To See Or Not To See – August 19th: Kubo and the Two Strings, War Dogs, Ben-Hur, Morris from America & A Tale of Love and Darkness

With three new movies on 3,000+ screens this week, one could break out and take down Suicide Squad. Will the monumental upset happen? With Kubo and the Two Strings, War Dogs and Ben-Hur all vying for box office bucks and 2 platform releases, let’s take a look at what to see and not see for the week ending August 19th:

Kubo and the Two Strings
Theater Count: 3,260
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, George Takei

Buzz:

Critically, Kubo and the Two Strings looks like the best bet of the weekend. However, it’s hard to grasp the target age for the film as it’s beautiful animation has the feel of an older youth audience but the material seems more appealing for a younger audience. Based on the reviews, let’s hope parents get their kids out to see what appears to be a highly imaginative, smart animated film.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

See it! Great cast. The animation looks beautiful. The story sounds emotional and intriguing. What more could you ask for?

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War Dogs
Theater Count: 3,258
Starring: Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Ana de Armas, Bradley Cooper

Buzz:

The reviews are mixed on War Dogs. It looks like it has the potential to be funny but there are certain times trailers appear to be hiding something by showing too much. One has to wonder if this is one of those times. If word of mouth is strong, this has the potential to explode but it’ll come down to how well received it is by audiences and the word of mouth effect might not be seen until week 2.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

See it! War Dogs feels like August. There’s something about August movies and their inability to live up to their full potential yet still being worthwhile enough to see and that’s what War Dogs appears to be. Good enough.

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Ben-Hur
Theater Count: 3,084
Starring: Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro, Ayelet Zurer, Morgan Freeman

Buzz:

Hollywood wants to waste your time but I have a little more respect for you.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

Skip it! Totally unnecessary.

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Morris from America
Theater Count: 2
Starring: Craig Robinson, Markees Christmas

Buzz:

Another hidden gem from A24. In a few weeks, this will expand to a few hundred theaters and you or I will be lucky enough to see it.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

See it! A24 knows quality. Until they consistently miss, we’ll keep riding the wave.

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A Tale of Love and Darkness
Theater Count: 2
Starring: Natalie Portman

Buzz:

Written, directed and starring Natalie Portman, A Tale of Love and Darkness is receiving mixed reviews. The period piece based on the best seller from Amos Oz doesn’t look like one that needs to be seen in theaters to enjoy. From Focus Features, it also may never make it into more than 200-300 theaters.

See the Trailer:

MHT Hot Take:

Skip it! (Now.) See it! (Later.) This is perfect for home viewing down the road.

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Box Office Recap (August 12th)

1. Suicide Squad ($43,536,013)
2. Sausage Party ($34,263,534)
3. Pete’s Dragon ($21,514,095)
4. Jason Bourne ($13,846,875)
5. Bad Moms ($11,362,783)
6. The Secret Life of Pets ($9,064,565)
7. Star Trek Beyond ($6,892,793)
8. Florence Foster Jenkins ($6,601,313)
9. Nine Lives ($3,526,166)
10. Lights Out ($3,215,446)

While Suicide Squad ruled the box office for a second week, the real story was Sausage Party. The R-rated animated flick had a huge coming out party and destroyed Pete’s Dragon in the race for 2nd place. The holds for the rest of the films were impressive as they usually are after a movie débuts at $100 million-plus the week before.

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Box Office Predictions for August 19th Weekend

1. Suicide Squad ($21,000,000)
2. Sausage Party ($16,600,000)
3. Kubo and the Two Strings ($16,100,000)
4. War Dogs ($15,300,000)
5. Pete’s Dragon ($13,200,000)
6. Ben-Hur ($12,600,000)
7. Jason Bourne ($8,100,000)
8. Bad Moms ($8,000,000)
9. The Secret Life of Pets ($6,300,000)
10. Star Trek Beyond ($4,300,000)

Florence Foster Jenkins ($3.8m), Hell or High Water ($2.3m), Lights Out ($1.5m), Nine Lives ($1.4m), Nerve ($1.1m)