Tag: Amy Sedaris

Is This Thing On? Box Office Prediction

Marking the third directorial feature for Bradley Cooper, dramedy Is This Thing On? expands nationwide on January 9th. Will Arnett stars as a divorcee who stumbles into stand-up comedy. Laura Dern, Cooper, Andra Day, Amy Sedaris, Arnett’s Smartless cohost Sean Hayes, Christine Ebersole, and Ciarán Hinds are among the supporting cast.

Critical response is on the plus side with 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and 74 on Metacritic. Cooper’s behind the camera debut, 2018’s A Star Is Born, was a box office smash that generated numerous Oscar nods. 2023’s follow-up Maestro went the Netflix route and also managed a Best Picture nod along with acting mentions. Thing is not expected to be an awards player. It’s made just over $1 million in limited release. In all likelihood, this will perform better on the coasts. Despite the presence of Cooper, I don’t see much anticipation.

I will project that this struggles with the expansion and may not even reach $3 million.

Is This Thing On? wide opening weekend prediction: $2.6 million

For my Greenland 2: Migration prediction, click here:

Greenland 2: Migration Box Office Prediction

For my Primate prediction, click here:

Primate Box Office Prediction

Oscar Predictions: Is This Thing On?

Both of Bradley Cooper’s directorial efforts – 2018’s A Star Is Born and 2023’s Maestro – were Best Picture nominees. Can Is This Thing On? make it three for three? The comedic drama focused on a separated couple (Will Arnett and Laura Dern) has closed out the New York Film Festival prior to its slated December 19th debut. Mr. Cooper is in the supporting cast alongside Andra Day, Amy Sedaris, Arnett’s Smartless cohost Sean Hayes, Christine Ebersole and Ciarán Hinds.

The early 92% Rotten Tomatoes score indicates another critically appreciated pic from its maker. Yet some of the reaction calls this a more minor effort from Cooper and company. I anticipate Metacritic’s rating will be noticeably lower. Early word-of-mouth has me suspecting this thing isn’t an Academy player despite comparisons to Marriage Story (which happened to get Dern a Supporting Actress Oscar). If it gets in anywhere, Original Screenplay would be it though competition is considerable.

The Golden Globes are a different story if Fox Searchlight campaigns for it in Musical/Comedy. That would be the smart strategic move and could mean noms in Picture and the lead acting races for Arnett and Dern. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Smurfs Box Office Prediction

Paramount Animation hopes that Smurfs works for family audiences when it debuts July 18th. Based originally on a Belgian comic book series that turned into 1980s Saturday morning cartoon, Shrek the Third and Puss in Boots maker Chris Miller directs. Rihanna leads the voice cast as Smurfette. Others behind the mic include James Corden, Nick Offerman, JP Karliak, Daniel Levy, Amy Sedaris, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Jimmy Kimmel, Octavia Spencer, Nick Kroll, Hannah Waddingham, Alex Sinter, Maya Erskine, Kurt Russell, and John Goodman.

The musical comedy hopes to reinvigorate a series that saw diminishing returns for the blue characters on the silver screen. 2011’s The Smurfs blended live-action with animation to terrific results with a $35 million opening and $142 million domestic haul. The 2013 follow-up essentially cut those earnings in half with an $18 million start and $71 million stateside. Smurfs: The Lost Village in 2017 was fully animated and totally underwhelming with $13 million out of the gate and $45 million overall.

Taking over distribution rights from Sony, Paramount is banking on Rihanna and nostalgia for this to land. That could be a challenge as younger viewers have had options this summer and the IP may not be one they’re even that familiar with.

Indications are that this might be lucky to match even the lowly Village numbers. That could mean just surpassing double digits or low teens.

Smurfs opening weekend prediction: $12.4 million

For my I Know What You Did Last Summer prediction, click here:

I Know What You Did Last Summer Box Office Prediction

For my Eddington prediction, click here:

Eddington Box Office Prediction

Oscar Predictions: Theater Camp

Sundance premiered Theater Camp, the feature-length version of a 2020 short film of the same name. The comedy comes from directors Molly Gordon (who can be seen as Jonah Hill’s sibling in this weekend’s You People on Netflix) and Nick Lieberman. They cowrote the screenplay with Ben Platt (originator of the title role of Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway) and Noah Galvin (who would later play Hansen onstage). Gordon, Platt, and Galvin are included in the cast along with Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Ayo Edebiri, Amy Sedaris, and Alan Kim.

Set at an upstate New York camp for aspiring musically inclined stage stars, critics are mostly saying Theater has limited but charming appeal. The Rotten Tomatoes meter is at a decent 80%. Searchlight believes the breakout potential is enough that they bought it for $8 million and plan a theatrical distribution later this year.

Perhaps some Academy voters went to the kind of camp that’s both celebrated and lampooned here. I don’t believe the reviews are there for it to make any sort of Oscar push. Perhaps the Golden Globes will take a gander for Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy, but even that could be a reach. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

The Boss Baby: Family Business Box Office Prediction

The Boss Baby: Family Business looks to pacify little ones and their parents over the Independence Day weekend. The DreamWorks animated sequel follows up on the March 2017 pic which greatly over performed with its target audience. Alec Baldwin is back voicing the title character alongside James Marsden, Amy Sedaris, Ariana Greenblatt, Eva Longoria, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, and Jeff Goldblum. Tom McGrath resumes directorial duties.

In the spring of 2017, The Boss Baby was projected to earn around $30 million for its start. However, it blew past those estimates with $50.2 million in its opening frame and eventually took in $175 million domestically. Several factors are likely to complicate that kind of debut for part II.

For one, some of the little viewers who flocked to see it are four years older now. COVID-19 is still somewhat limiting potential. This was originally slated for March before its pandemic related delay. Family Business is also hitting streamer Peacock on the same day and some may simply choose to hold their Baby viewing from the comfort of home. That said, Peacock is not anywhere in the spectator realm of the big boys like Netflix, Amazon, or HBO Max as of yet.

Estimates have this reaching approximately $20 million over the holiday. I’ll give it a slight Baby bump considering its predecessor easily managed to top forecasts.

The Boss Baby: Family Business opening weekend prediction: $21.7 million (Friday to Monday estimate)

For my The Forever Purge prediction, click here:

The Forever Purge Box Office Prediction