By Chris Kavan - 06/16/21 at 11:17 PM CT
It's a veritable ratings bonanza as we finally get a meaty update to celebrate the arrival of summer (I know it's here - because we're about to hit 100+ for a high). So stay inside where it's nice and cool - perhaps even in a theater. Speaking of which, it was a disappointing opening for Lin Manuel Miranda's In the Heights, which had to settle for second behind A Quiet Place, Part II while other newcomer Peter Rabbit 2 scored the fourth place showing, a whisker behind The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
The box office continues to chug along just fine as we near some of the biggest films yet for the year. A Quiet Place Part II dipped almost 38% compared to last weekend, but it still managed to take the first-place spot with $12 million - becoming the first film of the pandemic era to cross $100 million with a new $109.3 million total. That it is a horror film, and a sequel to boot, that nabbed this honor is wonder unto itself but props to director John Krasinski, main star (and wife) Emily Blunt and the great Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe and the rest of the cast (Cillian Murphy, Djimon Hounsou and many others) for the big win. It has also crossed the $200 million mark worldwide by now - it stood at $199.2 million by the end of the weekend. Impressive numbers all around and hopefully things will start looking even better from here on out.
But before we can get to the big, we have to talk about the disappointing. In the Heights has been building and building and seemed liked the perfect summer treat - vibrant, uplifting and from a brilliant mind. Plus, critics and audiences alike love it - 96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and an "A" Cinemascore. Those are nothing to sneeze at. So why did the film only open to $11.5 million when it was expected to hit $20 million plus? You can't put the blame on HBO Max - we've already seen that movies can open big and premier on streaming at the same time. So what else? Has Miranda lost the golden touch? Was the film hurt by lack of big-name stars? Or did it simply not have enough wide appeal? I'm sure others will analyze this much better than I can but I can say that it is not necessarily over for In the Heights. If one remembers another musical that had a muted start back in 2017 - The Greatest Showman only opened to $8.8 million but went on to gross over $174 million (and a whopping $438 million worldwide). If Raya and Last Dragon has taught us anything it is that certain movies have staying power - and if In the Heights can match that, its low opening may just be a footnote.
It was neck-and-neck between the latest Conjuring film and the Peter Rabbit sequel, but after the dust settled, it was the horror film that came out on top. Dipping 57.1% from its debut weekend - not uncommon for a horror film, the latest Conjuring film landed in third place with $10.3 million, giving the film a new $44 million total ($112.1 million worldwide). It is doing just fine, even if I found it a bit too predictable and not nearly scary enough.
Settling into fourth place was the week's other new film, Peter Rabbit 2, coming in just behind The Conjuring with $10.1 million. That is significantly less than the $25 million the original film opened with back in 2018, but these are different times and so we'll settle for a bit less. In any case, it has already earned $58 million overseas, so it shouldn't have too much to worry about. Plus, family-friendly films tend to have long legs, so I have a feeling it will bounce back at least a little in the coming weeks (pun totally intended).
Rounding out the top five was Disney's Cruella. The duo Emmas (Stone and Thompson) helped bring in $6.7 million, giving the film a new $56 million total. Worldwide the film is fast approaching the $130 million mark. I suspect this has a little more gas left in the tank as well.
Next week brings us The Hitman's Wife Bodyguard (which has had an early Wednesday opening - and some scathing reviews to go along with it) and that's it for wide releases.
There's a lot going on in this weeks MPAA Ratings Bulletin from a thriller about growing old really fast, to a new horror anthology to an action-packed crime film to an action figure come to life. Maybe not quite something for everyone territory, but certainly a nice mix.
I'm not saying that M. Night Shyamalan has anywhere near a perfect track record, he certainly seems to have found new footing in the last several years. While many were disappointed by Glass after the much more interesting Split, both are still far and away better than the likes of Lady in the Water and The Happening. So where is Old going to wind up on the scale? I will say this - the setup seems very interesting. The story follows a family on vacation who finds themselves at a secluded beach - one that has a unique property of causing anyone on it to age rapidly. So our cast - Gael García Bernal, Embeth Davidtz, Rufus Sewell, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Alex Wolff, Eliza Scanlen and Vicky Krieps are going to have to figure out what's going on or die trying. Is is mystical? Magical? Technological? Alien? Eh - I think the less you know about this going in the better and I, for one, hope there isn't some crazy twist, but I do hope there is an answer there somewhere. At least it has me interested. Rated PG-13 for strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity and brief strong language.
