What’s good this week at the cinema? The answer to that is not so much. This is deep into the summer season, which is when studios release their “late-August studio craptacular[s]” according to a reviewer from Variety.
Yup, it’s late August. The golf courses are dry and brown and the movie studios are serving up anything that fits in between the summer blockbuster releases and movies that have Oscar potential. And this does not always mean fluff, but it does in the case of No. 2 on the domestic market, The War Room, a Sony release by the Kendrick brothers, who specialize in dishing up faith-based films for a dedicated, faith-happy crowd. The latest is being reviewed as a prayerful soap opera, heavy-handed with Christian themes. In other words, religious fluff, but one that dials in a faithful audience.
That said, there isn’t much left that is getting good reviews. The Gift, staring Jason Bateman, was given fair reviews, while reviews for No Escape featuring Owen Wilson were less enthusiastic. Still, The Gift was lagging in ticket sales and might retreat soon from cinemas. No Escape did fair over the weekend, taking in $8.3 million Thursday through Sunday in the United States. Of course, there wasn’t much else in the theaters that could boast an action-oriented theme, except the Hitman” Agent 47, which received horrid reviews but scored modestly at the box office, taking in $3.9 million in its second weekend out.
The top 10 in domestic sales for the weekend: Straight Outta Compton (remaining in first place for third straight weekend) with a take of $13.2 million; War Room with a take of $11 million; Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, $8.3 million; No Escape, $8.3 million; Sinister 2, $4.6 million; The Man From U.N.C.L.E., $4.4 million; Hitman: Agent 47, $3.8 million; The Gift, $3.1 million; Jurassic World $3.1 million; and Ant-Man, $3.1 million.
These aren’t mind-boggling numbers by any stretch. Meanwhile, much of the country will be concentrating on back-to-school sales, Labor Day festivities and watching kids board those big, yellow buses again. That should prime the pump for Ridley Scott‘s The Martian, starring Matt Damon, which is set for release October 2, which will kick off the fall season.
Here’s the trailer for No. 2, The War Room:
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