The sports drama When the Game Stands Tall opens Friday, in conjunction with football season starting up. Inspired by a true story, the TriStar release focuses on a high school’s team 151 game winning streak and stars Jim Caviezel, Laura Dern, and Michael Chiklis. Thomas Carter, who directed one successful similar genre pic Coach Carter with Samuel L. Jackson, is behind the camera.
Earlier this summer, another sports pic Million Dollar Arm starring Jon Hamm, stumbled out of the gate with only a $10.5 million opening. That picture had Disney behind it and a more recognizable star. If Arm performed badly, it’s tough to see how this breaks through with audiences. Unless the timing of its release helps, Tall is probably primed for a subpar opening. There’s also the issue of many high school football fans might, you know, actually be watching a high school football game this Friday night.
When the Game Stands Tall opening weekend prediction: $9 million
For my Sin City: A Dame to Kill For prediction, click here:
Summit Entertainment is the studio de jour for young adult flicks and they’ve got another one this Friday with If I Stay, based on the novel by Gayle Forman. The film centers on a teen played by Chloe Grace Moritz of Kick Ass fame dealing with love and loss and is directed by R.J. Cutler, who seems a bit out of his element because he’s known more for making political documentaries.
If I Stay would love to follow in the footsteps of an earlier pic this summer, The Fault in Our Stars. That seems unlikely to occur as it’s been curiously under marketed and the late summer release is often somewhat of a dumping ground for studios. If Stay can debut above $15 million, the studio should consider that a success. I wonder if it will even manage double digits. My prediction is that it will get there, but not by much and my estimate puts it in the same range as another YA movie, The Giver, from this past weekend.
If I Stay opening weekend prediction: $12.1 million
For my Sin City: A Dame to Kill For prediction, click here:
Nearly ten years after its predecessor performed solidly at the box office, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For makes it theatrical debut Friday. Original directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller are back behind the camera, based on Miller’s work from his acclaimed graphic novel. Several stars of the 2005 pic return – including Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Mickey Rourke, Powers Boothe and Jaime King. Newcomers to the sequel include Joseph Gordon Levitt, Josh Brolin, Lady Gaga, Dennis Haysbert, Christopher Lloyd, Ray Liotta, and Jeremy Piven.
It was the spring of 2005 when Sin City did great business of the gate domestically with $29 million. However, it would suffer large declines in subsequent weekends and its final gross was a respectable $74 million. The big question is whether too much time has passed for audiences to really be clamoring for a sequel?
I have my doubts. The original was mostly well-received and there will be some who are excited to see it (myself included). However, the near decade long wait makes it unlikely that Dame will approach the performance of the first. I would be surprised if it exceeds $25 million in its debut and believe a high teens to low 20s debut is more likely.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opening weekend prediction: $20.8 million
We’ve reached the five highest grossing actors in the history of film this evening and the culmination of my five part series. Hope you’ve enjoyed it! For a reminder of the men and women who makes up numbers 25-6 – you can peruse them at the following links:
Franchises: The 48 HRS, Beverly Hills Cop, Nutty Professor, Doctor Dolittle, and Shrek series.
Highest Grossing Picture: Shrek 2 – $441 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 13. Beverly Hills Cop, Beverly Hills Cop II, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Mulan, Doctor Dolittle, The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Shrek, Dr. Dolittle 2, Daddy Day Care, Shrek 2, Dreamgirls, Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After.
Lowest Grossing Picture: The Adventures of Pluto Nash – $4 million
4. Harrison Ford
Career Earnings: $3.8 billion
Franchises: The Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Jack Ryan series. Mr. Ford also appeared in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and The Expendables 3.
Highest Grossing Picture: Star Wars – $461 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 13. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Fugitive, Clear and Present Danger, Air Force One, What Lies Beneath, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Cowboys&Aliens, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.
Lowest Grossing Picture: Crossing Over – $455,000
3. Samuel L. Jackson
Career Earnings: $4 billion
Franchises: The Iron Man, Avengers, Captain America, Star Wars, and XXX series.
