One of the biggest stories this week circulating around Hollywood is the fact that Disney, as a reaction to Snow White opening way below expectations, seems to be pinning the blame for the film’s failure on its divisive young star, Rachel Zegler. Indeed, the studio seems to be cutting its losses, and as a result, the movie isn’t expected to maintain much of an audience this weekend. However, it is still a family movie in a month with little competition, so it should be able to gross in the $20 million-ish region this weekend.
Jason Statham’s A Working Man, which reunites him with his Beekeeper director David Ayer, should make in the $13 million region. The Beekeeper opened a few notches above that, with the $16 million opening paving the way to a solid $66 million gross. A Working Man probably should have gotten a winter release instead of early spring, as movies like this tend to clean up in January/ February. Even still, the reviews are good for a Statham flick (we loved it), and it should do well enough to pave the way for a lengthy run on Prime Video once Amazon/MGM is done with the theatrical release.
A24’s Death of a Unicorn, despite a starry cast that includes Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega, seems unlikely to make much of an impact, with the middling word of mouth out of SXSW not helping matters. We found it thoroughly mediocre, with it the second straight genre movie bust in a row from the hip studio (following Opus). However, the stars and the hook (killer unicorn) might help it find at least a small audience.
The battle for fourth and fifth place will likely be between Black Bag and Captain America: Brave New World. I’d expect Black Bag to make about $3 million, although Brave New World might be able to capitalize on the excitement surrounding this week’s reveal of the Avengers: Doomsday cast. It should make about $2.5 million
Our predictions:
- Snow White: $20 million
- A Working Man: $13 million
- Death of a Unicorn: $8 million
- Black Bag: $3 million
- Captain America: Brave New World: $2.5 million
What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
