Weekend Forecast for October 3-5, 2014
By Reagen Sulewski
October 3, 2014
Remember when Nicolas Cage was a respected actor who made sound choices? Neither do I. The remake of Left Behind is the third film opening wide this week – yes, the rapture novel series that starred Kirk Cameron (before he went completely off the deep end) in its first go-round. No doubt made to try and capitalize on the increased interest in religiously-themed movies in the last few years, it unfortunately seems to be only slightly concerned with the idea of quality. With an effects budget that is *at least* $39, this looks like a SyFy movie that somehow slipped its bonds and wrestled its way into theaters. I would wager that the possible percentage of viewers this weekend who are seeing it sincerely could be as high as 20%, with the rest just wanting to see how bad it can get.
The cast also includes such luminaries as Lea Thompson, Chad Michael Murray, Nicky Whelan and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, who also provides an end-credit song. Reviews are quite savage, throwing it under the level of the original film, which is quite the feat. This seems to stem from the fact that the film focuses more on the action aspects of the story, as millions of people go suddenly missing (apparently the “R” word is never actually used, so...), and the aftermath of that chaos, what with car crashes and plane crashes and doctors disappearing in the middle of operations. Ultimately, the thing plays as the ultimate “you'll be sorry when I'm gone” wish fulfillment story. While some of these movies targeted at religious audiences have had decent openings, this does not seem likely to join them, and the only thing even bringing this to our attention is the presence of Cage. I'd expect around $6 million this weekend.
The Equalizer landed in the upper half of Denzel Washington's opening weekends with $34 million in its debut last frame, showing that he can really put his name on just about anything and get traction, as long as he beats people up in it. I've spilled gallons of ink on just how consistent Washington is in delivering, so I won't belabor the point other than to say: Denzel, he's good. This might be his first franchise ready film, and $20 million this weekend might push that along.
Still the only real family film out there, The Boxtrolls had a slightly better than expected start of $17 million, and should hold well because of its genre. Focus Features seems to be trying to single-handedly make stop-motion animation a thing, and is doing a decent job of it for a small studio. I'd expect around $12 million here.
In its third weekend, The Maze Runner should find around $10 million, as it has held up fairly well for being a YA adaptation, and relying on a young audience that should have been front-loaded. While $100 million is probably on the knife's edge for its final domestic total, this is a decent result for the cheaply budgeted film, and could justify continuing the series.
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Forecast: Weekend of October 3-5, 2014
|
Rank |
Film |
Number of
Sites |
Changes in Sites
from Last |
Estimated
Gross ($) |
|
1
|
Gone Girl
|
3,014
|
New
|
37.4
|
|
2
|
Annabelle
|
3,185
|
New
|
26.4
|
|
3
|
The Equalizer
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
19.9
|
|
4
|
The Boxtrolls
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
12.2
|
|
5
|
The Maze Runner
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
9.7
|
|
6
|
Left Behind
|
1,820
|
New
|
6.4
|
|
7
|
This Is Where I Leave You
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
4.3
|
|
8
|
Dolphin Tale 2
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
3.0
|
|
9
|
No Good Deed
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
2.8
|
|
10
|
Guardians of the Galaxy
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
2.4
|
Continued:
1
2
|
|
|
|
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