Weekend Box Office Forecast for April 28-30, 2017
By Tim Briody
April 28, 2017
We wrap up April with one new wide release and one targeted release; it’s the calm before the storm that is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
The Circle is your new wide release this weekend, based on a Dave Eggers novel that got relatively fast-tracked into theaters. Emma Watson stars as a new employee of The Circle, an internet corporation that seems to be Apple, Facebook and Google all rolled into one, led by Tom Hanks, an amalgamation of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and...whoever it is at the top of Google. At first it seems she’s landed her dream job as Watson's Mae quickly rises through the ranks, but as she begins to learn the dark secret behind the company’s revolutionary technology, her job gradually threatens her and her everyone in her life. Co-stars include John Boyega, Karen Gillan, Ellar Coltrane, Patton Oswalt, and in his final film role, Bill Paxton.
At first glance, it seems The Circle is one of the few movies to get the internet right and smartly hitting a valid point about today’s society: how much do we let these companies know about us, and where is our limit? But really it’s just the table setting for a thriller and they somehow managed to get one of the biggest box office stars in history, and the biggest box office star in the world *right now* to star in it, so it definitely does have that going for it. (And I admit that I’d like to see The Circle succeed, on the off chance we can finally get a film adaptation of Eggers’ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I know it’s completely unfilmable, but I’d like to see somebody try.) However, reviews are largely unkind, calling it cliched and riddled with bad dialogue and non-sensical plot points that even the well above average cast can’t save. Even with The Fate of the Furious cratering rapidly, it doesn’t have much of a chance at the top spot on the weekend, and looks to come in a distant second place with about $14 million.
How to Be a Latin Lover gets a targeted release of around 1,100 theaters. The film stars Eugenio Derbez, one of the most popular comedic actors in Mexico and much of Latin America. His last starring role, 2013’s Instructions Not Included, opened to $7.8 million in just 348 theaters and thus he’s aiming for crossover success here with an American production from Lionsgate. Despite the presence of notable costars Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell and Raquel Welch, there won’t be quite the same per screen average here, but it’ll make a bit of a dent in a soft top ten. Look for a weekend of around $6 million.
That leaves The Fate of the Furious for one more weekend at the top despite a 61.1% drop from its opening weekend. As we started to establish around the fifth film in the series, this franchise is for Everyone Else, as 8 Fast 8 Furious is about to cross a billion worldwide. The Fate of the Furious is pretty much copying the box office path of Fast and Furious 6 (despite the latter opening over Memorial Day instead of in April), as at this point in their runs FF6 had earned $180.3 while FF8 stands at $171.3 million (with the box office friendly holiday providing the bump to make up the difference). Somehow, the sendoff of Paul Walker was good for $100 million domestically, which makes Furious 7 the aberration and not the trend. While we may be getting sick of these movies, the rest of the world (especially China) can’t get enough. It’s a third weekend of $21.5 million for The Fate of the Furious.
The remaining relevant films remain *sigh* The Boss Baby and Beauty and the Beast (you know, Emma Watson’s other film this year) as the only other films to earn more than $5 million this weekend. The rest of the jetsam and flotsam will be gone soon as May’s big releases arrive.
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Forecast: Weekend of April 28-30, 2017
|
Rank |
Film |
Number of
Sites |
Changes in Sites
from Last |
Estimated
Gross ($) |
|
1
|
The Fate of the Furious
|
4,076
|
-253
|
21.5
|
|
2
|
The Circle
|
3,163
|
New
|
13.9
|
|
3
|
The Boss Baby
|
3,739
|
+42
|
9.8
|
|
4
|
Beauty and the Beast
|
3,155
|
-160
|
6.7
|
|
5
|
How to Be a Latin Lover
|
1,118
|
New
|
6.0
|
|
6
|
Going in Style
|
2,761
|
-277
|
3.6
|
|
7
|
Smurfs: The Lost Village
|
2,5,54
|
-183
|
3.4
|
|
8
|
Gifted
|
2,215
|
+229
|
3.4
|
|
9
|
Born in China
|
1,508
|
0
|
2.7
|
|
10
|
Unforgettable
|
2,417
|
0
|
2.1
|
|
|
|
|
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