The new releases
There are three releases coming out this weekend: an action-comedy cross-over, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters; a crude comedy, Movie 43 and; a new Statham vehicle, Parker.
The most intriguing, to me, is Hansel and Gretel. I love a good twist on a classic tale, and Will Ferrell and Adam McKay on as producers catches my attention even more. The story follows the titular pair of the classic fairy tale, but this time they’re bounty hunters who hunt witches all over the world. They are also now facing a new form of evil.
One of the most recent classic twists on a fairy tale, Red Riding Hood, made $14 million in its opening weekend. Though, this one is in 3D and it has the popularity of Jeremy Renner going for it. I also hope it’ll be a bigger hit than R.R.H. I think this will gross $19 million this weekend.
Movie 43 seems like a new New Year’s Eve for the crude comedy genre, and for the modern internet age. The story: A series of interconnected short films follows three kids as they search the depths of the Internet to find the world’s most banned movie. It has a bunch of different directors and practically everyone in it, so it has that going for it… It also looks incredibly stupid. New Year’s Eve grossed $13 million in its opening weekend, and Valentine’s Day grossed $56.26 million in its opening weekend, but I highly doubt this will get an opening weekend return anywhere near Valentine’s number. I think it will gross a little less than New Year’s Eve number. With better execution than 2012’s V/H/S (a film that also used short films as a major contribution), this could turn out to be a hit. This will still earn a nice profit in its opening weekend because of its solid marketing campaign and buzz on thee ole Twitter-sphere. I think this will gross $12.5 million this weekend.
Statham’s most recent action vehicle, Parker, teams him up with Jennifer Lopez. The story: A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, he looks to hijack the score of the crew’s latest heist. For 2013, the gross for the one action flick with a primary action hero isn’t too promising (Arnie’s The Last Stand, grossing $6.28 in its opening weekend). Statham has an average opening weekend gross of $12.19 million. Whilst that’s more than decent, my interest for Statham has been wavering as of late. His last two leading man action flicks haven’t produced great returns – Killer Elite: total gross of $25 million (with $9.35 in its opening weekend) and; Safe: total gross of $17.14 million (with $7.89 in its opening weekend). This time, though, he’s being paired with Jennifer Lopez, and the film could be a winner. We’ll see what happens, but I think it’ll make $9.4 million this weekend.
Here’s how I see the top 10:
Title/Prediction/Studio
1. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters/ $19, 000, 000/ Paramount
2. Mama/ $16, 900, 000/ Universal
3. Movie 43/ $12, 500, 000/ Relativity
4. Zero Dark Thirty/ $9, 500, 000/ Sony
5. Parker/ $9, 400, 000/ FilmDistrict
6. Silver Linings Playbook/ $7, 300, 000/ Weinstein Company
7. Django Unchained/ $5, 000, 000/ Weinstein Company
8. Les Misérables/ $4, 800, 000/ Universal
9. Broken City/ $4, 300, 000/ Fox
10. Gangster Squad/ $4, 000, 000/ Warner Bros.
Filmcraziest 
Hansel & Gretel tops? I totally misread this movie.
It seems to me like it will! 3D equals extra money, too. LOL.
You’ve been pretty close on a lot of new movies lately, so your word is gold to me. I really thought Broken City and Gangster Squad would be up there…but then again, that’s just because I’m interested in them.
Gee, thanks! I mean, last weekend I was off by a long shot for the three new releases, but other than that I’ve been pretty good. Surprising that Broken City did so badly, I mean not as bad as The Last Stand, but still… I find the box office pretty interesting, though.
Quite looking forward Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 😀
Me tooo 😀