Tag: Damián Alcázar

Oscar Predictions: Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!

Set amidst the the world of Tokyo ballroom dancing, Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! picked a fair amount of applause when it premiered at Sundance back in January. Sony Pictures Classics acquired the rights and it is out domestically this weekend. Josef Kubota Wladkya directs and cowrites with Rinko Kikuchi (a Supporting Actress nominee 20 years ago for Babel) headlining. The supporting cast includes Alberto Guerra, Alejandro Edda, Japanese TV personality You, Yoh Yoshida, and Damián Alcázar.

Wladkya picked up a directing prize at the Utah festival and Shake sports an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score with 71 on Metacritic. There was some chatter post Sundance that this could pick up awards buzz, including for Kikuchi. That talk has subsided considerably with a low-key marketing campaign and I don’t see this popping up anywhere on the Academy’s radar. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Blue Beetle Box Office Prediction

The DCEU, via Black Adam and The Flash, has had a rough go at the box office lately and Warner Bros hopes that turns around with Blue Beetle on August 18th. This could be a tall order. Angel Manuel Soto directs with Xolo Maradueña as the title hero. Costars include Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, Elpidia Carrillo, and George Lopez.

Originally slated for HBO Max, the studio changed its plans to a theatrical release. Budgeted at a reported $120 million, Beetle will battle the fact that plenty of moviegoers simply aren’t familiar with the character (and that the DCEU brand is not exactly firing on all cylinders lately).

Projections have varied over the past few weeks ranging from low teens all the way to the low 30s. Anything below $20 million would be considered a disaster. I’ll give it a little credit and say it climbs just over that figure. Unless it manages to generate significantly positive buzz, it could be gone in a flash.

Blue Beetle opening weekend prediction: $23.7 million

For my Strays prediction, click here:

Strays Box Office Prediction