The Turkey Day box office frame showcases a sequel to a well regarded comedy that came out three and a half years ago as Horrible Bosses 2 opens Wednesday. Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day are back along with returnees Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, and Kevin Spacey. Newbies Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine join the fray as well.
In the summer of 2011, the original Bosses debuted to a robust $28 million on its way to a $117M domestic take. Those grosses were strong enough to warrant this sequel. Reviews have not been on its side as it currently holds a tepid 11% on Rotten Tomatoes (compared to its predecessor’s 69% rating). However, its opening weekend should be somewhat critic proof before lackluster word of mouth could cause large drop-offs in future weekends. After all, bad reviews didn’t hurt Dumb and Dumber To one bit.
I’ll predict Horrible Bosses 2 opens with just about what the first did for its Friday to Sunday frame while inching close to $40M for the five-day frame.
Horrible Bosses 2 opening weekend prediction: $28.6 million (Friday to Sunday), $38.3 million (Wednesday to Sunday)
For my Penguins of Madagascar prediction, click here:
Nine years ago Today in Movie History – February 11 – Will Smith’s romantic comedy Hitch got the thumbs up from audiences and many critics. After his sitcom days, Smith’s movie career mostly consisted of huge grossing action/sci-fi flicks until this came along. Hitch, which costarred Eva Mendes and Kevin James,opened to a terrific $43 million debut on its way to a domestic total of $179 million.
As for birthdays, Burt Reynolds turns 78 today. He was one of the biggest movie stars of the 1970s and his hits included Deliverance, The Longest Yard, Gator, Smokey and the Bandit, Semi-Tough, The End, and Hooper. His successes would continue into the early 80s with The Cannonball Run, Sharky’s Machine, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He would experience a movie career resurgence with his Oscar-nominated turn in 1997’s Boogie Nights and appear in the Adam Sandler led Longest Yard remake in 2005.
Jennifer Aniston is 45 today. By far, Aniston has had the best movie career among the “Friends” cast. Her success from the sitcom led to starring in late 90s rom coms like Picture Perfect and The Objection of My Affection. In 1999, she would costar in the now cult classic Office Space. Notable films since are many – The Good Girl, Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly, The Break-Up, Marley & Me, Horrible Bosses, and We’re the Millers.
As for Six Degrees of Separation between Smokey and Rachel:
Burt Reynolds was in The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler was in Just Go With It with Jennifer Aniston
And that’s today – February 11 – in Movie History!
10 years ago Today in Movie History – January 16 – marked the release of Along Came Polly, the romantic comedy headlined by Ben Stilller and Jennifer Aniston. The pic would debut to a terrific $27.7 million in its opening weekend, ending the month-long reign of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. With a stellar supporting cast that included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, and a sight impaired ferret, Polly‘s overall domestic haul would eventually stand at $88 million.
Today marks the 66th birthday of director John Carpenter. He is responsible for what I believe to be the greatest slasher flick ever – 1978′ Halloween. There’s also a trio of genre classics starring Kurt Russell – Escape from New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China. Other notables features: Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog, Christine, Starman, and They Live.
January 16th would have marked the 35th birthday of Aaliyah. The R&B singer was certainly known more for her musical career, but she was beginning to branch out to film with roles in Romeo Must Die with Jet Li and Queen of the Damned. Aaliyah was tragically killed in a plane crash in 2001.
As for Six Degrees of Separation between the two:
John Carpenter directed Kurt Russell in Escape from New York
Kurt Russell was in Tango&Cash with Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone was in The Expendables with Jet Li
Jet Li was in Romeo Must Die with Aaliyah
And that’s today – January 16th – in Movie History!
When we think of horror characters that have had legacies lasting over the past two decades, we think Freddy or Jason or Michael Myers. And yet – a green pint sized horror character made his debut in theaters twenty years ago Today in Movie History when Leprechaun opened domestically. It barely made a blip on the box office radar two decades ago, debuting at #8 with $2.4 million. And yet its staying power has been surprisingly lasting. It spawned five (yes five) sequels – Leprechaun 2, Leprechaun 3, Leprechaun 4: In Space (naturally), and who can forget Leprechaun: In the Hood and Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood?These sequels, with the exception of the second installment, were direct to video/DVD but the series longevity is nevertheless impressive. This February, we’ll see a reboot of the franchise with Leprechaun: Origins, coproduced by WWE Studios. Warwick Davis (who also appeared in Return of the Jedi and Willow) would play the title character and reprise the role in every subsequent follow-up. It’s Warwick’s costar in the original whose name you may also know – Jennifer Aniston, who I believe was on a TV show and in a few movies.
As for birthdays, we have two legendary musicians who also made their mark in film. Elvis Presley would have turned 79 today. His movie career mostly consisted of playing variations of himself in over 30 features. They included well-regarded hits such as Jailhouse Rock, King Creole, and Blue Hawaii. His biggest success was Viva Las Vegas with Ann-Margret from 1964. There was plenty of forgettable fare too.
