Monday Mixer: Denzel Washington 'Equalizes' the competition
Posted Monday, September 29, 2014 at 1:44 PM Central
by John Couture
When it comes to box office consistency, one man rises above the others. Denzel Washington proved yet again that he is one of the more bankable stars working in Hollywood today. While only four of his films have crossed the $100 million threshold, most of his films end up over $50 million and make a decent profit.
This weekend, his new film The Equalizer did not disappoint and actually turned out to be his third biggest opening film ever. But more than the box office, the real news was just how interesting Hollywood was this weekend.
Some weekends, not much happens, but others are chock full of fun and interesting events that tickle our funny bones. This weekend was one of the latter as we have more quick hitters than you can shake a stick at.
Thankfully, the box office was rather straightforward, so let's get started. Sit back and enjoy this week's MM.
Box Office 411
As mentioned above, The Equalizer had a great weekend, bringing in a hefty $35 million. While it was the third highest opening ever for Denzel Washington, it was also the fourth highest September opening ever. Based on a mid-1980s TV series, expectations were sort of all over the map for the film adaptation, but I think it's safe to say that a sequel will be forthcoming.
With just a bit more than last week's The Maze Runner, it looks safe to assume that The Equalizer will be the fifth film of Washington's to surpass the $100 million barrier.
This week's other new film was one that Tim was really looking forward to, the new Laika project The Boxtrolls. The stop-motion film is simply beautiful to look at and when you start to appreciate all of the time and effort that goes into even a single shot, it's just awe-inspiring.
The Boxtrolls opened with $17.3 million which is a new high for Laika and one of the best openings ever for stop-motion animation. Given its current trajectory, I figure that it will ride the family-friendly wave to a cool $65 million or so.
One film that expanded successfully was The Skeleton Twins. It was bumped up to 385 screens and the pair of ex-SNLers enjoyed a very successful $1.2 million haul. With continued expansion, it's possible that the film could break the $10 million mark.
Quick Hitters
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Speaking of The Skeleton Twins, the film's marketing push allowed for this gem of a video to surface. I've always found that it's hard to make funny people laugh, but the local entertainment host of a network station in Denver had no trouble cracking up both Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader.
For future reference, watch the film before you interview the stars. Seriously, how hard is it to at least watch a trailer and hit up wikipedia? On a related note, I'm now very interested to see Welcome to Me.
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I know that McDonald's has a rather exotic menu in other countries to complement their Big Mac and signature fries, but this one takes the cake. It seems that Hong Kong is getting a Batman/Justice League(sans America)-themed burger that actually looks pretty appetizing.
P.S. Those cheese? fries looked pretty darn tasty too.
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Perhaps the biggest news of the weekend (at least for those who still held out a glimmer of hope of marrying Hollywood's most eligible bachelor), is the news that George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin officially tied the knot in Venice, Italy over the weekend.
I find it not the least bit conspicuous that best buds Clooney and Brad Pitt, both infamous bachelors, got hitched within the same month. On another note, how awesome would the news have been had it said Venice Beach and not Venice, Italy?
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SNL is back from its Summer vacation and while the first show of its 40th year was, at best, safe with host Chris Pratt, at least one cool video hit the airwaves. It reminds us that we live in Marvel world now and we better not forget it.
- Finally, this one is left over from last week from our friends over at Funny or Die. It's a True Detective parody featuring pint-sized actresses Ellen Page and Kate Mara called "Tiny Detectives."
Phew, that is truly all of the news that's fit to print. Don't forget, our podcast is back and we dropped our first full-length podcast in over two years on Friday. Listen and tell us what you like or hate and vote for which film you want Tim and I to review next week.
Until next week, Mix Well!