This has the makings of a BIG April at the Box Office. And it actually shouldn’t be difficult to top April ’12 since the highest-grossing movie that month, “Think Like a Man”, only made $91.5 million – and even that was a big surprise. Here are the highly anticipated releases that should fill seats at theaters and the pockets of studio execs:
EVIL DEAD – This reimagining of the 1981 horror classic should kill…at least, as with all horror films, in week one.
JURASSIC PARK 3D – It’s the 20th anniversary of the Oscar-winning classic and the IMAX 3D ticket prices will certainly help.
42 – Baseball. True Story. Jackie Robinson. Harrison Ford. All the pieces are in place for what could be a home-run both at the box office and with critics.
OBLIVION – Tom Cruise in another futuristic sci-fi flick. And who doesn’t love Morgan Freeman (latest example: “Olympus Has Fallen”)? At least $30M opening weekend.
PAIN & GAIN – Director Michael Bay is trying his hand at action/comedy with Mark Wahlberg and the new Mr. Action Man, Dwayne Johnson. Won’t do “Transformers” numbers, but could lift-off the Summer Movie Season a week early if it catches on.
But every successful month still has at least one major flop. And April’s looks like:
THE BIG WEDDING – Sure it has a Hall of Fame cast (Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Amanda Seyfried), but from the trailer, this got BOMB written all over it. Not to mention it was supposed to come out last October. Never a good sign.
And the Wild Card:
SCARY MOVIE 5 – It’s been six years since “Scary Movie 4”. Will the teen/young adult crowd flock to another “spoof” movie? Appearances by Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen should help. I’m saying Maybe solid week one, but in the end it won’t even do “A Haunted House”‘s $40M total from January.