David Bowie is 67 today. His storied musical career will be his lasting legacy, but he’s had a decent film career with titles such as the lead role in 1976’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, Tony Scott’s The Hunger, Labyrinth, Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, and Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige.
As for Six Degrees of Separation between these musical legends:
Elvis Presley was in Viva Las Vegas with Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret was in Carnal Knowledge with Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson was in The Two Jakes with Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel was in The Last Temptation of Christ with David Bowie
While there’s nothing really remarkable or particularly original about We’re the Millers, it still manages to provide quite a bit of raunchy fun with a more than capable cast to boot.
The pic reunites Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis, stars of another (slightly better) R rated hit Horrible Bosses. Sudeikis is low-level pot dealer David, forced to go on a Mexican drug run by his quirky boss (Ed Helms, surprisingly ineffective in a broadly written role). Sudeikis enlists his stripper neighbor Rose (Aniston), 18 year-old virgin neighbor Kenny (Will Poulter), and runaway teenager Casey (Emma Roberts). Together – they are The Millers, posing as a family to divert suspicion from driving a tricked out RV across the Mexican border filled with two tons of marijuana.
Naturally, many things don’t go as planned and the Millers experience a number of adventures while – yes, arguing and yes, bonding just like a real family! You’ll see where We’re the Millers is heading from a mile away but the film works often because of its talented cast and frequent laugh out loud moments. While Aniston is stuck doing the “playing against type” naughty girl routine again (like in Bosses), she sells it well. Sudeikis is seamlessly making the transition from SNL MVP to movie star. And many of the most humorous moments come from supporting players Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn as Don and Edie Fitzgerald, another RV sporting couple who befriend the Millers. These two character actors work well enough together that I wouldn’t completely oppose a We’re the Fitzgeralds spinoff.
We’re the Millers is not Wedding Crashers or Superbad or The 40 Yr. Old Virgin – movies that I find myself quoting and going back to frequently. However, I’d put it on the level of a Date Night or Forgetting Sarah Marshall – movies that, when they’re rerunning on TV, I probably won’t turn off.
Every summer, we usually see a major breakout comedy that connects with audiences across the board. Last season, it was Ted which earned $218 million. In 2011, it was The Hangover Part II with $254 million, as well as Bridesmaids ($169M) and Horrible Bosses ($119M). In 2010, Grown Ups brought in $162 million. In 2009, the original Hangover grossed $277 million and The Proposal made $163 million.
This summer, there’s no shortage of contenders. The comedy winner could be The Hangover Part III and that film was already covered in my sequels blog post. However, that film faces serious challengers, particularly from two titles:
From Bridesmaids director Paul Feig comes The Heat, a buddy cop comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy. This is Bullock’s first headlining role since her Oscar winning turn in The Blind Side. Added to that, McCarthy is a hot commodity right now with her spring comedy Identity Thief well exceeding analysts expectations. The Heat could easily post Bridesmaids size numbers when it opens June 28th.
We also have The Internship, which reteams Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. Their first collaboration was, of course, Wedding Crashers. That came out in the summer of 2005 and grossed an astonishing $209 million. If The Internship delivers, it could be a real factor in the top comedy discussions. It’s out on June 7th.
These three titles are likely to have a healthy competition for the top spot (Grown Ups 2 is probably poised to earn between $100-$125 million and has also been covered in my sequels write-up).
There are plenty of other comedies that will attempt to bring crowds in. Two high-profile entries have yet to release a trailer: the road trip flick We’re the Millers (August 9) with Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston and Girl Most Likely (July 19), which brings us Kristin Wiig’s first starring role since Bridesmaids.
Then we have This is the End (June 12), which has Jonah Hill, James Franco, Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, Michael Cera, and others playing themselves in an end of the world scenario. The trailers are pretty damn funny and I’m particularly looking forward to this one. End could be a major breakout player if it’s as funny as its potential suggests.
The Tyler Perry factory brings us Peeples (May 10) starring the very funny Craig Robinson, who also is featued in This is the End. It basically looks like the Tyler Perry version of Meet the Parents, which his name alone will likely mean solid grosses.
The coming of age flick The Way, Way Back (July 5) with Steve Carell received rave reviews at Sundance and is being looked at as a potential sleeper hit.
And Woody Allen brings us his movie a year with Blue Jasmine (July 26) with Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin. Two years ago, Woody had an unexpected hit with Midnight in Paris. However, last summer his To Rome with Love tanked. No trailer is available at press time.
All in all, there are plenty of comedies to choose from this summer. If some Hangover fatigue occurs (something which I believe is possible), don’t be surprised to see Bullock and McCarthy as the comedy champions of the season.
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