By Chris Kavan - 08/23/18 at 06:42 AM CT
It has been a great August so far with The Meg and Crazy Rich Asians both performing above and beyond expectations, leading to a strong month in what is usually one of the slower months of the year. We'll see if Melissa McCarthy and some hard-bitten, very adult puppets can keep things going strong. I have a feeling it's going to be a hard sell, but anything can happen. There is also family adventure/sci-fi film that I have literally heard zero about so I'm guessing it's going to be a non-factor at the box office.
THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS Now, Happytime Murders doesn't have a monopoly on adult-themed puppets (see Avenue Q or Meet the Feebles) but it does have a genuine legend in the form of Brian Henson. But make no mistake, this one is not for the kids. Puppets swear, murder, die in unwholesome ways and have a lot of sex. I've seen the previews and Melissa McCarthy plays yet another put-upon character, Detective Connie Edwards, who must partner with an ex-LAPD officer-turned private eye (and also a puppet) Phil Philips (voiced by Bill Barretta) when a series of grisly murders targets the cast of a popular '80s puppet show. The raunchiness is strong with this one - maybe a trying a bit too hard as many critics have been harsh on this one. Myself, I think it looks pretty ridiculous - even for streaming I would be hard-pressed to watch it. I have a feeling despite a rock-solid cast including Elizabeth Banks, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, Jimmy O. Yang, Ben Falcone and Cynthy Wu - it's going to struggle to find an audience. I don't think adults will be driven to it - not even the younger crowd - and I don't think it will give any of the top films a run for their money. I could be wrong, maybe it will do great, but I'm going out on a limb and saying it's not going to be popular.
Much like Alpha last weekend, A.X.L. is a film that has flown way under the radar. The film is a family adventure sci-fi about Miles (Alex Neustaedter), a loner, who finds an advanced military model robotic dog (the A.X.L. in the title) who develops a relationship with the young man thanks to his advanced A.I. This connection helps Miles come out of his shell even as he realizes what is at stake when the government comes back for their resource. Seeking help from Sara (Becky G) Miles goes on an epic adventure to save his new friend. I mean, this sounds barely a step above a very special Disney movie or something. It's going to crash and burn so, so hard - all the kids are back in school by now so families aren't worried about movies anymore. Not even the chiseled features of Thomas Jane will be enough to save this and I have a feeling it's going to be gone before the end of the month (or shortly after).
Those are the two major films coming out over the weekend. I don't hold out much hope for the new films, we'll see if the holdovers can continue to drive a decent August. I'll be back on Sunday with the breakdown.
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