Monday Morning Mixer: Box office is kidnapped by 'Prisoners'

Posted Monday, September 23, 2013 at 11:11 AM Central

by John Couture

Ah, the sweet smells of late September. The leaves are beginning to change and there's almost a sweet smell as we all try and deny the inevitable. Death is on its way in the form of winter and snow.

And yet, we're not quite dead yet and the next couple of months is testament to that. However, because we are so determined to prove that we will not simply roll over and let the long slumber take us so easily, we try and soak up every last moment in the sun. So, given that, the box office numbers are always a bit of a crap shoot until November.

If the weather is nice and/or there are compelling football games on TV, then the theaters suffer. However, if it's rainy and a boring set of games, the megaplexes bust at the seems with visitors. This weekend delivered on the good weather, but failed to have even a single compelling football matchup, so it shouldn't really surprise anyone that the box office results too were a mixed bag.

Box Office 411

There were two new releases this weekend and while one went to the head of the class, the other, thankfully, tripped and failed to register with audiences. Not surprisingly, the Hugh Jackman/Jake Gyllenhaal starring Prisoners ascended to the top spot with $21.4 million.

The thriller set against the backdrop of two little girls being kidnapped while the father and cop race against time and each other to find them before it's too late is doing well with critics too. Certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, the trailers really seemed to give away the entire plot, but the critics are telling me otherwise.

Given the volatility of the box office, it's hard to prognosticate just how much Prisoners will earn when its run is over. The subject matter is rather bleak, but word of mouth has apparently been extremely positive. I would put the range between $60 and $90 million. I know that's a rather large range, but I truly see it sputtering out around $80 million or so.

The other new entry this week was the much-maligned dance movie Battle of the Year. Needless to say, but with an opening weekend of just $5 million, I think it's safe to say that the film failed to live up its name.

Personally, I've never been a big fan of the "dance movie" genre, so I won't really shed a tear if this film ends up killing off the genre altogether. Battle of the Year is going to struggle to make it $25 million. I think it ends up with $17 million when it's all said and done.

Quick Hitters

This weekend really boiled down to two words when it was all said and done: The Emmys. Those playful little awards for TV shows that really no one knows anything about except that they have the best host on the planet (NPH) and weird cable shows that no one has ever heard of always win.

I could bore you with all the details, but if you want a list of winners click on that link and if you want a more pop culture savvy rundown of the high/low points, click here.

The award that I will point out is The Voice's win for Best Reality Show. It was just the second time since the award was established a decade ago that The Amazing Race did not take home the Emmy. Given that hockey player brothers won the latest installment, I'm outraged. Well, I'm mildly bothered, so that says something.

Finally today (I said it was a slow weekend), IGN created this nifty video that gives comic noobs a little back story to Ultron. If you're asking who is Ultron, then this video is for you.

Considering that The Avengers 2 is now called Avengers: Age of Ultron, you may want to brush up on your Ultron knowledge before 2015.

Have a great week and if I don't see ya until then, Mix Well!