Welcome to the “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide-release movies. Last weekend we saw history as Wonder Woman set the record for the biggest opening for a featured helmed by a female director. This week features two of the summer’s more intriguing releases with Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, and the horror flick It Comes at Night. Let’s see if either release will be able to take down the mighty Amazonian princess.
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The Mummy
What we are worried about: The director of The Mummy, Alex Kurtzman, has only one feature film directing credit to his name in the form of People Like Us. While that Chris Pine starrer was better than expected, it is nowhere the beast of a movie like The Mummy. Kurtzman does have a bunch of television experience with shows like Fringe, Sleepy Hollow, and Alias. He often works with J.J. Abrams, who is the current king of franchise development right now, so maybe he has picked up a few things. Given all of this, we would still like to see a big franchise like this helmed by a more seasoned pro.
The Buzz: Most of the current internet buzz is still focused on Wonder Woman, which might make it difficult for The Mummy to debut at number one. Reviews are slowly starting to pop up on the internet as of this writing, but they have not been kind. The movie is sitting at a 24% on RottenTomatoes and 37 on MetaCritic. Reviews probably won’t help this overtake Wonder Woman and the film will likely open around $30 million, which is not a good start for the franchise.
Final Thoughts: Tom Cruise, a shared Universal monster universe, and blockbuster action has us in the theater for opening weekend.
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It Comes at Night
What we are worried about: Like The Mummy, It Comes at Night features a director with very little experience—Trey Edward Shults, directing just his second film. Although it is not a mega-budgeted action tentpole film, this lack of experience does raise some concern for us. Then again, horror seems to be a good place for young directors to cut their teeth and learn the ropes (see: James Wan), so maybe this concern isn’t warranted.
The Buzz: As we said earlier, this film garnered huge buzz when it debuted at the Overlook Film Festival back in April. There has been buzz building on the internet since the word got out, but we are not sure if that will translate into box office success. Look for an opening around $10 million.
Final Thoughts: It Comes at Night might make for an interesting double feature with The Mummy, but if action isn’t your thing, maybe just a single horror flick will do the trick.
Scott Davis
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