The Bottom Line: February 14, 2020: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG and THE PHOTOGRAPH Enter the Arena

The Bottom Line: February 14, 2020

First things first because I need a little bit of redemption for my incorrect predictions lately. I was right and wrong last week. My prediction that Birds of Prey would take flight and knock Bad Boys For Life ($170,022,306) off their number one perch was right. It took the top spot and stayed there all week, earning $42,158,302 in the process.

However, Birds of Prey didn’t earn nearly as much as everyone had hoped. I can’t understand why. Margot Robbie is absolutely wonderful in this part and the movie is worth it. Otherwise, there isn’t anything new to report for the remainder of the top five. We’ve been watching the same movies move up and down the box office ladder together for weeks now with one exception.

Box Office Top Five

Bad Boys for Life, 1917 ($136,324,984), Dolittle ($65,451,515), and Jumanji: The Next Level ($300,016,286) added to their bottom lines this week, but after winning the Academy Award for Best Picture on Sunday night (and many other awards), Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite ($37,687,544) got a strong push back up to the Top Five. Also making a showing at the box office last night are two of the newest additions to this week’s movie lineup — Sonic the Hedgehog ($3,000,000) and The Photograph ($650,000) debuting Thursday and both will, in my opinion, do well. Let’s take a closer look at what comes out this weekend, including the fantasy/mystery Fantasy Island and a new movie with comedy legends Will Ferrell and Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Downhill.

A Closer Look at Some of This Week’s Films

Sonic the Hedgehog (PG) 100 minutes: Sonic, a little ball of super energy, already made a strong showing at the box office on Thursday night, much to the relief of the production company. Fans demanded a re-do upon seeing the original trailer months ago (Sonic was originally supposed to be released in November), begging for Sonic to look more like he does in his own Sega video game. I mean, really, in this day and age this should not have even been an issue. The movie stars Ben Schwartz voicing Sonic, James Marsden, and Jim Carrey as Doctor Robotnik. The plot surrounds Sonic trying, but failing, to hide his superpowers. His loneliness for friends creates an electromagnetic boom that knocks out the power, drawing attention to the source of the outage. Robotnik wants Sonic and a chase ensues.

There’s a dedicated fanbase that will see this movie regardless of any initial negative reviews. In addition, with a long holiday weekend in front of us, parents are going to be looking for something to take the young ones to see. Since Dolittle and Jumanji have been out for awhile, the options are limited. Look for Sonic to do really well this weekend.

Fantasy Island (PG-13) 156 minutes: The description of the movie says that it is based on the 1977 television series of the same name. Well, I watched Fantasy Island back in the 1970s and Mr. Rourke never freaked me out the way the trailer of this adaptation has (please remember I don’t like horror, but if I did I’d watch this). So if you remember the original, the only thing it shares is the concept and the name. The idea is that Mr. Rourke grants the wishes of his guests (just like the original), but when those wishes are a bit more realistic than the guests wanted, they have to figure out how to make it all stop. It looks really good though and the horror fanbase is going to probably love this. The movie stars Michael Peña, Maggie Q, Lucy Hale, Austin Stowell, Portia Doubleday, Jimmy O. Yang, Ryan Hansen, and Michael Rooker.

Downhill (R) 86 minutes: If you’re expecting belly laughs because this movie stars Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, your expectations are too high. Directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, this movie is a remake of the Force Majeure by Searchlight Pictures, the first film to be released by Searchlight Pictures, after Disney’s acquisition of the Fox studios. This ‘black comedy’ as it’s been described focuses on Billie (Julia) and Pete (Will) who are on a skiing vacation with their two sons when they have a near-death experience because of an avalanche. As a result, their marriage which was already strained is being put the test even more.

I had the opportunity to see this movie ahead of its debut and, to be honest, it’s not that bad, but I really felt like it could have been much better. Movies about strained relationships typically get me to root for the couple to get back together and I didn’t feel that with this movie. Billie and Pete were a bit grating and I found myself rooting for the children to tell their parents they’ve had enough.

Downhill might just be the best way to describe how this is going to do at the box office. I didn’t even see trailers on this until last week. But hey, I’ve been wrong about other predictions, so who knows.

The Photograph (PG-13) 106 minutes:  Oooh, I hope this is good. I want this to be good. Please be good. The Photograph is written and directed by Stella Meghie and stars Lakeith Stanfield and Issa Rae. Issa plays the daughter of a famous photographer who falls in love with a writer who is doing an article on her late mother. We have two stories intermingled and I’m hoping that we don’t get lost in either one of them. We’ve all learned the lesson that just because a movie is good doesn’t mean it’s going to register at the box office. I predict the movie will stay in the top 10, but not necessarily stay toward the top.

The Bottom Line

Sonic should run right up the charts to the Top 5 and it ‘might’ topple Harley Quinn, which will still maintain a high presence. Fantasy Island will garner enough of attention to also stay in that Top Five slot. If you’re just in the mood for a good romantic movie this Valentine’s Day weekend, skip Downhill and see The Photograph.

Waiting in the wings is The Call of the Wild (February 21); Impractical Jokers: The Movie (February 21) Brahms: The Boy II (February 21) and Emma (February 21). This box office is finally going to start looking a little different.

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