By Chris Kavan - 06/04/15 at 07:59 AM CT
After a sub-par Memorial Day movie frame, Dwayne Johnson helped shake things up last weekend with San Andreas. But will the disaster flick send out some serious aftershocks or will it be one and done for the film? Challenging the film for the top sport will be two comedies and a horror sequel. Right now comedy is light at the box office, so one of the two newcomers has the best shot of taking the crown away from San Andreas - but will it be the female-driven spy caper or the bro-tastic inside look into Hollywood that will have the edge?
ENTOURAGE Based on the HBO series of the same name (which, I admit, I have never seen a single episode), Entourage follows movie start Vincent Chase and his group of friend (along with the always stressed-out super agent Ari Gold) on their daily lives in Hollywood. In the film, Ari has been named a studio head and he risks it all on financing Vince on his directorial debut - a project that, naturally, spirals out of control. The main cast returns including Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jeremy Piven, Jerry Ferrara and Kevin Connolly. They have some pretty good cameos lined up in the form of Ronda Rousey, Mark Cuban, Piers Morgan, Mark Wahlberg, Liam Neeson, Pharrell Williams, Jessica Alba, Tom Brady, Bob Saget, Gary Busey and T.I. (among others) - a kind of smorgasbord of talent from across film, TV, music and sports - so at least they got all their bases covered. Entourage is getting an early jump on the other comedy, Spy, and opened to a pretty good $2 million in limited Tuesday showings (it goes wide on Wednesday) and the leg up could give it the edge. However, films based on TV shows also tend to lag a bit, as it has a limited fan base and convincing regular moviegoers to pony up can be difficult (Serenity and Veronica Mars being two prime examples). That being said, maybe the star power will bring in decent crowds beyond the show's fans - so far it's looking pretty good.
If Entourage is going after the guys, Spy is most definitely eying the female crowd. Essentially a spy spoof - Melissa McCarthy plays a desk-bound CIA agent who volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate an underground arms operation that threatens the world with a nefarious plan. We have seen regular-person-turned-spy before (everything from True Lies to The Tuxedo to If Looks Could Kill) and thus the idea isn't original, but McCarthy has proven herself quite a draw in the past, even when the film was given only a lukewarm response from critics. If anyone can pull this off, it will be her. Plus, the supporting cast looks great - Jude Law, Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, Allison Janney, Morena Baccarin, Will Yun Lee and Bobby Cannavale are all on hand. This is the third time director Paul Feig has worked with McCarthy (following two successful results with Bridesmaids and The Heat) and thus if there is reason this movie could top Entourage (even with its head start) its the fantastic track record of both the director and star. Plus there isn't a really good female-centric film out right now, and when there is demand, it tends to make good movies look even better and mediocre movies to stand out.
With two comedies fighting it out for the top spot, where does that leave the horror sequel Insidious: Chapter 3? Despite being part of a fairly successful horror franchise, I'm afraid this third part is going to come up short. One, it's the old "not-actual-a-sequel-but-a-prequel" third part (see also the Saw and Paranormal Activity franchises) - which I always feel is kind of a cop out. Plus, I have just never been that impressed with the series. The first one was good - nothing special, but at least entertaining. The sequel felt forced to me - a step backward and I have a feeling this third one isn't going to reverse the trend. If it has one chance it is that after Poltergeist failed to drum up much excitement, maybe it can draw in a better horror audience. But from all the previews I've seen, it hasn't got enough going for it to count on that audience. I expect this could easily open outside the top five.
I think ti's going to be a pretty heated battle for the top spot this week - between new comedies Spy and Entourage, not to mention the perfect summer disaster film in San Andreas, it's going to be close. I'll see you on Sunday with the victor.
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