New Movies Nov. 22-24: 'Catching Fire' Set to Ignite
by EG
The holiday movie season officially kicks off this weekend, and two new wide releases are ready to get the holiday ball rolling. One of them is a heart-warming comedy, and the other is a big-budget franchise sequel that will, without doubt, dominate the box office from the minute it opens.
The inevitable winner this weekend is, of course, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," the sequel to last year's "The Hunger Games." Since the first film's debut, the franchise's star, Jennifer Lawrence, has become Hollywood's darling, winning an Oscar for "Silver Linings Playbook" and scoring countless positive headlines. Expectations for "Catching Fire" are much higher than they were even for the highly anticipated first film, and no one will be surprised if "Catching Fire" grosses more than $150 million in its opening weekend.
The other new wide release this week is "Delivery Man," a comedy starring Vince Vaughn as a sperm donor who inadvertently fathers more than 500 children. The movie is a remake of director Ken Scott's own 2011 French-language film "Starbuck," and it's a vehicle for Vaughn to play a not-so-nice guy who learns how to love. Critics have not been kind to the film (29% positive on Rotten Tomatoes).
Aside from "Delivery Man," hold-overs "Thor: The Dark World" and "The Best Man Holiday" will attempt to sell some of the few tickets that don't go to "Catching Fire."