One Month Out Part II
By BOP Staff
May 13, 2010
Kim Hollis: The wide releases for the weekend of June 25th are:
Grown Ups
Knight & Day
What are your feelings/expectations about these projects?
Josh Spiegel: The Adam Sandler who appears in movies like Mr. Deeds is an Adam Sandler I do not understand. I don't find him funny in these movies, I don't like him, and the movies are usually pretty terrible. Grown Ups looks like it's going to continue that trend, but I'm sure the movie will open all right, at least. Knight & Day could be a big opener; they've done well at Fox for marketing it early, and the footage looks promising. Even with a shrieky Cameron Diaz, I'm excited about this movie.
David Mumpower: As I have said elsewhere on the site, I am not expecting anything less from Grown Ups than a Couples Retreat type of run. In fact, $109 million is about the least I see this film making, because it is comfort food for the masses. As I said when Couples Retreat tore up the box office, I fully expect these sorts of working vacation movie productions to become a frequent aspect of the industry moving forward. It is a lesson learned from the Ocean franchise. Stars like to get away from it all and hang out with people of like behavior just as much as the rest of us. If they can make a $100+ million movie with absolutely no downside, what is there to lose? Were a project like this to fail, everyone would share the blame rather than the focus going solely against a star like Adam Sandler, Kevin James or Chris Rock. It’s a genius play.
With regards to Knight & Day, I am as excited about this project as anything remaining on the Summer schedule. This looks like my type of action film with just the right combination of comedy and action. I have always had a weak spot for those going all the way back to when I fell in love with Die Hard. I also believe that for all of his crippling personality flaws, Tom Cruise chooses projects as well as any actor I have ever seen. Will Smith is working his way into that discussion, but Cruise is the gold standard to date. Having said all of this, I’m not looking for much beyond a $45 million opening weekend for Knight & Day since mainstream consumers are more bothered by Cruise’s madness than I.
Michael Lynderey: As is custom for me, it looks like I'm in complete disagreement with the majority. I've seen person after person here at BOP express their admiration for Knight & Day, but I just can't much get into the trailers for it, or drudge up any particular interest. Grown Ups, on the other hand, looks like potentially dumb fun, and I'm always game for movies with all-star casts. Box office-wise, this two-pack hits right in the middle of what I believe are going to be 15 massive days of box office - starting from Toy Story 3 marching into town on the 18th and ending with whatever The Last Airbender is able to pull off in early July. Grown Ups is an easy lock for $100 million (one of many such upcoming films to star Kevin James, I think), while there's still a chance Knight & Day won't get to three digits. We shall see.
Kim Hollis: Although Grown Ups looks pretty dodgy quality-wise to me (any movie that has David Spade as a central character runs that risk), I'm pretty sure its box office will be just fine. Couples Retreat is the perfect comparison. Like most of these goofy Sandler comedies (note: I *love* Adam Sandler but I don't always love his films), it'll claw its way to around $100 million and be a money maker for its studio. It's harmless fun and there's nothing wrong with that. Even if it's not for me, there are a lot of people who really enjoy that sort of thing.
I do think Knight & Day looks pretty fun, but I'm always someone who digs Tom Cruise as I think he does make solid choices with regards to projects. He has charisma and I almost see this role as a lighter version of the hitman he played in Collateral. Instead of being a bad guy sucking an innocent player into his web, he's a good guy who involves his blind date in his escapades. I don't love Cameron Diaz, but I do think that she and Cruise have had good chemistry before (Vanilla Sky), so I see a lot of upside for this quality-wise. I do think it has some box office limitations to the point that it may only open to $40 million or so. It could have great legs if it's good, though.
Continued:
1
2
3
Print this column
