Weekend Forecast for August 22-24, 2014
By Reagen Sulewski
August 22, 2014
Lastly, we have When The Game Stands Tall, a based-on-true-events sports story. It revolves around a California high school football team with a record winning streak, years long, and what happens after both the streak is broken and a tragedy befalls the team. Yada yada strength of character, yada yada winners get back up, etc. etc. ad nauseum. While the film's game sequences are reportedly top notch, the film is really held together with a bunch of sports cliches, like old chewing gum. If you are interested in a generically good time, and wishing to be moderately roused in spirit, this may just be the film for you. Starring Jim Caviezel, Laura Dern, Michael Chiklis and a bunch of kids who may or may not amount to anything, this is almost literally the definition of an average movie. Destined to be shown in PE class on rainy days forever, it'll earn around $8 million this weekend.
The weakness of the new films means it's not quite as long a shot as it might have been for either Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Guardians of the Galaxy to hold or retake the top spot at the box office. While I'm judging our culture quite harshly for this, box office is box office, and the approximately $185 and $260 million the two films will earn respectively in the domestic market is testament to how powerful branding is in the marketplace these days. Marvel's effort should pull in about $15 million this weekend, with Turtles dropping to around $13 million.
Last week's trio of unremarkable openers should hobble along for another week before largely disappearing. Let's Be Cops was the surprise winner of the three, with $17 million on the weekend and $26 million over five days. The Damon Wayans Jr/Jake Johnson buddy not-cop movie defied reviews that would have buried it in ignominy, and got a number that's not bad for a glorified TV episode. It should see around $8 million this weekend.
The Expendables 3 may mark the end of a franchise, unless worldwide box office picks up the slack, as a $16 million opening weekend is near disaster territory for a film with a budget that runs in the nine figures. Over a 50% discount from the opening of the original, this is a concept that really appears to have run its course, and Sylvester Stallone will have to come up with a new gimmick to remain relevant into his 70s. Give it $7 million this weekend.
The Giver managed just $12 million in its opening weekend, as the YA market failed to materialize for this film. It's largely a problem of relevancy, as the book is older than most of the audience, and Jeff Bridges doesn't bring in the youngsters like he used to. Look for around $5 million this time around.
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Forecast: Weekend of August 22-24, 2014
|
Rank |
Film |
Number of
Sites |
Changes in Sites
from Last |
Estimated
Gross ($) |
|
1
|
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
|
2,894
|
New
|
17.5
|
|
2
|
Guardians of the Galaxy
|
3,371
|
-326
|
15.3
|
|
3
|
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
|
3,864
|
-116
|
13.3
|
|
4
|
If I Stay
|
2,907
|
New
|
11.4
|
|
5
|
When the Game Stands Tall
|
2,673
|
New
|
8.5
|
|
6
|
Let's Be Cops
|
3,140
|
+46
|
7.9
|
|
7
|
The Expendables 3
|
3,221
|
0
|
7.2
|
|
8
|
The Giver
|
3,003
|
0
|
5.4
|
|
9
|
The Hundred-Foot Journey
|
1,944
|
-99
|
4.6
|
|
10
|
Into the Storm
|
2,375
|
-1,059
|
3.6
|
Continued:
1
2
|
|
|
|
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