Despite a surprising showing by The Legend of Tarzan, Finding Dory held on to the top spot at the box office for the third consecutive week. While Finding Dory will just keep swimming past Captain America: Civil War for the top spot at the box office in 2016, the tide will turn at the top of the charts as The Secret Life of Pets is all but guaranteed to début at #1. Also, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and two platform releases round out this week’s releases. Here’s MHT’s recommendations on what to see and not see in theaters for the week of July 8th:
The Secret Life of Pets
Theater Count: 4,369
Starring: (Voices of) Louis CK, Kevin Hart, Eric Stonestreet, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Albert Brooks, Dana Carvey, Bobby Moynihan
Buzz:
With projections anywhere from $70 million to a Minions-like $100+ million opening, the question is whether The Secret Life of Pets will be huge or gigantic. It’s hard to imagine The Secret Life of Pets approaching Minions territory but stranger things have happened (like The Legend of Tarzan just last week) so hold onto your butts. Wait, that’s a different blockbuster from a different generation. The movie has enough going for it to attract both kids and adults although the film may be a little too juvenile for adults without children and it lacks the branding of Minions as they were everywhere when the film launched last year. Plus, there’s a lot of competition for the younger market’s attention with Finding Dory and The BFG still in the mix.
See the Trailer:
MHT Hot Take:
See it! Illumination has a track record of success with the Despicable Me franchise and The Lorax was received okay. They’ve come a long way from Hop.
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Theater Count: 2,982
Starring: Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick, Stephen Root
Buzz:
The R-rated comedy hasn’t had a lot of success this year. Central Intelligence had an adequate showing and will break $100 million this weekend. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is somewhat smaller in scale and would be thrilled if it turns in anything close to the performance The Shallows had at the box office. The trailer was received with heavy laughs at any showing I’ve seen and maybe that’s a sign of things to come. Right now, there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic although this one isn’t flop-proof.
See the Trailer:
MHT Hot Take:
See it! A mindless, funny summer flick. It looks like Stepbrothers meets Wedding Crashers. Okay, maybe not that funny.
Captain Fantastic
Theater Count: 4
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Steve Zahn
Buzz:
This Bleecker Street release will start off small but grow in the coming weeks as most Bleecker Street releases do. The trailer looks solid yet not very summerish which doesn’t always make for greatness. That doesn’t mean Captain Fantastic won’t be good and Viggo Mortensen has been getting praise for his performance in this film. Eventually, expect to see Captain Fantastic in 500-1,000 theaters but, for now, unless you are in New York or Los Angeles, you won’t be seeing it.
See the Trailer:
MHT Hot Take:
See it! Captain Fantastic might not be fantastic but it looks adequate enough to make it worth watching.
Box Office Recap (July 1st Weekend)
- Finding Dory ($51,436,383) MHT #1 Forecast at $50.7 million
- The Legend of Tarzan ($46,582,405) MHT #3 Forecast at $23 million
- The Purge: Election Year ($36,139,295) MHT #2 Forecast at $28.7 million
- The BFG ($22,716,809) MHT #5 Forecast at $21.8 million
- Independence Day: Resurgence ($21,681,926) MHT #4 Forecast at $22 million
- Central Intelligence ($15,405,059) MHT #6 Forecast at $12.7 million
- The Shallows ($10,528,240) MHT #7 Forecast at $9.9 million
- Free State of Jones ($5,302,553) MHT #8 Forecast at $5 million
- The Conjuring 2 ($4,516,713) MHT #9 Forecast at $4.7 million
- Now You See Me 2 ($3,703,623) MHT #10 Forecast at $3.5 million
If it weren’t for The Legend of Tarzan and The Purge: Election Year obliterating their projections, this week’s projections would have been great across the board. So, we’ll just have to settle for good.
Box Office Predictions for July 8th Weekend
- The Secret Life of Pets ($80,400,000)
- Finding Dory ($23,300,000)
- The Legend of Tarzan ($19,300,000)
- Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates ($13,600,000)
- The Purge: Election Year ($12,000,000)
- The BFG ($10,400,000)
- Central Intelligence ($7,300,000)
- Independence Day: Resurgence ($6,300,000)
- The Shallows ($4,300,000)
- The Conjuring 2 ($1,500,000)
Free State of Jones ($1.4m), Now You See Me 2 ($1.1m), Swiss Army Man ($850k), Our Kind of Traitor ($600k), X-Men: Apocalypse ($370k)
Despite direct competition, Finding Dory should have a decent hold but won’t come close to SLOP. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates should have a decent début but nothing like The Shallows when it debuted.