Johnny Depp used to be one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, as an international celebrity. But his latest films have flopped and his looking at a third if Mortdecai doesn’t pull off a miracle this weekend. The art heist comedy faces stiff competition, including American Sniper.
Sniper, which finished the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend with an astonishing $107.3 million, is looking to take the box office in its second weekend of wide release. So even if the Clint Eastwood-directed movie falls by 50 percent, it will still make over $50 million easily.
None of the three wide releases are expected to get anywhere near close to that. The one that has the best chance to finish in second place is The Boy Next Door, which stars Jennifer Lopez as a teacher who has a dangerous affair with a student. According to Box Office Mojo, the film will be screened at 2,602 locations, but could struggle to get past $15 million.
Mortdecai, which has already earned terrible reviews, is only expected to make around $10 million, notes The Hollywood Reporter. But even that seems like a high estimate for the movie.
It will be Depp’s third consecutive domestic flop, following The Lone Ranger (which made $89 million domestically) and Transcendence ($23 million). (It’s worth noting that he does appear in Into The Woods, which has made $116 million, but he hasn’t been the main selling point.)
Depp is still a big draw overseas, so the Lionsgate/OddLot Entertainment movie should still do well there, especially with its European setting. Indeed, those three flops did make money in foreign markets, with even Transcendence mustering $80 million.
The Disney-distributed Lucasfilm project Strange Magic is the third wide opening this weekend and is looking at one of the worst in history. It will be shown at over 3,000 locations and will have a problem drawing families away from Paddington, which was a hit last week. Anything over $5 million would be a shocker.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com