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. This week brings an extremely eclectic threesome of new wide releases to theaters
This weekend’s battle of the new releases pits The Rock and his $12 trillion cinematic damage tab in Skyscraper versus animated Adam Sandler in Hotel Transylvania 3. Neither film is getting particularly rave reviews, but as soon as I mentioned Adam Sandler and The Rock I’m pretty sure that film snobs jumped the train. If you’re looking for a critical favorite, Sorry to Bother You is at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and has some of the best buzz of any film this summer. If you’re looking to see stuff ‘splode, go Skyscraper. If you have kids, take something sedating and grit through Hotel Transylvania 3.
Hotel Transylvania 3 (Adam Sandler, PG, 1hr 37min)
Skyscraper (Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, PG-13, 1hr 43min)
Sorry to Bother You (LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, R, 1hr 45min)
How Did We Do Last Week? KT picked Ant-Man and the Wasp to continue Marvel’s dominance at the box office. The second Ant-Man film opened much bigger than its predecessor with $75.8 million. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom just held off The Incredibles 2 to stay in #2 with $28.4 million. Both films passed box office milestones this weekend as JW: FK passed $1 billion dollars globally and The Incredibles 2 passed $500 million in the US. The Incredibles 2 has climbed to #11 all-time domestically and will likely displace Rogue One and give Disney an amazing three films in the domestic top 10 in one year.
(2018 Prediction Record: 27-0; Lifetime prediction record 112-10).
WHO WILL WIN THE WEEKEND?
.Awful though it may look, Hotel Transylvania 3 will bring the kiddies to the theater. Factor in a big drop for Ant-Man and the Wasp and that should give it the weekend’s crown.
The ads make Skyskraper look like the shared hallucination of a committee on LSD. I don’t think most people can believe that the movie exists. The projections are low, but I think the film might go way below them. Just a hunch.
As for Hotel Transylvania 3, all I can say is that every parent in the country needs to make a point this weekend of supporting a terrific (and surprisingly spooky) animated movie. They need to take thier kids by the hands, and lead them straight through the door into the rec room of thier house. Then the kids need to be shown The Nightmare Before Christmas, followed by Coraline, if the kids are brave enough. Modern kids’ films are mostly hyperfrentic, condescending cash grabs. Kids need to be shown that once, there was magic in movies, and they need to be shown quickly, while thier minds are receptive to magic, before the world starts clouding things. It’s the only way there’s a chance for magic to return one day to mainstream cinema.
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Dave… have you SEEN Neil Blomkamp’s Oats Studios stuff? I was wrong about him. I thought he was a one hit wonder, that District 9 was mostly a fluke. Now I realize the guy is INSPIRED. Rakka, Firebase, and the two Adam installments he made… they’re really, really GOOD. Unbelievably so. The shorter stuff, like God and Cooking With Bill is mostly just fluff. (It is weird how the Bill shorts, tired though they are, carry the imagination away… does Bill inhabit an alternate dystopian 1980’s? Is he a convicted criminal serving out a cruel and surreal life sentence on TV? Or am I reading too much into it?) But the stuff being taken more seriously is so good it shows up all of Hollywood. Wow. Is all I can say.
I’m not sure the Oats dream is going anywhere, but I have new respect for the man.
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I have never seen them actually but I will keep my eyes out.
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