Highest Grossing Picture: The Avengers – $623 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 19. Coming to America, Jurassic Park, Pulp Fiction, Die Hard with a Vengeance, A Time to Kill, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, XXX, S.W.A.T., The Incredibles, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Other Guys, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Django Unchained, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Lowest Grossing Picture: Meeting Evil – $525 (you read that right… five hundred twenty five dollars…)
2. Morgan Freeman
Career Earnings: $4.1 billion
Franchises: The Dark Knight series. Bruce Almighty/Evan Almighty
Highest Grossing Picture: The Dark Knight – $534 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 16. Driving Miss Daisy, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Unforgiven, Seven, Deep Impact, The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, Million Dollar Baby, Batman Begins, Evan Almighty, Wanted, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Now You See Me, The LEGO Movie, Lucy.
Lowest Grossing Picture: 10 Items or Less – $83,000
1. Tom Hanks
Career Earnings: $4.2 billion
Franchises: The Toy Story series. The Da Vinci Code/Angels&Demons
Highest Grossing Picture: Toy Story 3 – $415 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 18. Big, A League of their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Toy Story, Saving Private Ryan, You’ve Got Mail, Toy Story 2, The Green Mile, Cast Away, Road to Perdition, Catch Me If You Can, The Polar Express, The Da Vinci Code, Angels&Demons, Toy Story 3, Captain Phillips.
Lowest Grossing Picture: Every Time We Say Goodbye – $278,000
**A blogger’s note: With Samuel L. Jackson’s involvement in the Avengers universe, do not be surprised to see him vault to #1 once the Avengers sequel is released next summer.
We have arrived at the Top Ten in my list of the Top 25 Highest Grossing Actors of All Time this evening. If you missed my first three parts covering numbers 25-11, you can find them here and here and here:
Onto the top ten with the final five coming tomorrow:
10. Robert Downey, Jr.
Career Earnings: $3 billion
Franchises: The Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, and Avengers series
Highest Grossing Picture: The Avengers – $623 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 8. Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, Sherlock Holmes, Iron Man 2, Due Date, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Avengers, Iron Man 3.
Lowest Grossing Picture: Hugo Pool – $13,000
9. Johnny Depp
Career Earnings: $3 billion
Franchises: The Pirates of the Caribbean series
Highest Grossing Picture: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $423 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 8. Sleepy Hollow, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Alice in Wonderland, Rango, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Lowest Grossing Picture: Arizona Dream – $112,000
8. Robin Williams
Career Earnings: $3.1 billion
Franchises: The Night at the Museum and Happy Feet series
Highest Grossing Picture: Night at the Museum – $250 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 13. Good Morning, Vietnam, Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, The Birdcage, Good Will Hunting, Patch Adams, Robots, Happy Feet, Night at the Museum, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Lee Daniels’ The Butler.
Lowest Grossing Picture: The Secret Agent – $106,000
7. Bruce Willis
Career Earnings: $3.1 billion
Franchises: The Die Hard, Look Who’s Talking, The Expendables, and Red series. Mr. Willis also appeared in the sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Highest Grossing Picture: The Sixth Sense – $293 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 10. Look Who’s Talking, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Pulp Fiction, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Armageddon, The Sixth Sense, Over the Hedge, Live Free or Die Hard, The Expendables, G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Lowest Grossing Picture: Lay the Favorite – $20,000
6. Tom Cruise
Career Earnings: $3.3 billion
Franchises: The Mission: Impossible series
Highest Grossing Picture: War of the Worlds – $234 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 17. Top Gun, Rain Man, A Few Good Men, The Firm, Interview with the Vampire, Mission: Impossible, Jerry Maguire, Mission: Impossible II, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, The Last Samurai, Collateral, War of the Worlds, Mission: Impossible III, Tropic Thunder, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Edge of Tomorrow.
We’ve returned to my Top 25 Highest Grossing Actors of All Time list and part three, covering numbers 15-11. If you missed the first two entries, you may find them here:
Franchises: The X-Men, Lord of the Rings, and Hobbit series
Highest Grossing Picture: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King – $377 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 10. X-Men, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, X2: X-Men United, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, The Da Vinci Code, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Lowest Grosser: Emilie – $5,800
14. Robert De Niro
Career Earnings: $2.9 million
Franchises: The Fockers series and Analyze This/Analyze That
Highest Grossing Picture: Meet the Fockers – $279 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 6. Analyze This, Meet the Parents, Shark Tale, Meet the Fockers, Little Fockers, Silver Linings Playbook.
