Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

March 1, 2019

Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral

Premise: From IMDb: “A joyous family reunion becomes a hilarious nightmare as Madea and the crew travel to backwoods Georgia, where they find themselves unexpectedly planning a funeral that might unveil unsavory family secrets.”
Box Office Prospects: $60 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Only one film with Madea as the central character failed to pass $50 million at the box office. That film was the only genuine sequel on offering from Tyler Perry: Boo 2! A Madea Halloween. Most of the films have topped $60 million, but a few haven’t. Considering the law of diminishing returns, I suspect this one will barely eke out a $60 million run.
Oscar Prospects: None
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

March 8, 2019

Captain Marvel

Premise: From IMDb: “Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.”
Box Office Prospects: $450 M
Expectations: Good. While origin stories in the Marvel universe have generally resulted in robust box office figures, none will quite compare to something like Black Panther, though this film hopes to at least do as well as Wonder Woman, after all, that’s one of the reasons Marvel finally gave a woman the lead in one of their films after ten years.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. There are plenty of opportunities for Marvel Cinematic Universe films to earn Oscar nominations, but they don’t tend to do so. While Black Panther is now the most successful such film, there’s little likelihood that a trend develops and this film could make a run for Visual Effects, but that’s likely to be a push for Avengers: End Game instead.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Gloria Bell (Limited)

Premise: From IMDb: “A free-spirited woman in her 50s seeks out love at L.A. dance clubs.”
Box Office Prospects: $2.5 M
Expectations: Weak. Few of Julianne Moore’s films have been an outright success at the box office, typically requiring Oscar attention to become modest successes. This film’s early release isn’t likely to generate buzz, so may be quickly forgotten.
Oscar Prospects: Unlikely. The film hasn’t generated much buzz so far, so I doubt it will generate much buzz after release.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

March 15, 2019

Five Feet Apart

Premise: From IMDb: “A pair of teenagers with life-threatening illnesses meet in a hospital and fall in love.”
Box Office Prospects: $30 M
Expectations: The Fault in Our Stars started a box office trend of adapting dying-teen romances. Yet, the two most recent young adult dramas in a similar vein, The Space Between Us and Midnight Sun were colossal failures. This film might not suffer the same fate as Cole Sprouse is something of a teen heartthrob, but I don’t expect the film to be a huge success.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Wonder Park

Premise: From IMDb: “Wonder Park tells the story of a magnificent amusement park where the imagination of a wildly creative girl named June comes alive.”
Box Office Prospects: $80 M
Expectations: Uncertain. With so few films targeting families in this time of year, Wonder Park could find a lot of success. That said, we’ve said that a lot in the last year, with so few animated films releasing, and few of those films became megawatt hits. This film looks silly enough to be a disappointment.
Oscar Prospects: Weak. Unless it’s a huge box office and critical hit, this film isn’t likely to make its way to the Oscar competition.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

March 22, 2019

Hotel Mumbai

Premise: From IMDb: “The true story of the Taj Hotel terrorist attack in Mumbai. Hotel staff risk their lives to keep everyone safe as people make unthinkable sacrifices to protect themselves and their families.”
Box Office Prospects: $25 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Nothing like this has become a hit in the last quarter century, so it’s unlikely to be a major success.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. The dramatic tension in the trailer suggets a film that could go a long way with Oscar voters; however, the March release doesn’t give one much hope of that.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

The Informer

Premise: From IMDb: “An ex-convict working undercover intentionally gets himself incarcerated again in order to infiltrate the mob at a maximum security prison.”
Box Office Prospects: $10 M
Expectations: Weak. This is a movie that’s inexplicably releasing wide at the box office (as of this writing) and there are no major stars or sellable content here that would indicate it does anything impressive at the box office.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Us

Premise: From IMDb: “A mother and father take their kids to their beach house, expecting to enjoy time with friends, but their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some visitors arrive uninvited.”
Box Office Prospects: $150 M
Expectations: Good. There isn’t a lot of precedent for a film like this, but the man behind Get Out, Jordan Peele, could be starting a trend of his own that could result in a number of films making good bank with such premises.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. Peele overcame history to land several Oscar nominations for Get Out, including Best Picture and Best Directing. While second films are notoriously hard to get appreciation for, a groundswell of support from critics and audiences could turn this into a contender for nomination, though wins are doubtful.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette

Premise: From IMDb: “After her anxiety-ridden mother disappears, 15-year-old Bee does everything she can to track her down, discovering her troubled past in the process.”
Box Office Prospects: $15 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Nothing in Cate Blanchett’s resume has indicated that she will be able to open this film well and wide and the end result may be a rather disappointing box office take unless critics can bolster audience enthusiasm because the trailer isn’t likely to do so.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. Richard Linklater has an off-again on-again relationship with the Academy and this film might be less appelaing to the Academy than it is to audiences. Never count out Blanchett to gin up Oscar chatter, but it’s a long way from here to Oscar season.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

March 29, 2019

Dumbo

Premise: From IMDb: “A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.”
Box Office Prospects: $300 M
Expectations: Excellent. Tim Burton’s last reimagining of a Disney animated feature made over $330 million at the box office in 2010 (Alice in Wonderland). A lot has changed in nine years, but I suspect this film will do incredibly well at the box office thanks to terrific marketing.
Oscar Prospects: Good. While the Disney live-action/animated adaptations have been doing decently well with the Academy, this film has Burton’s backing, which could make it a major player in the creative categories. Production Design and Costume Design seem givens, but the film could also pull up in the sound categories and Visual Effects.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.