By Chris Kavan - 01/29/20 at 11:36 PM CT
Although The Gentlemen had a respectable showing, the box office was all about the holdovers last weekend and, despite the addition of two new players, I have a feeling it's going to be more of the same as January comes to an end. Certainly the best chance of success lies with Blake Lively as she goes full-on revenge mode in the action film The Rhythm Section. Joining the ranks of horror films likely to fall short of expectations, despite a decent cast, is Gretel & Hansel - an updated take on the classic tale. Of course, this weekend also brings us the Super Bowl, which is still a huge draw and will likely impact the box office as a vast majority of eyes will be on live TV (for once). Like years past, this is shaping up to be a notoriously quiet weekend as neither new film is expected to top the $10 million mark.
THE RHYTHM SECTION The box office has no shortage of action films right now, which is why The Rhythm Section may find it hard to stand out in the crowded box office. Blake Lively stars as a woman who goes through the hell of losing her family in a tragic plane crash only to find new purpose following the trauma when she learns the crash was no accident. She finds herself down a dark path of revenge as she seeks her own form of justice and redemption. The film also stars Jude Law, Sterling K. Brown, Daniel Mays, Max Casella, Raza Jaffrey and Richard Brake. Lively looks the part here, trading her usual long, blonde hair for brown, short and somewhat ragged. But it's all part of the transformation and it suits her character - one who is willing to go the distance to track down those responsible. But I have a feeling Bad Boys and Gentlemen will continue to be the bigger draw here, no fault of Lively, it's just that sometimes going too dark means limiting your audience and I think that's going to be the case here.
While in past years it January has been a decent month for horror, 2020 has been the opposite with one disappointment after the other. Now we are at the end of the month and, unfortunately, I don't think Gretel & Hansel is going to reverse that trend. The film stars Sophia Lillis (of It fame) as Gretel with her younger brother being played by newcomer Samuel Leakey. The story isn't too different - the two siblings to into the dark woods in order to find food and work to help their struggling family only to stumble upon a dark evil in the form of a witch (played by Alice Krige). Most of the story revolves around these three and has been described in part by director Oz Perkins (who also directed The Blackcoat's Daughter and I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House) as a coming-of-age tale. The film also stars Charles Babalola as a hunter and Jessica De Gouw as the young witch in our tale. But despite the setup and decent cast, I have a feeling this is going to be yet another underwhelming horror offering - likely opening in the $5 million or so range.
The month is winding down and I have a feeling so is the box office as it will be difficult to compete with the most-watched televised program of the year. Still, I'll be back Sunday with the results.
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