Fall Box Office Preview
Focus Features
Commonly dubbed “Oscar Season”, September through late November typically features some of the year’s best films in terms of craftsmanship. It’s hard to tell just yet what projects will be commercially successful, but here’s a list of a few independent and mid-budget projects which may or may not make a splash at the box office.
SEPTEMBER
HUSTLERS (Sept. 20) Set at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, Hustlers follows a group of former strip club employees who band together and hustle some of their former Wall Street clientele. The all-female cast stars Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Lizzo, Keke-Palmer, Julia Stiles and Cardi B. Hustler’s is also projected to have a $20 million opening weekend.
CORPORATE ANIMALS (Sept. 20th) Based on its trailer, Corporate Animals, looks like a fun, comedy-horror film which isn’t going to take itself seriously at all. Apart from Demi More and Ed Helms, the film doesn’t feature any big notable actors. The Sundance project most likely will fly underneath a lot of filmgoers radars, especially due to the release of some highly anticipated films hitting theaters from mid-September to early October.
OCTOBER
LITTLE MONSTERS (Oct. 8) Little Monsters is a reboot of the 1989 cult classic of the same name. The film stars Lupita Nyong’o as Miss Caroline, a failed music teacher who tries to protect her young students in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Nyongo’s film isn’t expected to gain huge returns as it opening to a limited release on Oct. 8 and quickly pivoting to Hulu shortly afterwards on Oct 11. It will also see a theatrical release in the U.K. on Nov. 15.
GEMINI MAN (Oct. 11) Apart from a few hits and misses throughout his career, most films starring Will Smith fare quite well at the box office. His latest film Gemini Man might have modest box office returns, but chances are it will struggle against DC’s Joker which is projected to have a huge opening one week prior.
NOVEMBER
WAVES, HARRIET (Both Releasing Nov. 1) Writer/Director Trey Edward Shults (It Comes At Night and Krisha) returns to A24 once again with his latest film Waves. Releasing on the same day as Waves is Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet Tubman biopic titled Harriet — playing Tubman is Nigerian-British actress Cynthia Ervio (Bad Times at the El Royale). Both Waves and Harriet, aren’t expected to make huge returns at the Box Office but just might gain some award buzz.
21 Bridges (Nov. 21) 21 Bridges follows a determined NYPD detective (Chadwick Boseman) in a citywide manhunt for two cop killers. Despite being a lead star in 3 of Marvel's most lucrative films (Civil War, Black Panther and Endgame), Boseman’s name might not be enough to pull in ticket sales throughout its theatrical run as it releases on the same day as the Fred Rogers biopic, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and will open the same weekend as Disney’s Frozen 2.
Queen & Slim (Nov. 27) After Slim shoots and kills a police officer while on a first date with Queen, the two flee the scene and try to outrun the law. The film is penned by Lena Waithe (Master of None) and stars Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Black Panther) and Jodie Tg ucxklc oiucxurner-Smith (The Neon Demon). Waithe’s film is set to release on the same day as Knives Out, a film from Looper and Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson.