Just Mercy l Warner Bros. | Xmas 2019 limited, January 10, 2020 wide | Free to rent all June

[Cmasterclay]

I'd pump the brakes on the "not getting any Oscar play" takes - people said that exact same thing one week ago when Ford v Ferrari reactions were more muted than expected, but with a week of reflection and reviews to come in, it looks like a generally very well-liked crowd pleaser that should make money and have a real campaign behind it, so its sticking in everyone's predictions. Very possible it is the same case here. Said the same thing in that topic - a well-liked, classical crowd pleaser can definitely make it in even if it doesn't have the over the top Twitter reactions of a Parasite or something. 

Edited September 7, 2019 by Cmasterclay

[TMP]

 

[Curtis1986]

85 on RT with 30+ reviews

[Legion Again]

From the depths of the archives I summon thee. Riiiiiise, Riiiiiise my minion.      
 

Anyway, this is very small sample and a bit of an obviously skewed population, but seem good nonetheless:  

Quote

Warner Bros.’s social justice drama Just Mercy starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx and Brie Larson opened to $81K at four NY and LA sites scoring A+ CinemaScores among all major demos including females (63%) and males (37%), and 25+ (89%) and under 25 (11%).

 

[narniadis]

Nice! Surprised they did it with just the 4 theaters, especially since that would skew the results but an A+ grade is always fantastic to see.

[Curtis1986]

I think this will be a nice break out. I said back in November I felt this would get an A+

[JB33]

Nice! Great for Just Mercy. Following the theme of a pretty damn successful Christmas at the box office this year.

[JB33]

Expanding into approx. 2,200 theatres on January 10. I expect it to perform roughly like On the Basis of Sex last year. Maybe a $3,200 or so PTA for a wide opening of $7M or more.

[JB33]

79% on RT after 107 reviews. 99% audience score with 185 verified ratings.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/just_mercy/

 

 

Somewhat surprisingly, no GG nominations either. Clearly Joker is WB's main awards player.

Edited January 7, 2020 by JB33

[DAJK]

This definitely is more and more looking like another OTBOS (but I actually really enjoyed that movie) so I'm looking forward to watching it (hopefully) Thursday. 

[RichWS]

Look forward to seeing this on TNT in the future while visiting Mom's house.

Edited January 7, 2020 by RichWS

[filmlover]

Looking forward to seeing this (and 1917) this weekend but yeah, it's gonna get lost in the shuffle a bit. On the Basis of Sex seems like a perfect comparison.

[rukaio101]

Saw it last night. I'll confess I'm slightly biased since I read the book first, but honestly I was pretty underwhelmed by it. It took a legitimately interesting and rage-inducing story and turned it into a very generic 'racial-relations Oscarbait' movie. It had all the hallmarks and tropes of a 'White Saviour' movie, just without the white saviour themselves. You could practically make a bingo card out of all of the Hollywood tropes involved. 

 

Don't get me wrong, it had a handful of scenes that worked and the actors do a solid job (with special mention to Tim Blake Nelson, who is taking that southern accent he had from Watchmen and fully running with it), but I do think it's somewhat telling that halfway through the movie I became convinced that this movie wasn't written/directed by an actual black guy, simply because its portrayal of the black community/issues was so cartoonishly stereotypical. (I was right, although it was an asian director rather than a white one). Maybe a few years ago, this sort of movie would've gotten past me just fine, but considering how many great black-directed movies there were last year dealing with complicated racial issues in a way that felt genuine, this sort of film just doesn't feel like it cuts it for me anymore.

 

Once again though, I will say I am fairly biased, having the vastly superior book to compare it to, but even trying to view it through an objective lens as its own thing separate from the book, I still can't bring myself to be very impressed with it. It's not Green Book levels of willful ignorance and terribleness, but it definitely feels like the sort of movie we should've moved on from by now. I won't exactly be surprised if other people without my biases can sit down and enjoy it- that Hollywood formula is a popular one for a reason- but I can't really bring myself to say I liked it very much.

[dudalb]

Problem I have it it looks too much like just a big screen version of a made for TV movie.

[JB33]

5 hours ago, dudalb said:

Problem I have it it looks too much like just a big screen version of a made for TV movie.

Yeah it doesn't really stand out in any way. Looks like whatever buzz there was for Jamie Foxx's performance died too. Like I said, though: WB won't mind, given all the accolades Joker is getting.

[dudalb]

16 hours ago, JB33 said:

Yeah it doesn't really stand out in any way. Looks like whatever buzz there was for Jamie Foxx's performance died too. Like I said, though: WB won't mind, given all the accolades Joker is getting.

It's getting an OK reception (let;'s face it, critics are probably being generous with it because of the Subject Matter) whereas 1917 is getting an really good reception and just looks like a better, more interesting film.

[JB33]

7 hours ago, dudalb said:

It's getting an OK reception (let;'s face it, critics are probably being generous with it because of the Subject Matter) whereas 1917 is getting an really good reception and just looks like a better, more interesting film.

Oh yeah, JM's reception is just fine. It's actually gone up a few points on RT from 79 to 82%. Box office wise, I'm thinking a wide opening between $7M and $9M.

[JB33]

$800K previews, 2,375 theatres. Not sure what to use as a comp. Selma had $400K previews and an $11.3M wide OW (28.3x multi). It won't have that strong a multi though. I honestly don't know.... maybe this will surprise.

Edited January 10, 2020 by JB33

[JB33]

Estimated to do about $10M this weekend. It's better than I first thought (around $7.5M) but still not great, given the $800K previews. Several dramas that expanded wide on this particular weekend had greater multis.

[filmlover]

Saw this in the afternoon and it's been a while since I saw movie receive so much applause when it ended. Can see where that A+ CS grade came from. Legs are gonna be good.