Jaden Smith is a rising star. He played opposite his dad, Will Smith, in The Pursuit of Happyness, and then led The Karate Kid to a $55 million opening. The prospects for his latest, After Earth (3,401 theatres), are not quite as bright. Projections have the movie opening in the $35-$40 million range, which would put it behind the second weekend of Fast & Furious 6. But then again, I think there is a chance that the movie could overperform, even with the terrible reviews coming in. Our Daniel Eagan, for one, dismissed the feature as a "somber, soapy, only occasionally effective sci-fi adventure." That said, although the father-son tale is intense, meriting its PG-13 rating, it could still appeal to families with kids who are a bit past the sweet spot for animated features. Marketing has completely left out the fact that M. Night Shyamalan directed, a sign of how this once brand-name director has fallen in audiences' estimation.
A group of magicians pull off a heist in Now You See Me (2,925 theatres), which our critic Harry Haun calls a "fun ride if you don’t look where you have been or where you are headed." In other words, just sit back and enjoy the magic, and don't worry too much about the "big leaps from
logic" or unbelievable plot twists. The estimates for this sleight-of-hand feature are modest, with an expected opening in the teen millions.
There are already a few great indies out right now--Frances Ha and Before Midnight are on track to be the biggest successes, but there's also Fill the Void, Stories We Tell, What Maisie Knew, Kon-Tiki, and Mud, which is still going strong. This week, two more indies with strong prospects release. The eco-thriller The East (4 theatres), which stars Another Earth's Brit Marling, was a movie I loved, and so did our critic David Noh, who dubs it a "gripping, intelligent and deeply socially conscious thriller" that is the "best feature
inspired by the Occupy movement," with an "all-around technical smoothness and visual certitude that is a real
yet unstressed joy to anyone interested in truly good
moviemaking." A strong per-screen average in its debut will set this movie up well for the rest of the summer.
A kind of Stand By Me on stylistic steroids, The Kings of Summer (4 theatres) charmed Noh, leading him to call it the "perfect summer movie for 2013." Centering on three boys who escape to the woods, build a house, and live (somewhat successfully) off the land, the coming-of-age tale has "verve, freshness, laughs and effective moments of rue." The very accessible movie should resonate with young indie-seeking crowds.
On Monday, we'll see if After Earth manages to overperform expectations, if Now You See Me can pull off some box-office magic, and weigh in on the performance of the new and returning specialty releases.
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