Can new films 'Escape' August slowdown?
Summer's boom time is over at the box office. After three months of superhero- and dinosaur-boosted bustle, the dog days of August are hitting hard.
"This is the slowdown: Summer is winding down, kids are going back to school and the studios have already put out all the heavy hitters," says Rentrak senior box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "At the end of August, you're not looking for big numbers. Any hit is a surprise."
Straight Outta Compton has shown that August can produce surprise hits, earning $111.5 million in two weekends atop the box office. Lee Daniels' The Butler flourished after its release on Aug. 16, 2013, taking in nearly $25 million on its way to $116.6 million and generating serious awards discussion (even if it was snubbed for Oscar nominations). Though horror films have experienced mixed results at the end of summer, The Last Exorcism shocked in 2010 with a $20.4 million opening.
But the month still has the stigma of serving as a dumping ground for movies unsuitable for more competitive weekends. It's hard to forget Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez in Getaway, which opened Aug. 30, 2013, to scathing reviews (a mere 2% approval rating on aggregate site RottenTomatoes.com) and a paltry $4.5 million, earning $10.5 million total and a Razzie Award nomination for Gomez.
Pierce Brosnan saw a disappointing $7.9 million opening late last August when he played a retired CIA operative returning to the fray in The November Man. But he's at peace with having his new movie, No Escape, in the same slot a year later, which adds a dash of 007 appeal as Brosnan's gun-toting government operative helps a businessman (Owen Wilson) save his family during a violent overseas uprising.
"You want to have a great time making the movie and then you pray to God that it's going to hang together well and catch some wind with the audience," says Brosnan.
No Escape (in theaters Wednesday), originally titled The Coup, was slated for release March 6 and bounced to Sept. 2 before settling into August. Erik Lomis, president of theatrical distribution for The Weinstein Company, believes the late-summer slot will be a benefit and maintains modest box-office expectations.
"If you have something unique, the public will show up," says Lomis. "We have a unique film here that maybe would not compete in the teeth of the summer with the comic book heroes."
But No Escape looks like "any other action film on cable," says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "There is no escaping the fact that (Weinstein) is just throwing this out the door."
The week's other wide release, We Are Your Friends (Aug. 28), is Zac Efron's turn as a DJ who aspires to EDM stardom, with clear appeal to college-age Millennials. The pool-party madness has a summer feel and allows for ample opportunity to show Efron shirtless or wearing tank tops — and to fully maximize the swimsuit talents of model/actress/social media star Emily Ratajkowski, who plays Efron's hot flame.
Bock isn't hopeful. "I don't know a lot of people who want to see a film about San Fernando Valley DJs. This feels like a cash grab to the younger audience."
In limited release, the weekend's lineup includes the Sundance Film Festival offering Z for Zachariah. The post-apocalyptic film starring Margot Robbie, Chris Pine and Chiwetel Ejiofor could garner initial awards scrutiny with its stellar cast in an uncrowded weekend field, says Alicia Malone, an independent film correspondent for Fandango.com.
"But we have so many great movies coming," Malone says. "It will get drowned out later by flashier roles in bigger films."
Contributing: Andrea Mandell
