This weekend
Key release
- Ben Hur – Paramount Pictures
Historical epic action drama fifth adaption of the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace following 1907 silent film, 1925 silent film, Academy Award-winning 1959 film and 2003 animated film over its production it has been described as a re-adaptation, reimagining, and new interpretation of the novel. Stars Jack Huston, Morgan Freeman, Toby Kebbell, Nazanin Boniadi, Haluk Bilginer and Rodrigo Santoro and directed by Timur Bekmambetov and written by Keith Clarke and John Ridley (who also wrote screenplay for Oscar winning 12 Years A Slave).
The film generated controversy when filmmakers put Ben Hur back in the closet probably due to wanting to target Christian audiences as faith based films have performed strongly in recent years in the US, in doing maybe alienated mainstream audiences aware of the Ben-Hur/Messala relationship. Was similar to Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus 1960 epic famously had a scene with Laurence Oliver cut from its original release because of its suggestions of gay homosexuality which was put back into the film for its 1991 restoration.
In April 2014 Paramount Pictures and MGM announced they would co-produce the film as Paramount’s biblical epic Noah was hitting cinemas taking $362m worldwide against a budget of $125m was a similar co-production with New Regency which was an unusual film for Paramount to finance as aren’t known for taking risks.
Was originally set for release in February but was delayed to August in March which was a strange date for an epic action film which are more suited to early summer or Fall release. Mid-August is seen as the dumping ground by studios shown by the poor reviews is expected to be one of the biggest flops of the summer.
Biblical/epic movies are normally released March- May or Nov/Dec as Paramount had so few films in 2016 its original February date would have been far more suitable. Or as their next release isn’t until October 21st a mid- September US opening day and date would have been a far more suitable.
After opening #3 on its opening day on Wednesday looks like it will be DOA was original due for release the week after opening in the US which was strange after the negative buzz but delaying it for another two weeks was stranger, but Paramount are experts at strange decisions.
Also released
- Hell or High Water – Studiocanal
Crime drama directed by David Mackenzie (Young Adult and most recently Starred Up) written by Taylor Sheridan, script was winner of the 2012 Black List; starring Chris Pine, Jeff Bridges and Ben Foster.
Premiered at Cannes Film Festival receiving acclaim from critics with many describing it as the best film of the year so far; Variety described it as 2016 version of a 1970s movie while some have also described it as a modern day western and current America about poverty and insecurity and the feeling there’s no way out of it; but do audiences want to see movies that reflect their depressing lives even if it is a fantastic film? As many probably will prefer escapism from that world for two hours in the cinema and is why audiences can’t have good things as when they are made audiences don’t go to see them.
What is surprising with Hell or High Water and Captain Fantastic both opening wide when a platform release might be more suitable. Problem is there are several much higher profile films being released in the weeks ahead is always the concern if a film doesn’t find its audience on limited release won’t get a chance going wider.
With Don’t Breathe likely to open top and Kubo and the Two Strings in second and Ben Hur likely to under-perform, was a strange decision to open three films Hell or High Water, Captain Fantastic and Anthropoid against each other as targeting similar audience and likely to cannibalise each other.
The problem is with Bridget Jones’s Baby and Blair Witch out next weekend if they don’t perform they will be pulled by exhibitors very quickly but these a films that would normally be given time to find their audiences which in the last 10 years isn’t possible with the sheer amount of films being release each week. Much has been written about the summer films cannibalizing each other but autumn will be tougher as there are many more films targeting similar audience who don’t go to cinema as often.
After months of underwhelming sequels and reboots in the summer the start of the winter school term sees studios release their more interesting titles which are now squeezed in 10 weeks of September/October and early November before Christmas season starts up with the launch of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Similar to summer this means there is often cannibalization between these films as are often targeting similar audiences but whereas during the summer audiences would see many audiences in the autumn are more selective.
Second weekend of September has been a strong launch date for films recently, Legend last year, Pride in 2014, Rush in 2013 as talent would travel to the UK after premiering their films at Venice and Deauville Film Festivals.
While Hell or High Water is currently being heralded as the best film of the year it is questionable if will still be on Academy minds in December with current Oscar favourites Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, The Birth of a Nation, Live by Night, Manchester By the Sea, Fences, Rules Don’t Apply, Sully, Loving, The Queen of Katwe many of these will premiere at Toronto and Venice and will discover if real contenders.
