Weekend Movie Guide: (11/21/13)
Ryan
Two weeks removed from the Thor sequel’s premiere,The Hunger Games: Catching Fire hits the box office this weekend. Delivery Man with Vince Vaughn also premieres. It’s very possible we see an overall box office gross of $200 million plus.
The overall box office numbers saw a dip back to average last weekend after being pushed by the Thor premiere the weekend before. The Dark World again topped the charts with $36.5 million but right on its heels was The Best Man Holiday with $30 million. In just 13 days The Dark World has brought in $504 million worldwide. The first Thor brought in $449 million in 16 weeks. The numbers for the Thor movie franchise are already pretty astounding; two movies with a combined budget of $320 million that will pass the $1 billion mark by the end of next week. That’s not even counting in any of the $1.5 billion The Avengers brought in worldwide.
In five days of release The Best Man Holiday has brought in almost $35 million on a budget of $17 million. The Best Man brought in $34.5 million during its theater run on a $9 million budget back in 1999.
On to this weekend’s premieres.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The highly-anticipated second film in The Hunger Games trilogy follows Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) after their somewhat unorthodox win in the 74th Hunger Games in the first film. Jennifer Lawrence receives rave reviews for her performance. Wired compared Catching Fire to The Dark Knight in terms of how it should be viewed in relation to the movie that came before it. Then again, we all know Jennifer Lawrence is amazing; exhibit 1, exhibit 2, exhibit 3. The prediction machine says Catching Fire stands a great chance to take the biggest opening ever title for a 2-D movie. The Avengers’ $207 million opening is likely to not be topped simply because it opened in 3-D, which charges higher ticket prices. Catch The Hunger Games: Catching Fire a day early byseeing it at MX Movies downtown tonight. Check out this trailer. You know you want to see it ASAP.
When Vince Vaughn finds out his girlfriend is pregnant in Delivery Man, he thinks it will be his first child. He’s wrong though because he technically has 533 children already. You see he gave to a sperm bank anonymously 20 years before and now some of those children that came from that want to know who their real father is. This film is based on Ken Scott’s independent Canadian film,a Starbuck. Scott directs this big-budget film inspired by his. Critics seem be unanimous in saying that they were worried when they first heard about this project and are pleasantly surprised at the end result. Vaughn’s films have averaged a $24.8 million opening weekend, although Vaughn wasn’t always the star of those films. Look for this one to come in around the $14 million mark this weekend. That should put it in the #3 or #4 spot depending on how Thor does. Don’t go to this movie expecting lots of laughs, it’s really more of a drama with some funny parts mixed in.
Carrie
Carrie enters the “land of misfit movies” this weekend after bringing in $54 million thus far at the box office. The remake of the 70s horrow classic didn’t get great reviews, but if you want to be scarred this weekend on the cheap this is it.
We’re The Millers
This is likely the last weekend in theaters for this Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis film. It has brought in $150 million at the domestic box office in 15 weeks and another $116 million overseas. Julia Roberts’ daughter Emma Roberts plays Casey Mathis, who is recruited by Sudeikis for his pot-running scheme. Molly Quinn, who plays Castle’s daughter in Castle also makes an appearance.
Plenty of quality titles make their way to the big red box this week. The Heat, The Internship, The Conjuring and Planes are all well worth your $1.20. The To Do List has the most interesting cast list of all those films. It’s one of those raunchy teenage “coming of age” stories that has been told in countless American Pie and National Lampoon flicks. Aubrey Plaza plays the lead role. You’ve probably seen her on the television show Parks and Recreation. Bill Hader, Rachel Bilson, Christopher Minz-Plasse and Andy Samberg also appear. Rayna James, otherwise know as Tami Taylor, actually known as Connie Britton plays Plaza’s mother. We developed a simple three guidelines to help you choose among all these choices; 1) If you have kids, rent Planes 2) If you have a weird Sandra Bullock fetish, rent The Heat and 3) if you are possess the maturity level of someone between the ages of 15 and 22, rent this movie.
Ryan
Ryan is a weird dude. He doesn't cook, yet owns a plethora of kitchen gadgets. He rationalized buying a SodaStream while unemployed. He counts Step Up 2: The Streets as one of his favorite movies along with Footloose, Rent, Grease and Paul Blart: Mall Cop. He loves Mizzou but only wants them in the SEC so he can tailgate in Nashville. He owns a ShakeWeight and AbLounger, but still loves him some John Donut and Billie's Fine Foods. You can get more of Ryan at iLoveSoulard.com or just check the stool on the far end of the bar at iTap in Soulard.
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