New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

5. Ferdinand (December 15th)
Here is the bull, Ferdinand, who materializes to wreck a china shop (his birthright) before proceeding to journey faraways home to the little girl who loves him. The release date up there is not one of my many typos - the film is really opening against Star Wars, bravely and brazenly, as a bull must, and conceding that almost no headline written about the weekend's box office will include that name Ferdinand in the title. But that's okay.

It's okay because Ferdinand will play well for a good few weeks anyway, while children are out of school, as the enthralling Coco winds down in its fifth week; and even though another children's film also comes to town (Jumanji, of course), it at the very minimum isn't animated, or at least not any more than it has to be (... The Rock has grown to such proportions that he should be forgiving if ever mistaken for a special effect). In any event, few big CGI animated films ever work hard enough at being bad to finish with a box office under $100 million, and Ferdinand displays no evidence that it'll be met with anything but favorable critical acclamation.

The film comes to us courtesy of Blue Sky Studios and Fox, previously of Ice Age fame, and the cast, as expected, includes an impressive roster of comedians (this is Gabriel Iglesias' fourth major voice role of 2017, for heaven's sake, and Kate McKinnon and Bobby Cannavale couldn't be kept off the set, either). Our bull hero is voiced by WWE survivor John Cena, who, through no fault of his own, recently found himself a participant in what I think ought to be the worst scene of the year, if it isn't: the heart-warming climax of Daddy's Home 2, set in a movie theatre, where, one by one, every lead character's heart melts, their life-long emotional problems and personal issues dissolve, and they rejoice together in a particularly out-of-tune musical performance. While it's true that we must remember the past or we are doomed to repeat it, that phase of Cena's career must be given an exception.

With Ferdinand, he'll be going uphill.

Opening weekend: $21 million / Total gross: $100 million

6. All the Money in the World (December 25th)
There is no use at this point in recounting the events of the last two months, even specifically as relevant to this motion picture. It is safe to say, however, that Academy Award-winning actor Kevin Spacey, who had oddly put on old age makeup to play gazillionaire J. Paul Getty, then 80 years old (21 of which were Spacey's senior), is no longer officially affiliated with this motion picture; and, in fact, has now been replaced by a genuine senior citizen, Christopher Plummer, who's spent the recent decade starring in surprisingly merciless thrillers like Remember (2015) and winning the occasional Academy Award for his troubles (Best Supporting Actor, Beginners, 2011). Of course, the recasting and the age gap were unrelated.

Charlie Plummer, no relation, plays the Getty grandson, John Paul Getty III, who was abducted by criminals in Italy at age sixteen, in 1973, with a ransom demanded for his return (hefty, if not quite all the money in the world). Michelle Williams is his mother, perhaps surprised that her father-in-law won't immediately bail out his grandson, while Mark Wahlberg is a family lawyer and confidant assisting in the transaction, such as it is. Would you hate me if I spoiled the film and told you that John III survived? Hate away. (Getty III is the father of actor Balthazar Getty, whose existence thus serves as a sort of spoiler of the ending anyway).

Director Ridley Scott flew in the more experienced of the two Plummers to play the role less than three weeks ago, and already we have new advertising materials for the film, like a poster and trailer (no frightful face-altering special effects were deployed on the actor, who looks less like Getty and more like his jolly self). With the relevant reshoots now essentially complete, everything should proceed as planned, and the film will, I'm sure, generate enough interest to be a healthy option for adult filmgoers looking to take in one of those so-advertised Oscar-branded films at years' end.

As for Kevin Spacey? I believe Tom Hanks was recently flown in to re-shoot his role in American Beauty, with VHS copy recalls set to begin shortly.

Opening weekend: $13 million / Total gross: $57 million

7. Downsizing (December 22nd)
Alexander Payne directs Matt Damon into a world not many years removed from now, where some human beings use an irreversible procedure to shrink themselves down to five inches tall, wherein their meager salary instantly turns, on that scale, into a fortune, and they can afford to buy a tiny bit of everything, right good for their size. So Damon shrinks, his wife holds back at the last moment, and the film proceeds as you might expect, as the man re-evaluates his life and acquires a new love interest (Hong Chau), while interacting with any number of scene-stealing character actors (squint in the trailer and see a pint-sized Margo Martindale, Jason Sudeikis, and Christoph Waltz, living in miniature bliss). Kristen Wiig, as the de facto giant-sized spouse, should offer a splash of dry humor even as Damon shrinks down and out of sight.

The concept is pretty brilliant and perfectly logical, when you think about it. And while Damon headlined George Clooney's dark and unwieldly satire Suburbicon not long ago, this one should appeal wider: Reviews are quite good, though occasionally divisive, and Payne has enough goodwill, at least outside of the oppressive Nebraska (his 2004 outing Sideways is pretty much my favorite movie ever; it doesn't get enough respect). Suburbicon may not take off quite right away, but with some word-of-mouth and occasional awards attention (I assume some will forthcome) it should pull itself up by its bootstraps to high status among the month's less flashy entertainments.

