Writer/director Leigh Whannell’s reworking of the classic creep-out horror flick The Invisible Man took the top spot at last weekend’s box office, selling a solid $29 million in the U.S. and $49 million worldwide. It’s another win for Blumhouse and actor Elisabeth Moss, who carries the weight of the flick. The flick holds a Critics’ Score of 71/100 and a Fan Score of 73/100 on Metacritic, with most critics praising Moss’s “harrowing” performance.
Also at the Box
The big screen adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog continued to roll, selling a solid $16 million over its third weekend, bringing the film’s 17-day International sales total to just under $130 million. I know it’s the Little Blue Guy people love, but I also like to think that Jim Carrey has a lot to do with Sonic’s success at the box office. How many Sonic films do you think we’ll end up seeing? I’ll guess somewhere around four. Ouch, culture, ouch.
The Call of the Wild continued to surprise, taking the No. 3 spot with another $13 million in sales, bringing the Harrison Ford-fronted feature to a solid $45 million in just 10 days. Gotta admit, I thought this one was going to flop hard. Supposedly it’s a very satisfying watch. I love dogs and I love grumpy old Harrison Ford and I love films with snow-drenched frames, and so this is something I’ll certainly watch on a sleepless, sweaty summer night.
Next up at No. 4 at the domestic box office is newbie My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, the new frontrunner for “Worst Titled Film of the Year.” My Hero, a 104-minute anime movie about a group of young people who become professional superheroes, sold just over $5 million over its first weekend of domestic release.
And, finally, in the No. 5 spot, we have Bad Boys for Life, which sold another $4.3 million, upping the action-comedy sequel’s international total to a very notable $405 million. That’s a whole lot of money for a film a lot of folks thought was going to flop.
New this Week
Legendary photographer Autumn de Wilde’s feature film debut, an adaptation of Jane Austin’s Emma, will open this weekend. The flick stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Mia Goth, Bill Nighy, and Johnny Flynn and so far is getting decent reviews.
Also out everywhere is animated fantasy flick Onward. Voiced by Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer, Onward is a Dan Scanlan-directed, Pixar-animated, magic-themed sure-thing hit. Look for this one to bring in the big bucks over the next several weeks as the long winter continues to keep the kids at the theaters.
And, finally we have the great Gavin O’Connor’s The Way Back, an American sports drama starring Ben Affleck in what is being called yet another “comeback moment” for the actor / filmmaker / writer. This $25 million flick is very much up my alley, as it tells the story of a failed basketball player who has become an alcoholic.
Also, I have loved some of Gavin O’Connor’s other flicks, specifically Warrior and The Accountant. I’d go so far as to say that I think Warrior, another sports film, is one of the great dramas of the still-new century.
Screen Time
And, finally, we have to discuss Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s American adaptation of Swedish director Ruben Ostend’s Force Majeure, titled Downhill.
It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to a lot of attention and anticipation, yet, despite starring Will Ferrell, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Zach Woods, Miranda Otto, and Zoe Chao, has only sold $8.1 million so far at the box office despite being in wide release for 17 days now.
That’s a pretty big blow to the Faxon-Rash duo, whose The Descendents script and The Way Way Back both did reasonably well.
It’s also proof that the concept of the movie star is maybe dead. Remember when every Will Ferrell film at least made its money back? Those days are over. Now it’s all about the men-in-tights and sequels.
I plan to watch this one, as I really like the cast and consider the Faxon-Rash duo to be really promising.
