August Movie Preview! Total Recall Or The Bourne Legacy?

The final month of summer is here! Beginning in June, which was broken up between parts one and two, we’ve been discussing the season’s most anticipated movies. Last month was an important one; everyone has been waiting years for Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. While TDKR still going strong, August should provide Hollywood a couple more chances for a breakout hit to end this summer the right way.

August 3rd

Colin Farrell takes over the role Arnold made famous in the remake of “Total Recall”. The film caught a HUGE break when The Bourne Legacy moved back to August 10. The trailer promises big action and good looking leads, all the while trying to look close enough to the original to draw in older fans, but different enough to interest younger fans.

Sci-Fi films tend to be hit or miss, with District 9 and Prometheus being at least modest successes, but John Carter proved it’s possible for them to flop very badly. Normally, a new action film in summer with a sci-fi concept and big name leads would almost be assured $40-50 million opening. It’s probably more realistic this film will earn in the mid to high $30s.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days see its third installment hit theaters. The good news is with all the family films being out for at least a couple weeks, it won’t have much competition.

That being said, the first two films grossed around $20 million and it’s hard to think this series will pick up new fans at this point. Look for a similar opening.

August 10th

Jeremy Renner takes over the Bourne series from Matt Damon in The Bourne Legacy. This will be a real test of how big Renner’s star is in Hollywood. It also might struggle with audiences split between Total Recall and this. Franchises continuing without its main star are always a risky proposition, but a strong cast and the overall quality of previous installments should push this around the $40 to 50 million range.

The Campaign brings together comedy superstars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis, as well as a host of other comedic actors in supporting roles. Given it’s an election year this film should do very big business, in the low $30s range.

Hope Springs also has an all-star comedy cast that includes Steve Carell, Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. But, the subject matter might not appeal to as wide of an audience and it will probably end up somewhere in the $15-20 million range, unless it really breaks out.

August 17th

ParaNorman hits theaters. This family film has a lot of buzz. Animated films, like Brave, have done fairly well this year with all three at least at $120 million, and three of the four grossing at least $200 million. But, Ice Age showed there may be a little bit of animation fatigue setting in and ParaNorman doesn’t have near the amount of hype behind it.

Strong reviews could give this film decent legs, but it probably won’t open nearly as high as the other animated films, with $15-20 million more realistic.

ParaNorman will be battling The Odd Life of Timothy Green, the family drama starring Jennifer Garner. Being a Disney release, it will probably be the first choice among families. That being said, it probably will top out in the low $20s.

Expendables 2, which brings back the original cast plus expanded roles for Bruce Willis and Arnold and other action stars such as Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme will take the top spot. It probably won’t earn much more than the original did, however, but a $30-40 million opening is very possible.

August 24th

The final two weeks will be a tight competition as movies are dumped in these final two weekends with the hope that it will break out.

The Apparition probably has the best chance to do anything substantial, being a thriller, but audiences will probably be catching up on films they missed earlier in the month. We’re looking at around maybe $10-20 million for this one. Hit and Run and Premium Rush, both action films, will likely suffer from action movie fatigue with a new action film being released every weekend in August up to this point.

August 31st

Lawless and The Possession hit theaters. Again, The Possession has the best shot, being a Lionsgate horror release. Not a whole lot of hype or buzz for both of these movies. We’re anticipating an opening in the mid-teens tops for either one.