Opening weekend: $12 million / Total gross: $60 million

8. Father Figures (December 22nd)
Another title we're meant to take more or less both literally and as a humorous pun, as Ed Helms and Owen Wilson discover they are the products of a non-paternity event (that's the medical term), and embark on a slapstick quest to uncover their biological father (as I understand it, the same man is responsible for the conception of both of them; thanks, dude). In the U.K., the film is known as Who's Your Daddy?, a title I think must have already been used for any number of American films, television series, and miscellenea.

Cinematographer Lawrence Sher makes his directorial debut, Glenn Close plays the secretive mother, and the roster of potential daddys is filled by Christopher Walken, Terry Bradshaw (...playing himself), J. K. Simmons, Ving Rhames, and so on (was Sam Elliott unavailable as the inevitable right answer?). The trailer promises broad, unambitious comedy, and in a month without a clear frontrunner or ballbuster in the comedic genre, there's probably enough room for a film of the lowbrower sort, away from the more refined, high-cheekboned Downsizing or the insider-baseball references of The Disaster Artist. And at this time of year, a film about bringing the whole family together makes a certain amount of sense.

I did say, "a certain amount".

Opening weekend: $8 million / Total gross: $30 million

9. The Disaster Artist (expands December 8th)
This is a film title that lovingly mocks its star character, much like The Disaster Artist itself, which is about the making of The Room, a micro-budget 2003 romance drama notable for having been repeatedly touted as the worst movie ever made; though, 1) Have they seen any Star Wars film of their choice?, and 2) I assume thousands of other such no-budget (and a few quite high-budget) enterprises that languish in obscurity could reasonably stake a claim for that status. I'd never heard of The Room, but it has amassed a rich and abundant cult following. No connection to the great 2015 drama Room will be inferred, I hope.

James Franco undergoes facial alterations and acquires shoulder-length hair to play Room filmmaker and star Tommy Wiseau (I suppose if you didn't know, you might not recognize instantly), while Dave Franco is actor Greg Sestero, who trusts along with Tommy, and a who's who of actors and filmmakers, largely of the Apatow troupe of traveling performers, appear in supporting roles (Alison Brie as the girl with the heart of gold, along with Zac Efron, Ari Graynor, Bryan Cranston [Franco's co-star in Why Him?], and so on in what is sure to be a lengthy if rewarding credit scroll).

Films about filmmaking don't make a lot of money, I guess (even I'm not really a behind-the-scenes guy, honestly), but a lot of people who know movies get the joke, and The Disaster Artist has had a lot of healthy buzz for almost a year now, from its premiere at SXSW in March to Toronto festival screenings in September, with Franco, James, getting some plausible awards buzz at the moment (the film expands three days before the Golden Globe nominations, where his name is certain to appear). For an odd title about an underground classic, the film should pride itself on coming in #9, if that is indeed its fate.

Total gross: $35 million

10. Just Getting Started (December 8th)
By all appearances this is one of those laid-back comedies with all-star baby boomer casts (or baby boomer+, often), like Last Vegas, the new Going in Style, or Stand Up Guys.

The films almost always star legendary actors of a certain age, who attempt to reach a life-long goal, lapse into brazen criminal activity (a robbery, most often), or simply pal around at each other's expense, recalling merry old times and heartbreaks while facing a less charitable future. Sometimes, whether or not the subject is theft or simple celebration, the setting is in Las Vegas. One of the leads in this subgenre is invariably played by Morgan Freeman, and indeed, Freeman is one of the headliners in this film as well, playing opposite Tommy Lee Jones, Rene Russo, and the last role of Glenne Headly, who died in June.

Often, these films are highly profitable. Others live more on the margins. Here, the action begins in a Palm Springs, California, retirement resort; the battle is, still, against the mob, though romantic entanglements also flitter through the plot. The film gets itself a nice, snug release date in the bare early days of the month, when most people are still in hibernation, and when its biggest new competition for box office glory is James Franco's implacable accent in The Disaster Artist. Who knows, if the big hitters of November even drop quite enough, Just Getting Started may well win its weekend, though not with the numbers I'm giving it.

Opening weekend: $7 million / Total gross: $20 million

11. The quiet ones...
Not a film, but a description, as the last titles to qualify for Oscar contention raise their heads, one by one, theater by theater, in preparation for wider releases in late December or all the way to January. Most people are still waiting for Darkest Hour and Call Me By Your Name to slide themselves into a theatre nearby, and the waiting list will get larger still with the platform releases of Guillermo del Toro's dark fantasy romance The Shape of Water, Woody Allen's latest period piece Wonder Wheel, with Kate Winslet and Justin Timberlake at Coney Island, and I, Tonya, where Margot Robbie channels a beleaguered skating legend, from her working-class upbringing to a notorious 1994 incident that she may or may not have instigated.

Late in the month will see the unrolling of Hostiles, a Western with Christian Bale and Wes Studi, and The Post, Steven Spielberg's early 1970s dramatization of the Washington newspaper's many adventures, some wacky, some less so, with Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep in the leads. That's one a relative few will see until January. Start looking at your watch.

Continued:       1       2