Many of these will likely be included in the London Film Festival announced on September 1st; can be predicted by the recent shifting of many films release dates. But is London Film Festival a help of hindrance for many distributors often doubling up with premieres either pushing release forward against many others or as with Goosebumps last year Free Fire this year premieres at LFF in October only to be released over four months later.
While smaller films don’t generate media coverage will lose vital theatrical revenue which will cost the indie distributors more. Of course its lovely to have a West End premiere but only if its beneficial to the distributor; were discussions about this in Sony hacking emails when Captain Phillips had been in festival in 2014 and Sony executives were wondering if Fury should be too.
- Kubo and the Two Strings – Universal Pictures
3D stop-motion animated fantasy adventure film produced by Laika their fourth film for Focus Features previously making Coraline in 2009, ParaNorman in 2014 and The Boxtrolls in 2014 previously made Corpse Bride for Warner Bros in 2005. Featuring the voices of Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Ralph Fiennes, Rooney Mara, George Takei, and Matthew McConaughey and directed by Travis Knight his directorial debut.
Has received very positive reviews with many describing it as a masterpiece and the best animated film of the year so far. Received its world premiere last month at the Jerusalem Film Festival and was also screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 13;
Laika previous releases
Coraline – 8th May 2009 – opened with £2.4m (included previews)
ParaNorman – September 14th 2012 – opened with £1.4m
The Boxtrolls – September 12th 2014 – opened with £2m
Universal released both ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls in September box performed well but box office is limited to weekend had it opened two weeks earlier would have given it the lucrative Bank Holiday weekend of course would had tougher competition.
While 2016 has been a disappointing year for live action films has been an incredible year for animation Kung Fu Panda 3, Zootropolis, The Angry Birds Movie, Finding Dory, The Secret Life of Pets, Sausage Party with Storks, Trolls and Moana still to be released only disappointments Anomalisa and Ice Age 5.
Incredibly 2017 has even more animated films with Sing, Monster Trucks, The Lego Batman Movie, The Boss Baby, Smurfs: The lost Village, Captain Underpants, Cars 3, Despicable Me 3, Emoji Movie: Express Yourself, Ninjago, My Little Pony, The Star, Coco and The Story of Ferdinand.
Opening seven weeks after Finding Dory most would have expected it to be dropping down the charts and the market ready for another animated film but as Finding Dory has held very strongly it could affect Kubo and the Two Strings opening weekend which surprisingly doesn’t have the benefit of prior weekend previews.
- Don’t Breathe – Sony Pictures
Horror directed by Fede Alvarez who previously directed the 2013 Evil Dead reboot starring stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto, and Stephen Lang; produced by Ghost House Pictures founded by Sam Raimi in 2002 making low budget genre films biggest success with The Grudge remake in 2004.
Received its premiere in March at South by Southwest receiving positive reviews Variety described it as “a muscular exercise in brutal, relentless peril that should please genre fans”.
Studios are always trying to find new way to promote their films on social media for Don’t Breathe created Snapchat’s first 360-degree advert featuring a 10 second video ad which allows users to swipe up to see the full 90 second video; first ran in US Aug 9th will also run in the UK and Australia.
Sony previously used Snapchat to promote Ghostbusters with a selfie-lens while 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros used Snapchat Lenses for X-Men: Apocalypse and Batman Vs Superman.
Sony Pictures held a digital promotion for the film in July inviting social media influences where they walked through a recreation of the film’s set using night-vision goggles and GoPro cameras with the aim of finding money hidden in different locations.
Have been many horror films released in 2016 studios love them as are normally low budget and have a big fan-base; after being trailered before Lights Out, The Purge Election Year and Morgan, Don’t Breathe is likely to have a similar front-loaded opening especially with the return of the Blair Witch, next weekend.
2016 has already had Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (£0.78m), The Forest (£0.92m), The Boy (£2.38m), The Other Side Of the Door (£0.6m), Hush, Friends Request (£1.36m), The Darkness, The Conjuring 2 (£10.71m), Nerve (£0.7m) with differing levels of success at the box office.
