Last week’s reboot of Ghostbusters didn’t fail. It also wasn’t an overwhelming success as The Secret Life of Pets secured the top spot for the second straight week. This week, another animated sequel joins the sequel of a reboot, a horror film with a middling budget, a niche TV show headed to the big screen and some Sci-Fi action thriller no one has ever heard of. Here’s MHT’s recommendations on what to see and not to see for the weekend of July 22nd:

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Ice Age: Collision Course
Theater Count: 3,992
Starring: (The voices of) Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Lopez, Adam DeVine, Nick Offerman, Simon Pegg, Seann William Scott

Buzz:

In a summer full of unnecessary sequels, Ice Age: Collision Course might be the most unnecessary of them all. Critics have loathed the fifth installment. All audience indicators point toward a lukewarm reception for this franchise’s latest effort. The decade and a half old franchise hasn’t attempted to entertain audiences since 2012’s Ice Age: Continental Drift which had a $46.6 million opening and hauled in a total of $161.3 million during its stay in theaters. Most thought the franchise would go extinct after the fourth Ice Age but now there’s a fifth. It’ll take a cold reception at the box office for this franchise to slow down.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

Skip it! Anything to do our part to stop unnecessary sequels feels almost like a patriotic duty.

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Star Trek Beyond
Theater Count: 3,928
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella

Buzz:

Star Trek Beyond should thank Ghostbusters for taking some heat off. The first trailer for Star Trek Beyond was very poorly received. However, the internet turned all negativity toward Ghostbusters and, for the most part, let Star Trek Beyond be. Since then, the movie has rebounded with improved trailers and stayed in the media with talks of a homosexual Sulu and the unfortunate passing of Anton Yelchin who plays Chekov. All indications are that Star Trek will beam to the top of the box office this weekend but is not expected to break $70 million as the first two installments of the rebooted franchise did.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

See it! Beam us up. Turn your phasers to maximum entertainment.

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Lights Out
Theater Count: 2,818
Starring: Teresa Palmer, Maria Bello, Billy Burke

Buzz:

With a budget of $4.9 million, Lights Out will be a success even if it fails to scare up the $14-16 million it expects to do in the first weekend. The real scary part is that in an overcrowded weekend, some think it could go higher and $20 million+ is a possibility. So far, critics have raved which hardly ever happens for a horror film. We’ll have to wait and see how audiences take to the scary flick that plays on our fear of the dark.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

See it! Lights Out delivered an excellent trailer and the horror genre has been soft this year.

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Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
Theater Count: 313
Starring: Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley

Buzz:

Apparently, there are enough fans of this TV show to get it to the big screen. The British comedy has already opened in Great Britain and had moderate success. The limited U.S. release features over 60 cameos and 90 drag queens. The show has been off the air since 1995 but after two decades, there is still an apparent interest in what the characters of the show are up to.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

Skip it! Outside of fans of the show, this movie does little for new audiences.

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Beta Test
Theater Count: 18
Starring: Larenz Tate, Manu Bennett, Linden Ashby

Buzz:

The low budget Sci-Fi movie is unlikely to see a wider release and have a bigger life in the home video market. However, it does feature an eight minute long single shot choreographed fight sequence which claims to be the longest single shot fight sequence in film history.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

Skip it! The fight sequence feels must see but it can wait until it can be seen in the comfort of your own home.

Box Office Recap (July 15th Weekend)

  1. The Secret Life of Pets ($50,838,355) MHT #1 Forecast at $56.5 million
  2. Ghostbusters ($46,018,755) MHT #2 Forecast at $50.2 million
  3. The Legend of Tarzan ($11,441,337) MHT #4 Forecast at $11.4 million
  4. Finding Dory ($11,281,179) MHT #3 Forecast at $12.7 million
  5. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates ($7,657,918) MHT #5 Forecast at $8 million
  6. The Purge: Election Year ($6,185,695) MHT #6 Forecast at $6.1 million
  7. Central Intelligence ($5,372,013) MHT #7 Forecast at $5 million
  8. The Infiltrator ($5,303,775) MHT #10 Forecast at $3.6 million
  9. The BFG ($3,789,434) MHT #9 Forecast at $3.8 million
  10. Independence Day: Resurgence ($3,521,282) MHT #8 Forecast at $4.4 million

The Secret Life of Pets beating Ghostbusters was no surprise but The Legend of Tarzan outdoing Finding Dory was a little bit more surprising.

Box Office Predictions for July 22nd Weekend

  1. Star Trek Beyond ($63,200,000)
  2. Ice Age: Collision Course ($31,000,000)
  3. The Secret Life of Pets ($25,800,000)
  4. Ghostbusters ($20,800,000)
  5. Lights Out ($16,500,000)
  6. Finding Dory ($5,500,000)
  7. The Legend of Tarzan ($5,400,000)
  8. Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party ($4,200,000)
  9. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates ($3,100,000)
  10. The Purge: Election Year ($2,900,000)

Central Intelligence ($2.9m), The Infiltrator ($2.6m), Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie ($1.1m), The BFG ($1m), The Shallows ($800k)

As much as we’d like to predict Lights Out topping $20 million and no one showing up to see Hillary’s America, both are highly unlikely to happen.

1 Comment

  1. It’s 97 degrees, of course I want something with ice!

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