'Christopher Robin' to Battle for Weekend Supremacy
by EG
Family film Christopher Robin will do its best to win the weekend this week, but it will face stiff competition from Mission: Impossible - Fallout. The race should be close, and we might not know the winner until Monday morning. Read on for more predictions.
Disney's late-summer family film Christopher Robin — inspired by the classic children's tale Winnie-the-Pooh — is expected to make the most honey among the new releases unfurling at the weekend box office, with a domestic debut in the high $20 million-$30 million range.
The film's biggest competition will be Paramount holdover Mission: Impossible — Fallout, which debuted to a strong $61.2 million last weekend. If the Tom Cruise pic falls 50 percent or less in its sophomore outing, it could best Christopher Robin.
Disney's live-action/CGI movie, directed by Marc Forster, stars Ewan McGregor as an overworked and stressed-out adult Christopher Robin, who has lost touch with his imagination. All that changes when his childhood friends — Winne-the-Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger and the rest of the gang — magically emerge from the Hundred Acre Wood.
Disney has a long history with the classic characters created by British author A.A. Milne and illustrator E.H. Shepard, beginning with the 1966 animated short Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. That was followed by other shorts, several features and numerous direct-to-DVD titles.
Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael and Mark Gatiss star opposite McGregor, while the voice cast includes Jim Cummings, Brad Garrett, Toby Jones, Nick Mohammed, Peter Capaldi and Sophie Okonedo.
Overseas, Christopher Robin will bow in a handful of markets, including Russia and Mexico.
Several other films are also set to open nationwide, including Lionsgate and Imagine Entertainment's The Spy Who Dumped Me. Directed by Susanna Fogel, the R-rated action-comedy starring Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon is tracking to debut in the low- to mid-teen millions. (The spy genre continues to be challenging at the box office.) The story follows two friends who become entangled in an international conspiracy when one of the women discovers that her ex-boyfriend is a spy. Justin Theroux, Gillian Anderson, Hasan Minhaj, Ivanna Sakhno and Sam Heughan co-star.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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