Editorial

The Bottom Line: December 16th, 2016: A Rebellion Built On Hope

Felicity Jones Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Quick Takes

There’s a new Star Wars movie out this weekend, so you can take a wild guess who will win the box office this time around. Find out how it will do in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line!

Box Office Top Five

Disney’s Moana stayed in first place for the third week in a row with $18.6 million. Office Christmas Party opened in second place with $16.9 million. Third place goes to Fantastic Beasts, which $10.5 million. Arrival and Doctor Strange round out the top five with $5.6 million and $4.6 million, respectively.

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Here is a look at a few films that are opening on December 9th.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (PG-13) 133 mins.

The Disney era of Star Wars is now in full swing, as the second movie made under the studio is being released this weekend. But it’s not a sequel to The Force Awakens. Rather, Rogue One is a spinoff/prequel telling the story of the rebels who stole the Death Star plans before the original film. Rogue One is an interesting movie that, good or bad, could represent the future of the franchise. Buzz surrounding the movie is strong, and it’s a Star Wars movie, so everyone reading this is likely to be seeing it. It’ll open in the number one spot and probably stay there for a couple of weeks.

Manchester by the Sea (R) 135 mins.

For those who’d rather spend their weekend back on Earth, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea is expanding nationwide. The emotional drama has gotten phenomenal reviews across the board, and Lonergan’s  Margaret is one of the best movies of the decade. Strong word-of-mouth, Oscar buzz, and acting as counter-programming to Star Wars could be good for the movie’s box office prospects. I’m predicting this opens at number three.

Collateral Beauty (PG-13) 94 mins.

And then there’s Collateral Beauty, which by all accounts is not the movie trailers would have you believe it is. The word is that this is terrible, cloying, dull filmmaking – that it’s actually shocking how bad this movie is. Will audiences be tricked into seeing this when Rogue One is sold out this weekend? Who knows – but we’ll say it opens at number five.

The Bottom Line

Rogue One will dominate in the number one spot, bumping Moana down to number two. Manchester by the Sea will open in third, while Fantastic Beasts will drop to fourth. Collateral Beauty will round out the top five.

Movies To Look Forward To:

Assassin’s Creed, Passengers (December 21st)


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Michael Smith

Mike Smith is an avid filmgoer from New York who loves to hear his own voice - luckily his work as a podcaster on FilmBook allows him to do just that. Mike graduated from The College of Saint Rose in Albany with a degree in communications, and is ready to dole out critical analysis of all your pop culture fixations. Mike is the host of FilmBookCast and can frequently be seen at his local movie theater, patiently explaining to his friends that Superman Returns is a misunderstood masterpiece.
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