Box Office Quickie: Meryl Streep, The Right Choice
Sunday, August 12, 2012 at 8:18PM Remember that glorious bit on the sitcom Modern Family where Cameron sang the praises of Meryl Streep?
Meryl Streep could play Batman and be the right choice from Kristian Møller Jørgensen on Vimeo.
Meryl Streep could play Batman and be the right choice."
I kept thinking about that this weekend when Hope Springs hit theaters competing with all these new releases. Could Streep play a genetically mutated super spy like Renner? Could Streep play Catwoman as well as Hathaway? Could Streep play a disaster seeking political office like...Oh wait, that was last year. Whatever, one thinks of her range, she is a box office star as the opening weekend of Hope Springs indicates. Sure 4th place isn't great but when you stop to remember that it's a movie about senior citizens struggling with sexual intimacy than 4th place is basically 5 consecutive weeks at number one.
The Bourne Legacy's terrific opening weekend is interesting. Does this mean you don't need Matt Damon or that even just the memory of Matt Damon is bankable?
Top o' the Box Office To You
01 new THE BOURNE LEGACY $40.2
02 new THE CAMPAIGN $27.4
03 THE DARK KNIGHT RISES $19.5 (Cum. $390.1) Review
04 new HOPE SPRINGS $15.6 Oscar Prospects?
05 DIARY OF AN ANNOYING FRANCHISE PT. 2 $8.2 (Cum. $30.5)
06 TOTAL RECALL $8.1 (Cum. $44.1) Review
Jeremy, Rachel, Meryl and Anne race away with the box office
Other box office notes of...uh...note:
Total Recall took a disastrous 68 percent drop in its second weekend suggesting that it probably won't earn back even half of its budget in domestic release; Brave continues to climb the Pixar charts having just passed WALL•E with Cars in its sights next; After seven weeks Beasts of the Southern Wild appears to have finally hit the wall and will now descend *sniffle*. (It's done very well for itself but I was hoping we'd see braver moviegoers embrace it in larger numbers. It's always worth hoping that the general public will get a little more adventurous in their moviegoing... I mean THIS is available to them and they still want reheated superhero leftovers?); Farewell My Queen, my pet cause, has been inching towards the magic $1 million mark at the arthouse but I worry it'll fall short now... it'll need a couple more weeks to get there and those might be hard to come by.
Finally, Ruby Sparks couldn't drum up much interest in a big expansion so it's not much longer for this world... I have the guilt about not seeing this. I must go this week! Must you?
Bourne, Jeremy Renner, Matt Damon, Meryl Streep, Total Recall, box office
Reader Comments (20)
Beasts might benefit from a pre-Oscar second release. Summer opening got it the proper release--a bit more awards season buzz might net some cash. Hopefully.
go see ruby sparks, it was so much better than i expexted
Oh, Farewell My Queen is so good! I'm always lamenting audiences don't dare embrace a foreign film...
I am VERY curious where Beasts of the Southern Wild ends up when the Oscar derby is all said and done. It's a remarkable film - sorta what you'd expect if David Gordon Green (circa George Washington) directed Slumdog Millionaire. It really works on an emotional level.
Give Renner some credit!
Because the 7pm showing of "The Bourne Legacy" was sold out, I chose to screen "Ruby Sparks," my other options for the hour being "Hope Springs" and "Total Recall." For me it is one of those films about which I couldn't make an immediate, concrete judgment. I'm actually still ruminating about the extent to which I enjoyed it. There's a shift in tone during the climax that felt very jarring to me.
Msh -- I love Renner in general (though I thought he was strangely and immeasurably dulll in The Avengers) but they haven't been selling it on him at all. I think they need to start testing the waters of "JEREMY RENNER" all highlighted to see if people are responding. rather than "that guy who looks familiar... anyway FRANCHISE. ACTION. YOU LIKE THIS ALREADY."
"that guy who looks familiar... anyway FRANCHISE. ACTION. YOU LIKE THIS ALREADY." - You're SO brilliant lately!
I saw Le Skylab directed by Julie Delpy and I loved it. I highly recommend it!
In my country, the only film (currently in cinemas) that exists is The Bourne Legacy.
But of course, the film was shot in here.
Yes Nate - go see RUBY SPARKS. It is well worth your effort and time - Zoe is a very strong screen presence.
So Legacy did opened better than Identity but worse than Supremacy or Ultimatum - sounds about right. I love me some Renner so I'll defintely be seeing it when it's out here (wednseday maybe?).
I love that you loved Farewell, My Queen. I saw it last night and fell in love. Delicious, go-for-broke cinema. It might be my favorite movie of the year. And Diane Kruger ... who knew? Is there any chance she has Oscar prospects? I presume not. Oh well. So glad that you mentioned it.
My local theater only had Farewell, My Queen for one weekend, but the show I was at was very well-attended.
Great line from last night's Breaking Bad episode: "Everyone sounds like Meryl Streep with a gun to their head."
Streep is always the exception to every rule, plus, Hope Springs it's really good imo.
I saw Ruby Sparks at a late showing on a Friday night, and some people walked out. I didn't really like the ending.
Meryl got another shout-out in "Breaking Bad" last night! The Streep permeates through ALL CULTURAL FORMATS! Bitches better recognize greatness!
I agree with the general feeling here on Ruby Sparks. A fun and insightful first two acts followed by a rather strange third one. It's worth seeing, though.
Oh, and I just discovered that my arthouse theater will be bringing in Farewell My Queen this weekend. Yay!
On the other hand, they'll have both Farewell My Queen and The Queen of Versailles at the same time. I wonder if there will be any confused patrons going back to the box office and asking why everyone in the documentary is speaking French.
"Meryl got another shout-out in "Breaking Bad" last night! The Streep permeates through ALL CULTURAL FORMATS! Bitches better recognize greatness!"
Haha, I love that.