By Chris Kavan - 02/24/16 at 12:05 PM CT
Hot one week, cool the next. After a decent amount of movies last week, we'er back to getting just a trickle. Two wide release films and a couple of limited-releases are all that we can look forward to this week. But I can't complain - I'll take what I can get and look forward to that one week I have to write up like eight new ratings releases. Anyway, we have a British buddy/brother spy comedy and stand-up special and the highest-grossing film in China. I guess that's not too bad a haul after all.
First up is the most unlikely pairing in British spy history, as Sacha Baren Cohen teams up with Mark Strong in The Brothers Grimsby. Strong plays Agent Sebastian Grimsby - think James Bond - top MI-5 suave, sophisticated, deadly. Cohen, on the other hand, is Norman 'Nobby' Grimsby, a thick-headed soccer hooligan uncouth, father of nine and about a smart as beer can. But when Nobby manages to finally track down his estranged brother, he immediately sets about setting up a family reunion - not realizing it will put him in the middle of mission that threatens the entire world. As strange pairings go - this is right up there with the strangest of them - and I have no idea how people will take this. It looks like fun but also looks incredibly stupid. Cohen is an acquired taste. Co-stars Rebel Wilson, Penélope Cruz, Isla Fisher, Scott Adkins, Ian McShane and Gabourey Sidibe among others. Rated R for strong crude sexual content, graphic nudity, violence, language, and some drug use.
If you're a fan of Kevin Hart, good news. After the success of Let Me Explain (which is the fourth-highest grossing stand up special of all time at $32.2 million) and Laugh at My Pain (8th on the same list at $7.7 million) Hart is returning to the stage to make another special, Kevin Hart: What Now?. This time the road show heads to Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field before a crowd of 50,000. Hart has proven a big draw at the box office and I have no doubt this will be another hit for the comedian. Whether it manages to meet (or even beat) the result from Let Me Explain - that's harder to predict. It is being released in October, where there should be little in the way of competition and it could help. Rated R for some sexual material, and language throughout - who would have thought!?
The film that currently holds the record for the highest-grossing film in China is from Stephen Chow (who I still think is mad talented, as Kung Fu Hustle remains one of my favorites out of China simply because of how crazy and entertaining it manages to be) whose latest film The Mermaid ( Mei ren yu ) broke numerous records upon opening and currently holds the title of the largest-grossing film in China at $441 million and counting. A lot may be due to opening during the Chinese New Year (a blackout period where no foreign films are allowed) but whatever the cause, it's a huge accomplishment. In the U.S. the film recently opened in limited release to the tune of $985,052 in 35 theaters for a $28,144-per-theater average. The film received an R rating for violence.
That's the big fishes for the week, but check out the full releases below:
THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY
Rated R for strong crude sexual content, graphic nudity, violence, language, and some drug use.
COUNTDOWN
Rated R for violence and language.
KEVIN HART: WHAT NOW?
Rated R for some sexual material, and language throughout.
THE MERMAID ( MEI REN YU )
Rated R for some violence.
MESSAGE FROM THE KING
Rated R for brutal violence, grisly images, strong sexual content/nudity, language throughout and some drug use.
MY GOLDEN DAYS
Rated R for some strong sexual content, graphic nudity, and language.
THE PERFECT MATCH
Rated R for sexuality, some nudity, and language throughout.
