EditorialMovie News

The Bottom Line: June 19, 2016: “A Little Hart and a Big Johnson”

Dwayne Johnson Kevin hart Central Intelligence

Quick Takes

The Conjuring 2 opened at number one last weekend with a hefty $40.4 million. Warcraft and Now You See Me 2 did better than expected, opening at numbers two and three, respectively.. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and X-Men: Apocalypse stay in the top 5 for another week, with TMNT at number 4 and X-Men at number 5.

Box Office Top Five

The Conjuring 2 opening with $40.4 million is great news for horror fans everywhere. The franchise has cemented itself as the premiere destination for mainstream horror, and its success means we’ll definitely be seeing more from the Warrens in the near future (another spinoff film, centered around the film’s spooky nun, is already lined up). Warcraft opened at number 2 despite dire reviews with a sum of $24.2 million. This is better than the film was expected to do in America, but it is breaking box office records overseas, meaning the future of Warcraft might still have life in it after all. Now You See Me 2 in third place with $22.4 million is also better than I had guessed, and looks to be doing roughly the same business as its predecessor. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and X-Men: Apocalypse are still underperforming, but they manage to cling to the top 5 with $14.4 million and $9.9 million, respectively. Expect both of these to get knocked out next week by Finding Dory and Central Intelligence.

Here is a look at a few films that are opening on June 10.

Finding Dory (PG) 100 mins.

I’m a massive Pixar fan, but even I’ve had to admit that over the last 5 years or so, the studio’s output has been decidedly hit-or-miss. But as long as one of the original Pixar “brain trust” is involved with a film, the results are usually well worth it (e.g. last year’s Inside Out, directed by Monsters Inc. and Up director Pete Doctor). Andrew Stanton is returning to the world he created in 2003’s Finding Nemo with a film centered around that film’s breakout character, Dory (Ellen Degeneres). Pixar’s over-reliance on sequels lately has been discouraging, but Stanton’s involvement and great reviews do make me excited to check this out.

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Expect this movie to do massive business at the box office, too. Finding Nemo is widely considered a generational classic, and everybody who grew up on that movie is going to want to see this movie (and in many cases, take their own kids to see it). I’ll honestly be shocked if this movie doesn’t break records.

Central Intelligence (PG-13) 114 mins.

After delivering a surprise hit with 2013’s We’re the Millers, director Rawson Marshall Thurber is back with a comedy featuring two of Hollywood’s biggest box office draws, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart. These two guys consistently deliver at the box office, their star power often overcoming middling projects. Getting the two of them together in one film seems like a no-brainer. As long as the movie delivers Johnson and Hart bantering back and forth for two hours, this will be a hit.

The movie is getting solid reviews too, with a 66% on Rotten Tomatoes. I saw it last night, and felt about the same as I did coming out of We’re the Millers – it was totally fine, with a couple of inspired sequences and a great chemistry between Johnson and Hart. It’s pacing is all off and it never tries to be more than what it is, which is a light breezy comedy (it’s also a touch too long). If you like the actors, you’ll find something to like here.

The Bottom Line

Finding Dory will clean up, there’s no question here. Central Intelligence will open at number 2, delivering another hit for Hart and Johnson. The Conjuring 2 will continue its good business at number 3, while Now You See Me 2 and Warcraft might swap places at number 4 and 5. Now You See Me has more mainstream appeal than Warcraft, and most people in Warcraft’s built-in fanbase will probably have seen it in its opening weekend.

Movies To Look Forward To:

Independence Day: Resurgence (June 24), Free State of Jones (June 24), The Shallows (June 29), The BFG (July 1).

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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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