Two years after setting a then-record opening for MLK Jr. weekend at $48.6 million, Kevin Hart [KHART] and Ice Cube [ICUBE] buddies up again for the sequel Ride Along 2 [RDLO2] bringing their bad cop, worst cop routine to Miami. Reviews aren’t going to matter to fans of their PG-13 rated hijinks that expects more of the same. Rolling into 3176 theaters, Ride Along 2 could cruise to $47 million over the 4-day weekend.
After securing the most Oscar nominations with 12, The Revenant [REVEN] should carry the buzz to a big second weekend. The western could bear $30 million over the long holiday weekend.
Stars Wars: The Force Awakens [STAR7.BW] looks to stack another $25 million on top of its all-time domestic record.
Michael Bay [MBAY] directs the R-rated 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi [13HRS] based on the recent real-life incident in Libya. Paramount slotted the war film in the same weekend that produced $107 million for American Sniper last year and $25.9 million for Lone Survivor in 2013. The film targets an audience in the heartland that doesn’t attend movies regularly, however, the theater count tops out at 2389. 13 Hours may hit $24 million.
Lionsgate releases the animated Norm of the North [NORMN] featuring a C-level voice cast. Their previous effort, Alpha & Omega opened to $9 million back in September 2010. Norm of the North may be lucky to earn $8.5 million from 2411 locations.
Weinstein Co. expands Carol [CARO] wide to 790 theaters after 8 weeks of limited release. With Oscar nominations for both Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, the lesbian drama could do $2 million.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): KHART, ICUBE, RDLO2, REVEN, MBAY, 13HRS, NORMN, CARO