‘Jungle Cruise’ at the head, counter-programming ‘Stillwater’ and ‘The Green Knight’ to open smoothly

It’s a busy weekend at the box office, with three new wide releases: Disney’s Jungle Cruise, Focus’s Stillwater, and A24’s The Green Knight. Jungle cruise is expected to have a steady lead this weekend, while other newcomers, who offer solid counter-lineup as an adult fare, are likely to be single-digit, with some of the leftovers from previous weeks likely in between. With Covid-19 cases at their highest level since April and expected to continue to rise, we could see smaller openings and larger declines than expected, although the box office remains difficult to predict in either case. .

Based on the beloved Disneyland ride, Disney’s long-standing development Jungle cruise stars Dwayne johnson and Emily blunt in a hopeful franchise starter in the mold of Pirates of the Caribbean, with the plot centered on the search for the tree of life. The adventure film takes the low-key charms of the ride and spices it up with plenty of action, supernatural elements, and CGI creatures under the director’s direction Jaume Collet Serra, who as the director of Non-Stop and The Shallows knows how to get by in a thrill ride (he is also directing the next Dwayne johnson with the DC movie Black Adam). At 64% on RottenTomatoes, the reviews aren’t bad, but they do note that the film is spinoff.

Opening in more than 4,200 cinemas, Jungle cruise is another first day and date for Disney +, where it’s available for $ 30. Expectations would have been high for the film with a budget of over $ 200 million if it had opened in July 2020 as planned. In today’s environment, they are more discreet. The first Pirates of the Caribbean opened for $ 46.6 million in 2003, not quite blockbuster numbers by today’s standards, but the film ran a marathon rather than a sprint, and it finished at $ 305.4 million nationally. Jungle cruise is unlikely to open up to these numbers even if you combine its big movies and streaming, and having pirates legs is out of the question, but he has the potential to perform better internationally. Jungle cruise is released in most major territories, although there are still many restrictions in place, and like other recent blockbusters, it remains undated in China.

Still water is director Tom mccarthy’s first cinema film since the Spotlight award for best film in 2015. The stars of the thriller Matt damon like a working father who goes to France to help his daughter (played by Abigail Breslin) who is unjustly imprisoned. Opening in 2,531 cinemas after its Cannes premiere earlier this month, Focus is positioning itself Still water as a specialty title at the box office. Projector has been McCarthy’s best-grossing film, making $ 45 million nationally although there has never been a single weekend above $ 6 million. Still water could potentially take a similar path, with a soft opening but long legs.

Still water does not have the same prestige or the same rewards buzz as Projector – reviews are good but not exceptional (67% on RottenTomatoes compared to Spotlight 97%) – but he’s got a star, and he also has little competition in the adult drama space for the rest of the summer. It stands out from the blockbuster, franchise, genre, and family fare this summer, and it’s a theatrical exclusive.

Also standing out in the market is The green knight, which A24 launches in 2,400 cinemas. Medieval Fantasy tells the story of Sir Gauvain and the Green Knight, with Dev Patel play Gauvain, King Arthur’s nephew. Also featuring Alicia vikander and Joel edgerton, The green knight is led by David Lowery, whose eclectic career has included Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, Pete’s Dragon, A Ghost Story, and The Old Man & the Gun.

At 92% on RottenTomatoes, it’s neck and neck with A Quiet Place Part II for the best rated wide outing of the summer. A24’s previous film Zola was also acclaimed, but that didn’t translate into a box office success, grossing just $ 4.1 million since its launch on June 30. The green knight maybe able to get past that in a weekend, but it can be too esoteric to go much further. Surprisingly, the film had a last minute delay in the UK, where it was slated for August 6 but was pulled over concerns that Covid would have an impact on the box office.

In limited version, Nine Days, the well-reviewed supernatural drama (82% tomatometer) starring Winston Duke and Zazie Beetz and picked up by Sony Pictures Classics at Sundance 2020. IFC publishes the Errol Morris produces the Enemies of the State doc in theaters and on VOD.