicide Squad opening the next two weeks.  (Lifetime prediction record 18-3).  
Star Trek Beyond, Zachary Quinto, Mr. Spock, Chekov, Anton Yelchin

WHO WILL WIN THE WEEKEND?
This was supposed to be another easy call weekend.  The Bourne Trilogy is one of the most critically-acclaimed and popular action series of the last 20 years and a new installment should be a cinch for #1.  The problem is two-fold.  First, Bourne is not being well-reviewed (58% on Rotten Tomatoes at time of writing) which may discourage turnout from Bourne‘s core audience which tends to skew older.  The other factor is Bad Moms has been building buzz, and even though its reviews are worse than Bourne’s, I’m almost tempted to pick it to upset because the summer hasn’t had a big comedy and one targeted at women that hits a nerve can do very, very well (see Bridesmaids).  Jason, I’m sticking with you, and I’ll be there tomorrow, but I think this will have the lowest opening of any Damon/Bourne film since Identity.
Matt Damon, Jason Bourne, Jason Bourne

One thought on “In Theaters This Week (7/29/2016) – Jason Bourne, Bad Moms, Nerve”

  1. Whenever I watch a trailer for a sequel, I use a simple trick to determine whether it’s going to be too much of a retread. After every line, I see if the word “Again!” can be added to the end of the sentence. As in, “We can do it. We can stop Judgement Day. Again!”

    Then at the end you tally up the agains. It works like a charm.


    Like

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