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Monday Mixer: Rest in Peace David Bowie

Posted Monday, January 11, 2016 at 4:14 PM Central

by John Couture

It was a busy weekend on all fronts as 2016 kicked into high gear. Not only did the NFL playoffs kickoff, but the Golden Globes were handed out on Sunday evening.

At the box office, it was a little bit of the same old and something new to keep things interesting. We really are at an interesting juxtaposition between The Force Awakens and the onset of the traditional Awards Season boost.

The Oscar nominations are going to be announced on Thursday which has traditionally meant that those films that are nominated and still playing in theaters get a nice bounce from their nominations. This should be good news for The Revenant, which had a very good showing at last night's Golden Globes.

Will it be enough to pass The Force Awakens and grab the top spot and the box office? Or will The Force Awakens rally and hold off this latest challenger?

That's why this time of the year is always so intriguing. Shall we mix?

Box Office 411

Stop me if you've heard this one before. The Force Awakens was on top of the box office for the fourth consecutive week. Its take of $41.6 million capped a record-setting week which saw the latest Star Wars surpass Avatar for the highest-grossing film ever released in the United States.

After only four weeks at the box office, The Force Awakens has officially grossed more than $800 million ($812 million and change to be exact) which means that I have won the gentlemen's bet between Tim and myself. The prize was a Blu-ray of the winner's choice and I only think it would be appropriate that a Blu-ray of The Force Awakens should settle our bet.

Now that The Force Awakens has broken the record, the discussion changes to where it will end. While I think that it has a few good weekends left in it, topping the $1 billion mark would massive. Not only would it make a nice round number for all other films to chase, but it would prove that it wasn't a fluke. People are actually looking at the longevity of Avatar and Titanic and declaring them more suitable for the box office crown because of the length of time they dominated the box office.

The reality is that the business has changed dramatically, even in just the last eight years. Now, it's all about getting the most money in the quickest amount of time and getting out. That's why I was a bit skeptical about The Force Awakens chances to unseat Avatar, but Disney proved that the power behind Star Wars is indeed real.

Speaking of real, Leonardo DiCaprio's box office drawing power is extremely real, to the tune of a $38 million opening weekend for The Revenant. The film has been playing in limited release (aka Oscar qualifying) and its total box office haul is $39.6 million.

What's interesting is that normally a film such as The Revenant would have a customary drop-off in the same range as The Force Awakens, but thanks to the Oscar nominations boost, The Revenant might actually eek out a box office victory over The Force Awakens next weekend. The performance was good enough for a spot in the top five January openings of all time and should translate to a box office of $140 million that might actually make it to $150 if it gets enough of an Oscars bounce.

Elsewhere, the other newcomer The Forest also exceeded expectations to the tune of $13.1 million for a fourth-place finish for the low-budget horror film. January is quickly becoming a hotbed for horror films and this is just the latest in a growing trend. The only downside is that horror has a quick falloff, so most predictions are targeting a $25 million gross. I'm a bit more optimistic and think that The Forest will end up with $30 million.

Quick Hitters

  • We woke this morning to the news that David Bowie passed away overnight. The singer was a cultural phenomenon and played a bit part in one of all-time favorite films The Prestige. He's probably best known in film circles for his role as the goblin king in Labyrinth.

    His son, director Duncan Jones, tweeted this out earlier.

  • You may have missed it, but our podcast is back! In the latest episode, we discuss The Force Awakens (again) and Tim and I predict the winners of Sunday's Golden Globes. Needless to say, Tim kicked my butt 10-5.

    I look forward to redeeming myself at the Oscars.

  • The Hollywood Reporter posted a great roundtable interview with directors Quentin Tarantino, Tom Hooper, Alejandro G. Inarritu, Ridley Scott, Danny Boyle and David O. Russell. Yes, it's over an hour long, but it's worth the investment.

  • Sylvester Stallone wants Carl Weathers for the Creed sequel. Zombie Apollo Creed?

  • The troubled Jane Got a Gun finally has a proper trailer and surprisingly it looks pretty good.

  • We all know that a Han Solo Star Wars spinoff is coming in 2018, but it looks like Disney is finally getting close to casting a young version of the iconic character. The shortlist of actors includes Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort and Dave Franco.

    One interesting tidbit from the piece is that timing of this decision this far out is allegedly so that the actor can cameo as Han Solo in Rogue One which is out later this year and the timeframe of that film would fit a Han Solo cameo like a nice leather vest.

  • W magazine asked a bunch of actors about their favorite love/sex scenes. The answers were both enlightening and hilarious. Here's a small sampling.

  • If we haven't dissected The Force Awakens enough, here's this really good analysis by Chris Stuckmann. It's worth a watch, especially if you're upset about The Force Awakens being too much like A New Hope

  • There's nothing like ending with a laugh and this trailer for "The Ugandan Expendables" will certainly elicit the giggles.

Well, that's what happens when you're off for a few days. You tend to run out of time to catch up. I'll make up for it next week.

I want my Mixer!