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. Easter weekend gets a Spielberg film, and two vastly different other wide releases.
The big opener for Easter weekend at the movies is Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ernest Cline’s best-selling novel Ready Player One. The film, which is sort of the video game equivalent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (something they’ve hyped in the marketing), looks like it’s taking some serious liberties with the source material from the novel and making use of every intellectual property in the WB archive. Ratings for the film are all over the map, but it’s trending downward on RT having fallen seven points since yesterday to 79% at time of writing.
Not being screened for critics were the other two wide releases for the week (sing with me: NEVER A GOOOOOOD SIIIIIIGN….sorry, practicing for choir this weekend). The third wide release Christian film in as many weeks: God’s Not Dead 3 will look to duplicate the huge (relatively) success of I Can Only Imagine, which is out-grossing Tomb Raider (whoulda thunk?). The box office maven and most prolific filmmaker alive-Tyler Perry-is back with a Tyler Perry presents in his film of “women scorned” pictures in Tyler Perry’s Acrimony. Yes there’s a Madea scheduled for later this year. It’s going to make money. The man has a Scrooge McDuckesque money vault at this point.
God’s Not Dead: A Light in the Darkness (Shane Harper, PG, 1hr 46min)
Ready Player One (Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance, PG-13, 2hr 20min)
Tyler Perry’s Acrimony (Taraji P. Henson, Lyriq Bent, R, 2hrs)
How Did We Do Last Week? KT picked Black Panther to fall out of the box office top spot for the first time since it opened in mid-February. Pacific Rim: Uprising had a much better overseas opening than a domestic bow, but it was still enough to dethrone Panther $28.1 to $17.1 million.
Black Panther continued to make box office history even out of first place. The film is now the highest grossing superhero film of all-time in the US, having passed both Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Avengers to reach #5 all-time at the domestic box office. It has made, thus far, $635.634 million domestically and $1.243 billion globally. The film has had incredible staying power, but can it get the $17 million it would need to pass #4 Jurassic World or the $24 million for #3 Titanic? We shall see. At this point, you can’t say it’s impossible. Internationally, it is now up to #12 with three other Disney films standing between it and the the global Top 10.
(2018 Prediction Record: 12-0; Lifetime prediction record 97-10).
WHO WILL WIN THE WEEKEND?
Ready Player One isn’t going to have a the kind of blockbuster Spielberg opening he had in his heyday, but the film should easily knock off Pacific Rim: Uprising, and blow away the other openers to give the veteran director a box office win.
I would hesitate to ask too much more of BP, now that it’s made history, and as far as I can tell everyone has seen it and everyone loved it. I also hope they don’t make a concerted campaign for major oscars. Aside from Micheal B Jordon, who totally deserves a best supporting actor nod, this is not that kind of movie, and if they make an Oscar push it will call into question whether the film deserved any of its accolades at all. Disney needs to congratulate itself on pulling BP off on all fronts though. It was a case of the coolest subject matter in the world receiving a courageous vote of confidence from the studio, a production being pulled off with masterful showmanship, and a film getting an expert marketing push and riding the perfect social climate to blockbuster status.
If only Steve could still do this. For me he never really went away though, and Tintin, which was old school and I loved, was recent enough that I think he might still have that fun touch in him, that magic. I am optimistic, I think RP1 is going to be awesome.
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I see it tomorrow, so we’ll see. I don’t know if it can get to Titanic, but I think it can crawl past Jurassic World for #4. Oscars are probably a reach, but it’s as good as Wonder Woman and that deserved Picture, Director, and Actress consideration. Jordan is by far the acting standout. I think Get Out was an aberration though; most February films aren’t on the radar at Oscar time. I can’t think of another that ever has been.
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An award? I’m wavering on whether Wonder Woman would have been worthy of winning. Okay, I’m done alliterating for the week.
The Dark Knight deserved a lot of big oscars, but it’s the only superhero movie I can think of that I would put in that category. It’s not that I don’t love these films beyond love if they are well done, it’s just that most of the time the writing and characterizations are very broad, and the plotting adheres to formula. Those are strengths when it comes the MCU’s sucess…the films have power because they streamlined, the ideas are boiled down to thier essences. But they are not Oscar worthy.
WW seems like it might have been, because up until tanks started getting thrown around in the final battle the whole thing felt restrained, the period setting lent the film respectability and class, the acting was on target, and the film took itself seriously without anyone’s neck getting broken, and no anguished screaming. I could have lived with a WW Oscar nomination sweep. Would have liked to see it happen. But I am not sure it should have happened.
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Please don’t think I’m a snob Dave, I would have to think long and hard about giving the best Star Wars movies academy awards, too. It’s not that I think these are lesser films, far from it, I think they are meaningful masterpieces.
I just think that the craft of filmmaking shines through most clearly when there is as little paraphernalia separating the director from his actors, and the actors from their scripts, as possible. Maybe, in today’s film landscape, that makes me a dinosaur, but it is how I feel.
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No, I think you know I feel the same, and when I give out my awards, that thinking is applied to what I hand out. TLJ got six or seven nominations because it deserved them in certain categories regardless of how nuts it makes me overall. I didn’t connect with The Shape of Water, but you can’t deny the cinematography and other elements. I can divorce my fanboy usually when its awards time. It IS rare a comic book film does stand truly worthy of awards recognition, but it’s happening more often. If there are 10 pictures better than Black Panther at the end of the year, then it won’t get a nomination from me, but we’ll be having a WAY better year at the movies than I think if that’s the case.
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The year does look very bleak. The pending film that is buoying my spirits is The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, but after Gilliam pressed his trusty self-destruct button a week or so ago (the man does not think before he speaks), I’m wondering if it the film be swept under the rug by the industry. I can’t imagine it gets a warm reception at Cannes.
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Nominations, yes, wins no.
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I’m still trying to figure out how WW got made in the current climate at WB. Because you are right, it wasn’t just a great superhero movie, it was actually a well put together film. It’s so strange and miraculous that the suits let something so good slip through that I have my doubts about the sequel.
What do you make of Kristin Wiig as Cheetah? I want to give this director the benefit of the doubt, because she pulled off a strange miracle the last time, but I have to confess utter bafflement.
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