A Stephen King adaptation, the creepy Annabelle doll from the Conjuring horror film universe, and Ryan Reynolds paired up with Samuel L. Jackson in an R-Rated action comedy. That lineup sounds almost too good to be true. But that is the August we’re getting into. Let’s talk about how much money these films will make.
NORTH AMERICAN OPENING WEEKEND PREDICTIONS:
- The Dark Tower – Sony / Columbia – August 4th, 2017 – $17 million
- Annabelle: Creation – Warner Bros. – August 11th, 2017 – $32 million
- The Hitman’s Bodyguard – Lionsgate – August 18th, 2017 – $20 million
Ahh yes, The Dark Tower. It’s a film that I, honestly, have no interest in. Sure, I like the cast, but the trailers have been hit-or-miss for me, and when fans of the King-novels aren’t happy with the trailers, then I’m not sure how audiences unfamiliar with this King story could respond well to the trailers. I have a bad feeling about this, Sony. It just doesn’t look very good.
But Annabelle: Creation is a different story entirely. Both of the Conjuring films opened to around $40 million, and the first Annabelle film even made $37 million in its opening weekend. Now, the first Annabelle film isn’t very good, to put it lightly, but whenever I’ve seen trailers for this film in the theater, everyone around me seemed intrigued or very excited.
Sam Jackson and Ryan Reynolds in an R-Rated action comedy… It just sounds like a recipe for success. Audiences should still be very excited for any comedy Reynolds makes right now, and I think The Hitman’s Bodyguard is going to do fairly well.
MAJOR OPENING WEEKENDS – JULY:
- Spider-Man: Homecoming – Sony / Columbia – July 7th, 2017 – $117 million (+10)
- War for the Planet of the Apes – Fox – July 14th, 2017 – $56 million (-4)
- Dunkirk – Warner Bros. – July 21st, 2017 – $50 million (+16)
- The Emoji Movie – Columbia – July 28th, 2017 – $24 million (-6)
Spider-Man: Homecoming made ten million more than I thought it would in its opening weekend. And before you say that $117 million is a bad opening weekend, let me remind you that audiences do have Spider-Man fatigue, but somehow Homecoming still managed to make $26 million more than the last Spider-Man film did in its opening weekend.
So, I was right about War for the Planet of the Apes (not exactly right, but close enough), and that, well, makes me really unhappy. War is a terrific film and it deserves to make so much more than it already has. Good movies should make money, and this is a really disappointing opening weekend for Fox.
I am shocked by how much Dunkirk made, though. Nolan’s name resonates with audiences, clearly. And perhaps people were fascinated by how much of an experience it has been marketed as.
And, finally, let’s talk about The Emoji Movie. Now, I haven’t seen the film yet, and I don’t plan to review it anytime soon, but critics all over the world have pretty much unanimously said that this film is awful. It didn’t do all that well at the box office either. Only $6 million below my prediction so that’s pretty good for me.
But it is pretty bad for Sony. You have to remember that, in its opening weekend, The Emoji Movie made less than half of what both The Boss Baby and Cars 3 made in their respective opening weekends.
THE BILLION DOLLAR CLUB:
- Beauty and the Beast – Disney – $1,262 billion
- The Fate of the Furious – Universal – $1,238 billion
Box office totals as of August 1st, 2017, according to Box Office Mojo.
Honestly, there isn’t a lot to discuss about the Billion Dollar Club this month. None of the films released in August will get close to making that much money, and the next film to realistically have a chance is, perhaps, Justice League or maybe Thor: Ragnarok.
– Jeffrey Rex
I'm Jeffrey Rex 