With Blair Witch, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Rings, The Girl with All the Gifts, The By Bye Man and Keep Watching still to be released in 2016.
- Captain Fantastic – eOne
Drama starring Viggo Mortensen and directed by Matt Ross; received its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival screening in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival with a 10-minute standing ovation (Matt Ross winning best director) received UK premiere last month at Film4 Summer Screen at Somerset House.
Received very positive films including from Variety saying “Boasting half a dozen impressive youth performances alongside a leading role that takes full advantage of Mortensen’s own sensitive, back-to-nature spirit, Captain Fantastic easily ranks among the most polished and relatable of this year’s Sundance offerings”.
10 years ago the same weekend Little Miss Sunshine opened in fifth with £349,810 from 114 screens over expanding to 171 screens over several weeks taking £2.7m after 6 weeks; but Captain Fantastic seems to be opening on a limited wide release with The Girl on the Train released October 7th would of given eOne room to open on a slow platform to allow to build on strong reviews and word of mouth normally but problem is there are many bigger films targeting similar audience over the weeks ahead so option is go wide or maybe not at all meaning it will likely open with about £450,000 similar to Cafe Society, Room and High-Rise,
Out next week
Key release
- Bridget Jones’s Baby – Universal
Similar to Fifty Shades of Grey fan fiction of Twilight, Bridget Jones Diary novel was similar to the BBC’s 1995 TV adaption of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth as Mr Darcy. Independent journalist Helen Fielding wrote of her love of the TV series in the Bridget Jones Diary column during the broadcast of the series in 1995 and that developed into her novel Bridget Jones Diary which sold over two million copies; Bridget Jones Baby must then be similar to Mamma Mia.
While the first Bridget Jones film in 2001 and Mama Mia were sleepers opening with £5.72m and £6.59m both held strongly in their second weekends dropping 25% and 31%. Both stayed in the top 10 for 17 weeks going on to take £69.13m and £41.69m. Star Wars: The Force Awakens took £123m but only last 10 weeks in the top 10, Spectre lasted 11 weeks taking £95.1m while Avatar in 2010 lasted 15 weeks opening with £8.5m taking £93.4m. In comparison 50 Shades of Grey opened with £13.27m in 2015 dropping 66% staying in the top 10 for only 6 weeks taking £35.01m
Working Title started developing the third part of Bridget Jones in 2009 saying it wouldn’t be based on Helen Fielding third novel but her 2005 column. In 2011 was reported Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth would return and it would be directed by Paul Feig who had just finished Bridesmaids but then dropped out to be replaced by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty). Creative differences delayed the film for several years until early 2015 when Sharon Maguire who directed the first film in 2001 only directing one film since and started shooting in October 2015.
In March first trailer was released with second trailer in June; much was made of Renee Zellweger’s physical appearance in the trailer Variety critic Owen Gleiberman wrote “Renee Zellweger: If She No Longer Looks Like Herself, Has She Become a Different Actress?” Renée Zellweger rote a blog response on Huffington Post against double standards in the media between men and women.
Working Title British romantic comedies marketing campaigns have become similar but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it; staring in 1994 with Four Weddings and a Funeral with Brit pop centric soundtrack central to its marketing from Wet Wet Wet Wet Love Is All Around to Ellie Goulding – Still Falling for You. Also having a big London premiere hoping each time to get the media coverage Liz Hurley’s safety pin dress received in May 1994 at the UK premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Bridget Jones Diary opened in April 2001 with a massive £5.72m dropping only 25% in its second weekend staying in the top 10 for 17 weeks taking £41.69m.
Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason opened in November 2004 with £10.4m was up to last February Universal Pictures biggest opening in the UK replaced by 50 Shades of Grey and a few months later by Jurassic World. (of course those two can’t be compared with a film that opened 11 years earlier.
While the first Bridget Jones Diary was well received critically. (remember doing a screening for Sharon Maguire over six months before opening and could see then was going to be a massive hit). Its sequel Edge of Reason received negative reviews and mixed word of mouth shown with it dropping 52% in its second weekend staying in the top ten for half as long 8 weeks.
Early buzz for Bridget Jones’s Baby is positive and with storyline being similar to Mamma Mia along with the huge media coverage it will received starting with Ellie Goulding’s single similar to 50 Shades of Grey and holding the world premiere 11 days before opening.
