John Krasinski, Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds in ‘A Quiet Place’
I know you’re all tired of reading posts where I essentially beg you to vote with your wallet, where I complain about folks championing movies that represent one ideal or another and then ignoring those movies in theaters. And I get that regular theatrical moviegoing is not a realistic option for many folks, be it for financial reasons or because of time constraints and the availability of at-home entertainment options of equal/better quality. I mean, everyone buzzing about Steven Spielberg proclaiming that the next Indiana Jones could be female (What else was he going to say to that question?) seems to have ignored the perfectly solid Lara Croft movie that opened three weeks ago, but that’s a complaint for another post.
But this weekend features two ridiculously good major studio releases that aren’t tentpoles but are absolutely mainstream/high-quality/theater-friendly multiplex releases. If you care at all about the availability of such flicks in theaters, let alone whether such films get made at all, you really need to take some time out of your weekend schedule and see Universal/Comcast Corp.’s Blockers and/or Paramount/Viacom Inc.’s A Quiet Place. One is a superb R-rated teen girl-centric coming of age sex comedy with a female director (Kay Cannon) at the helm. The other is a knockout of an existential horror movie that subtly critiques patriarchal survivalist tropes while scaring you silly with its genuinely high concept. This is a “speak now, or forever hold your peace” moment.
Okay, now that I got that off my chest…
John Krasinki’s A Quiet Place, an original and critically-acclaimed horror flick costarring Emily Blunt and penned by Krasinksi, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, just nabbed $4.3 million in Thursday previews. That is an obscene amount for a horror film that isn’t a sequel or a sky-high IP adaptation. For comparison, Happy Death Day earned $1m in Thursday previews, Get Out earned $1.8m in previews and Split earned $2m in Thursday previews. Oh, and The Purge earned “just” $3.4m in Thursday previews five years ago on the way to a $34m debut weekend. Does this mean that Paramount’s horror classic is heading toward a $40m+ debut weekend? Well, with rave reviews and white-hot buzz, it’s entirely possible.
This is a $17 million Platinum Dunes flick, so anything over $20m for the weekend is a win. That’s especially true as Paramount needs a hit very badly, as they haven’t had a domestic/worldwide win since Arrival in late 2016. And after the disappointing runs of mother! and Annihilation, it’s beyond refreshing to see at least one critically-acclaimed horror flick breaking out, even if A Quiet Place is more meat-and-potatoes entertainment (made, mind you, with real Kobebeef) than those two previous head trips. My wife went to see it last night and got sold out of the 7:30 pm showing. She saw it at 8 pm, which was also sold out.
At this juncture, since the movie is incredibly effective, has justifiably rave reviews and plays great in a packed audience, I am leaning toward optimistic hyperbole. But just in case, a run like Paranormal Activity 2 ($6.3 million midnight/$40m debut) still gets the movie to $27m for the weekend. Even a run like It (which was an IP cash-in and snagged $13.5m in Thursday previews) gets it just under $40m. I mean, hell, if this plays like a Twilight sequel we’re still looking at around $22m for the frame. When you have a movie that cost under $20m, with rave reviews and solid word of mouth, that just snagged $4.3m in Thursday previews, there aren’t many plausible “bad” scenarios.
The other outright great movie opening this weekend is Blockers. The Universal/Comcast comedy, starring Leslie Mann, John Cena and Ike Barinholtz as three parents trying to stop their teen daughters (Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Indira Viswanathan and Gideon Adlon) from losing their virginity on prom night, also earned (justifiably) rave reviews. The $20 million-budgeted comedy earned $1.5m in Thursday previews, which hopefully points toward a $20m-$25m debut weekend. I know there’s a lot to see right now, but Kay Cannon’s Blockers is one of the best mainstream studio comedies in years. If you want more like it (or Game Night), you need to, say it with me now, vote with your wallet.
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John Krasinski, Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds in ‘A Quiet Place’
I know you’re all tired of reading posts where I essentially beg you to vote with your wallet, where I complain about folks championing movies that represent one ideal or another and then ignoring those movies in theaters. And I get that regular theatrical moviegoing is not a realistic option for many folks, be it for financial reasons or because of time constraints and the availability of at-home entertainment options of equal/better quality. I mean, everyone buzzing about Steven Spielberg proclaiming that the next Indiana Jones could be female (What else was he going to say to that question?) seems to have ignored the perfectly solid Lara Croft movie that opened three weeks ago, but that’s a complaint for another post.
But this weekend features two ridiculously good major studio releases that aren’t tentpoles but are absolutely mainstream/high-quality/theater-friendly multiplex releases. If you care at all about the availability of such flicks in theaters, let alone whether such films get made at all, you really need to take some time out of your weekend schedule and see Universal/Comcast Corp.’s Blockers and/or Paramount/Viacom Inc.’s A Quiet Place. One is a superb R-rated teen girl-centric coming of age sex comedy with a female director (Kay Cannon) at the helm. The other is a knockout of an existential horror movie that subtly critiques patriarchal survivalist tropes while scaring you silly with its genuinely high concept. This is a “speak now, or forever hold your peace” moment.
Okay, now that I got that off my chest…
John Krasinki’s A Quiet Place, an original and critically-acclaimed horror flick costarring Emily Blunt and penned by Krasinksi, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, just nabbed $4.3 million in Thursday previews. That is an obscene amount for a horror film that isn’t a sequel or a sky-high IP adaptation. For comparison, Happy Death Day earned $1m in Thursday previews, Get Out earned $1.8m in previews and Split earned $2m in Thursday previews. Oh, and The Purge earned “just” $3.4m in Thursday previews five years ago on the way to a $34m debut weekend. Does this mean that Paramount’s horror classic is heading toward a $40m+ debut weekend? Well, with rave reviews and white-hot buzz, it’s entirely possible.
This is a $17 million Platinum Dunes flick, so anything over $20m for the weekend is a win. That’s especially true as Paramount needs a hit very badly, as they haven’t had a domestic/worldwide win since Arrival in late 2016. And after the disappointing runs of mother! and Annihilation, it’s beyond refreshing to see at least one critically-acclaimed horror flick breaking out, even if A Quiet Place is more meat-and-potatoes entertainment (made, mind you, with real Kobebeef) than those two previous head trips. My wife went to see it last night and got sold out of the 7:30 pm showing. She saw it at 8 pm, which was also sold out.
At this juncture, since the movie is incredibly effective, has justifiably rave reviews and plays great in a packed audience, I am leaning toward optimistic hyperbole. But just in case, a run like Paranormal Activity 2 ($6.3 million midnight/$40m debut) still gets the movie to $27m for the weekend. Even a run like It (which was an IP cash-in and snagged $13.5m in Thursday previews) gets it just under $40m. I mean, hell, if this plays like a Twilight sequel we’re still looking at around $22m for the frame. When you have a movie that cost under $20m, with rave reviews and solid word of mouth, that just snagged $4.3m in Thursday previews, there aren’t many plausible “bad” scenarios.
The other outright great movie opening this weekend is Blockers. The Universal/Comcast comedy, starring Leslie Mann, John Cena and Ike Barinholtz as three parents trying to stop their teen daughters (Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Indira Viswanathan and Gideon Adlon) from losing their virginity on prom night, also earned (justifiably) rave reviews. The $20 million-budgeted comedy earned $1.5m in Thursday previews, which hopefully points toward a $20m-$25m debut weekend. I know there’s a lot to see right now, but Kay Cannon’s Blockers is one of the best mainstream studio comedies in years. If you want more like it (or Game Night), you need to, say it with me now, vote with your wallet.
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