Recently my wife and I were fortunate enough to travel to Croatia. Upon arrival , we were picked up by a wonderful, young, talkative Croatian driver at the airport. Driving to our hotel, I saw a large billboard on the outskirts of Zagreb. Pictured on it were Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson, and although the print was Croatian, it obviously was advertising The Hitman’s Bodyguard. I told him it was a funny movie and asked if he had seen it. “Not yet,” he replied, ” but if Ryan Reynolds is in it , it must be hilarious.” And so, 4000 miles from home, in a country that most would find difficult to locate on a map, this young man was quite aware of one of our “newer” movie stars. Had it been, say, Tom Cruise, I would not have been surprised, but his familiarity with Ryan Reynolds shows how our movies penetrate every market in the world.
As the theaters are bemoaning the disappointing summer results, they also know that September is the slowest month of the year. And since the studios pick the release dates, there are some surprising projections. It (the movie) is projected a $70 million opening weekend. Kingsman and Lego sequels are each projected $40 million opening weekends. If so, this would be the first time ever with three films opening in September at $40 million plus. Of all the previews I have seen, American Made with the aforementioned Tom Cruise looks far and away the best, but it’s opening weekend is only projected at $15 million. Currently 48 reviews give it an 88% Rotten Tomatoes rating, so what gives? With a budget of $80 million, Tom needs to sell some more tickets.
Speaking of Kingsman, did you see that Fox is canceling the NYC premiere, and the budgeted funds go to the Hurricane Harvey Relief fund? See, sometimes the studios do the right thing!
As for me, I am not going to see It–scary clowns will have to get along without me. And, since I am not scheduled to see Home Again until next weekend, you are on your own. Currently, I am organizing a bunch of Texas alumni to become Buckeyes for a night. Since Oklahoma is the opposition, the results appear quite promising. Go Bucks!