Despite the two new releases, Paramount’s Bob Marley biographical drama “One Love” is expected to top the box office once again.
This weekend’s two new films, Hilary Swank’s inspiring drama “Ordinary Angels” and Ethan Coen’s comedy-thriller “Drive-Away Dolls,” are targeting single figures for their debuts. With such poor ticket sales, “Bob Marley: One Love” is looking to repeat the No. 1 spot after earning a better-than-expected $28.6 million over the weekend and $52 million during the extended holiday period.
Movie theaters are bracing for another painfully slow stretch. It’s been a tough time for the industry, with two weekends seeing record lows in February. So, cinema operators are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Denis Villeneuve’s big-budget film Dune: Part 2, which will be released on March 1. And based on pre-sales and early tracking, the sci-fi sequel will deliver a much-needed jolt at the box office. . It is expected to collect at least $60 million to $80 million in its domestic debut, and some predict that ticket sales could approach $90 million. This will be the first film to gross more than $50 million since Blumhouse’s thriller “Five Nights at Freddy’s” last October. Until then, box office receipts are about to grind to a halt.
“Ordinary Angels” is targeting $5 million to $7 million from 2,800 locations in North America. However, its backers Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company say the film’s budget was modest, so that could mitigate its box office drawbacks. Additionally, audiences may respond to the film’s feel-good themes—a potential antidote to the often depressing news cycle.
Directed by John Gunn, “Ordinary Angels” is based on the true story of a small-town hairdresser who finds a renewed sense of purpose when she meets a widower working to make ends meet for his young daughters. miscellaneous Courtney Howard praised the film, saying that Gunn’s story is anything but also drunken. “Even cynics will be attracted by the human kindness on display,” she wrote in her review.
Focus Features is releasing “Drive-Away Dolls” in 2,261 theaters in North America, where it is expected to bring in $1 million to $2 million. The film gets a lot more space than the average specialty release. Focus, which produced the bizarre crime thriller with the working title, has picked up a greater number of plays in response to the lack of new productions on the market.
Ethan Coen, one half of the filmmaking brothers behind Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and No Country for Old Men, directed Drive-Away Dolls in his solo feature debut and wrote the screenplay with his wife, Tricia Cooke. Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan and Beanie Feldstein star in the R-rated film, which follows two friends who embark on an impromptu road trip to Florida where they cross paths with some bumbling criminals. It was divisive among reviewers miscellaneous Leading film critic Owen Gleiberman heaped much praise on Qualley. “(She’s) now taking her appeal to the next level,” she said, describing her character as “Kristen Stewart crossed with Katharine Hepburn.”
Otherwise, remaining films such as Matthew Vaughn’s spy thriller “Argylle,” the animated comedy “Migration” and the fantasy musical “Wonka” will top the box office.
It’s unclear where Sony’s comic book adaptation “Madame Web” will land in its sophomore outing. Given the film’s poor reception, it would not be unexpected for ticket sales to decline by 60% or more. The “Spider-Man” spin-off, in which Dakota Johnson plays a paramedic with psychic powers, made just $15 million over the weekend and $26 million over the six-day holiday period.