We haven't had a big film based on a toy line in awhile, but the versatile Henry Golding is here to save us all with Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. I can't say I'm the biggest fan of the other G.I. Joe films - they were action-packed, for sure, but a bit lazy and with very little in the way of character development. But, hey, at least they weren't Transformers, right? In any case, director Robert Schwentke is capable, having helmed RED and the Insurgent/Allegiant Divergent films. And Golding has a lot of talent - I just hope he's as good in action as he is in comedy/romance. He's joined by Samara Weaving as Scarlett, Úrsula Corberó as The Baroness and Andrew Koji as Storm Shadow, among others. I'm hoping this director and this cast can bring something a big deeper than pure action - but we'll have to wait and see on that. Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and brief strong language.
Sticking with action, we're going to join some big-name friends that are no stranger to the genre including Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Robert Patrick and Maggie Q, along with a director whose no stranger to engaging action in Martin Campbell (GoldenEye, Casino Royale, The Legend of Zorro and Edge of Darkness to name a few). They're all teaming up to bring us The Protege, which, as the title suggest follows a master assassin Moody (Jackson) and Anna, the girl he raised to be even better than he ever was (Maggie Q). Of course, killing for hire means making plenty of enemies along the way - and this world eventually catches up to her as an enigmatic killer (Keaton) with an unhealthy fascination with Anna plays a dangerous cat-and-mouse game that will bring their respective worlds crashing into each other. I'm not sure if this will elevate beyond a typical action/thriller but the cast is promising at least. Rated R for strong and bloody violence,
language, some sexual references and brief nudity.
While I don't cover streaming films exclusively here, I like to at least touch on the ones that pique my interest, no matter what service they might fall under. This time around it is Netflix getting a little love with an ambitious horror anthology series that is dropping right in the middle of summer. Based on the best-selling series from R.L. Stine, Fear Street takes place in the aptly-named town of Shadyside, covering three distinct periods of time. Part One: 1994 follows a circle of teenage friends who unwittingly unleash an ancient evil that has been plaguing their town for 300 years - and, yes, plenty of death ensues. Part Two: takes us back to 1978, where a fun summer at Camp Nightwing turns into a nightmare when one of the campers becomes possessed and goes on a killing spree. Finally Part Three: 1666 takes us back to the beginning and finally reveals the reason the Shadyside has been cursed. These are going to drop back-to-back each week in July and looks to be a bloody good time. Part 1 and 2 have both been rated R (strong bloody violence, drug content, language and some sexual content for Part One and bloody horror
violence, sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language throughout for Part Two) and I have a feeling Part Three will follow the same suit next week. If you want a horror fix, this seems to be a good place to start.
That is it for the big films for this week but you can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below for all the rest:
6:45
Rated R for strong violence and gore, sexual content, nudity and language throughout.
APACHE JUNCTION
Rated R for some violence.
CRAZY ABOUT YOU
Rated R for language.
CRIME STORY
Rated R for violence, language and some sexual content.
CUPID FOR CHRISTMAS
Rated PG for mild violence and some language.
FEAR STREET PART ONE: 1994
Rated R for strong bloody violence, drug content, language and some sexual content.
FEAR STREET PART TWO: 1978
Rated R for bloody horror violence, sexual content, nudity, drug use, and language throughout.
LAST MAN DOWN
Rated R for violence and language.
OLD
Rated PG-13 for strong violence, disturbing images, suggestive content, partial nudity and brief strong language.
PRAY AWAY
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, brief strong language, some sexual references and brief partial nudity.
THE PROTEGE
Rated R for strong and bloody violence, language, some sexual references and brief nudity.
ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN
Rated R for language throughout.
SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS
Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence and brief strong language.
VACATION FRIENDS
Rated R for drug content, crude sexual references, and language throughout.
