Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

February 4, 2021

Jackass Forever

Premise: From IMDb: “After 11 years, the Jackass crew is back for their final crusade.”
Box Office Prospects: $100 M
Expectations: Good. Whether or not this franchise can withstand the pandemic box office decline, the series has done quite well with audiences who apparently like mindnumbing entertainment.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Moonfall

Premise: From IMDb: “In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it. With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler is convinced she has the key to saving us all – but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman believe her. These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is.”
Box Office Prospects: $70 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Roland Emmerich is really hit-or-miss with his films and it’s impossible to know what will be successful and what won’t. In a pandemic, I doubt he can be terribly successful.
Oscar Prospects: Unlikely. The film has a lot of visual effects, but few Oscar contenders release this time of year, so I wouldn’t expect much out of it.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

The Worst Person in the World (Limited)

Premise: From IMDb: “It chronicles four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.”
Box Office Prospects: $0.5 M
Expectations: Weak. The good word of mouth from critics might bolster the film’s chances of making money, but it’s just not the kind of film the box office responds to right now.
Oscar Prospects: Good. It’s on the shortlist for 2021’s Oscars, so it’s most certainly a contender.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

February 11, 2021

Blacklight

Premise: From IMDb: “Travis Block is a government operative coming to terms with his shadowy past. When he discovers a plot targeting U.S. citizens, Block finds himself in the crosshairs of the FBI director he once helped protect.”
Box Office Prospects: $35 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Everyone keeps hoping that Liam Neeson starring in their film will mean it’s a box office hit when very few of his action films have been major box office successes. This one could cross that threshold, but it’s uncertain.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Death on the Nile

Premise: From IMDb: “While on vacation on the Nile, Hercule Poirot must investigate the murder of a young heiress.”
Box Office Prospects: $70 M
Expectations: Uncertain. The notion of an all-star murder mystery was successful in 2017, but the pandemic doesn’t make such event pictures as likely to succeed. Add to that the fact that the film’s been postponed several times, interest may just not be high enough.
Oscar Prospects: Unlikely. The first of Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie adaptations didn’t make an Oscar splash, so I wouldn’t expect much this time out either.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Marry Me

Premise: From IMDb: “Music superstars Kat Valdez and Bastian are getting married before a global audience of fans. But when Kat learns, seconds before her vows, that Bastian has been unfaithful, she decides to marry Charlie, a stranger in the crowd, instead.”
Box Office Prospects: $65 M
Expectations: Uncertain. There was a time when Jennifer Lopez as a romantic draw at the box office was a bit of a thing. While she still occasionally has a good box office tally, more often than not, her films are a disappointment. This one might fall more in the mediocre middle, though, thanks to the pandemic.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

February 18, 2021

Dog

Premise: From IMDb: “Briggs who, alongside his companion Lulu, a Belgian Malinois haul ass down the Pacific Coast in time to catch their best friend’s and handler’s funeral. One of them has a week to live, the other lives like every day is his last.”
Box Office Prospects: $60 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Another film that could have been a crowd pleaser before the pandemic might well end up underperforming. That said, the film checks a lot of boxes for the kind of people who would ignore a pandemic going on.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Uncharted

Premise: From IMDb: “The story is a prequel to the games, starring Holland as a younger Drake, showing us details of how he came to meet and befriend Sully.”
Box Office Prospects: $85 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Are the latest Spider-Man or is it the character that’s drawing audiences. We’ll soon get to test that theory with Tom Holland in the lead role of yet another big project. The last one released during the pandemic and did poorly. This one at least has a highly popular videogame franchise behind it, but its prospects are still unknown.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. Too early a release to be thought of as an Oscar contender for Visual Effects.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

February 25, 2021

Cyrano

Premise: From IMDb: “Too self-conscious to woo Roxanne himself, wordsmith Cyrano de Bergerac helps young Christian nab her heart through love letters.”
Box Office Prospects: $20 M
Expectations: Weak. As much as we would like musicals are just not performing well at the box office. Sure, Peter Dinklage is popular, but he’s not a box office draw and this kind of film is unlikely to change that calculus.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. While Peter Dinklage has gotten career-high accolades, his candidacy seems to have stalled out. With that, most of the film’s momentum drops as well.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.