This weekend
Key release
- Legend of Tarzan – Warner Bros
Action adventure based on the fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs (who also created John Carter).
Starring Alexander Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Margot Robbie, Djimon Hounsou, Jim Broadbent and Christoph Waltz. Directed by David Yates his first since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in 2011 is currently in post on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Warner Bros have been developing Tarzan since 2003 over the years several directors have been attached from Guillermo del Toro, Stephen Sommers and Gary Ross before David Yates was announced as the director in November 2012. In February 2014 Warner Bros announced a July 1st 2016 release date.
The first trailer was released in December 2015, second in March and a third this month reaction has been positive but there is a nervousness of original sourced movies in a summer of sequels and remakes.
There have been many Tarzan films made over the years the last major adaption was Disney’s animated 1999 version probably for Tarzan is its often unintentionally funny seen more like George of the Jungle than the Jungle Book while trailers did have some funny moments it is more of the cinematic style of Pirates of the Caribbean films.
In April David Yates screened footage to the media during a preview event in London which was well received by media who attended; has its European premiere on 5th July opening the day after.
Reviews have been mixed but performed far better than expected in the UK but still far from being the blockbuster hit with its $180m budget.
Also released
- Now You See Me 2 – eOne
Sequel to the 2013 magic thriller starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, with Daniel Radcliffe, Lizzy Caplan, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman directed by Jon M Chu; while the first film was a fun surprise many reviews have said it was another of the many unnecessary sequels that have underwhelmed audiences and the box office this year.
The first film opened same weekend in 2013 was a modern-day sleeper success opening with a strong £2.89m in second going on to take almost £11m.
- Maggie’s Plan – Sony Pictures
Ensemble comedy starring stars Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Bill Hader, Maya Rudolph, Wallace Shawn, Ida Rohatyn, Monte Greene and Julianne Moore. Received world premiere at Toronto Film Festival (where Sony Classics acquired it) last year went on to be screened at Sundance and Berlin this year receiving positive reviews with a scene stealing performance from Julianne Moore.
- The Neon Demon – Icon
Psychological thriller starring Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks and Keanu Reeves and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Premiered at Cannes Film Festival receiving mixed reviews (third consecutive film director competed for Palme d’Or, following Drive and Only God Forgives).
Drive opened in September 2011 with £607,454 taking over £2.6m.
Only God Forgives in August 2013 with £465,917
The Daily Mail were of course outraged over the film the BBFC gave it 18 due to strong bloody images, necrophilia and sexual assault.
20 years ago David Cronenberg’s Crash which generated similar controversy seeing Westminster Council banning it from their cinemas so didn’t screen in any Leicester Square cinemas.
- Ghostbusters – Sony Pictures (Monday)
Supernatural comedy reboot starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones and directed by Paul Feig.
Ever since Ghostbuster 2 was released in 1989 there had been rumours for a third film issue was always Bill Murray didn’t want to return so Sony decided instead to reboot the film. Sony Pictures officially announced reboot in 2014 and Paul Feig was to direct the female leads were announced in January 2015.
The first trailer was released in March viewed 24 million times in the first 24 hours and 60 million times in its first week reception was very mixed with 12,000 thumbs up and 13,800 thumbs down on the morning of release. By May the trailer was the most disliked on YouTube with 221,400 likes and 649,900 dislikes.
Compare that first trailer with the originals trailer and its understandable why fans were disappointed
Director Paul Feig went on the offensive saying there was misogyny behind the criticism of reboot but reason why most disliked it was lacked the charm and wit of the first film which was no masterpiece. Similar to how Pointbreak remake was targeted out for everything that is bad about reboots and remakes Ghostbusters and Jumanji have been this year.
Melissa McCarthy recently spoke out against the backlash saying internet trolls are ‘crazy people’ & ‘the minority’ but to quote Gladiator “Rome is the mob” and what David Cameron said about leave campaigners being confused you don’t slag off your audience as will make or break the success of Ghostbusters as are the paying cinema-going audience.
In June the new cast and the original cast of Ghostbusters appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
A parody manned up trailer turning all the female Ghostbusters into men.
Opening the same day in the US is crowdfunded documentary Ghostheads on Netflix includes interviews with cast including Dan Aykroyd, Ivan Reitman, Ernie Hudson, and Paul Feig, as well as inspiring stories from the fan community about how Ghostbusters has empowered viewers to live better lives.
Tom Rothman recently said in an interview that the hate campaign was the greatest thing that ever happened. Has made the film one of the most talked about films of the year with the thinking being talked about is far better than not being talked about even if its negative. But the negativity surrounding the pre-release of Pointbreak was negative and so was its performance at the box office.
Ivan Reitman director of the original film at preview of The Ghostbusters VR Experience at Madame Tussauds in New York City said what most believe is the real issue with the reboot has nothing to do with sexism it’s about nostalgia.
The original film is about fun which was missing from the trailers and the rebooted theme song. Compare this with Japanese marketing campaign for Ghostbusters with a fast food restaurant launching Ghostbusters inspired menu and then J-Pop remake of theme song which is everything that the original song was and nothing what rebooted US theme was fun.
Building on that negativity was the release of the rebooted theme song on Thursday which was universally hated. It is currently tracking to open with $40-50m comparing it to Ghostbuster 2 opening in June 1989 which opened with $29.4m (second biggest opening of 1989) would need to open with $80m+.
Mindy Kaling predicted female Ghostbusters backlash in her book in her book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), published in 2011. She wrote “I always wanted to reboot Ghostbusters to be four girl-ghostbusters but I’m not an idiot, though. I know the demographic for ‘Ghostbusters; is teenage boys, and I know they would kill themselves if two ghostbusters had a makeover at Sephora,” She also had some casting ideas including her Emily Blunt, Taraji Henson, and Natalie Portman. (that is a Ghostbusters team I would like to see)
Film seems to be purposely creating the negativity with Total Film Magazine having Chris Hemsworth take centre stage on its cover for Ghostbusters but Tom Rothman would again say that its making the film get talked about. Next Monday the talking ends and will see if it is the film fans have been waiting to see for 27 years since the disappointing sequel but after the disappointing performance of Independence Day: Resurgence expectations are very low which could help as it can’t be as bad as everyone expects can it?
Fans are unsure if the original Ghostbusters still exist in the rebooted world which ties to phenomenon known as ‘The Mandela Effect’. Why there is a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Why the original Ghostbusters all exist as other people, with the original stars taking on cameos.
The film featured heavily within Sony Hacking emails discussing the script Etan Cohen was writing which had gone through many drafts over the years with so many different writers and with 12 producer’s looks like have been far too many cooks in the kitchen. Would be interesting to see how the final film compares with different drafts of the scripts some of which were leaked in the hackings and weren’t well received.
In the Sony Hacking emails Sony were predicting it will take $220m in US and $325m internationally to justify $63m P&A spending for US and $83m for international. The budget they have reported for Ghostbuster is $98m but it has been reported at $140m-150m.
Bill Murray in May said remake was “funnier than the original” his indorsement is similar to James Cameron’s of Terminator Genisys last year and look how well that went.
Footage was screened recently at CineEurope and was well received its far funnier than you could possibly think it was from the shockingly bad and unfunny marketing.
Sony Pictures especially feel the need to crank up their mega-movies up to eleven seen in many films like Spider-Man movies and Men in Black 3 was noticeable in the Ghostbuster trailers with twelve producers attached feels like
The second Ghostbusters trailer was released in May which was slightly better received as was the international trailer released early June.
Early in June Sony released the dreadful Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliot remake of the classic Ray Parker Jr theme song. While Japanese audiences get to experience J-Pop cover version which was one thing which was hugely missing from the marketing campaign for Ghostbuster reboot fun which the original film and the original theme song had.
Receives its world premiere in Los Angeles on July 9th before opening in UK on Monday July 11th with critics normally reviewing Monday openers the Friday before will be interesting to see when the embargo ends. According to reports Sony Pictures UK won’t be press screening but according to Paul Feig it has held screenings in the US.
The big question is how will it perform will all the negativity surrounding the film possibly help as has received far more media coverage than any other film although most has been negative is it still better that film is continuously being discussed on social media?
The question is will it play like mega-movie or will it play to female focused films like Pitch Perfect 2 £5.01m or Bridesmaids £3.44m in 2011. Or will it perform like The Hunger Games? Opening on Monday makes that question even harder to answer
Out next week
Key release
- Ice Age: Collision Course – 20th Century Fox
Fifth part of the Ice Age film series that started 14 years ago produced by Blue Sky Studios; featuring the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Lopez and Simon Pegg.
