Predicting the Movie Hits and Bombs of 2016

No more fish puns, please. The end. Fin.

--Geoff

 

Was that supposed to be a pun ["bite"?]

I saw Sausage Party on Sunday and enjoyed it, and became almost from day one #1 but has wound up next to "Suicide Squad" which I also saw, the week before.

I've also seen Nerve. Enjoyed that..nothng like seeing a shy teenage girl join millions of others around New York City in playing the cell game Nerve, almost all of which is in Brooklyn. (Nice ferry scene).

 

It'll be interesting to see how "Hell or High Water' does when it opens more broadly in the next few weeks. The one film that motivating me to return to the theaters.

 

Have you heard of The Heat, Blindside, Gravity, Crash? They did *OK*.

 

Jack Huston Is No Chuck Heston

Film Review: ‘Ben-Hur’ »

 

‘Ben-Hur’s Weekend Apocalypse: Is There Redemption For Faith-Based Epics At The B.O.? – Saturday Update »

Don't know about Ben-Hur, but given their creative-to-the-point-of-strange interpretation of scripture and the Bible it's unsurprising "Noah" and "Exodus" were scorned if not laughed at by many Christians. There's enough spectacular drama in the Bible, from the opening pages of Genesis... through Elijah contending with Jezebel and the priests of Baal in the Book of Kings, to St. Paul causing trouble wherever he went (Riot of the Silversmiths, for instance, agitating the entire city of Ephesus) there's no need for script 'notes' and 'modernizing' from theological illiterates and studio heads who apparently can't even 'read' comic books correctly.

 

And some are saying the movie failed because there weren't any big-name stars in it:

A Lesson of the ‘Ben-Hur’ Debacle: Movie Stars Still Matter »

I think the movie failed because nobody wanted to see it. And I don't say this lightly: a historical period costume drama set in Biblical times is a very, very hard sell these days. A movie like Gladiator managed to overcome all the odds, but that's an extreme exception.

 

I went to see Beyond yesterday, and I agree completely with the bold text above. The trailer did a good job of representing what the film really is. At least the theater was comfortable.

 

And as predicted, Ben Hur is shaping up to be the bomb of the year:

‘Ben-Hur’ Could Lose $100 Million at Box Office »

 

With so many sequels going down in flames (long overdue!), is Hollywood about to be forced to go cold turkey on sequels and franchises?

 

Doubt it. They'll rationalize it as not picking the right sequel/franchises to remake - there are plenty more to choose from. Another words, they'll double down!

 

I could see it.

 

A good article about the current fanbase-driven box office of recent franchises. If studios keep budgets reasonable then they should be okay, but it seems that increasing budgets on sequels and expecting bigger performance is an excersise in diminishing returns these day.

Box Office: 'Suicide Squad' Is Now Leggier Than 'Batman V Superman' »

 

Hell or High Water is one of the better (if not best) films I've seen in quite some time. Excellent.

 

IMDb: Top 25 Highest Paid Actors/Actresses/Directors - a list by sergio91 »

 

I do believe The Shallows was the best film I've seen this year after The Hateful Eight & The Revenant. Last X Men film I enjoyed as well. Still a few months to go. Anything else out this year ?

 

A movie about the first date between President Obama and the First Lady, called "Southside With You" is opening this weekend. Anyone hear anything about it?

 

I heard there's a second date. #sequel

 

look for 'arrival' and 'the girl on the train' to be very big this fall.....maybe emily blunt will finally get the academy nomination she deserved for 'sicario' last year.

 

Do this new Ben-Hur still have the homoerotic angle?

 

The Shallows was an entertaining/enjoyable 80 minutes. That said, it's not even in the same league/scope as 'The Revenant'. Nor was anything else last year, for that matter. My .02

Brooklyn, Sicario & Amy were other 2015 winners.

 

Movies are about entertainment so it was just my humble opinion. I did say after The Revenant.
peopleareleaving,

 

Yes you did my kind sir. I was just agreeing with you.

btw - love your avatar

 

From what I understand, no, that has been scrubbed.

The straight-washing of “Ben-Hur”: Remake of the ’59 epic drops gay subtext — and beefs up religious themes »