Here we look at the upcoming month’s offerings.

April 7, 2023

Air (on 4.5.2023)

Premise: From IMDb: “Follows the history of shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball: Michael Jordan.”
Box Office Prospects: $100 M
Expectations: Good. This has the potential to be a major motion picture at theaters. It’s an adult story about how Michael Jordan became the savior of Nike.
Oscar Prospects: Good. Even when uncertain, a Ben Affleck-directed film has to be considered a contender and early reviews have been strong for the film, which could bolster its Oscar chances.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Paint

Premise: From IMDb: “In PAINT, Owen Wilson portrays Carl Nargle, Vermont’s #1 public television painter who is convinced he has it all: a signature perm, custom van, and fans hanging on his every stroke… until a younger, better artist steals everything (and everyone) Carl loves.”
Box Office Prospects: $30 M
Expectations: Weak. The film’s prospects are limited because abstract comedies just don’t seem to have a huge following these days. I’m not expecting much out of this one.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (on 4.5.2023)

Premise: From IMDb: “A plumber named Mario travels through an underground labyrinth with his brother, Luigi, trying to save a captured princess. Feature film adaptation of the popular video game.”
Box Office Prospects: $150 M
Expectations: Good. It’s animated, which suggests it could do better than Sonic‘s mixed-media performance, but they’ve been keeping Chris Pratt’s vocal work pretty low key, which suggests it could be a liability.
Oscar Prospects: Weak. While it has potential for an Oscar nomination, the Academy doesn’t tend to like adaptations from other mediums, which could hamper the film’s chances.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

April 14, 2023

The Pope’s Exorcist

Premise: From IMDb: “Portrayal of a real-life figure Father Gabriele Amorth, a priest who acted as chief exorcist of the Vatican and who performed more than 100,000 exorcisms in his lifetime. (He passed away in 2016 at the age of 91.) Amorth wrote two memoirs — An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories — and detailed his experiences battling Satan and demons that had clutched people in their evil.”
Box Office Prospects: $55 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Exorcism films can do decent box office and with Russell Crowe starring, that could goose its numbers. That said, even before the pandemic, the genre wasn’t performing well, so perhaps those days are behind it.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Renfield

Premise: From IMDb: “Dracula’s henchman and inmate at the lunatic asylum.”
Box Office Prospects: $65 M
Expectations: Good. It’s a comedy about Dracula played by Nicolas Cage. This has the potential to be both a modest-sized hit and a blockbuster. We’ll see.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Suzume

Premise: From IMDb: “A modern action adventure road story where a 17-year-old girl named Suzume helps a mysterious young man close doors from the outer side that are releasing disasters all over in Japan.”
Box Office Prospects: $10 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Anime has such an uneven reception at the U.S. box office that it’s almost impossible to tell which will be hits and which will be flops.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

April 21, 2023

Chevalier

Premise: From IMDb: “Based on the true story of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, who rises to heights in French society as a composer before an ill-fated love affair.”
Box Office Prospects: $2 M
Expectations: Weak. Period dramas rarely do well at the box office.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. The early release may hurt it, but the Production Design and Costume Design categories are perfect for this kind of film.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Evil Dead Rise

Premise: From IMDb: “A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.”
Box Office Prospects: $40 M
Expectations: Uncertain. It’s been so long since the last Evil Dead movie released and the zombie franchise has taken a tumble due to oversaturation. I don’t know that this one can overcome the negatives to be much of a hit.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant

Premise: From IMDb: “Follows Sergeant John, who on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan is teamed with local interpreter Ahmed, who risks his own life to carry an injured John across miles of grueling terrain to safety.”
Box Office Prospects: $25 M
Expectations: Weak. Guy Ritchie is still making movies in spite of his lackluster box office fortunes. He’s not yet locked onto an idea that has brought him as much success as the Sherlock Holmes films.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

April 28, 2023

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Premise: From IMDb: “When her family moves from the city to the suburbs, 11-year-old Margaret navigates new friends, feelings, and the beginning of adolescence.”
Box Office Prospects: $30 M
Expectations: Uncertain. Is there a market for this kind of movie? Perhaps, but it will take some extra special magic to make it a decent hit.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Big George Foreman

Premise: From IMDb: “The life and boxing career of George Foreman.”
Box Office Prospects: $50 M
Expectations: Uncertain. While boxing dramas seem to be doing well at the box office, can a boxing biopic duplicate that success? Probably not to the extent that the Creed series has, but perhaps.
Oscar Prospects: Uncertain. The early release will make it difficult for this biopic to maintain momentum through the end of the year, but it would seem like the kind of film the Academy has been honoring of late.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Sisu

Premise: From IMDb: “When an ex-soldier who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness tries to take the loot into the city, Nazi soldiers led by a brutal SS officer battle him.”
Box Office Prospects: $12 M
Expectations: Uncertain. It just doesn’t seem like the film that survives at the box office for long.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.

Polite Society

Premise: From IMDb: “Ria Khan believes that she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends’ help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists, in the name of independence and sisterhood.”
Box Office Prospects: $5 M
Expectations: Weak. There’s probably a market out there for this film, especially in the wake of the success of RRR, but I doubt this movie can tap into it.
Oscar Prospects: None.
Cinema Sight Preview: See my preview of this title here.