Below is a wrap-up of the predictions I made several months ago, an exploration of what succeeded and what failed, and how I observe things to have gone.

April 2, 2021

The Unholy

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “None.”
Oscar Results: Still None.
Box Office Prospects: $40 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Uncertain. Some theaters are starting to re-open in California and New York, but even in areas of the country where they previously opened, box office hasn’t re-energized yet. This isn’t the kind of film you go see in a pandemic, though, so it probably won’t do too well.”
Box Office Results: $15.5 M
Thoughts: [Flop] What might have been a modest box office success before the pandemic is now an unqualified failure.

April 9, 2021

Voyagers

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “None.”
Oscar Results: Still None.
Box Office Prospects: $35 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Uncertain. A sci-fi spectacle that deals with mind control agents in a liquid might be a bad fit in theaters when people are getting vaccinated left, right, and center. I suspect that might not endear it to many, though young adults flaunt requirements more than older cinemagoers, so it might do ok.”
Box Office Results: $3.1 M
Thoughts: [Major Flop] This teen sci-fi film didn’t look very appealing to a broad cross-section of the population and the serious flop at the box office confirmed that notion.

April 16, 2021

Mortal Kombat

Oscar Prospects: What I said: “None.”
Oscar Results: Still None.
Box Office Prospects: $60 M
Box Office Expectations: What I Said: “Uncertain. While prior attempts to get fighting video games of the 1980s to earn box office dollars have been rather muted, in a country where people are slowly emerging from the pandemic and theaters are re-opening, this kind of movie might just be the distraction to get them further along.”
Box Office Results: $42.2 M
Thoughts: [Unexceptional] At the pandemic box office, this result has to be seen as modestly successful, though in terms of traditional box office performance, it’s not.