'Smurfs' is an Underdog Against 'Boss Baby'
by EG
It’s shaping up to be a quiet weekend at the multiplexes. “The Fate of the Furious” is still revving up its engines, gearing up for what’s expected to be a massive opening when it roars onto screens on April 14, 2017. That leaves a trio of smaller new releases looking to make a mark before Vin Diesel and company blot out everything within the general vicinity of a movie theater. The latest “Fast & Furious” will have no trouble topping $100 million in its first weekend of release.
“This is the calm before the storm,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore.
“Smurfs: The Lost Village” is shaping up to be the strongest performer among the newcomers with a debut of between $15 million to $16 million. The family film is an attempt by Sony to reinvigorate a franchise that deflated. After starting strong with 2011’s “The Smurfs” ($563.7 million globally), the series veered off track with 2013’s “The Smurfs 2,” which made $347.5 million worldwide on a $105 million budget.
Read the rest of this article at Variety.