Dwayne Johnson and Naomie Harris in ‘Rampage’.
As a general rule, April is something of a quiet month, with maybe one big offering (Fate of the Furious, The Jungle Book, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, etc.) alongside smaller stuff as Hollywood gives itself some space between the March biggies and the May summer kick-off flicks. But since A) most of the March stuff somewhat underwhelmed (at least domestically) and Walt Disney went and moved Avengers: Infinity War into the April 27 slot, it’s going to be… interesting. The entire month of April is now compressed into three weekends. At a glance, this means that Ready Player One should have some time to itself, even if the Avengers date change resulted in Rampage dropping on the 13th. So, without further ado, here are the five biggest April releases that can only hope to make in domestic total what Infinity War will (probably) earn on opening day. These will be in the order of release date.
A Quiet Place (April 6)
John Krasinksi’s survivalist horror flick has been earning rave reviews since its SXSW debut. Will this be the buzzy hit that Paramount/Viacom Inc. so badly needs, or will it be another acclaimed/future classic horror movie that no one sees in theaters? The Krasinski/Emily Blunt chiller, about a family trying to survive in a world where most of humanity has been wiped out by monsters who are unusually sensitive to sound, is a bit more meat-and-potatoes than mother! or Annihilation, so I am cautiously optimistic that this shockingly scary bruised-forearm flick will catch on accordingly.
Blockers (April 6)
This Kay Cannon-directed comedy, about three parents who team up to try and stop their teen daughters from losing their virginity on prom night, has also been graced by mostly positive SXSW reviews. And while I’m dropping my review early next week, I will gladly affirm the current buzz. It’s a terrific (and refreshingly sex-positive) Universal/Comcast Corp. comedy that works as a parental anxiety romp and a teen girl-centric high school comedy. The cast (John Cena, Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, Katherine Newton, Gideon Adlon and Geraldine Viswanathan) is aces and we can only hope that the good luck extended to the equally winning Game Night (which topped $60 million domestic from a $17m debut) extends to this one too.
Rampage (April 13)
Up until a month ago, this Dwayne Johnson/Naomie Harris video game adaptation was the official “big” movie of April, set to open on April 20. But when Infinity War moved back a week, so too did Rampage, which in turn gave Ready Player One (both of which are Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. releases) less breathing room. While Johnson is coming off his biggest starring vehicle hit (and his biggest grosser period in North America), movies that play like glorified video games (Jumanji, Ready Player One, etc.) tend to do better than actual “based on a video game” movies. Still, the notion of The Rock protecting and fighting giant animals as a giant gorilla, a flying lizard and a super-sized wolf tear apart major cities has a certain appeal even if you’re not familiar with the 1980’s arcade game.
Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare (April 13)
This will be the second time since October that Blumhouse (via Universal/Comcast Corp.) opened an original teen-targeted chiller on Friday the 13th. This Lucy Hale body count movie, about a group of young adults who get picked off after playing a cursed game of “truth or dare,” will attempt to further capitalize on Blumhouse’s increasing popularity as a brand after last year’s 1-2-3 punch of Split, Get Out and Happy Death Day. Heck, Insidious: The Last Key, which seemed like the last gaps of a dying franchise, ended up out-earning its predecessors worldwide and two out of three prior installments in North America while outearning every other “schlock horror film that opens over the first weekend of the year” title ever. Let’s see if they can keep their streak alive with this Final Destination-ish throwback.
I Feel Pretty (April 20)
Another victim of the Avengers date change, this Amy Schumer comedy was originally slotted for April 27, a date where a number of female-led comedies (The Other Woman, Baby Mama, etc.) have had solid/leggy runs against the boy-centric biggies of the summer season. Of course, even a week earlier, the STX release plays that same role. The film will be something of a test for Schumer, in that the entire marketing campaign is centered entirely around her. The (surprisingly) PG-13 comedy, about a young woman who magically starts to view herself as less of a plain-Jane and more of a stereotypical knock-out in the looks department, comes courtesy of Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, both of whom have a long resume of writing female-led romantic comedies.