Lowest Grosser: Killing Season – $39,000
13. Michael Caine
Career Earnings: $2.9 billion
Franchises: The Dark Knight series. Mr. Caine also appeared in sequels Jaws 4: The Revenge, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Cars 2, and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.
Highest Grossing Picture: The Dark Knight – $534 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 9. Miss Congeniality, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception, Cars 2, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, The Dark Knight Rises, Now You See Me.
Lowest Grosser: Around the Bend – $193,000
12. Cameron Diaz
Career Earnings: $2.9 billion **Blogger’s note: highest ranking female on list
Franchises: The Shrek series. Charlie’s Angels/Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
Highest Grossing Picture: Shrek 2 – $441 million
Number of $100M+ Earners: 11. The Mask, My Best Friend’s Wedding, There’s Something About Mary, Charlie’s Angels, Shrek, Vanilla Sky, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After, Bad Teacher.
Lowest Grosser: Head Above Water – $32,000
11. Gary Oldman
Career Earnings: $3 billion
Franchises: The Harry Potter and Dark Knight franchises. Mr. Oldman also appeared in sequels Hannibal, Kung Fu Panda 2, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Highest Grossing Picture: The Dark Knight – $534 million
Numbers of $100M+ Earners: 12. Air Force, Hannibal, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Batman Begins, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Dark Knight, A Christmas Carol, Kung Fu Panda 2, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Dark Knight Rises, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Lowest Grosser: We Think the World of You – $20,000
There will be many articles written very soon, if not already, about the career of Robin Williams. I am not writing a comprehensive breakdown of his storied career. I’ll leave that to others. Needless to say, his life on the silver screen was an amazing one.
For someone who follows movies as closely as I do and love them like I do, my reaction to these unexpected and tragic deaths are difficult to describe. On Super Bowl Sunday this year, I had a similar feeling with Philip Seymour Hoffman. The details of both deaths were both shocking, but again – others will focus on that. Not me.
This blog serves as an outlet for my stream of consciousness thoughts and when thinking about Mr. Williams’ passing – here’s what has been most prevalent in my mind tonight:
I grew up with Robin Williams. Movies like Hook and Mrs. Doubtfire were released in my younger years. During this time frame, perhaps his most brilliant work came in Aladdin.
When Robin Williams came up in movie conversations with friends, my go to line was usually: “I like him even better in dramatic roles.” This is true. Truth be told, the greatest comedians are very often the greatest actors. You see it with Eddie Murphy. And Bill Murray. And you saw it with Robin Williams. Good Will Hunting, The Fisher King, Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, One Hour Photo, Insomnia…
If you’re a movie lover and a fan of Robin Williams but know him mostly for only comedic work – I implore you to watch those films listed above.
Robin Williams was an icon and has been for some time. He was the final sit down guest on Johnny Carson’s show. He could star in mega-blockbuster comedies and then go dramatic and win an Oscar. His stand-up comedy and appearances on Carson and Letterman are legendary. From TV to film to the Broadway stage to the comedy club stage – he did it all and so often exceled at it.
A word I’ve heard a lot on the news tonight is Joy. So true. He brought a lot of it to audiences. A whole lot. Much will be speculated on how someone who brought so much joy to others apparently didn’t experience it himself in the end. The only thing to say about that, in my mind, was said tonight by Jimmy Kimmel: “If you’re sad, tell someone.” Great advice.
Robin Williams was a performer who could make audiences feel the whole range of emotions we experience as filmgoers. He’ll be truly missed.