Bridget Jones has a strong female audience similar to Sex and the City and 50 Shades of Grey cinemas holding Bridget Jones nights advance booking are likely to be far stronger than most films. Bridget Jones’s Baby is likely to have one of the biggest openings of the year similar to £13.47m of 50 Shades of Grey last year but will be similarly front-loaded.
After the success Stateside of Bad Moms Bridget Jones’s Baby feels even more dated while UK audiences will lap it up its likely to fall short in the US as the previous films have done and beaten by the Blair Witch which I’m sure will generate some interesting headlines.
Also released
- Blair Witch – Lionsgate
Surprise film for September as up to July everyone thought it was a found footage horror called The Woods but then Lionsgate surprised audiences at Comic-Con screening the complete film Blair Witch.
The original The Blair Witch Project was shot in 1997 for a budget of $35,000 acquired by Artisan for $1.1m spending $20m to market it; receiving its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival in 1999 receiving critical acclaim many audiences believed it was real.
The Blair Witch Project opened in 22nd October 1999 with £750,822 from 36 screens expanding to 397 screens in its second weekend taking £5,875,318 dropping over 60% in its third weekend going on to take £14.9m. of course after the massive success of the first film the studio rushed out a sequel following weekend which took a fraction of the original opening with £1.09m taking £2.37m. Over the years after sequel there were many rumours of another film or reboot.
Horror have performed strongly this year but problem Blair Witch has is over five previous weeks Nerve, Light Out, The Purge: Election Year, Morgan and Don’t Breathe all opened all targeting same audience. The positive for is horrors are front-loaded and will be a good alternative for many males whose partners will be trying to drag them to see Bridget Jones’s Baby.
2016’s biggest horror was The Conjuring 2 opening with £4.64m but included £1.86m from previews its Fri-Sun box office was £2.78m but the problem with 7 day openings is you can’t compare either with a regular 3 day opening as a films Fri-Sun audience is spread out over 7 days rather than concentrated with three. Opening for Blair Witch will be more likely be between £1.86m – £2.60m.
With Deepwater Horizon dated for September 30th Lionsgate couldn’t open the later with Ouija: Origin of Evil and Rings opening in October in US; While Bridget Jones’s Baby will be huge in the UK the previous films under-performed in the US so while Bridget Jones’s Baby will dwarf the opening in UK of Blair Witch the opposite will likely happen in US.
- Beatles: Eight Days A Week – Studiocanal
Documentary directed by Ron Howard about The Beatles’ career during their touring years from 1962–1966, from their performances at the Cavern Club in Liverpool to their final concert in San Francisco in 1966.
- The Infiltrator – Warner
Crime drama based on the autobiography of the same name by Robert Mazur. Starring Bryan Cranston, Diane Kruger, Benjamin Bratt, John Leguizamo and Amy Ryan and directed by Brad Furman; received average reviews only took $15.2m in the US.
Was surprisingly acquired by Warner Bros for UK as has while Bryan Cranston is well known in the UK for playing Walter Hill in Breaking Bad the events of the film aren’t but neither was Donnie Brasco which took over £4m in the UK in 1997 but that was went Johnny Depp and Al Pacino were successful at the box office. The Infiltrator has the feel of straight to DVD with Warner given it a token theatrical release.
Out in two weeks
Key release
- The Magnificent Seven -Sony Pictures
Remake of the 1960 western which was also remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 Seven Samurai. The 1960’s remake now seen as a classic #79 on the AFI’s list of American cinema’s 100 most-thrilling films and is the second most showed film in US TV history behind The Wizard of Oz. Received mixed reviews when it was first released and was a box office disappointment in the US but was a hit in Europe. Three sequels were made but none as successful as the original it also inspired a TV series and many films including 1986’s Three Amigos and the 1980’s TV series The A-Team.
Stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Peter Sarsgaard and Haley Bennett and directed by Antoine Fuqua (his third film with Denzel Washington).
Denzel Washington’s last film The Equalizer opened with £1.89m two years ago which was his biggest opening in the UK ahead of 2009’s The Taking of Pelham 123 £1.78m and Unstoppable with £1.7m in 2010.
