The cast is rounded out by the likes of Derek Jacobi as the King, Stellan Skarsgard, and Hayley Atwell as Cinderella’s mother. It’s a decent cast, but Blanchett and Carter are the only ones who have some sort of draw at the box office with their presence.
Disney was not the first studio to try to get audiences into theaters in March, but they did help strengthen the potential for the month when they released Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, starring Johnny Depp, in March of 2010, and it ended up setting a new record for the month with $116 million opening weekend on its way to $334.2 million and over a billion worldwide. Disney followed that up two years ago with James Franco starring as Oz The Great and Powerful, directed by Sam Raimi, which also opened in March to $79 million on its way to $235 million domestic and double that amount worldwide.
Not that having that level of star power matters much, because even without a name star or director, there’s little question the name “Cinderella” is as well known as Alice in Wonderland. That’s generally what’s going to sell the movie, because it’s such a well-known fairy tale that caters to young girls’ dreams of becoming a princess, which has stayed with many of them until adulthood.
The film’s premise will be a big selling point, but Branagh has also created a gorgeous film that will play up to women’s love of fashion and fancy dress clothing and the romanticism of being a period piece, all of which should make it the first choice for girls and women from 5 and up. It’s also coming off the success of the Disney musical Into the Woods, which played on the Cinderella premise as well as other fairy tales, showing that there’s still an audience for these stories.
If the movie didn’t have enough going for it to get women and girls into theaters, then Disney has hedged their bets by placing the animated short Frozen Fever in front of the movie, which as you might guess is a follow-up to their hit movie Frozen, which won two Oscars, Grammies and the adoration of little girls everywhere. So Disney was probably already going to make a ton of money from this movie, but that short should put it over the top since Frozen is like crack for little girls.
It seems like this could open huge this weekend, probably somewhere in the high $70 million range and maybe higher if it was something that starts to get more guys interested, being that there aren’t many other strong choices. It may take a little tumble next weekend as it loses some business to The Divergent Series: Insurgent, which also has a strong fanbase towards women, but it should pick up again after that and do decent enough business over the rest of March and April to get to $250 million or maybe even more.
The film opens with a prelude that explains how the young Ella ended up alone with her wicked stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and two step-sisters—hilarious comic performances by Holliday Grainger and Sophie McShera—the former who has married Ella’s father for his money. When he dies while on a trip, they’re left in a position where they have to fire the staff and they put Ella to work doing all the menial chores around their large house. During a chance encounter in the woods, Ella meets Prince Charming (Richard Madden) who becomes enthralled with her to the point where he holds a ball inviting all the eligible women in his kingdom with the sole purpose of seeing her again.
You probably know the rest by now, from how “Cinderella” is mistreated by her new family and left with no way to get to the ball until her Fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) turns up to wave her magic wand, turning a pumpkin and Ella’s farmland friends into transportation and creating the glass slippers that will play a large role in the film’s last act.
More than anything else, Lily James makes a wonderful Cinderella, always bright and cheerful even through the worst of what she faces, with a disposition that makes it easy to understand why Charming would fall for her. The romantic aspect of the story works surprisingly well due to James and Madden’s wonderful on-screen chemistry that makes their romance so credible within the more fantastical aspects of the fairy tale. While Blanchett and Bonham Carter are the clear ringers in their two key roles, the film doesn’t fully rely on them to maintain interest although it does sometimes hit a lull between the grand ball and the finale.
Not trying to reinvent a fine-tuned wheel like the Cinderella story ends up working in the film’s favor, particularly by maintaining the period setting which makes the film perfect for Branagh’s visual sensibilities between his Shakespeare films and Thor. Despite basically being the same story with all the same beats, Chris Weitz’s impeccable screenplay ably uses voice-over by Carter to tell the story as it creates a grand spectacle that deals with things like the class system without ever hitting the viewer over the head with any messages.
The CG used to bring Ella’s farmland creatures, including mice and a goose, to life is also quite transparent and organic, maintaining some degree of realism without losing the magic of being a fairy tale, the latter culminating in the entrance of Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, a sequence that will thrill those who love that part of the story.
