December 2016 Box Office Forecast
By Michael Lynderey
December 1, 2016
Films such as these often don't start all that strongly, but Why Him? should open okay and then play well day after day after day in late December.
Opening weekend: $13 million (Dec. 23-25) / Total gross: $61 million
7. Fences (December 25th)
The first really heavy film on this list is an adaptation of the late August Wilson's legendary 1983 play, a sort of variation on Death of a Salesman, with a working-class 1950s family shorn by a father-and-son relationship gone off the rails, and themes of masculinity, family, and the vitality of the American Dream (and that one's relevant; after all, the 2016 election just proved that yes, even the son of a poor immigrant maid can be elected President of the United States! no, really, I'm serious, google "Mary Anne Trump").
Fences is Denzel Washington's third film as director, and one that is so far as well received as his first two, Antwone Fisher and The Great Debaters. Understandably for a play on film, the particular focus here is on the performances: Fences has been performed everywhere the craft of acting is studied since its creation, and the trailer makes it clear that the film is worth watching at the very least as an acting masterclass, with Wilson's dialogue highlighted in particular by the forceful acting of Washington, and his co-star, Viola Davis, who reprise the stage roles for which they won Tonys in 2010. According to many a forecaster, Davis is practically guaranteed to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work, and Washington is a frontrunner in his lead category. I may be misunderstanding the release schedule, but as of right now, Fences appears to be the only wide release slated for December 25th, and should thus get a bit of a jump out of the gate against some of its fellow travelers in dramatic heft.
Opening day: $5 million / Total gross: $50 million
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