Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

January 3, 2020

The Grudge

Premise: From IMDb: “A house is cursed by a vengeful ghost that dooms those who enter it with a violent death.”
Box Office Prospects: $75 M
Expectations: Uncertain. It’s been a long while since The Grudge, its remake or its remake’s sequel have been in the multiplex. Is it enough time to have built an interest in a reboot? We shall wee.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

January 10, 2020

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: $35 M
Expectations: Weak. Without a familiar face in the lead and a series of reschedules, I doubt this film will be much of a wide opener.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Like a Boss

Premise: From IMDb: “Two female friends with very different ideals decide to start a beauty company together. One is more practical, while the other wants to earn her fortune and live a lavish lifestyle.”
Box Office Prospects: $80 M
Expectations: Good. It looks formulaic, but without a major comedy for nearly a month when this film comes out, it could do quite well, especially with its affable leads.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

My Spy

Premise: From IMDb: “A hardened CIA operative finds himself at the mercy of a precocious 9-year-old girl, having been sent undercover to surveil her family.”
Box Office Prospects: $70 M
Expectations: Uncertain. It has been pushed back once and now it’s got light competition. That doesn’t mean it will be successful, though.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Underwater

Premise: From IMDb: “A crew of underwater researchers must scramble to safety after an earthquake devastates their subterranean laboratory.”
Box Office Prospects: $25 M
Expectations: Poor. The trailer wasn’t very appealing and the film looks like a bargain basement Alien/Earthquake mash-up that isn’t likely to appeal to many.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Les Misérables (Limited)

Premise: From IMDb: “Stéphane joined the Anti-Crime Brigade of Montfermeil, in the 93. He meets his new teammates, Chris and Gwada, and discovers the tensions between the different groups of the district”
Box Office Prospects: $1 M
Expectations: Good. While foreign language films seldom do boffo business at the box office, an Oscar nomination would certainly boost the film’s potential, as lightweight as it already is.
Oscar Prospects: Good. It’s made the shortlist for the 92nd Oscars in the International Feature category, so it could be a contender.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

January 17, 2020

Bad Boys for Life

Premise: From IMDb: “Marcus Burnett is now a police inspector and Mike Lowery is in a midlife crisis. They unite again when an Albanian mercenary, whose brother they killed, promises them an important bonus.”
Box Office Prospects: $90 M
Expectations: Good. While it’s been some time since the original or its sequels have been in the multiplex, it seems like the time is right to try (yet again) to resurrect Will Smith’s movie career. It looks fairly formulaic, but that might be just enough for fans of the original.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Dolittle

Premise: From IMDb: “A physician discovers that he can talk to animals.”
Box Office Prospects: $125 M
Expectations: Excellent. Disney will heavily market this film and the premise is that of which family audiences will want to flock. Whether the film is any good or not will be the main factor in how high the film climbs.
Oscar Prospects: Disney has a track record with the Oscars and this film will have to compete with several others for Production Design, Costume Design, Visual Effects, and maybe others should it do well with critics.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

The Last Full Measure

Premise: From IMDb: “Thirty-four years after his death, Airman William H. Pitsenbarger, Jr. (“Pits”) is awarded the nation’s highest military honor, for his actions on the battlefield.”
Box Office Prospects: $20 M
Expectations: Weak. It’s not a film that appeared to have been needed, but it was made anyway and I see little room for the film to grow.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Weathering with You (Limited)

Premise: From IMDb: “A high-school boy who has run away to Tokyo befriends a girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather.”
Box Office Prospects: $0.4 M
Expectations: Poor. Anime struggles enough at the U.S. box office and this film is sure to suffer a similar fate to most of the others.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

January 24, 2020

The Gentlemen

Premise: From IMDb: “A very British drug lord tries to sell off his highly profitable empire to a dynasty of Oklahoma billionaires.”
Box Office Prospects: $85 M
Expectations: Uncertain. In what looks to be an American-centric riff on Kingsman, the stars involved might be enough to prop it up if the film gets terrible reviews, which I suspect will happen.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

The Turning

Premise: From IMDb: “A young governess is hired by a man who has become responsible for his young nephew and niece after the deaths of their parents. A modern take on Henry James’ novella “The Turn of the Screw”.”
Box Office Prospects: $60 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Horror has been facing several hurdles in the last few years and the box office prospects just haven’t been high, not even for the once-popular haunted house genre.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

January 31, 2020

Gretel & Hansel

Premise: From IMDb: “A long time ago in a distant fairy tale countryside, a young girl leads her little brother into a dark wood in desperate search of food and work, only to stumble upon a nexus of terrifying evil.”
Box Office Prospects: $45 M
Expectations: Uncertain. After films like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and several other dark takes on fairy tales and literary treasures, it doesn’t seem like there’s much interest in a film like this.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

The Rhythm Section

Premise: From IMDb: “A woman seeks revenge against those who orchestrated a plane crash that killed her family.”
Box Office Prospects: $30 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Another film that got pushed out of 2018 into the early months of 2019, it’s yet another film that doesn’t look like the kind of movie that will make much money at all.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

The Traitor (Limited)

Premise: From IMDb: “The real life of Tommaso Buscetta, the so-called “boss of the two worlds”, first informant mafia in Sicily 1980’s.”
Box Office Prospects: $0.5 M
Expectations: Weak. The film doesn’t seem to have a lot of prospects being historical and foreign. Still, it could do better than expected with solid reviews, but since even the Academy didn’t select it for the shortlist for Best International Feature, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.