Tag: Cloverfield

Oscar Predictions – Predator: Killer of Killers

In 2022, Dan Trachtenberg took over the Predator franchise after invigorating the Cloverfield series with 10 Cloverfield Lane. The result was the acclaimed Hulu prequel Prey. This November, futuristic follow-up Predator: Badlands will touch down in theaters. In the meantime, Trachtenberg has helmed the R-rated animated Predator: Killer of Killers which is available for your streaming pleasure via Hulu and Disney+ this weekend.

Prey was a pleasantly bloody surprise to most critics and Killers can proclaim the same. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 98% with Metacritic at 78 with reviewers praising the anthology tale. Is it enough that the Academy would consider this for a Best Animated Feature slot? If so, it would mark the franchise’s second nom after the 1987 original was up for Visual Effects and lost to Innerspace.

Even with the high marks, I just don’t see this contending at the moment. Let’s see how the competition shakes out for the rest of the year though. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

The Batman Box Office Prediction

Another chapter for the Caped Crusader flies into theaters March 4th with The Batman. The franchise reboot comes with high expectations and pent up anticipation as Robert Pattinson takes over the title role. Matt Reeves, best known for Cloverfield and the last two Planet of the Apes pics, directs. The supporting cast includes Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred, and an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as the Penguin. Originally slated for summer 2021, it looks to rule the month of March after its COVID delay.

There is little competition in its way and its event picture status should propel it to huge numbers. How big? The Batman could be in line for a larger opening weekend than 2008’s The Dark Knight ($158 million) and 2012 follow-up The Dark Knight Rises ($160 million). And you may have forgotten that 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice actually holds the highest Bat premiere at $166 million.

Spider-Man: No Way Home showed that moviegoers were more than ready to turn out in force with the right product. Early IMAX offerings have already sold out for opening day. Estimates are wide. It could be as low as $100 million or approach $200 million. I’m thinking $145-$165 million is the likeliest range.

The Batman opening weekend prediction: $155.2 million

10 Cloverfield Lane Box Office Prediction

Is it a sequel? Is it not a sequel? Audiences will find out next Friday when the mysterious 10 Cloverfield Lane debuts. Producer J.J. Abrams (you may have heard of him) describes the picture as a “blood relative” to 2008’s Cloverfield, the sci fi found footage monster flick which scored with audiences to the tune of a $40 million opening. Its final domestic gross was $80M.

This kind of, sort of sequel is as steeped in mystery as its predecessor was eight years ago. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman star and the effective survivalist bunker trailer and TV spots (including a Super Bowl ad) have genre lovers quite curious.

How that interest generates to its debut is a bit up in the air. As shown above, the original had a splashy opening but fell quickly (it’s not often a film’s opening weekend is responsible for half its overall take). 10 Cloverfield Lane is not expected to match what the 2008 iteration made, but it could still make a tidy sum.

My suspicion is that this will at least make half of the $40 million Cloverfield did out of the gate and could even threaten to top $30 million. I’ll predict it doesn’t quite get there and an opening in the mid to higher 20s seems more probable.

10 Cloverfield Lane opening weekend prediction: $28.3 million

For my The Brothers Grimsby prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/03/03/the-brothers-grimsby-box-office-prediction/

For my The Young Messiah prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/03/03/the-young-messiah-box-office-prediction/

For my The Perfect Match prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/03/03/the-perfect-match-box-office-prediction/

Top 25 Best Movie Trailers (1990-2015): Nos. 15-11

We have moved to day 3 of my personal top 25 best movie trailers of the last 25 years and that means numbers 15-11 before we get to the Top Ten tomorrow!

And here they are:

15. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has made some of the finest pictures of the last couple of decades and that greatness extends to his trailers. His last two efforts, The Master and Inherent Vice, were both considered for this list but I went with the trailer for There Will Be Blood with its first menacing glimpse of Daniel Day-Lewis’s amazing Oscar winning performance.

14. Cloverfield (2008)

While the movie itself was a bit of a letdown, this spot for this sci-fi pic rightly generated considerable buzz for the mysterious project and is a major example of a trailer contributing to considerable box office success. And it has the coolest Statue of Liberty shot since the original Planet of the Apes.

13. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Once again, I was disappointed in the eventual final product but the trailer for 1999’s out of nowhere financial smash Blair Witch had audiences wondering whether what they were going to see was real or not.

12. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Stanley Kubrick’s final motion picture with at the time real life husband and wife Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman had a dandy of a sensuous and effective trailer set to Chris Isaak’s “Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing’.

11. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Truth be told, I could have listed any of the trailers for Peter Jackson’s massive trilogy, but I went with the original which gave audiences their first stunning glimpse of the director’s Tolkien created universe.

Top Ten tomorrow, folks!

This Day in Movie History: January 18

Six years ago Today in Movie History – January 18 – marked the release of Cloverfield, the found footage monster flick which set the all-time January opening weekend record. That record still stands. Produced by JJ Abrams and directed by Matt Reeves, Cloverfield is still looked at as a model of brilliant marketing with its fantastic trailer and insistence on secrecy that Abrams still employs on its features. Its domestic haul stands at $80 million with a worldwide gross of $170 million. Director Reeves is currently working on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, out this summer.

As for birthdays, Kevin Costner is 59 today. From the mid 80s through the mid 90s, he was one of the most bankable actors working in the business. High-profile roles during that period include No Way Out, The Untouchables, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, JFK, and The Bodyguard. In 1990, he would win Best Director with Dances with Wolves, his first feature working behind the camera. The film would also win Best Picture. There’s been some financial disappointments as well: Wyatt Earp, Waterworld and The Postman, among others. Costner has kept himself busy lately with roles in the miniseries “Hatfields&McCoys”, Man of Steel, and this weekend’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.

Jason Segel is 34 today. Many know him best for his gig on the hit CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother”. After a supporting role in Knocked Up, Segel would be promoted to leading man status in Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008 and I Love You, Man the following year. Recent pics include Bad Teacher, The Muppets, and The Five Year Engagement.

As for Six Degrees of Separation between the actors:

Kevin Costner was in Man of Steel with Amy Adams

Amy Adams was in The Muppets with Jason Segel

And that’s today – January 18 – in Movie History!