WHAT happened while I was gone? Well, the box office duds association of 2016, a name I personally coined, has added Independence Day: Resurgence, which was always going to be a gamble without Will Smith.
MOVIES WITH TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Although Will Smith has seen a few box office misses in recent years, namely After Earth (2013), Focus (2015) and Concussion (2015), the sequel to the 1996’s film Independence Day proved just how much of a draw Smith really is.
Smith’s opting out of the sequel led to the film being a misfire at the box office.
The Hollywood superstar has still got the juice.
Of course Independence Day: Resurgence was hoping for the nostalgia feel that benefitted Star Wars: Force Awakens (2015) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), but those two properties are established franchises while Independence Day was not at the time of its release.
According to Box Mojo, Independence: Resurgence opened to a meagre $41 million last weekend and since then has only managed $53,93 million while globally it has $168,7 million, barely beating out its reported $165 million budget.
Having a nostalgia feel is good, but it must be accompanied with something new. For the Star Wars: Force Awakens (although I think the film failed story wise) it introduced a lady Jedi and a reformed storm trooper.
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Teen Mutant Ninja Turtles slightly changed the original story of the turtles from the comics.
In Independence Day: Resurgence — currently being screened by Ster Kinekor Eastgate which is keeping up with international cinemas — the story is basically the same, where more aliens come towards the United States Independence Day to conquer the world.
Although the film has Hollywood veteran Jeff Goldblum and upcoming Liam Hemsworth (Chris Hemsworth’s brother), these actors have not enjoyed the mega success that Smith has.
Basically, apart from the outstanding visuals and action sequences, the movie does not really have much going for it. On the other hand, Central Intelligence, the Dwayne Johnson (also known as The Rock) and Kevin Hart comedy is super funny.
Box Office Mojo reports that Central Intelligence opened to $35,5 million two weekends ago, off a reported $50 million budget. So far the movie has grossed $77,3 million and is currently sitting at a global come of $91,67 million.
The movie is absolutely hilarious, which manages to communicate the message that bullying is a serious threat to society and must be done away with as soon as possible.
Central Intelligence tells the comedic story of Johnson who plays Robbie Weirdicht who enlists the help of Hart’s character, Calvin Joyner, to stop the sale of international espionage secrets to terrorists.
Weirdicht met Joyner at high school with the latter defending Weirdicht from being bullied at high school for being obese.
Bullying is one of the leading causes of teenage suicides in the world and the film struck that note in a sleek and neat way.
Johnson showed impressive comedic skills, a departure from his usual action roles that has made him quite a box office draw in recent years.
But, the highlight in the past few weeks is most definitely the United States animated 3D smash, Finding Dory which scored a $135 million debut two weeks ago.
The film has managed a $321,58 million in the United States and $433,48 million globally since its release.
Finding Dory’s debut was the biggest animated opener in the United States history and is the sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo.
The film this time tells the story of Dory voiced by talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, who is searching for her parents and enlists the help of Nemo voiced by Hayden Rolence (replacing Alexander Gould who voiced Nemo in the first film) and a return of Albert Brooks voicing Marlin.
Finding Dory is an emotional and funny rollercoaster ride showing the importance of family and just how each person plays an important role. The film’s unprecedented run at the box office is cemented by its 94% approval rating.
However, this weekend will see each of the films getting a bump to some degree as July 4 is the independence day of the United States. As such, the weekend kicked off on Friday and will be done by end of day tomorrow.
The weekend will therefore see more people out of school and work, which is traditionally supposed to boost the box office.
New releases this weekend The Legend of Tarzan, the Steven Spielberg directed The BFG and The Purge: Election Year will battle it out for box office glory. My money is on the Warner Brother’s adventure The Legend of Tarzan.
