Tag: Lauren Graham

Oscar Predictions: Twinless

James Sweeney directs, writes, and costars in Twinless which made serious waves at the Sundance Film Festival in recent days. Costarring Dylan O’Brien, Aisling Franciosi, Lauren Graham, and Chris Perfetti, the heartfelt comedy took the Audience Award in Park City. That’s a prize shared in recent years by Oscar players like Whiplash, Minari, and CODA.

With 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and 82 on Metacritic, this is one Sundance title that could still be talked about next awards season. Much like A Real Pain, the bulk of the buzz may go to Supporting Actor where O’Brien is drawing raves. Also like Pain, the original screenplay could generate some attention. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Box Office Prediction

Lionsgate hopes to reverse a recent trend of box office lumps of coal when The Best Christmas Pageant Ever opens November 8th. Dallas Jenkins, creator of popular faith-based The Chosen series, directs with Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, and Lauren Graham in the cast.

The holiday themed dramedy based on the 1972 Barbara Robinson book is wishing for family audiences to turn out. That might not happen at all or at least right away. As mentioned, its distributor is in a significant slump. If moviegoers like what they see, perhaps it will experience meager declines as Thanksgiving approaches.

I’m projecting it won’t reach $10 million for starters.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever opening weekend prediction: $8 million

For my Heretic prediction, click here:

Heretic Box Office Prediction

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life Box Office Prediction

The Girl on the Train isn’t the only title out next weekend based on a bestseller as Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life debuts. Based on James Patterson and Chris Tebbits’s 2011 book, the comedy aims to capitalize on its successful source material.

Griffin Gluck plays the middle schooler having a bad time with a supporting cast that includes Lauren Graham, Rob Riggle, and Andy Daly. Steve Carr (in his comfort zone after making other youth oriented yuck fests like Dr. Dolittle 2 and Paul Blart: Mall Cop) directs.

My expectation is that this will have a tough time breaking through to teens. The marketing campaign has been somewhat quiet. At least the animated blockbusters this year are geared toward a pre-teen audience and their parents attend, too. School could struggle to reach double digits, resulting in middling numbers.

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life opening weekend prediction: $7.8 million

For my The Girl on the Train prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/09/28/the-girl-on-the-train-box-office-prediction/

For my The Birth of a Nation prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/09/28/the-birth-of-a-nation-box-office-prediction/

Max Box Office Prediction

Warner Bros family feature Max, out Friday, has quite a bit working against it when you consider its competition. It won’t be the movie most kids are going to see next weekend factoring in Jurassic World and Inside Out. It won’t be the highest grosser with an animal with Ted 2 opening the same day. It won’t even be the biggest summer grosser with the word Max in it when factoring in that mad one from May.

The studio’s best hope is that critics like it and it becomes a word of mouth sleeper hit, which is an uphill climb. Max tells the story of a military working dog who returns home from Afghanistan and Remember the Titans director Boaz Yakin is behind the camera. Thomas Haden Church, Lauren Graham and Jay Hernandez are among the human costars.

Unless Max succeeds in bringing in a sizable military contingent, the pic seems destined for a premiere in the low to mid teens for a probable fourth place showing next weekend.

Max opening weekend prediction: $13.9 million