Will ‘Dunkirk’ Stay Afloat Against ‘Atomic Blonde,’ ‘Emoji Movie’ at Box Office This Weekend?
Longevity of Christopher Nolan’s WWII epic gets first test as Focus Features and Sony enter with new releases
Jeremy Fuster | July 25, 2017 @ 2:38 PM
Last Updated: July 25, 2017 @ 2:52 PM
After beating tracker expectations with a $50.5 million opening, “Dunkirk” will try to continue Christopher Nolan’s success in holdover weekends as Focus Features’ spy flick “Atomic Blonde” and Columbia/Sony Animation’s “The Emoji Movie” enter theaters to close out July.
As was the case with “Girls Trip” and “Valerian” last weekend, “Dunkirk” will be competing against films with different primary demographics, so it will likely come down to how well “Dunkirk” can keep drawing older audiences while “Emoji Movie” targets kids enjoying summer break and “Atomic Blonde” aims for 18 to 34 audiences, both male and female.
If “Dunkirk” keeps its drop-off in between 50 percent and 60 percent — something that, incidentally, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “War for the Planet of the Apes” were unable to do in their second frame — it will be right in the range independent trackers have set for both new releases. “Atomic Blonde” is currently tracking at roughly $20 million, give or take, for its opening weekend from 3,300 screens, while “Emoji Movie” tracking is much more scattershot. The animated movie is looking to land atop $20 million, and will have beat most predictions if it cracks $30 million from 4,069 screens. Studios for both films are projecting $20 million.
Like last month’s thrifty action hit, “Baby Driver,” “Atomic Blonde” is trying to build off its strong reviews from its SXSW premiere and the reputation of its lead star, Charlize Theron, as one of the top action stars in Hollywood, following her show-stopping performances in “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Fate of the Furious.” Focus is heavily promoting Theron with a pull quote hailing her as a “female 007,” but when it comes to the numbers, a better comparison would be another dark, stylized shoot-em-up: 2014’s “John Wick.”
Three years ago, “John Wick,” which was co-directed by “Blonde” filmmaker David Leitch, rode strong word of mouth to a $14 million opening and a $43 million domestic cume against a $20 million budget. “Atomic Blonde,” with its $30 million budget, is aiming for a slightly higher number than that, and Theron could easily provide it. With “Wonder Woman” reigning as the movie of the summer and sci-fi fans abuzz about Jodie Whitaker becoming the first female Doctor on “Doctor Who,” the thirst to see women in gung-ho roles is stronger than ever. Theron contributed to that momentum with “Fury Road, and she could continue it here.
“The Emoji Movie” has a somewhat bigger price tag for Columbia Pictures, with a reported $50 million budget. This film ended up in Sony’s hands after an aggressive bidding war for its pitch two years ago between Sony Animation, Warner Bros., and Paramount. With Open Road’s “The Nut Job 2” serving as the only wide family release in August, Sony will be looking to have kids’ attention during the final weeks of summer break. The film’s overseas release starts next weekend with openings in Mexico and the U.K.
Based on the novel “The Coldest City” by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, “Atomic Blonde” stars Charlize Theron as Lorraine Broughton, a MI6 agent sent to Berlin on the eve of German unification in 1989 to eliminate an agent-hunting espionage ring. Joining her is David Percival (James McAvoy), an MI6 station chief who forms a tenuous alliance with Broughton as bullets quickly start flying.
David Leitch directed this film from a screenplay by Kurt Johnstad. The film also stars John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Bill Skarsgard, and Sofia Boutella. Sierra/Affinity produced and financed the film, with Theron, Beth Kong, A.J. Dix, Kelly McCormick, Eric Gitter, and Peter Schwerin serving as producers. “Atomic Blonde” currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 79 percent.
“The Emoji Movie” stars T.J. Miller as Gene, an emoji who lives inside a teenager’s cellphone where emojis have jobs expressing a single emotion for their users. But when Gene realizes that he can’t do his job because he can express multiple emotions, he leaves his phone to try to become like everyone else. Anthony Leondis directed the film and co-wrote the script with Eric Siegel and Mike White, with Michelle Raimo Kouyate producing.The cast also includes James Corden, Ilana Glazer, Jennifer Coolidge, Patrick Stewart, and Maya Rudolph.
Comic-Con 2017: The Winners and Losers (Photos)
Another Comic-Con has come and gone. As always, it was full of delightful experiences and some so-so ones. So who came out of the show looking best? Let's look back on how this year's show went.
