By Chris Kavan - 08/10/17 at 07:37 AM CT
As summer continues to wind down, we head into one of the more lazy movie seasons of the year. Summer is already down and the coming weeks aren't likely to change the course. The Dark Tower already opened to low numbers and this week's best bet is an animated sequel to a squirrel proposition and a horror sequel about a cursed doll. For the more discerning movie fan, there is downright depressing coming-of-age drama. It looks like once again it's going to be a pretty slow weekend - we'll have to see if it turns out better or worse than last weekend, which was already the lowest-grossing of the summer movie season.
ANNABELLE: CREATION I am a fan of the two Conjuring movies and, inevitably, when a horror franchise does well, the studio will try everything it can to extend it - sometimes to its detriment (Saw, Friday the 13th). Thus, we are getting a lot of Conjuring spinoffs - The Nun, The Crooked Man and, of course, everyone's favorite cursed doll, Annabelle. I have no problem admitting that I thought the first Annabelle film was quite lazy, especially compared to the overall excellent Conjuring films. I guess it's just not the same without James Wan in control. In any case, we're still getting an Annabelle sequel, or in this case, a prequel/sequel. We find out the source of the curse - a dollmaker who suffers the tragic loss of his daughter - and, several years later, when a nun and several young girls use their home after their orphanage is shut down - Annabelle awakens and causes havoc. The trailer makes this look slightly better than the original, though that doesn't mean it will be in the end. David F. Sandberg is behind the camera - and he has proven himself with Lights Out, so at least this film is in good hands. The film boasts some talented names: Miranda Otto, Anthony LaPaglia, Lulu Wilson and Stephanie Sigman among others. There is a good chance this will top the box office but, much like The Dark Tower, it isn't likely to boast huge numbers.
The first Nut Job was a minor hit - making $64 million on a $42 million budget ($120.88 million worldwide). While that is a decent return, I'm still kind of surprised they decided to go with a sequel. In any case, Will Arnett returns to voice our lead Surly squirrel, and this time the entire park is in danger when the corrupt mayor (Bobby Moynihan) plans to tear down everything in order to make room for a shoddy amusement park. Surly isn't alone, he has a lot of help - and the voice talent is there too - Jackie Chan (as a wise, wise-cracking mouse with a kung-fu army of mice), Bobby Cannavale, Katherine Heigl, Maya Rudolph, Isabela Moner, Peter Stormare, Gabriel Iglesias and Jeff Dunham are all on hand. Still, the first film opened with a little over $19 million and the law of diminishing returns means Nut Job 2 isn't likely to top that mark. It may be the last summer family movie, but with school starting, it may have missed its mark. If it makes the mid-teens, it will be pretty good result.
On the lower end of the scale, though it's based on a best-selling memoir and stars the likes of Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts and Ella Anderson - The Glass Castle isn't looking to make much noise. The adult-targeting drama follows Jeannette and growing up in a nomadic, dysfunctional family where her alcoholic father tries his best to distract her from their crushing poverty. It's not exactly the kind of late summer pick-me-up that audiences are craving right now. This will probably draw a mostly adult audience and maybe it will even play well in the coming weeks, but it will open well outside of double digits and will probably fall outside the top five.
It's going to be another slow weekend as August winds down, and it's not going to reverse the trend. I'll be back on Sunday with the details.
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