We have movies not available at Redbox or NetflixWe have movies not available at Redbox or Netflix

Monday Mixer: Is Paul Rudd a hero?

Posted Monday, October 27, 2014 at 3:48 PM Central

by John Couture

The ghouls are out and the goblins are frolicking through the pumpkins, that can mean only one thing. It's Halloween season at the box office and this weekend's results only confirmed this to be true.

I get the visceral need to feel fear. I do hold a degree in psychology and, thankfully, in today's society we are fortunate enough that many of the original fear stimuli that we faced in the wild no longer affect us. Most people would call this evolution and the advancement of human society.

It's a good thing that we don't have to worry about being eaten by wild animals on a daily basis or succumbing to the elements on a cold and chilly night. And yes, I know that people still face these challenges, but for the most part, we've "evolved" to the point that we aren't as fearful as we once were.

So, why do we choose to purposely put ourselves in situations to induce fear? Pheromones. They did studies and stuff. You can look it up. It seems that going to a scary movie and having your significant other cuddle up for protection has some merit going for it.

So yeah, that's all to say that Ouija, a film that really had no business ever being made, did really well at the box office this weekend. Why not jump right in, shall we?

Box Office 411

Pop quiz, which film had a bigger opening weekend? Battleship or Ouija?

Well, this one isn't a trick question as Battleship did open higher with $25.3 million, but the real shocker is that Ouija wasn't too far behind with $20 million. For Universal, it just goes to show how unpredictable and fickle the box office can be as Battleship was widely seen as a disappointment and Ouija far exceeded even the rosiest of predictions.

Most people predict a sharp drop off for Ouija, but I'm not quite sold on that. First, it opened before Halloween, so it should hold well this upcoming weekend. Second, it's a rare PG-13 horror film so the teen audience should help it out considerably this weekend. Yes, I don't think it will do much in November, but don't count this one out. I think it will end up with about $50 million, but a really strong weekend could have it contending with Battleship's total box office take of $65.2 million.

In second place, there was a Keanu Reeves sighting as his latest film John Wick opened with $14.2 million. It's a notable return to relevancy for Reeves who hasn't had a film open north of $10 million since 2008's The Day the Earth Stood Still. Whoa!

Props out to Gone Girl who added another $11 million to its coffers. Sometime early this week, the film will become David Fincher's highest grossing film. The $160 million I predicted might still be a stretch, but not by that much. Fury help on pretty well in third place with $13 million, but it's going to be tough to make it up to $75 million.

The other notable performance this weekend was by Bill Murray's St. Vincent. With its rollout to 2,282 screens, the film earned a healthy $8 million and a bump to sixth place. Last week's dazzler Birdman bumped its screen total to 50 and just landed in the top 15 in the last spot with $1.4 million. It looks like this awards contender is right on track for a big performance in coming weeks.

Quick Hitters

  • While it's not every day that we get a feel good story out of Hollywood, this one might be one worth remembering. It seems that Paul Rudd may or may not be a hero. Well, I mean, he's going to be Ant-Man, so he will always be a hero on the big screen, but he may earned his good guy mettle in real life too.

    You may have heard about this horrible altercation started by a clearly belligerent man this past week at the Dallas airport. Well, if you didn't, Andrew Kennedy caught it on video.

    Warning, this video contains harsh language and may be offensive. Our would-be hero enters the scene at the 1:15 mark and rushes in to take down the combatant.

    So, the question remains, is the mild-mannered man in the checkered shirt and olive sports coat really Paul Rudd, or just a great guy who happens to resemble Paul Rudd? We may never know, but according to Rudd's publicist, that's not the actor in the video.

    Is the actor being modest or was this truly someone else? The dates and time would fit as the video was shot on Thursday evening (October 23) and Paul Rudd was seen in Kansas City the night before during the second game of the World Series. One could see Dallas being a popular hub for travellers making their way from Kansas City to San Francisco.

    Or, it could simply just be a guy who sort of, vaguely looks like the actor and will almost assuredly not have a problem finding a date any time soon.

  • So, uh Britney Spears is getting her own holiday. Don't worry, it's only in Vegas and there does not appear to be any groundswell support to make it an annual affair.

    Side note, I really can't believe that anyone would pay Britney Spears a cool million dollars a week to sing. I would have bet the farm that it was the other way around, a million dollars a week not to sing.

  • The Fast and the Furious 7 is finally hitting the big screens in 2015, so it's not surprising that they are releasing a trailer. What is surprising is that they would release this TWO MINUTE and FIFTY-TWO SECOND teaser trailer. It's not so much a tease as it is a sizzle reel for the first six films in the franchise.

  • Finally today, it's not often that we feature music news here on the site, but this was too cool to pass up. Music video pioneers OK Go released their new video for the song "I Won't Let You Down" and as usual, it kicks some serious ass.

Time to go carve the pumpkins.

Until next week, Mix Well!