Its Chris Pratt’s first film since Jurassic World last summer (had a cameo as himself in Jem and the Holograms) and Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014 (with sequels in 2017 and 2018) and stars in Passengers with Jennifer Lawrence out in December. The Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World all were massively successful but while Chris Pratt did add to them being successful The Magnificent Seven and Passengers will show if he can open a film on his own as has yet done so.
For almost 30 years (since his powerful performance as Steve Biko in Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom) Denzel Washington has had a long career of memorable films while maybe not had the success at the box office as other actors of the 80s.
Winning two Oscars Best Supporting Actor for 1989’s Glory and Best Actor for 2001’s Training Day. Has made memorable roles in Malcolm X, The Hurricane, Remember the Titans, Philadelphia, American Gangster one of my favourites which had a limited release in the UK was his directorial debut Antwone Fisher in 2002; film’s producer heard the story from Fisher who was then a security guard at Sony Pictures Studios.
Denzel Washington films have been a steady performer in the UK but not had a Will Smith style box office hit. The Equalizer 2 next year will be his first ever sequel which is quite an achievement nowadays but has starred in several remakes The Preacher’s Wife, The Manchurian Candidate, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The Equalizer and The Magnificent Seven.
Similar to Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke has made more interesting quirky films rather than blockbusters. 26 years ago this weekend he starred as Todd Anderson in Dead Poet’s Society.
After made films which were more critical successes like the Before Sunrise trilogy than at the box office before starring with Denzel Washington in 2001’s Training Day and Boyhood in 2014. Next up is director Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
The Magnificent Seven was voted as second-most anticipated fall movie behind Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them in a recent poll by Fandango but means nothing as Independence Day: Resurgence was voted similarly for the summer and disappointed at the box office.
James Horner was signed to score the film but died on June 22 2015 having already started scoring will be the third and final score to be released posthumously; receives world premiere on September 8th at the Toronto Film Festival and closes the Venice Film Festival on September 9th.
Reviews have said its far from the classic 1960 remake and is more like a violent re-imagining making me think of 2014’s The Equalizer also starring Denzel Washington and directed by Antoine Fuqua. Similar to The Equalizer with Bridget Jones’s Baby opening the week before its unlikely to open top in the UK.
Teaser trailer was released in April having over 7.7m views and trailer released in July with over 3.8m views; we will likely finally get to see the first trailer of Passengers attached to the front which was expected several months ago after footage was screened at CinemaCon in April and CineEurope in June which was positively received.
Westerns used to be a mainstay of studios but before Kevin Costner’s Oscar winning Dances with Wolves in 1990 nearest to them were Young Guns and Back to the Future 3. Was followed by Clint Eastwood’s Oscar winning Unforgiven in 199, But westerns that followed all underwhelmed at the box office Geronimo, Tombstone, Bad Girls, Wyatt Earp, The Quick and the Dead and Wild Bill. Only successful westerns were comedies based on TV series Maverick and Wild, Wild West and Brokedown Mountain.
But Coen Brother’s remake of True Grit which opened February 2011 with £1.82m dropping only 20% in its second weekend went on to take £8m and win five Bafta’s, nominated for 10 Oscars.
Django Unchained followed in 2013 opening with £2.8m going on to take £15m+
In recent years had smaller westerns The Homesman, The Salvation and Slow West that performed well along with this year The Revenant opening with £5.07m and taking £22.86m and The Hateful Eight opening with £2.76m taking £6.34m which is more likely for The Magnificent Seven.
Also released
- The Girl with All the Gifts – Warner
Post-apocalyptic horror drama film directed by Colm McCarthy based on novel by Mike Carey former Marvel Comic writer starring stars Sennia Nanua, Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close and Paddy Considine; has been described as a post-apocalyptic zombie movie meets the X-Men with a young girl who has a special ability.
The film was shot in Birmingham for a budget of £4m backed by the BFI and Creative England both of whom put in more than £1m, Altitude Films came in as the sales company with Warner Bros acquiring UK rights with US going to Saban Films who plan to release next year.
Received its premiere last month at Locarno Film Festival receiving mixed reviews which is disappointing as the trailer was promising.
