Deadpool won’t be ruling the box office for a fourth week as Disney’s Zootopia furrily enters the fray with big time expectations. Can Zootopia reach the heights of Frozen? Will Deadpool dip to third with the sequel to Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen, hitting theaters this week? How will Tina Fey’s dramedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot do? Will The Other Side of the Door do well enough to get an expansion next week? Why the hell is Knight of Cups only playing in New York and Los Angeles? Have I asked enough questions yet? Let’s take a look at this week’s new theatrical releases:
Zootopia
Theater Count: 3,827
Starring: Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons
Buzz:
All signs point to a huge weekend for Zootopia as the film has had a solid marketing plan and all positive reviews from critics (it’s 63-for-63 on Rotten Tomatoes as of Thursday morning). Ticket presales for Zootopia are higher than Disney’s Big Hero 6 which broke $50 million at the box office so $60+ million for Zootopia wouldn’t be a surprise. You think Disney wants a big hit? They’re even marketing the movies to furries.
3 Things to Know:
- Zootopia has already opened in many countries worldwide and pulled in $81 million in the foreign markets and was Disney’s biggest opening ever in France, Poland and Belgium
- According to co-director Jared Bush, there were over 1,170 drafts of the film
- This is Jason Bateman’s first role in an animated film
See the Trailer:
Required Viewing:
None
Optional Past Viewing:
MHT Hot Take:
See it! We skipped Kung Fu Panda 3. Norm of the North was terrible. Finally, it looks like Zootopia will satisfy our animation cravings.
London Has Fallen
Theater Count: 3,490
Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett
Buzz:
Critics have been less than thrilled about the sequel to 2013’s surprise box office hit Olympus Has Fallen. Maybe it was good timing for Olympus Has Fallen, though. Released up against an animated film that did good but not great and a more serious than funny Tina Fey movie, Olympus Has Fallen managed to rake in $30+ million on opening weekend. To temper expectations for London Has Fallen, critics hate it more than the original, Zootopia is getting much more buzz than The Croods did and Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is getting a better reception than Admission. Plus, there’s that pesky Deadpool still hanging around to take away some audience and a different Gerard Butler movie (the very awful Gods of Egypt) to take away a few more.
3 Things to Know:
- It takes place 3 years after Olympus Has Fallen and is also being released 3 years after the original
- There’s a new director (Swedish director Babak Najafi) as Antoine Fuqua had other commitments
- Fuqua was responsible for the casting of Angela Bassett in the original as the Secret Service director as that part was originally written for a man (there’s a shock) but Fuqua persuaded Bassett to audition and the part was re-written
See the Trailer:
Required Viewing:
Optional Past Viewing:
MHT Hot Take:
Skip it! The first one wasn’t good enough to warrant a sequel. It looks like non-stop action and a paper thin story.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Theater Count: 2,374
Starring: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, Billy Bob Thornton
Buzz:
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot might become the victim of poor marketing as trailers make it look like a cross between Our Brand Is Crisis and Rock the Kasbah. Both films were box office poison. The trailers make it look like a comedy but all indications are the film is more of a light drama. When a film is mis-marketed in the way WTF is being handled, it usually leads to poor word of mouth (because the wrong audience sees it) and even worse box office results. The only saving grace is the film is (so far) not as poorly received amongst critics as the other two mentioned so WTF should fare better than the other two films mentioned.
3 Things to Know:
- The original title of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was The Taliban Shuffle and is loosely based on Kim Barker’s memoir of the same name
- Tina Fey first became interested in the part because she read a New York Times review of Barker’s memoir that said Barker depicted herself as a “sort of Tina Fey character”
- Filming took place in New Mexico
See the Trailer:
Required Viewing:
None
Optional Past Viewing:
MHT Hot Take:
See it. Where’s the exclamation point? So far, it’s hard to get excited about Fey’s vehicles as they’ve been a slight disappointment at the box office. Hopefully, WTF has a way of turning things around.
The Other Side of the Door
Theater Count: 546
Starring: Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto
Buzz:
The buzz is somewhat inaudible on this one. The Other Side of the Door is receiving a lukewarm critical reception and a cautious small release as audiences aren’t knocking on the door with anticipation for what’s on the other side.
3 Things to Know:
- The film is set in India
- Director Johannes Roberts has a track record for making low budget suspense-horror films with his most well known offering being Storage 24
- Lead actress is best known for her role as Lori in The Walking Dead
See the Trailer:
Required Viewing:
None
Optional Past Viewing:
MHT Hot Take:
Skip it! See The Witch instead. Oh, you saw The Witch? Skip it!
Knight of Cups
Theater Count: 4
Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Antonio Banderas, Brian Dennehey, Imogen Poots, Teresa Palmer, Wes Bentley
Buzz:
Outside of Badlands, Terrence Malick films are often subject to very mixed reviews. The limited release of Knight of Cups is unsurprising but how wide it will expand in the future is unknown. Malick is not known for box office success despite his ability to gather an A-list cast. 2013’s To the Wonder made less than $1 million and 2011’s The Tree of Life hauled in just $13.3 million. The world would be unphased by this film never seeing the light of day outside of New York and L.A. (although MHT will be pretty bummed).
3 Things to Know:
- This is “the other” Terrence Malick film as most are awaiting the arrival of Weightless later this year which features many of the same actors and Oscar buzz
- The title of the film refers to the Tarot card, the Knight of Cups and the film is broken down into eight chapters with each chapter (with the exception of the final chapter) named after a different Tarot card
- Some characters were given dialogue as a suggestion, others (like Bale) were given no dialogue at all and there was no actual script for the film with actors finding out what they’d be shooting when the filming began
See the Trailer:
Required Viewing:
None
Optional Past Viewing:
MHT Hot Take:
See it! (If you can find it!) These are the films that are brilliant or aggravating. Christian Bale is usually amazing in any role so he might be worth the price of admission on his own.
Box Office Predictions for March 4th Weekend:
- Zootopia ($64,000,000)
- London Has Fallen ($22,500,000)
- Deadpool ($20,000,000)
- Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ($8,300,000)
- Gods of Egypt ($6,100,000)