John Cena follows the career path of fellow grappler Dwayne Johnson with the release of Playing with Fire next weekend. The family comedy casts him as a firefighter caring for rambunctious kids along with his coworkers. Andy Fickman directs and the cast includes Keegan-Michael Key, John Leguizamo, Brianna Hildebrand, Dennis Haysbert, and Judy Greer.
The Paramount release is essentially taking the studio’s Instant Family slot from last year. That pic scored a fairly decent $14.7 million for its start and legged out to a $67 million domestic gross. Cena hasn’t proven himself to be a player in this genre, however, and I’d say Mark Wahlberg’s star power is a bit brighter.
The best hope for Fire is that it develops small dips in subsequent weekends if word of mouth is solid, but I believe it’ll be fortunate to reach double digits in its premiere.
Playing with Fire opening weekend prediction: $7.9 million
For my Doctor Sleep prediction, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.com/2019/10/29/doctor-sleep-box-office-prediction/
For my Last Christmas prediction, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.com/2019/10/30/last-christmas-box-office-prediction/
For my Midway prediction, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.com/2019/10/31/midway-box-office-prediction/