The costumes by Sandy Powell are so sumptuous they immediately grab the eye even of someone like myself who has absolutely zero fashion sense (or interest), guaranteeing her a fourth Oscar. Add to that some of the most gorgeous production design from three-time Oscar winner Dante Ferreti and a glorious score by Patrick Doyle—neither who should make other plans on Oscar night—and you have a film that immediately pulls you into the world and keeps you invested.
Cinderella is such a beautiful film, Walt Disney himself would be proud of his namesake company for making it. It’s filled with the magic and romance and entertainment value of the films from his glory day and the type of film that helps expand people’s love of cinema and a theatrical experience that absolutely must be seen on the big screen.
(And yes, the animated short Frozen Fever that proceeds it is also fantastic, offering a fun new story and song that is just long enough to thrill fans of the earlier film without wearing out the characters’ welcome.)
Rating: 9 out of 10
Neeson’s coming off Taken 3, which opened solidly with $39.2 million, but then was quickly swallowed up by Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, so it only grossed $88 million domestically, considerably less than its predecessor. (Supposedly, it’s the last movie in the series so Neeson can move on to making Taken rip-offs like this one.) That series has pretty much given the Oscar-nominated actor a strong second act to his career, although he already had experience doing action from blockbusters like Star Wars: Episode I and Batman Begins. Neeson’s previous collaboration with Collet-Sera, last year’s Non-Stop, did decently with a $29 million opening and grossing $92.2 million domestically, which added to Neeson’s credibility as an action star with significant box office. In fact, he currently has a better track record than vets like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis and even Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even before that, Neeson had other non-“Taken” hits including Joe Carnahan’s The Grey ($51.6 million gross), but his appearance in last year’s A Walk Among the Tombstones didn’t fare nearly as well, ending up with half that amount.
Neeson doesn’t have to carry this one as he does have a worthy counterpart in Ed Harris, who offers more of a draw towards older audiences (and coincidentally, also plays a mob boss in the modern-day Shakespeare adaptation Cymbeline, released in select cities this weekend). The same can be said for the supporting cast that includes Vincent D’Onofrio, Nick Nolte, Genesis Rodriguez and recent Oscar winner Common, although this is still seen as a Liam Neeson movie first and foremost.
Without much competition for older male audiences, Run All Night should do fine this weekend, although it’s probably going to end up somewhere around the $12 and 15 million mark rather than the $20 million plus some of Neeson’s other movies have opened to. It may be able to push $40 million despite the release of another action-thriller next weekend in the form of Sean Penn’s The Gunman.
This weekend last year saw the latest video game-based action movie with Need for Speed (DreamWorks), starring Aaron Paul and Imogen Poots, but it failed to make much of a mark, opening in third place with $17.8 million in 3,115 theaters or $5,728 per site. It fared better than Tyler Perry’s Single Moms Club (Lionsgate), which took the dubious honor of being Perry’s lowest movie opening to date with just $8 million in 1,896… and Perry was never seen again. (At least, until he co-starred in David Fincher’s Gone Girl later that year.) Despite a weak opening, DreamWorks Animation’s Mr. Peabody & Sherman held its ground with a 32% drop to take the #1 spot away from 300: Rise of an Empire, which dropped 63% to second place with $19.2 million. Opening in 291 theaters was the follow-up to the popular television series Veronica Mars (Warner Bros.), starring Kristen Bell, Krysten Ritter and the rest of the original cast, bringing in just under $2 million ($6,832 per theater) to end up just outside the Top 10. The Top 10 grossed $98.6 million and the sure-thing that’s Cinderella should help this weekend kick that weekend’s butt.
This Week’s Predictions –
1. Cinderella (Disney) – $76.2 million N/A
2. Run All Night (Warner Bros.) – $14.3 million N/A
3. Chappie (Sony) – $6.9 million -48%
4. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) – $6 million -31%
5. Focus (Warner Bros.) – $5.5 million -47%
6. Kingsman: The Secret Service (20th Century Fox) – $5 million -40%
7. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (Paramount) – $3.8 million -43%
8. McFarland, USA (Disney) – $3.5 million -35%
9. The DUFF (CBS Films) – $3 million -38%
10. Fifty Shades of Grey (Universal) – $2.8 million -52%
Next Week:
It’s the sequel to Divergent aka The Divergent Series: Insurgent (Summit/Lionsgate), plus Sean Penn tries his own hand at being Liam Neeson with The Gunman (Open Road), the latest action-thriller from Taken director Pierre Morel.
