Box Office: Matt Damon’s ‘Great Wall’ to Get Bulldozed by ‘Lego Batman’
“The Lego Batman Movie” will once again try to fend off “Fifty Shades Darker” as the animated spinoff works to retain its box office crown over the Presidents Day weekend holiday. The two films should make quick work of a group of newcomers — “Fist Fight,” “The Great Wall,” and “A Cure for Wellness” — that lack the firepower to pull off a coup.
Of these, “Fist Fight,” a comedy with Ice Cube and Charlie Day as feuding teachers, should be the most profitable. The New Line comedy is expected to debut to roughly $17 million over the four-day period, a solid result given its $22 million budget. The studio is being a bit more conservative, projecting an opening of approximately $15 million across 3,200 locations.
Universal and Legendary’s “The Great Wall,” an elaborate action-adventure with Matt Damon and some monsters incongruously popping up in the midst of China’s Song Dynasty, has already grossed a hefty $171 million in the Middle Kingdom. North American audiences seem less enthused about spending the annual celebration of Lincoln and Washington’s birthdays watching Damon play China’s great white hope. “The Great Wall” should open to roughly $17 million from 3,200 locations, a lackluster result considering its $150 million production budget. It will also roll out in 21 additional markets, including Australia, Korea, Russia, and the U.K., which could help bolster revenues.
That leaves Fox’s “A Cure for Wellness” staring at a disappointing $6 million to $8 million when it bows across 2,703 locations. The horror film centers on a young executive (Dane DeHaan) whose trip to retrieve the company’s CEO from a shadowy spa in the Swiss Alps doesn’t end with a deep tissue massage. There, the treatments being administered are far more dangerous than even the most aggressive facial peel. New Regency produced the film with Gore Verbinski, of “Pirates of the Caribbean” fame and “The Lone Ranger” infamy, directing. “A Cure for Wellness” did manage to make headlines this week after reports surfaced that it had partnered with “fake news” providers to post dubious stories such as a fake meeting between President Donald Trump and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, at a resort, which made passing references to the film. The provocative ads do not appear to have bolstered interest in the film.
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