Currently on the big screen with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Vanessa Kirby stars in Night Always Comes this weekend. Based on a 2021 bestseller by Willy Vlautin, the crime thriller is out on Netflix. The supporting cast includes Jennifer Jason Leigh, Zack Gottsagen, Stephen James, Randall Park, Julia Fox, Michael Kelly, and Eli Roth.
A previous Best Actress nominee for Pieces of a Woman (also a Netflix pickup), Kirby’s newest vehicle won’t drive awards talk. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 59% with Metacritic at 62 and that won’t cut it with voters. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…
At the Oscars honoring the movies of 2019, the Brits put up Chiwetel Ejiofor’s directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind as their selection for International Feature Film. The Academy passed it up. At Sundance, the actor and filmmaker’s sophomore effort Rob Peace premiered. Based on a biography by Jeff Hobbs, the tragic drama stars Jay Will in the title role alongside Ejiofor as his father, Mary J. Blige, Camila Cabello, and Michael Kelly.
Various reviews are quite solid while some negative write-ups have emerged as well. The current result is a 75% RT rating (under Wind‘s 86%). Some reaction indicates this is a crowdpleaser and that could help with eventual awards prospects. However, the likelihood is that voters won’t give Peace a chance unless a distributor works serious magic. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…
Representing the longest drought between entries, it’s been nearly four and a half years without Optimus onscreen. Paramount is hoping audiences will be primed for the franchise’s return as Transformers: Rise of the Beasts debuts on June 9th. This is the seventh installment of the series that started in 2007 with Michael Bay helming the first five. He produces while Steven Caple Jr. (best known for Creed II) directs. The non-voiceover cast includes Anthony Ramos, Dominique Fishback, Luna Lauren Vélez, Tobe Ngigwe, and Michael Kelly. Those voices behind the various title bots include Peter Cullen, Ron Perlman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Yeoh, Lisa Koshy, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Pete Davidson, Colman Domingo, John DiMaggio, and David Sobolov.
Beasts serves as a direct follow-up to 2018’s Bumblebee and a prequel to editions I-V. The Transformers pics have certainly seen their fortunes fade in recent years. Domestically the peak was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which earned $402 million overall stateside. The first three titles all grossed north of $300 million. By 2017, Transformers: The Last Knight managed $130 million. Bumblebee was a smidge under at $127 million.
To be fair, expectations for Bumblebee weren’t nearly as high and it rode decent reviews and solid buzz to a commendable leg out over the holidays. The lengthy break may not help Beasts and there’s no returning human stars from previous adventures.
This only needs to top $21 million to avoid a franchise low three-day beginning. It should have no trouble there. The better comp is probably The Last Knight which premiered with $44 million for its Friday to Sunday take (though it made $68 million when you count its Wednesday start). I’ll say Beasts falls a bit shy of that.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts opening weekend prediction: $42.2 million
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