By Chris Kavan - 01/18/18 at 07:40 AM CT
Jumaniji: Welcome to the Jungle has dominated the past two weekend, even up against significant threats. While this week brings us three new entries into the fold, none of them look to be able to topple the family-friendly action film. Likewise, the strong showing of The Post and the continued legs of The Greatest Showman should also continue to hold well as the three films include a war drama, an action/crime and a romance. If any film will find it tough to last, it will be The Commuter, which faces a direct threat from the new releases. It shouldn't be too much of a showdown, but we'll see where the new entries land.
12 STRONG Horse soldiers have been around for a long, long time, but in the modern age of war, it's not exactly a unit we expect on the battlefield. In 12 Strong, however, an elite mounted unit is sent in to Afghanistan as the first Special Forces team following the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Led by a new captain (played by Chris Hemsworth) the team must take their chances with a local warlord in order to hunt down members of the Taliban. The film also stars heavy hitters like Michael Shannon, Elsa Pataky, Michael Peña, William Fichtner, Taylor Sheridan and Rob Riggle. War films tend to do pretty good in January, but there is a lot of competition out there right now, and that is why this will most likely fail to garner a lot of attention. The cast is solid but I haven't really heard a lot of buzz around this film and have a sneaking suspicion that it's just going to fall through the cracks.
DEN OF THIEVES Another film that has gotten little attention is the crime drama Den of Thieves. The film follows an elite unit of the LA Sheriff's Department who are at odds with a likewise elite team of robbers. When an audacious plan forms to take down the Federal Reserve Bank, it remains to be seen which group is going to come out on top - and who is going to be caught in the middle. The cast is made up of Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, 50 Cent, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Evan Jones and Meadow Williams among others. A solid but unremarkable cast is going to lead to a likewise solid but unremarkable film. Given the films out there, I would be surprised if this managed to break the top five. This is likely going to be in theaters less than a month and will recoup most of its expenses on home viewing.
FOREVER MY GIRL Finally, in the gag me with a spoon entry, we have a sappy romance revolving around the country music scene. The film follows a country music star who returns home after a decade on the road in order to reconnect with the love he left behind. Alex Roe plays the home-grown country artist while Jessica Rothe plays the woman he left behind. There are no big names attached to this - but at least it gives romance fans something to look forward to. They're going to be the only ones happy with this Southern-fried schlock as far as I'm concerned. I'm not a fan of romance, but sappy romance is even worse and this looks about as sappy as they come.
It's going to be another weekend where I think audiences are going to have a serious case of deja vu. The new entries don't look to put up much of a challenge, but we'll see where the cards fall on Sunday.
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