A Scrat short called Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe was released with The Peanuts Movie in November in US spoofing The Martian. The first teaser wad released in December 2015, first trailer February, second in March and third trailer in May.
Blue Sky Studios screened 20 minutes of footage in June at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and received its world premiere Sydney Film Festival on June 19th over a month before opens receiving mixed reviews but reviews are unlikely to affect its box office. Holds two weekends of previews July 2nd/3rd and 9th/10th giving it a 7 day opening weekend against Ghostbuster which also has a 7- day opening weekend; has UK premiere on July 9t.
| Ice Age | 22 March 2002 | £3.02m | £14.9m |
| Ice Age: The Meltdown | 7 April 2006 | £9.77m | £29.14m |
| Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | 1 July 2009 | £7.63m | £34.55m |
| Ice Age: Continental Drift | 13 July 2012 | £10.08m | £29.11m |
Also released
- Keanu – Warner Bros
Comedy starring stars Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Method Man, Nia Long and Will Forte. Received its premiere last month at South by Southwest Festival receiving positive reviews. Warner Bros created a cat spoof of the trailer as Key and Peele aren’t well known in the UK maybe a cat version of the film would be more successful in the UK as cats are what social media was made for.
- The Purge: Election Year – Universal
Third part of the social science fiction action exploitative horror film. In the US film opened well on Friday but dropped off quickly which is likely to happen in the UK.
The Purge opened May 31st 2013 with £1,019,877 taking £3.36m
The Purge: Anarchy opened 25th July 2014 with £1,165,143 taking £4.43m
Out in two weeks
Key release
- The BFG – eOne
Fantasy adventure starring Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton, Jemaine Clement, Rebecca Hall, Rafe Spall and Bill Hader screenplay by Melissa Mathison based on Roald Dahl novel (her last before she died last year) and directed by Steven Spielberg.
The BFG is one truly big film for eOne and have pulled out all the stops for it similar to Studiocanal Paddington in 2014 (which opened with £5,112,367) with Paddington as Roald Dahl’s books have been children’s favourites for generations with many turned into films and theatre shows over the last 40+ years. From Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in 1971 to Esio Trot broadcast Christmas 2014 audiences have enjoyed his fantasy adventures while for adults was his twisted short stories Tales of the Unexpected were turned into TV series in 70s/80s warping my fragile little mind when I was younger.
Eone has a line-up of licensees from apparel, toys, games, home, gift-wares, stationery and FMCG sold at wide range of retailers online and in-store. They also are teaming up with Save the Children, Visitlondon.com, The Roald Dahl Literary Estate, Bensons for Beds, Pizza Hut and Parcelforce.
Recent film adaptions:
| Matlida | 19th Jan 1997 | £6,003,450 |
| James and the Giant Peach | 18th Aug 1996 | £2,340,204 |
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | 31st July 2005 | £7,972,168 |
| Fantastic Mr Fox | 23rd Oct 2009 | £1,517,312 |
Received its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival receiving positive reviews where Roald Dahl’s Antisemitism cast a shadow over the press conference Spielberg said he wasn’t aware of any of Roald Dahl’s personal stories. In a 1983 interview for the New Statesman he self-identified as anti-Semitic saying in interview for the Independent “I am certainly anti-Israel, and I have become anti-Semitic.”
First teaser was released in December 2015, second in April and third in May all well received on social media being compared to Harry Potter in tone; received its US premiere in LA on June 22nd’and London premiere July 17th.
Film disappointed in the US opening July 1st but was always likely opening far too close to Finding Dory in the UK The BFG opens a week before Finding Dory which should give it a better chance along with the huge marketing campaign eOne will give it.
After disappointing in the US many pages of the internet asked the question has Steven Spielberg lost his Midas touch The BFG was his first summer movie since the disappointing Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull in 2008. You would assume answer is yes especially as its 11 years ago since his last summer War of the Worlds with Minority Report a few years earlier. After Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull directed Adventures of Tintin which disappointed in the US but performed well internationally (he has recently spoke of Peter Jackson directing a sequel).
After taking a few years off came back with three adult dramas Warhorse, Lincoln and Bridge of Spies all critical successes also were successfully at the box office but of course not Jurassic Park sized.