This weekend – three new titles (The Expendables 3, Let’s Be Cops, The Giver) open and attempt to compete with the second weekend of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and third weekend of Guardians of the Galaxy. You can find my detailed individual prediction posts on the newbies here:
As I see it, there could be a legitimate four-way race for the #1 spot – something that’s extremely rare. Ninja Turtles opened WAY beyond expectations (more on that below) yet its mediocre B Cinemascore likely means a big drop in its sophomore frame. Guardians should hold up better, creating a tight race with Turtles. The wild cards are the third Expendables and Let’s Be Cops. Either one could easily exceed my expectations and debut at #1. However, my predictions reflect a belief that Turtles barely manages to outdo Galaxy with Expendables and Cops third and fourth. The badly marketed The Giver should round out the top five.
And with that, my predictions for the mid-August top five:
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Predicted Gross: $25.7 million (representing a drop of 60%)
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
Predicted Gross: $24.1 million (representing a drop of 42%)
3. The Expendables 3
Predicted Gross: $21.5 million
4. Let’s Be Cops
Predicted Gross: $17.7 million (opens Wednesday: $23.4 million predicted for five-day debut)
5. The Giver
Predicted Gross: $11 million
Box Office Results (August 8-10)
Box office prognosticators like me were shell shocked this weekend by the terrific performance of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which posted the fourth largest August opening ever with $65.5 million, way beyond my $28.2M projection. A sequel was greenlit immediately and a new Turtle franchise is born. I was clearly way off on believing the pizza-loving amphibians popularity had waned. Whoops.
Guardians of the Galaxy held up well in weekend #2 with $42.1 million, in line with my $42.9M prediction. The Marvel blockbuster has amassed a fantastic $176M in ten days.
Opening decently in third was disaster flick Into the Storm with $17.3 million, ahead of my $13.6M estimate. Look for it to fall pretty far in its second weekend, though. The Helen Mirren comedic drama The Hundred-Foot Journey debuted fourth with $10.9 million, on pace with my $10.7M projection. Holdover Lucy rounded out the top five with $9.4 million, just ahead of my $8.1M prediction. Newcomer Step Up: All In kept the dance franchise’s earnings plummeting with only $6.4 million, below my $8.4M estimate. Finally, the James Brown biopic Get On Up continues its highly disappointing run. I believed it wouldn’t fall much in weekend two, but it certainly did. Up was down 62% with $5.1 million, well below my generous $8.8M prediction.
The Giver opens Friday and the youth oriented science fiction flick poses a serious question: will audiences turn out for it and who is the intended audience? The Weinstein Company seems to have little faith in the project and its marketing campaign has been quite underwhelming. Based on a 1993 Lois Lowry novel, the pic does have some serious talent behind it. The adult stars are Oscar winners Jeff Bridges (who coproduced) and Meryl Streep, with Katie Holmes and singer Taylor Swift in supporting roles. Phillip Noyce, director of Patriot Games and Salt, is behind the camera.
Aside from its subdued marketing, other challenges face The Giver. If it’s going for the youth audience, there’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Guardians of the Galaxy to contend with. The film’s budget is a meager $30 million and yet it still may struggle to recoup that cost domestically. The Giver could struggle to reach double digits, but I’ll predict it does manage that unimpressive benchmark for what’ll likely be a fifth place opening next weekend.
Last summer, the raunchy comedy We’re the Millers was a breakout August hit which opened on a Wednesday. The Jennifer Aniston/Jason Sudeikis pic took in $37 million over its five-day frame and $26 million from Friday to Sunday, on its way to grossing over $150M domestically. This Friday, Let’s Be Cops with Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans, Jr. will attempt the same feat.
While I believe Cops could be poised for a solid debut, it seems to me that Millers territory is unlikely. Costarring Andy Garcia and Rob Riggle, Cops has received a robust marketing campaign from Fox and the trailers and TV spots are pretty funny. It’s almost been two months since the last successful comedy, 22 Jump Street, so audiences could be primed for laughs. There’s no reviews yet and that could be somewhat of a factor – seeing that negative critical reaction helped sink last month’s Sex Tape. In addition, unlike Millers, none of the stars of Cops have any sort of box office track record.
That said, the dearth of comedies out now should lead this to a three day opening in the high teens and a possible mid 20s five day haul.
Let’s Be Cops opening weekend prediction: $17.7 million (Friday-to-Sunday), $23.4 million (Wednesday-to-Sunday)
For my prediction on The Expendables 3, click here:
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