Jason Statham stomps back into multiplexes on May 7th with Wrath of Man. The revenge action thriller marks his fourth collaboration with Guy Ritchie who directed him in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and Revolver. Costars include Holt McCallany, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Hartnett, and Scott Eastwood.
The MGM release finds Statham trying to carry a picture to solid grosses. In recent years, he’s mostly been seen in the role of Shaw in the Fast and Furious franchise and its spin-off. If you go back to 2013’s Homefront that primarily relied on his star power, it resulted in an opening weekend just south of $7 million. Wrath could manage to exceed that.
Wrath could post grosses in the range of recent Liam Neeson genre fare like Honest Thief and The Marksman, which both started with earnings in the $4 million range. I’ll give it a fairly significant bump from that since venues are in a better spot than when those flicks premiered.
Wrath of Man opening weekend prediction: $8.3 million
James Franco seemed to be the Waldo of 2013 in film – the man was everywhere. No season of the year passed without a Franco appearance in something. And his omnipresence extended beyond the silver screen and branched out to video parodies and cable TV events.
It started off in March with the release of his most high-profile project, Oz the Great and Powerful. Disney’s prequel to 1939’s The Wizard of Oz from Sam Raimi may not have been well regarded by critics (or, for that matter, this blogger) but it earned a very impressive $234 million domestically.
Just a couple of weeks later came Spring Breakers from director Harmony Korine which cast Franco as Alien, a gangsta rapper. The role earned Franco raves from critics and the pic is already on its way to becoming a cult classic.
Summer brought us This is The End, the post apocalyptic R-rated comedy in which Franco, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, and other played themselves. It was a winner with critics and audiences alike and was a comedic high point this year, earning over $100 million domestically.
Last month was Homefront, in which the actor played a meth kingpin battling Jason Statham. This movie has failed to connect with audiences.=, but maybe Mr. Franco just wanted to appear in a flick written by Sylvester Stallone.
Here’s what I love about Franco and here’s why he earns a final spot in this blog series: the dude is unpredictable. He could have easily coasted on his handsome looks and probably headlined rom coms and the occasional action pic for the rest of his career. It’s damn clear he isn’t down with that. You’re just as likely to see Franco pop up in a supporting role in an indie flick as you are in a comedy or drama or anything else for that matter. He gets an Oscar nomination for 127 Hours and then stars in a blockbuster pic Rise of the Planet of the Apes and then costars in stoner comedy Your Highness.
While Franco was everywhere on screen this year, this applied to the small screen and computer screen as well. He got the good sport award by subjecting himself to a Comedy Central Roast.
And even more hilariously, Franco and Pineapple Express buddy Rogen did a shot for shot parody of Kanye West’s ridiculous “Bound” video that is one of the funniest things I saw all year. Check the side by side comparison if you don’t believe me.
Franco is showing no signs of slowing down. So far it looks like 2014 will bring Good People, a thriller with Kate Hudson, True Story, a drama with Jonah Hill, and a cameo appearance in the Veronica Mars movie.
This concludes my six-part series on performers who had a major impact on cinema this year. So thank you to Jennifer Lawrence, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey, Melissa McCarthy, and James Franco for the memories!
It’s going to be a busy Turkey Day weekend at the box office as six new titles find their way into the multiplex. Disney’s Frozen, the action pic Homefront with Jason Statham and James Franco, and the musical ensemble Black Nativity open wide while The Book Thief expands to around 1000 theaters and Spike Lee’s Oldboy and the Judi Dench drama Philomena play to around 500 screens. Whew.
You can my individual prediction posts on each new picture here:
Typically, during Thanksgiving the leftovers have very small drops because audiences like to catch up during the holidays. The one exception should be The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. In its second weekend, the pic should easily lose more than half the crowd of its debut weekend. The last two Twilight flicks opened the same pre-Thanksgiving weekend and saw second week falls in the 70% range. I don’t have Games falling quite that far.
Since there are so many newbies this weekend, I’ll change my normal Top Five predictions to Top Ten. Here they are:
1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Predicted Gross: $56.8 million (representing a drop of 64%)
2. Frozen
Predicted Gross: $48.3 million ($69.1 million for five-day opening)
3. Black Nativity
Predicted Gross: $19.3 million ($26.8 million for five-day opening)
4. Thor: The Dark World
Predicted Gross: $9.5 million (representing a drop of 32%)
5. Homefront
Predicted Gross: $8.7 million ($12.8 million for five-day opening)
6. The Best Man Holiday
Predicted Gross: $7.1 million (representing a drop of 42%)
7. The Book Thief
Predicted Gross: $5.6 million ($7.2 million for five-day opening)
8. Delivery Man
Predicted Gross: $5.5 million (representing a drop of 30%)
9. Free Birds
Predicted Gross: $4.7 million (representing a drop of 12%)
10. Philomena
Predicted Gross: $3.9 million ($5.1 million for five-day opening)
This means I am predicting Oldboy opens outside of the top ten with a $2.4 million Friday-to-Sunday opening tally and $3.5 million from Wednesday-to-Sunday.
I’ll have final results Sunday on the blog… have Turkey Day friends!
The omnipresent James Franco is back in theaters again over the Thanksgiving weekend with Homefront, in which he plays a meth dealer dueling with a DEA agent played by Jason Statham. The film costars Winona Ryder and Kate Bosworth. Franco has been a busy man in 2013 with Oz the Great and Powerful, Spring Breakers, and This is the End. This is likely to be his least talked about picture.
While TV ads have been showing frequently for Homefront, I don’t see this doing a whole lotta business over the holiday frame. Recent Statham flicks have been met with lukewarm openings: 2011’s Killer Elite at $9.3M, 2012’s Safe with $7.8M, and this year’s Parker with $7 million. The screenplay is actually written by Sylvester Stallone, who once envisioned this as a starring vehicle for him. Reviews have been mostly negative so far.
The Thanksgiving time frame may allow Homefront slightly higher numbers than the last couple of Statham pics. Not much higher, though.
Homefront opening weekend prediction: $8.7 million (Friday-to-Sunday), $12.8 million (Wednesday-to-Sunday)