Blockers Mixes Vulgarity And Sweetness To Remarkably Successful Results

Blockers is many things and one of those things is being the umpteenth piece of proof that movie trailers can be incredibly misleading. The trailers and marketing for Blockers never registered as outright bad to me but they did make the movie look like a run-of-the-mill comedy with nothing all that special to offer. So color me shocked and delighted that Blockers as a film isn't just better than it's trailers, it's a terrific motion picture full stop! This film, which serves as the directorial debut for Kay Cannon, is a riot when it comes to providing a steady stream of memorable laughs, but best of all it's got a touching heart as big as John Cena's muscles.

Star Wars Searches For And Finds More Money Over Christmas While Will Ferrell And Mark Wahlbergs Daddy's Home Is A Smash Hit

Y'know what? I think this whole Star Wars thing just might catch on.

Sisters Review

We've all seen this premise before; two siblings intend to throw a major party in their humble abode in order for the more restrained "uncool", if you will, sibling to prove their worth in a more reckless atmosphere. Sisters throws a few new wrinkles into this conventional premise, for starters making the two siblings at the center of the plot two women over 40. Those sisters are Maura (Amy Poehler) and Kate (Tina Fey), who learn their childhood home is about to be sold and intend to throw a big o'l bash that'll allow for Maura to finally, in her own words, "...let her freak flag fly".

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Celebrates A Day Of Peace, A Day Of Harmony By Demolishing Every Box Office Record In The Book Over The Weekend

I don't know if y'all heard about this one, but a new Star Wars movie opened over the weekend. And it did pretty strong business too, with the film pulling in audiences like a tractor beam to the tune of $238 million. That's by far the biggest opening weekend of all-time (the previous holder of that record was the $208 million opening of Jurassic World) and out-pacing the previous biggest December opening weekend (the $84 million bow of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) by 278%.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Begins Its Box Office Domination By Shattering Box Office Records On Friday

I normally just cover the weekend box office, but Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the sort of box office juggernaut that defies convention, and the numbers it's generated yesterday leave me with much to discuss and analyse. So, the newest entry in this saga set in a galaxy far, far away amassed $120.5 million yesterday, by far the biggest single day gross in history, beating out the previous holder of that record (the final Harry Potter film, which accumulated $91 million on its first day of release) by a massive $29 million. It's also the first time a film has grossed $100 million in a single day and has surpassed the previous biggest December opening weekend of all-time (the $84.6 million haul of the first Hobbit movie) in one day. This is utter insanity, to put it gently.

Holiday 2015 Box Office Predictions (PART ONE)

The holiday season always brings a bevy of new films to movie theaters across the country, so, hey, why not, just for fun, we take a look at how these new features may fare at box office? Yes, we all know the new Star Wars adventure will rake up big bucks, but what about In The Heart Of The Sea or The Big Short or Daddy's Home? The financial fates of those films is less clear, so I'm here to offer my predictions on how those will do!

Just a heads up, this is part one of these box office predictions. There are ten wide releases coming out over the next three weeks (I'm counting the expansions into wide release that The Big Short and The Danish Girl will undergo on Christmas Day), so today I'll look at the five closest to release films and then tomorrow I'll look at the remaining five features. Sound good? Alright then, on with the show!

December 11th
In The Heart Of The Sea
Warner Bros. moving this one from its original March 2015 perch to a December 2015 date was deemed a curious tactic by many once it happened, especially since the marketing for the film was already well underway. In The Heart Of The Sea will likely drum up solid, though not extraordinary business once it opens up, with the best box office comparison for this one maybe being Everest. Both are "men-enduring-the-elements" films, though Everest had a far more famous location at the center of its marketing (Mt. Everest of course), it also burned off demand with a one week play in IMAX 3D before debuting to $13.2 million in its first weekend in wide release. A similar number will likely occur for In The Heart Of The Sea, which, while dealing with far lesser known true story elements, won't burn off demand with a one week stay in IMAX 3D locations, which should help it match the opening weekend of Everest.

Opening Weekend: $14 million
Total Gross: $65 million

December 18th
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
So, card's on the table, laying it all out there...I'm gonna wager Star Wars: The Force Awakens doesn't break the opening weekend record set by Jurassic World.

Could I be wrong on this? Hell yeah. If any franchise is gonna prove anyone wrong, it's Star Wars, king of subverting expectations (sometimes for good, sometimes for bad). But December releases typically act far different than summertime fare, with grosses being more spaced out thanks to people being off for extended periods of time for the holidays. This leads to movies sticking around a bit longer, with films like current biggest December opening weekend The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey turning an $84 million into a $303 million domestic haul. There's also the fact that inclement weather may damper its grosses, as Avatar (which opened on this exact date six years ago) experienced massive dips in major cities like Baltimore and Washington D.C. from Friday to Saturday of 75 and 86 percent, respectively, thanks to bad weather.

All that being said, this is still gonna easily become the first December release of all-time to make over $100 million in its opening weekend and it should also have no trouble at all soaring past $150 million. Disney has done a great job mining peoples nostalgia while promising plenty of new characters and adventures, and if reviews turn out to be positive, that could only add to the deafening hype surround the feature.

Opening Weekend: $183 million
Total Gross: $710 million

Sisters
While opening against Star Wars: The Force Awakens might sound foolhardy, Sisters is actually pretty damn smart counterprogramming, as both films serve different audiences. Moviegoers looking for more action-packed fare will have Star Wars, while those looking for a move overtly humorous feature will have the R-rated Sisters. Interestingly, this film marks one of the most high profile films for both Tina Fey and Amy Poehler yet, the duo not having worked together in a film since Baby Mama and since then the two have mostly done family films (Poehler has done two of the Alvin And The Chipmunks sequels and Inside Out, Fey has been busy with MegaMind and Muppets Most Wanted), but their work together on the Golden Globes and on SNL has certainly cemented them as a beloved duo, and the prospect of seeing them work together in a new film will likely hold lots of appeal. Toss in a marketing campaign that's brought out some memorable gags, and I'm going gutsy with this one and predicting it'll be the sleeper hit of the Christmas season.
Opening Weekend: $25 million
Total Gross: $120 million

Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip
Yeah, the bloom is off the rose for this franchise. The first Alvin And The Chipmunks film had the novelty (if you could call it that) of seeing these well-known pop culture icons in the "real" world, while the sequel brought female counterparts to the table. The third entry already saw a major dip in its domestic gross (a sharp 40% drop from $219 million to $133 million), and after a four year break, this new chipmunk tale will doubtlessly see another domestic box office tumble. No compelling new plot details, gags, characters or even musical covers are presented in the trailers, and with Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Good Dinosaur out in the marketplace, parents have other places to turn for family friendly entertainment.
Opening Weekend: $10 million
Total Gross: $60 million

December 23rd
The Big Short
Trying to get a head start on fellow Christmas Day dramas Joy and Concussion by opening two days before Christmas is The Big Short, which is unlikely to find mainstream box office success despite the presence of four big name stars (none of whom are without box office blemishes of course). It's premise dealing with Wall Street and the 2007 Financial Crisis is unlikely to appeal to conventional moviegoers looking for more upbeat and kinetic entertainment over the holidays. Luckily, this one wasn't too costly (this one has a $28 million budget), and its early reviews are extremely positive, meaning it may have legs at the box office.

Opening Weekend: $9.6 million ($11.8 million over its first five days)
Total Gross: $44 million

Come back tomorrow when I'll be looking at the other five box office releases that'll be unleashed onto the populace on Christmas Day!