In US opening Friday
- Sully – Warner Bros
After a year of American “heroes” wearing tights and lycra Sully is the perfect antidote about a regular guy with no superhero powers who saves the lives of all the passengers and crew on his flight going against protocol. Sully says, “I don’t feel like a hero. I was just a man doing a job,”
Biographical drama film directed by Clint Eastwood (his 35th feature as director and his shortest at only 96 mins) about US Airways Flight 1549 and its pilot, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, based on the autobiography Highest Duty by Sullenberger and Jeffrey Zaslow; starring Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney, Anna Gunn, Autumn Reeser, Holt McCallany, Jamey Sheridan and Jerry Ferrara; was shot almost entirely with Digital IMAX cameras; received world premiere at Telluride Film Festival.
During the press conference at Telluride Film Festival Tom Hanks spent much of the time talking about La La Land “I like to think we approach movies the same way we approach being members of the audience in that you just want to see something you have never seen before. It’s funny. Who saw La La Land yesterday?” Many answered in the affirmative by their applause.
“When you see something that is brand new, that you can’t imagine, and you think ‘well thank God this landed’, because I think a movie like La La Land would be anethema to studios. Number one, it is a musical and no one knows the songs.”
After joking that Warner Bros. brass would be thrilled with his plugging another movie, Hanks continued his praise for La La: “This is not a movie that falls into some sort of trend. I think it is going to be a test of the broader national audience, because it has none of the things that major studios want. Pre-Awareness is a big thing they want, which is why a lot of remakes are going on. (La La) is not a sequel, nobody knows who the characters are…But if the audience doesn’t go and embrace something as wonderful as this then we are all doomed.”
He continued: “We all understand the business aspects of it. It’s cruel and it’s backbreaking and take-no-prisoners. But there’s always that chance where the audience sees something that is brand new, that they never expected, and embraces it, and celebrates it. We might be in the luxurious position that we can say we don’t have to pay attention to the trends, but there are other people whose parking spaces with their names on them are paid to follow these trends. I don’t take anything away from them and there are some good movies that come out of that. But we all go to the cinema for the same thing, that is to be transported to someplace we have never been before.”
Clint Eastwood’s first film since the Oscar nominated American Sniper which took $350m in the US in 2015 which is Warner Bros highest grossing film since The Dark Knight Rises in 2012.
On paper its Oscar fodder directed by Oscar winning Clint Eastwood and starring two-time Best Actor Tom Hanks playing a US pilot who after multiple bird strikes which caused both engines to fail glided his plane to have a water landing on the Hudson River in 2009 with all 155 passengers and crew successfully evacuated.
But normally Oscar contenders would be released later but as Tom Hanks has Dan Brown’s Inferno dated for October and Warner Bros having Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in November and Ben Affleck’s Live By Night in December. Warner Bros had to go early by doing so they won’t benefit from the buzz it may generate at film festivals as The Martian did last year but instead is similar to The Walk which premiered at New York Film Festival only days before its US opening.
It used to be a film could open any time of the year and it could be seen as a potential Oscar contender but in recent years Academy Members seem to have much shorter memories with few films with Mad Max Fury Road, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Inception, Up and Crash the only Best Picture nominees of films released before September. 25 years ago The Silence of the Lambs opened February 1991 with $13.7m going on to take $130m and was the last film to win all top five Oscars Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Adapted Screenplay.
Tom Hank’s last major release was Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies opening with $15.3m last October holding well in the weeks after release. Tom Hanks has starred in many similar regular guy turned hero roles in the past including Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, Castaway, Road to Perdition, Catch Me if You Can and Captain Philips which Sully will be compared to which opened with $25.7m in 2013 with a similar sized opening.
While films based historical characters or heroes receive critical acclaim recent films Steve Jobs, Truth and Selma didn’t find their audience.
- When the Bough Breaks – Screen Gems
Psychological thriller directed by Jon Cassar starting Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, Theo Rossi and Jaz Sinclair; remake of 1994 straight to DVD film.
Sony Pictures low budget genre label had success currently with Don’t Breathe and last September The Perfect Guy opening with $25.8m and No Good Deed in 2014 with $24.2m.
Similar films include:
Obsessed – Screen Gems opened with $28.6m in 2009
The Boy Next Door – Universal – opened with $14.9m in 2015
Fatal Attraction – Paramount opened with $7.6m in 1987 (going on to take $151.5m)