This Week’s Must-Sees
That’s the only non-doc I’m recommending this week, but I have four docs worth checking out:
The Wrecking Crew (Magnolia Pictures)
Director: Denny Tedesco
Stars: Tommy Tedesco, Earl Palmer, Cher, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Nancy Sinatra, Hal Blaine, Don Randi, Herb Alpert, Roger McGuinn, Dick Clark, Glen Campbell
Of Note: The son of legendary L.A. session guitarist Tommy Tedesco looks back at “The Wrecking Crew,” a group of L.A. session musicians who played on some of the greatest hits of the ‘60s as well as some of the most memorable TV theme songs. What’s amazing is how none of the actual members of the Beach Boys, Monkees, The Byrds and other ’60s groups actually played on their records, but few people knew because the Wrecking Crew musicians were rarely if ever credited on the hundreds of records they played on. With unprecedented access to the living members and archival pictures of the musicians in the studio, fans of great music like Phil Spector’s famous “Wall of Sound” will definitely want to see this movie. Seven years after the movie premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, it opens in a handful of cities on Friday as well as on Demand.
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (HBO Pictures)
Director: Alex Gibney
Of Note: I haven’t yet seen Alex Gibney’s latest documentary, this one taking a scathing explorative look into the Church of Scientology. It gets a limited release at Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in New York as well as open in L.A. and San Francisco before its HBO premiere on Sunday, March 29.
SEYMOUR: AN INTRODUCTION (Sundance Selects)
Director: Ethan Hawke
Stars: Seymour Bernstein, Ethan Hawke
Of Note: Years ago, actor Ethan Hawke was dealing with stage fright which brought him to meeting former piano prodigy Seymour Bernstein who retired to concentrate on teaching. The film, which debuted during festival season, will open at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on Friday.
Champs (Amplify, Starz Digital Media)
Writer/Director: Bert Marcus
Stars: Mike Tyson, Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Ron Howard, Mary J. Blige, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Evander Holyfield, Bernard Hopkins
Of Note: Boxing fans should enjoy this new film by Bert Marcus which looks at how the likes of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins rose from out of poverty to acclaim as some of the greatest boxing legends. With commentary from Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington, 50 Cent, Ron Howard, Spike Lee and more, it opens in theaters and on VOD on Friday.
Other Limited Releases of Note:
3 Hearts (Cohen Media Group)
Writer/Director: Benoit Jacquot
Stars: Benoit Poelvoorde, Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Gainsbourg
Of Note: French filmmaker Benoit Jacquot returns with a romantic drama about a Parisian man (Poelvoorde) and Gainsbourgh’s Sylvie, a woman he has a chance encounter with on a train, but after a night spend wandering the city, they go their separate ways and he meets and marries Sophie (Chaira Mastroianni) who happens to be Sylvie’s sister, creating an insurmountable love triangle. After kicking off the “Rendezvous with French Cinema” film series at Lincoln Center last week, it opens in New York at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Los Angeles.
The Cobbler (RLJE/Image Entertainment)
Director: Tom McCarthy
Stars: Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Ellen Barkin, Dustin Hoffman, Method Man, Melonie Diaz, Yul Vazquez, Dan Stevens, Greta Lee
Of Note: The Station Agent and The Visitor director Tom McCarthy teams with Adam Sandler to tell the story of Max Simkin, a Lower East Side shoe repairer who discovers his stitching machine gives him the ability to literally “walk in the shoes” of their owner, allowing him to experience their lives as it changes his appearance to look like them. That’s all fine until Max gets mixed up in the shady dealings of a slumlord (Barkin) who wants to replace the old buildings in the neighborhood with high-rise condos.
