New Movies March 24: 'Power Rangers, 'CHiPs,' and 'Life'

Three new wide-release movies come to town this week and attempt to do business at the same theaters that are showing Beauty and the Beast. It's hard to say how much success they're going to have.

The biggest of the new movies is likely to be Power Rangers, a reboot of the campy sci-fi series that was at one time (the 1990s) a hit with kids. This isn't the first time that the Power Rangers have been in a feature film, and they've never drawn much of a crowd before. This time around, the franchise is counting on nostalgia, but there's probably only enough of that going around to earn the movie about $35 million for the weekend.

The second new wide release is Life, a sci-fi thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds. Most predictions have this one earning around $15 million, but the big names in the cast might draw audiences that aren't looking for family-focused entertainment.

The final new wide release is a raunchy parody reboot of CHiPs, the 70s TV series about California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers. It stars Michael Pena and Dax Shepard and was directed by Shepard. This one, too, is expected to earn in the vicinity of $15 million.

None of these movies is likely to come close to the second-weekend take of Beauty and the Beast. That behemoth took in $175 million last weekend, and even a drop off of close to 60 percent would still put it head and shoulders above any of the other contenders.