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Dwayne Johnson and Naomie Harris in ‘Rampage’.
As a general rule, April is something of a quiet month, with maybe one big offering (Fate of the Furious, The Jungle Book, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, etc.) alongside smaller stuff as Hollywood gives itself some space between the March biggies and the May summer kick-off flicks. But since A) most of the March stuff somewhat underwhelmed (at least domestically) and Walt Disney went and moved Avengers: Infinity War into the April 27 slot, it’s going to be… interesting. The entire month of April is now compressed into three weekends. At a glance, this means that Ready Player One should have some time to itself, even if the Avengers date change resulted in Rampage dropping on the 13th. So, without further ado, here are the five biggest April releases that can only hope to make in domestic total what Infinity War will (probably) earn on opening day. These will be in the order of release date.
A Quiet Place (April 6)
John Krasinksi’s survivalist horror flick has been earning rave reviews since its SXSW debut. Will this be the buzzy hit that Paramount/Viacom Inc. so badly needs, or will it be another acclaimed/future classic horror movie that no one sees in theaters? The Krasinski/Emily Blunt chiller, about a family trying to survive in a world where most of humanity has been wiped out by monsters who are unusually sensitive to sound, is a bit more meat-and-potatoes than mother! or Annihilation, so I am cautiously optimistic that this shockingly scary bruised-forearm flick will catch on accordingly.
Blockers (April 6)
This Kay Cannon-directed comedy, about three parents who team up to try and stop their teen daughters from losing their virginity on prom night, has also been graced by mostly positive SXSW reviews. And while I’m dropping my review early next week, I will gladly affirm the current buzz. It’s a terrific (and refreshingly sex-positive) Universal/Comcast Corp. comedy that works as a parental anxiety romp and a teen girl-centric high school comedy. The cast (John Cena, Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, Katherine Newton, Gideon Adlon and Geraldine Viswanathan) is aces and we can only hope that the good luck extended to the equally winning Game Night (which topped $60 million domestic from a $17m debut) extends to this one too.
Rampage (April 13)
Up until a month ago, this Dwayne Johnson/Naomie Harris video game adaptation was the official “big” movie of April, set to open on April 20. But when Infinity War moved back a week, so too did Rampage, which in turn gave Ready Player One (both of which are Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. releases) less breathing room. While Johnson is coming off his biggest starring vehicle hit (and his biggest grosser period in North America), movies that play like glorified video games (Jumanji, Ready Player One, etc.) tend to do better than actual “based on a video game” movies. Still, the notion of The Rock protecting and fighting giant animals as a giant gorilla, a flying lizard and a super-sized wolf tear apart major cities has a certain appeal even if you’re not familiar with the 1980’s arcade game.
Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare (April 13)
This will be the second time since October that Blumhouse (via Universal/Comcast Corp.) opened an original teen-targeted chiller on Friday the 13th. This Lucy Hale body count movie, about a group of young adults who get picked off after playing a cursed game of “truth or dare,” will attempt to further capitalize on Blumhouse’s increasing popularity as a brand after last year’s 1-2-3 punch of Split, Get Out and Happy Death Day. Heck, Insidious: The Last Key, which seemed like the last gaps of a dying franchise, ended up out-earning its predecessors worldwide and two out of three prior installments in North America while outearning every other “schlock horror film that opens over the first weekend of the year” title ever. Let’s see if they can keep their streak alive with this Final Destination-ish throwback.
I Feel Pretty (April 20)
Another victim of the Avengers date change, this Amy Schumer comedy was originally slotted for April 27, a date where a number of female-led comedies (The Other Woman, Baby Mama, etc.) have had solid/leggy runs against the boy-centric biggies of the summer season. Of course, even a week earlier, the STX release plays that same role. The film will be something of a test for Schumer, in that the entire marketing campaign is centered entirely around her. The (surprisingly) PG-13 comedy, about a young woman who magically starts to view herself as less of a plain-Jane and more of a stereotypical knock-out in the looks department, comes courtesy of Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, both of whom have a long resume of writing female-led romantic comedies.
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