New Movies March 11: Monsters, the Messiah and Sacha Baron Cohen
by EG
Last week, Zootopia took firm control of the box-office race, knocking Deadpool from the top spot and easily conquering the other new releases. This week, the animated Disney film faces one potentially tough challenger and couple of other new releases that could shake up the top five.
The most anticipated new wide release is 10 Cloverfield Lane, a thriller starring John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. It's a sequel to 2008's Cloverfield essentially in name only; the new film is more of a subtle psychological thriller than an all-out monster movie like its predecessor. Good reviews could forecast a strong opening, but fans of Cloverfield may be disappointed at 10 Cloverfield Lane's relatively slow pace. In any case, it's unlikely that 10 Cloverfield Lane will be able to overtake Zootopia.
The next new wide release is The Brothers Grimsby, a comedy from Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen. This one isn't getting especially good reviews, and Cohen's star has fallen considerably from the Borat days, so The Brothers Grimsby will have to work hard even to make the top five.
The week's final new wide release is The Young Messiah, a biblical historical drama about the early life of Jesus Christ. This will likely be the go-to choice for the faith-based audience, but it, too, will need some luck to break into the top five.