Monday Morning Mixer: 'Gravity' is no turkey, but it gets one

Posted Monday, October 21, 2013 at 11:34 AM Central

by John Couture

Everyone can breathe. Tim is back at it this week and the site should be back up to its tip-top shape. I tried my best, but like Sonny and Cher, we do our best work together.

Just don't ask either of us to sing.

The funny thing is that not much has changed in the last week. Gravity is still holding court in the top spot on the box office and everyone is still dressing up as a fox for Halloween. One thing that has changed is the weather. With colder temps moving in, that will only mean one thing, better turnout at the megaplexes.

This weekend was the exception as the cold weather held off for one more week. But enough small talk, let's get to the important stuff, shall we?

Box Office 411

In bowling, when you get three strikes in a row, they call it a turkey. Well, Gravity certainly got its turkey this week by topping the box office for a third straight week. Again, this is a film that takes place in space with one actor and one actress.

At this point it's hard to know when its reign will end, but I'm betting that with Halloween right around the corner, the days are numbered. But shockingly, I'm not going to pick a horror flick to unseat it. Nope, but I am going to pick a shocking film to do the trick.

We went to see Prisoners this weekend (great film by the way) and the trailer for Bad Grandpa played in front of it. Let's just say that for an audience that is way out of its targeted demographic, we laughed the whole time. Think of it as Borat with a kid sidekick.

Borat made $128 million and I think Bad Grandpa could put up similar numbers and make Johnny Knoxville and his whole Jackass brand relevant again.

I think I hit a tangent there. The real losers this weekend at the box office were all the new films looking to make it big. This season's big horror offering, the remake Carrie opened in third place with $17 million. Given the season, that opening is a big disappointment the film will struggle to reach $55 million in total grosses.

Escape Plan is a film that stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone and you would know that if they had spent any money on marketing this stinker. With a fifth place opening of $9.8 million, the film is destined to be found on DVD and Blu-ray, if at all. I think $30 million is a stretch for this one.

Of course, those films pale in comparison when it comes to bombing at the box office. The honor this week belongs to the true story of the Wikileaks scandal The Fifth Estate. Not even Benedict Cumberbatch with a horrible blond dye job could save this clunker from its $1.7 million hiccup. This film is DOA and will be lucky to make it over $6 million.

Quick Hitters

For all of you Army of Darkness fans out there, I have some good news, the chainsaw is coming back. Bruce Campbell the actor who brought the one-handed Ash to life in the Evil Dead films pretty much confirmed his involvement in a sequel to Army of Darkness. Now word yet on timing, but original director Sam Raimi is said to be writing the film and it's not known yet if he'll take up the director's chair as well. Still, this is good news all around.

Principal photography started this weekend for Man of Steel II: Superman vs. Batman. Don't worry, it was only two scenes of what appeared to be coverage of a football game between a Gotham college and a Metropolis college. Who knew, the two cities are bitter rivals.

Finally today, if you're going to go see Thor: The Dark World in a couple of weeks, don't leave the theater before the credits end. What should be second nature by now with Marvel films, there will be not one, but two post-credits scenes in the newest flick. Well, one technically will be a mid-credits scene.

Well, that just about sums it up for today. It's been a heck of a week and look, I posted this before noon, so this makes this officially an MMM. Until next week, make sure you enjoy Hollywood and Mix Well!