Monday Morning Quarterback Part I

By BOP Staff

June 9, 2015

They had a Gilmore Girls reunion without me?

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Jason Barney: I think the majority of this box office can be attributed to Melissa McCarthy achieving a certain amount of success over the last couple of years. She has her own brand now, and her run has gotten her a lot of positive attention. Going back to 2011 with Bridesmaids, she has been able to deliver raunchy lines in comedy in a way that audiences really enjoy. She was red hot when The Heat was released two summers ago, and Tammy was no box office slouch, either.

Spy probably would have achieved a certain amount of success on its own right. I don’t think the film is as good as the glowing Rotten Tomatoes rating, but it is enjoyable, and there is a lot for movie goers to embrace. We saw it this weekend. It is a solid comedy in a top ten filled with superheroes, disaster porn, and apocalyptic stories. There will be a good amount of buzz because of the supporting cast, which is very strong. Jude Law and Jason Statham are the male cast members, and they are names. Also, Rose Byrne’s resume is pretty extensive, but there are a couple of secondary characters who add much to the film. 50 cent makes an appearance, as well as Robert Cannavale from Boardwalk Empire, Miranda Hart from Call Midwife, and Allison Janney, whose long list of credits is impressive. Together, the strong performances add foundation to McCarthy’s in your face bluntness, so I imagine the holds will be exceptional….even with other comedies on the horizon.

David Mumpower: I agree that there are two competing forces here. The appeal of McCarthy and Statham drives the ticket sales, but the atrocious quality of McCarthy's films combined with Statham's tendency toward bottom feeder beat-em-ups (Furious 7 notwithstanding) counterbalances that. If anything, I'm disappointed that Spy didn't do better, because it's a great movie. We never get enough of those during the summer.




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Kim Hollis: Insidious Chapter 3 debuted with $22.7 million this weekend. What do you think of this result?

Edwin Davies: It's a great result for a film with a $10 million budget, and another sign that Jason Blum knows what he's doing when it comes to putting money behind low-budget horror films. It's a noticeable step back from the second film, which earned $40.2 million on its opening weekend, but that film wasn't as well received as the first film, so anticipation might have been tempered when it came to round three, and the film being a prequel instead of a sequel probably made it seem less appetizing to casual fans of the franchise.

Felix Quinonez: Even if it's less than the last one, it's still a great opening and shows that there's still more money to be milked from this franchise. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a fourth one in a couple of years.

Ryan Kyle: I guess we should be getting ready for Chapter 4 because a $23 million opening against a $10 million budget is fantastic. Given that this is a prequel lacking the original cast and that the sequel nicely ended the Lambert family saga, expectations weren't sky high. Insidious 2 also had the benefit of opening on Friday the 13th, which turbo-charged the weekend to an extraordinary $40 million (Opening day accounted for 25% of the overall cume). With solid reviews and a lack of competition, if this film can come close to the original's $54 million gross, I think that this is a major success. Also, kudos go to Focus Features for generating a campaign outside of their usual comfort zone after being saddled with Insidious 3 when they bought FilmDistrict, the company that released the first two chapters.

David Mumpower: It's the latest example that demonstrates where to put your money if you've got some capital you want to invest in a film. Horror is where you'll maximize your profit the most. There's very little reason to have two Insidious sequels, yet audiences still flock to them.


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