One Month Out Part I
June 2010
By BOP Staff
May 12, 2010
Kim Hollis: The wide releases for the weekend of June 11th are:
The A-Team
The Karate Kid
What are your feelings/expectations about these projects?
Josh Spiegel: The A-Team looks all right (though I could do without the idiotic line from Jessica Biel about how the guys "specialize in the ridiculous."), but I'll wait to see if the reviews are strong, tepid, or otherwise. The Karate Kid....why is this movie being made again? I realize that a lot of people have nostalgic feelings about this movie, but what is the point about making a movie about nostalgia, when it's in a different country, not about the same kind of karate, and the trailer goes out of its way to mock the original? I'll skip this one, and I'll be shocked if it opens huge.
Michael Lynderey: Looking forward to The A-Team. Should pull in good old-fashioned summer blockbuster numbers. You know - $55 million open, $140 million total - something like that. With a kids' movie opening the week before (Marmaduke) and after (Toy Story 3), I just don't see Karate Kid being all that huge. Jaden Smith isn't a draw among his age group quite yet. If it's really good, though, legs aren't out of the question.
Matthew Huntley: I'm not overly familiar with The A-Team television series, but the trailer makes it seem like look like a solid popcorn movie - an attractive cast; overblown action and stunts; and sex appeal. It has almost everything required to be a summer hit, so there's little reason to think it won't open to at least $50 million.
As for The Karate Kid, well, that's a different story. For one thing, the original still feels new, even if it is 26 years old. For that reason alone, die-hard fans of the 1984 version won't give it the time of day. As for newcomers to the franchise, the trailer makes it look too generic. Jayden Smith isn't exactly a star, and Jackie Chan's popularity has been fading over the past decade. I'll give the film a $28 million opening on name and release date, but short legs thereafter.
Jason Lee: I could see The A-Team having the same type of box office performance as Get Smart from a few years ago. The Karate Kid should do the same type of numbers as every other MGM release (poor).
Jim Van Nest: The A-Team...for me, this one looks GI Joe bad. The show wasn't even that good and now they're making a movie? Um...okay. I expect it will have a decent opening due to fans of the old show, but I'd expect it to go away quickly as no one else will care.
Karate Kid. I fear this will have a similar fate, though I do hold out more hope for the quality of the film. From everything I hear, Jaden Smith is a pretty darn good martial artist and you have to like Jackie Chan. But, like A-Team, I'd expect a decent opening weekend and then a quick fade away.
A-Team should win the weekend, probably in the $50-60 million range with Karate Kid coming in second around $35 million or so.
David Mumpower: As a huge fan of the original Karate Kid, I have been making fun of this project for ages, particularly when the name was temporarily changed to The Kung Fu Kid. To my complete and total shock, the trailers for this look pretty good, which is frankly not something I had anticipated. I think it could wind up being a nice sleeper hit, just as the original was once upon a time. If it’s not, Jackie Chan is probably done as a major player in the industry (read: Rush Hour 4 will get a greenlight). The A-Team is another title I had assumed would be garbage right up until the casting began. Now, I think this has a chance to earn somewhere in the neighborhood of $135-$150 million, maybe even more. As long as the movie is good, it’s going to do very well. Those trailers are great.
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