Wonder Woman did a lot to help the image of the DC movieverse, but all the drama of the past couple years doesn't go away easily. For the moment, at least, they made us forget with a Comic-Con trailer that looked much better than all the previous marketing and a glowing Ben Affleck on stage shooting down the rumors that he's on the way out as Batman. DC was a ton of fun.
Loser -- DC
With the DC Extended Universe really ramping up now, it kinda sucks that DC doesn't get its own Hall H presentation separate from the rest of the Warner Bros slate. Marvel has a big leg up in that regard.
Loser -- "Blade Runner 2049"
Another casualty of jamming the DC slate in with the rest of WB's lineup. For a nerd-aimed blockbuster to make a real splash in Hall H, it's gotta bring the goods, but Warner Bros didn't really do that with Blade Runner. They'd already released a new trailer the Monday before Comic-Con, and there wasn't much to the brief clip that they showed. The return of "Blade Runner" is a huge deal, and it deserved better than a panel everybody had forgotten about an hour after it happened.
Winner -- David Lynch
The "Twin Peaks" co-creator didn't show up for the Showtime revival's panel in Hall H, but he certainly left an impression with a bizarre but incredibly funny video message to fans.
Winner -- "Twin Peaks"
There's an art to talking at length about your show without providing any details whatsoever but also not being boring -- and the cast of "Twin Peaks" pulled it off. Showtime also did fans a real solid with an early screening of Part 11 on Friday night. It'd be tough for a TV show to show up to Comic-Con any better than that.
Loser -- 20th Century Fox
Deadpool and X-Men were nowhere to be found in Hall H this year, much to the chagrin of the folks who has stayed up all night in line to see Fox's presentation.
Winner -- "Kingsman: The Golden Circle"
The absence of "Deadpool" was good for "Kingsman," though, which got the entirety of Fox's Hall H hour to serve up fun antics (like Halle Berry chugging a pint of bourbon) and some lengthy and really impressive clips.
"Star Wars" doesn't come to Comic-Con aside from merch booths on the show floor, but in 2016 you couldn't look in any direction without seeing somebody wearing "Star Wars" gear. This year, the amount of fans repping "Star Wars" was way, way down, indicating perhaps that enthusiasm for the mega-franchise has come back down to earth.
Loser -- "The Walking Dead"
They came out and showed a very long trailer full of context-free shots, then a retrospective video, then went immediately to audience Q&A for the rest of the hour they had in Hall H. That's not exactly substantial content.
Winner -- Marvel Film Comic-Con is kinda hellish in a lot of ways, but Marvel's Saturday-night showcase never fails to make it all seem worth it. This year was definitely not an exception, with fans in Hall H being treated to spectacular and really substantial clips from "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Black Panther," as well as the "Avengers: Infinity War" sizzle reel they showed at D23 the week before. If I were to call any presentation the overall winner of SDCC 2017 it would be this one. But that's usually the case.
Winner -- "The Defenders"
Netflix really treated the fans in Hall H on Friday night, premiering the entire first episode of "The Defenders." And it was good! After a long day of mostly uneventful Hall H panels, it was a very welcome surprise.
Winner -- Netflix
Aside from "The Defenders," Netflix showed off four minutes of its upcoming "Punisher" series and treated the Hall H crowd to some meaty clips from the films "Bright" and "Death Note." Oh, and they also held a screening of "Death Note" on Thursday night. Netflix really brought its A-game to Comic-Con this year.
Normally, Comic-Con takes place a months after the season has ended, meaning there isn't usually anything meaty for "Game of Thrones" to bring. We'd hoped that this year would be different, since the panel took place a week into season 7. But aside from a new short trailer, this year's "Game of Thrones" panel was as insubstantial as always. But, hey, at least Alfie Allen brought a puppy who is a good boy and won everything yes he did yes he did!
Loser -- Actual Comics Fans
It's a cliche to complain that 'Comic-Con isn't about the comics anymore' but this is different. After 44 years as one of SDCC's biggest sellers, legendary retailer Mile High Comics skipped the 2017 event.
Owner Chuck Rozanski cited rising costs imposed on vendors, stricter safety rules and celebrity-packed offsite events for reducing foot traffic, and profit, inside the con. The absence of one of the event's original participants was a significant, and unfortunate, milestone.
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Not every Hall H panel is created equal
Another Comic-Con has come and gone. As always, it was full of delightful experiences and some so-so ones. So who came out of the show looking best? Let's look back on how this year's show went.
