Tag: Kiernan Shipka

Red One Box Office Prediction

The pricey Yuletide action comedy Red One touches down in theaters November 15th and hoping to slay the box office with a large family audience. Jake Kasdan, maker of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and sequel The Next Level, reunites with that franchise lead Dwayne Johnson as well as Chris Evans. Costars include Lucy Liu, J.K. Simmons, Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, and Nick Kroll.

With a reported $250 million price tag, the Santa Claus kidnapping caper is counting on a significant presence with parents and kiddos. The review embargo, likely not by accident, lifted Tuesday night as America was tuned into the Presidential election results. Word-of-mouth isn’t great with 33% on Rotten Tomatoes and 37 on Metacritic.

That could damper the buzz and keep it on the lower end of its anticipated $20-$45 million range. There is a considerable lack of competition (at least until Wicked and Gladiator II open the following weekend) and that could help. Yet I suspect mid to high 20s is where this begins.

Red One opening weekend prediction: $27.6 million

Oscar Predictions: Red One

Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans headline the Christmas action comedy Red One which slides into multiplexes November 15th. Jake Kasdan (who’s made the last two Jumanji pics with Johnson) directs with a supporting cast including Lucy Liu, J.K. Simmons (as a kidnapped Santa Claus), Kiernan Shipka, Bonnie Hunt, Kristofer Hivju, and Nick Kroll.

Budgeted at a reported whopping $250 million, Amazon MGM hopes family audiences will turn out in droves. Early signs are that it might not be the massive hit they’re hoping for and reviews aren’t assisting. The Rotten Tomatoes meter is at 35% with Metacritic at 37. The only Academy play would be Visual Effects and some of the reviews are criticizing the CG. Don’t expect this holiday concoction to be present at awards season. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: The Last Showgirl

The Last Showgirl has hit the Toronto Film Festival with an iconic Canadian actress in the limelight. From director Gia Coppola (granddaughter of Francis, niece of Sofia), Baywatch star Pamela Anderson headlines as an aging Vegas performer. The supporting cast includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Billie Lourd, and Kiernan Shipka.

Early word-of-mouth indicates Anderson nails her leading role. It’s safe to say she’s come a long way since Barb Wire nearly 30 years ago. Showgirl has yet to find a stateside buyer so there’s no guarantee that it’s out by the end of 2024. Assuming it does make the domestic cut this year, Anderson’s viability in Best Actress could depend on who picks up distribution. A spirited campaign could put her in the mix. Curtis is also being called a scene stealer. However, her win only two ceremonies back for Everything Everywhere All at Once might hinder her exposure.

Reviews for the picture itself are more mixed. Anderson is probably on the outside looking in, but let’s see how this plays out before passing final judgment. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Longlegs Review

Longlegs is a more effective freak show than FBI story. The direction of Osgood Perkins often shows a mastery at building tension and establishing a chilling tone. When the final act arrives, I grew colder to its energy as the plot points became more recognizable. That might be a little misleading, however, since this does feature a bonkers performance even by Nicolas Cage’s standards. When the procedural itself becomes more standard, it can suffer.

Maika Monroe is Agent Lee Harker, who can’t have been in the Bureau for long but whose seemingly psychic abilities serve as an asset. The manhunt is on for Longlegs, a serial killer dabbling in the occult and intricate doll making. His young female victims also share birthdays that fall on the 14th of the month.

Set in the 90s as evidenced by the Bill Clinton portrait behind her superior’s desk, Agent Harker seems to share more than a psychic connection to the case. Her off-kilter mother (Alicia Witt) seems hung up on religious themes. You begin to suspect that the case may have relations with that woman.

Barely seen or heard in the trailers, Mr. Cage is the title character. Buried in makeup that could earn those artists awards nominations, this is Nic at his most uncaged. There are snippets of his work that will surely enter the Memeification Hall of Fame and there are aspects of his performance that certainly remind us of his wild versatility. It’s also occasionally challenging to look beyond the off the charts Caginess of it.

The short of it is that Longlegs works best when the mystery is unraveling and its secrets are obscured like Cage was in the ads. As more is revealed, it loses some edge. Yet there is no doubt that Perkins (son of Psycho Anthony Perkins) injects this with devilish details that provide anxiety, especially early on.

*** (out of four)

Oscar Predictions: Twisters

Twisters storms into multiplexes on July 19th with Universal hoping it whips up giant business worldwide. Arriving nearly 30 years after his blockbuster predecessor from Jan de Bont, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell star alongside Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sasha Lane, Daryl McCormack, Kiernan Shpika, and David Corenswet. Lee Isaac Chung, who last made the BP nominee Minari, directs.

Early reviews put this at 76% on RT with many write-ups calling it solid summer popcorn fare. Others say it doesn’t quite measure up to the 1996 pic. At the 69th Academy Awards, Twister received nominations for Best Sound and Visual Effects. It lost respectively to The English Patient and Independence Day.

At the 97th ceremony, Twisters could score nods in those same two competitions. Don’t expect it to win either as Dune: Part Two, for one, would stand a better shot. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Longlegs Box Office Prediction

Neon hopes Longlegs lights up the box office this Friday. The 90s set horror thriller comes from director Osgood Perkins with Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage (as a demented serial killer) headlining. Costars include Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, and Kiernan Shipka.

Plenty of scary genre titles have struggled in 2024 though A Quiet Place: Day One got off to a loud start just two weeks ago. Buzz is solid for Longlegs with a 93% RT rating.

Out on approximately 2500 screens, a victory for the studio would be a $10M+ start. It might get there and I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. That low double digits gross might put it in a race with the third weekend of Quiet for fourth place.

Longlegs opening weekend prediction: $11.6 million

For my Fly Me to the Moon prediction, click here:

Fly Me to the Moon Box Office Prediction

Oscar Predictions: Longlegs

Prior to its release on July 12th, Longlegs from Osgood Perkins is generating some loud buzz. The horror thriller stars It Follows actress Maika Monroe alongside Nicolas Cage as a doll making serial killer who’s barely glimpsed in the effective trailers. Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, and Kiernan Shipka costar.

The Neon release is drawing some comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs and not just because it’s set in the 1990s. Lambs was an anomaly as the only horror flick to take BP and win Director, Actor, Actress, and Adapted Screenplay for good measure. This is not a genre that often resonates with the Academy and I suspect Longlegs won’t either despite the current 100% RT score. I would note that most reviews are not putting it in the Lambs league.

Critics are praising Cage for his creepy work. Don’t be surprised if Neon mounts a Supporting Actor campaign, but I highly doubt it will pan out in the long run. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…