The Bottom Line: December 9th, 2016: A Wild Christmas Party

Quick Takes

The comedy Office Christmas Party goes toe-to-toe with some Oscar contenders this week. Who will win the weekend? Find out in this week’s edition of The Bottom Line!

Box Office Top Five

Disney’s Moana stayed in first place for the second week in a row with $28.3 million. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them stayed in second place with $18.2 million. Then, surprisingly, Arrival actually rose to third place, becoming a sleeper hit with $7.3 million. Allied stayed in fourth with $7.1 million, while Doctor Strange dropped to fifth with $6.7 million.

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

Office Christmas Party (R) 105 mins.

There have been a few attempts over the years to dethrone 2003’s Bad Santa as the definitive raunchy Christmas comedy (including this year’s Bad Santa 2). Office Christmas Party looks to take its formula from last year’s Sisters: throw a bunch of funny people together for a party and see what happens. While the cast is great, reviews have not been strong. Still, I think there’s an audience for this, and the relentless ads over the last few weeks should result in a decent showing at the box office. I predict it opens at number two.

Nocturnal Animals (R) 115 mins.

Tom Ford’s new thriller Nocturnal Animals expands this weekend after spending a few weeks in limited release. Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams star as a divorced couple who begin to learn dark secrets about each other, and reviews have been solid. The trailer makes it look incredibly intense, and I think audiences are on board. I predict this opens at number three.

Miss Sloane (R) 132 mins.

Miss Sloane seems like a film designed to give Jessica Chastain a chance to win an Oscar. That’s not necessarily a knock on the movie – Chastain’s one of the best actresses working today, and this appears to be among her best performances. From what I’ve heard, the rest of the film fails to live up to that performance, which is a shame if true. Still, I don’t know if audiences are totally aware about this. If it gets a re-release after awards nominations are announced, it may do well, but for now, I’m predicting it opens at number five.

The Bottom Line

Moana will emerge victorious yet again at number one. Office Christmas Party will open at number two. Nocturnal Animals will open in third, while Fantastic Beasts will drop to fourth. Miss Sloane will open at number five.

Movies To Look Forward To:

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Collateral Beauty (December 16th)