Cranston doing comedy again is why I want to see Why Him? He's a great dramatic actor and Walter White will always be his career defining role but he was always brilliant as Hal in Malcolm in the Middle and as Hector in How I Met Your Mother
I think Why Him? is Cranston's first mainstream film as co lead, Godzilla was sold more on Godzilla then the cast. Given his comedy chops, it's surprising he didn't do a comedy sooner
One dud doesn't define a career unless it's really bad, Zemeckis has had back to back flops and Spielberg hasn't had a big hit since Lincoln but both will be fine.
The beginning and the end of SLOP were great but everything else was a bit flat. It didn't help the main characters weren't likeable and their arc was dull compared to Gidget and the other.
As I mentioned in another thread, Illumination is budget control, not quality control and it does show in the storytelling.
Affleck will bounce back from Live from Night, every director has a dud once in a while. It'll be interesting how it is received by the general audience since The Accountant which had mixed reviews did decently
Unless it sinks after Christmas, it'll beat The Lorax domestically, their lowest grossing film is Hop which only made $184m WW
OS i think it'll do well but I'm thinking $300-350m at most.
I applaud Illumination for trying something different but I get the feeling their model of keeping costs down and locking the story early means that a potentially great film can only ever be good at best rather than reworking it to solve any issues
I thought Storks was pretty good and I think Warner Animation Group IMO is one to watch out for although I do worry that if Smallfoot, their next original film underperforms then they stick to Lego and WB characters for their slate
Aardman do get the balance of humour and heart right, they're not risk takers like Laika but they do have a consistent track record
Sing's off to a good start although I think it's clear it's not another SLOP but let's face it, it couldn't be. I'll be interested if it can pick up pace OS as the numbers were a bit underwhelming in the markets that got it early. I'm thinking it'll do $300-350m OS
Illumination has never really one for quality control, more budget control. You look at Studios like Aardman, Laika even WAG and the films have had better scripts and humour than SLOP and Minions
Bit like Clint Eastwood, he had two back to back flops with Invictus and Hereafter but bounced back with American Sniper and Sully. As long as Affleck brings them a huge hit with The Batman, they'll let them direct whatever he likes
I think The Grinch will be successful but not $300m successful since it'll plummet once Christmas is over, thinking Lorax numbers for that, it'll probably not do great OS as Dr Seuss rarely does well OS
i think Wonder Woman if reviews are good will crack $300m domestically,
I didn't dislike Pets but compared to Your Name, Zootopia, Moana, Dory etc it was pretty forgettable. I'm hoping Sing is better but I'm keeping expectations low.
I didn't think the Minions covers were that bad, i hate to admit but I did crack up when they did I Swear in Despicable Me 2.
The sequence in SLOP with the sausages singing We Got Together was the most random thing ever and didn't work at all
Hallelujah was used in Shrek though it did work there. I do think Sing's song selections could have better curated but I guess that would cost more money than what Illumination is willing to spend
I'm assuming AMC Burbank has more capacity in terms of seats compare for the Empire 25 even though the Empire has six more screens. I wished I'd gone to see a film the Arclight Hollywood or the TCL Chinese Theatre when I was in LA but was pressed for time and ended up seeing Sully at the Pacific Theatre at the Grove.
Im surprised the Scotiabank isn't higher, that cinema is bloomin' huge.
Crawley had a 0330 IMAX showing on Thursday Night/Friday morning which is insane, I get midnight showings but you'd have to be pretty dedicated to see any film at that time of night.
BFI IMAX killing it with Rogue One with Vue Westfield a close second.
I am always impressed how both BFI IMAX and OLS can beat multiplexes although CW Sheffield and CW Crawley to be in the top five and also the top two non London cinemas is still impressive.
Sing looks like it'll be successful for Illumination but the underwhelming performance so far OS makes me wonder if it's going to perform more like The Lorax but on a slightly bigger scale which did well domestically but not so well OS rather than SLOP or Minions,