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Posted October 11, 2017 by Scott Davis in Features
 
 

The Preview Reel: The Foreigner and Happy Death Day

Welcome to this week’s “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide release movies. Blade Runner 2049 received rave reviews last week, but that did not translate to box-office success as the movie stumbled to a $32.8 million opening against a $155 million budget. The sci-fi flick has a chance to retain the top spot, however, as the competition this week looks relatively weak—there’s the revenge thriller The Foreigner, and the Blumhouse horror flick, Happy Death Day.

 

The Foreigner

The ForeignerWhat we are excited about: While it would be easy to say that the thing we are most excited about here is Jackie Chan (and we are excited about that), we are going to go with the film’s director. Martin Campbell is responsible for two of the best James Bond movies of the past twenty-five years in Casino Royale (2006) and GoldenEye (1995). While we will ignore his last movie, Green Lantern (2011), Campbell has proven himself as an exciting action director. The trailers seem to promise an action-packed revenge thriller, and if Campbell brings the same skill he brought to Bond, we’re in.

What we are worried about: Revenge thrillers seem to be incredibly hit or miss, with the hits being solid action movies (Taken [2008]), or very bad action movies (Taken 2 [2012] and Taken 3 [2014]). There isn’t a ton of upside and the downside is tremendous, which we hope isn’t the case with The Foreigner. It could be unmemorable, but we’re just looking for a fun action flick starring Jackie Chan and the trailers seem to promise that.

The Buzz: Besides the return of Jackie Chan, there is not much buzz surrounding this movie. The film has somewhat surprisingly gotten good reviews as it sits at 80% on RottenTomatoes and doesn’t have a MetaCritic critic score yet. This movie is likely to not reach the heights of Taken, but it could be a solid stateside hit (it’s already a huge hit in China). Look for an opening around $10 million.

Final Thoughts: Revenge thrillers are usually solid rentals, and that’s what The Foreigner looks like.

 

Happy Death Day

Happy Death DayWhat we are excited about: Despite some subpar trailers, you can never bet against a Blumhouse production. The studio responsible for Split (2016), Get Out (2017), Insidious (2010), and The Purge (2013) has a knack for taking small budget horror films and turning them into hits. The movie itself doesn’t look very impressive, but Blumhouse is one of the top studios right now, so….

What we are worried about: How many times are we going to see a Groundhog Day (1993) ripoff? Edge of Tomorrow (2014) worked because it used the concept as a vehicle to make an entertaining action movie, but this movie just seems to be using it as a gimmick. The writers thought “what would it be like if you died over and over and over and…again?” Maybe there is something more to this movie, but we highly doubt it.

The Buzz: Not many people are excited about this one, but it is a PG-13 horror movie in October, so it could have a big opening weekend. Not surprisingly, there aren’t any reviews for this movie yet, but still look for a solid opening around $18 million.

Final Thoughts: Blumhouse usually produces fun horror movies, but this looks like a complete miss.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.