Lee Daniels’ The Butler Box Office Prediction

Originally scheduled for an autumn release, Lee Daniels’ The Butler was pushed up to summer and the Weinstein Company seems to think they have a hit on their hands. Do they? Just maybe.

The picture tells the real life story of a White House butler (Forest Whitaker) who worked at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. from the Eisenhower to Reagan administrations. We’ve got an array of well-known actors playing historical figures that includes John Cusack as President Nixon, James Marsden as President Kennedy, Liev Schreiber as President Johnson, Alan Rickman as President Reagan, Robin Williams as President Eisenhower, and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan.

And… there’s the Oprah factor. Ms. Winfrey plays the butler’s wife and this marks the media mogul’s first major film role since 1998’s Beloved. Her participation in this project alone is likely to get some of her followers to the theater.

A historical pic opening in August is certainly a gamble that the studio is hoping will pay off. The Butler has a couple of things going for it: it seems to be garnering positive reviews so far and audiences may be ready for a more adult-themed experience in the midst of endless sci-fi and superhero flicks. Additionally, The Butler is one of the only movies this season that is marketed to an African-American audience and that should help. This spring, the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 exceeded expectations with a $27 million opening weekend. Could The Butler open in that ballpark?

I would say the low of expectations would be in the $15-$18 million dollar range and the high end would be the $27M that 42 garnered. My prediction is that The Butler opens in the middle of that range and could have a nice run in subsequent weeks if audiences respond well to it.

Lee Daniels’ The Butler box office prediction: $21.7 million

For my prediction on Kick-Ass 2, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/kick-ass-2-box-office-prediction/

For my prediction on Paranoia, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/paranoia-box-office-prediction/

For my prediction on Jobs, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/jobs-box-office-prediction/