I first saw this movie at the Toronto International Film Festival with an audience and while it does earn points for being set almost entirely in my neighborhood on the Lower East Side and dealing with some of the same things it’s facing in terms of investors changing the face of the area, it doesn’t feel like one of McCarthy’s better movies, more of a high concept idea that unwisely relies on Sandler to sell it. Even with the likes of Steve Buscemi, Dustin Hoffman and Ellen Barkin in the cast, it feels like they’re generally doing lesser work, which is disappointing, although it does have more of a mainstream feel than some of McCarthy’s other films, maybe because it’s more about the premise than the characters. The Cobbler opens in select cities and VOD on Friday.
Interview with Tom McCarthy (Coming Soon)
Treading Water (The Orchard)
Writer/Director: Analeine Cal y Mayor
Stars: Carrie-Anne Moss, Douglas Smith, Don McKellar, Ariadna Gil, Zoe Kravitz, Gonzalo Vega
Of Note: This odd coming-of-age story involves a boy named Mica (Douglas Smith) with a rare condition that “leaves him smelling like a fish” which leaves him feeling lonely until he meets Zoe Kravitz’s Laura who doesn’t notice that he smells like a fish. Also starring Carrie-Anne Moss, it opens in select cities and presumably on VOD as well.
Home Sweet Hell (Vertical Entertainment)
Director: Anthony Burns
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Katherine Heigl, Jordana Brewster, Kevin McKidd, A.J. Buckley, James Belushi
Of Note: Patrick Wilson plays businessman Don Champagne whose wife Mona (Heigl) discovers that he’s been cheating on her with a pretty salesgirl (Brewster) sending her on a mission to keep her perfect family life going by any means necessary, including murder.
Cymbeline (Lionsgate)
Writer/Director: Michael Almereyda
Stars: Dakota Johnson, Anton Yelchin, Ed Harris, Ethan Hawke, John Leguizamo, Milla Jovovich, Penn Badgley,
Of Note: A modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s play by Almereyda, who reunites with his Hamlet star Ethan Hawke, this one starring Fifty Shades of Grey’s Dakota Johnson as Imogen, the daughter of a New York drug kingpin (Ed Harris) whose relationship with Posthumus (Penn Badgley) is disrupted by a wager he makes with Hawke’s Iachimo that he can’t take the princess’ virginity, leading to all sorts of Shakesperean mistaken identities and such. It opens in select cities and on VOD Friday.
Eva (The Weinstein Company)
Director: Kike Maillo
Stars: Daniel Bruhl, Marta Etura, Alberto Ammann, Claudia Vega, Anne Canovas
Of Note: For those who can’t get enough robots after last week’s Chappie, here’s a new sci-fi film from Spain in which Daniel Bruhl (Rush) plays a cybernetic engineer who returns to his hometown of Santa Irene to create a child robot and ends up bonding with his amazing niece, Eva.
The Lovers (IFC Films)
Writer/Director: Roland Joffé
Stars: Josh Hartnett, Bipasha Basu, Tamsin Egerton, Alice Englert
Of Note: The new film from the filmmaker behind The Mission and The Killing Fields has Josh Hartnett playing multiple roles as a present-day marine archaeologist who ends up brain dead after a diving accident, which transports him to India 1778 where he’s transplanted into the body of a British captain on a dangerous mission who falls for a female warrior (Basu). Co-starring Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures) and Tamsin Egerton, it opens in select theaters following its VOD run.
Walter (eOne Films)
Director: Anna Mastro
Stars: Andrew West, William H. Macy, Virginia Madsen, Justin Kirk, Neve Campbell
Of Note: This comedy stars Andrew West as the title character, who works at a movie theater but thinks he’s the son of God and decides the fate of those that come to the theater until a ghost stuck in limbo (Kirk) thinks that maybe Walter can help him find his ultimate fate.
Muck (Anchor Bay Entertainment)
Writer/Director: Steve Wolsh
Stars: Kane Hodder, Lachlan Buchanan, Puja Mohindra, Bryce Draper, Stephanie Danielson, Laura Jacobs, Grant Alan Ouzts, Lauren Francesca, Jaclyn Swedberg
Of Note: After narrowly escaping an ancient burial ground, a group of friends find themselves trapped between two evils, forcing them to fight, die, or go back the way they came.
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Copyright 2015 Edward Douglas
