Tag: Xavier Samuel

Send Help Box Office Prediction

Sam Raimi is back in horror mode when Send Help debuts January 30th. Rachel McAdams is stranded on an island with her sexist boss Dylan O’Brien in the 20th Century Studios release. Dennis Haysbert, Xavier Samuel, and Chris Pang costar.

For most of the 21st century, Raimi has been in blockbuster mode via the Spider-Man franchise and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The Evil Dead maker returns to the genre that initially brought him acclaim for the first time since Drag Me to Hell. It could possibly achieve the $15 million opening that Hell kicked off with in 2009. That might be a best case scenario.

I suspect it may come in a bit lower between $12-14 million and in these slow multiplex January days, that should be enough to place it #1.

Send Help opening weekend prediction: $13.5 million

For my Iron Lung prediction, click here:

Iron Lung Box Office Prediction

For my Shelter prediction, click here:

Shelter Box Office Prediction

Oscar Predictions: Blonde

While she received two Golden Globe nominations in her short-lived career, the Oscars never recognized Marilyn Monroe. Could the Academy honor the performance of Ana de Armas in the biopic Blonde as the icon? Arriving in limited release on September 16th before its September 28th Netlix stream, Andrew Dominik’s pic comes with a rare NC-17 rating and a near three hour runtime. Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Xavier Samuel, and Julianne Nicholson costar in the adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’s 2000 novel.

This is Dominik’s first feature since 2012’s Killing Them Softly (his 2007 Western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is considered by many to be a modern day classic). It premiered at Venice and early buzz is that this is a dark and rather sleazy and often enthralling exploration of the price of fame. The Rotten Tomatoes meter is at 84%.

I’m dubious that the Academy will embrace this as a BP contender. The real question is whether de Armas can make the cut. Based on initial reaction, she certainly can but it’s no guarantee… unlike, say, Cate Blanchett (Tar) or Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once). Her potential inclusion is probably contingent on how competition for slots plays out in the next four months. My Oscar Predictions posts will continue…