Kevin Hart Might Get Beaten by a Dog This Weekend
by EG
The weekend's two biggest new movie releases, Kevin Hart's The Upside and A Dog's Way Home, will be in a tight race, and that race might be for second place as Aquaman continues to show strength in its third weekend. Read on for more predictions.
On the heels of the will-he, won't-he host the Oscars imbroglio, Kevin Hart returns to theaters this weekend in The Upside.
The dramedy, also starring Bryan Cranston, goes up against fellow new offerings A Dog's Way Home and the sci-fi thriller Replicas, starring Keanu Reeves. None of the three films are likely to unseat ruling champ Aquaman, which will swim past the $1 billion mark in global ticket sales sometime on Saturday or Sunday.
The Upside and the family-friendly A Dog's Way Home, the first PG release of 2019, are each tracking to open in the $9 million-$12 million range. Replicas is projected to earn an unimpressive $4 million-$5 million.
From STXfilms and Lantern Entertainment, The Upside hits theaters after a long delay. The movie, about a quadriplegic billionaire who hires an ex-con to care for him, staged its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival but was shelved weeks later following the demise of Harvey Weinstein. The film is a remake of the 2011 French film The Intouchables, which was a huge global hit and became a cultural phenomenon in its native country.
STX picked up distribution rights from Lantern, which bought the assets of The Weinstein Co. Nicole Kidman also stars in the Neil Burger-directed film.
A Dog's Way Home is based on the book by W. Bruce Cameron, who also authored A Dog's Purpose, which spawned the Amblin and Universal film of the same name in 2017 (that film was mired in controversy when a video of a distressed dog on set surfaced).
The new canine-friendly film cost a reported $18 million to produce, while The Upside cost in the low- to mid-$30 million range.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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