After The BFG has already got his next three projects lined up already shooting Ready, Player One at Leavesden Studios dated for March 2018 (was to be released December 2017 before Disney moved Star Wars 8). The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara follows which will likely be released Christmas 2018 and then he starts shooting Indiana Jones 5 with Harrison Ford set for July 2019.
This video shows the evolution of Steven Spielberg over his 40+ year film career to date and why he will never lose his Midas touch as he is the film maker of our generation and its unlikely will be anyone else like him in the future. He is part of the grandfather generation of filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, George Lucas and Brian De Palma who have inspired so many to follow in their footsteps and have them to thank them for their careers.
Also release
- Star Trek Beyond – Paramount
Thirteenth film of the Star Trek film franchise and third part of the rebooted series; starring John Cho Simon Pegg Chris Pine Zachary Quinto Zoe Saldana Karl Urban Anton Yelchin and Idris Elba directed by Justin Lin replacing J.J. Abrams who was busy with Star Wars The Force Awakens.
The first trailer released in December wasn’t well received featuring heavily Beastie Boys Sabotage that made it feel like a Fast and Furious film.
In April Paramount Pictures brought Simon Pegg and J.J. Abrams to CinemaCon who talked about the film but surprised audience no footage was screened instead announcing a Star Trek event in May where the second trailer premiered which was far better received. At the event announced Star Trek Beyond will have its world premiere at Comic Con on July 20th in IMAX with full orchestra performing. But strangely it will have its UK premiere July 12th.
A third and final trailer was released in June featuring Rihanna’s single Sledgehammer which was also positively received but still looked far too much Star Furious than Star Trek. Similar to issue with Ghostbuster first trailer Simon Pegg also admitted to not liking the trailer.
Rihanna’s single Sledgehammer video was filmed in IMAX was reported as the first music video to be shot entirely with IMAX.
Star Trek 2009 reboot opened with £5.95m including £872,000 in previews taking £21.4m.
Star Trek into Darkness opened 2013 with £8.43m including previews of £1.57m taking £25.5m
In a year of misfiring sequels and opening against The BFG its unlikely to match the opening of the previous films but possibly targeting the Fast and Furious fans with the trailers it could attract audiences to it that wouldn’t otherwise and it is also sadly one of Anton Yelchin’s final films before his death last month.
US Opening Friday
- The Secret Life of Pets – Universal
With Finding Dory still performing strongly The Secret Life of Pets could find it harder to find its audience.
Illumination Entertainment has yet to have a flop had huge success with The Lorax and Despicable Me franchise with its spinoff Minions opening with $115.7m the same weekend last year and Despicable Me 3 opening next summer.
Reviews has received average reviews and was expected to open with about $80m which would be similar to Zootopia $75.1m opening in March but with Ice Age: Collusion Course out two weeks later won’t have its longevity.
- Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates – 20th Century Fox
Romantic comedy starring Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza.
R-rated comedies have had mixed success at the US box office while Wedding Crashers and Bridesmaids were very successful The Five-Year Engagement wasn’t. But with a very watchable cast including Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick and opening a few weeks after Central Intelligence marketplace is open for a new original comedy before Ghostbusters comes out next weekend.
Similar to Emma Watson with Harry Potter, Zac Efron with High School Musical Anna Kendrick acting career was launched on the back of Twilight franchise but while the leads Daniel Radcliffe, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are still living in the shadows of their franchises Anna Kendrick with films like Up in the Air and Pitch Perfect and Emma Watson with The Bling Ring along with her UN speech and work for HeforShe and upcoming Beauty and the Beast have broken away from those franchise shackles they will of course forever be thankful for those franchises as without them wouldn’t be were they are today.
Adam Devine, Aubrey Plaza, and Anna Kendrick discussed the film for Vanity Fair which featured many bleeps.
Reviews have described it as a female Wedding Crashes opening almost 11 years to the day it opened with $33.9m going on to take $209m. After so many sequels and remakes have underwhelmed could Mike and Dave be the surprise hit of the summer. 17 years ago the same weekend another R-rated sex comedy opened with $18.7m going on to take $102m and spawned many sequels American Pie.
Zac Efron’s previous openers this year Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising opened with $21.7m and Dirty Grandpa with $11.1m while Anna Kendrick’s last major wide release was last summer’s Pitch Perfect 2 opening with $69.2m; an opening of $20m+ is likely.