This May represents a cautious ramp-up to the summer season of thebig ticket movies. There are only seven nationwide releases scheduledfor the month, with a lot of others coming out in limited release, testingthe waters to see if a wider roll-out will be forthcoming. Of course, oneof the major movies of the season was discussed in our April blog –‘Avengers: Infinity War’ has the massive super-hero movie marketexcited. But what May lacks in sheer quantity of releases, a couple ofthem definitely have the potential for high-quality box-office success.As is our practice each month in this blog, Steven James will provideyou the details!
The first offering of the month on May 4th is a remake of the 1987 rom-com ‘Overboard.’ The new film will have some role reversals from theoriginal that starred Kurt Russell and wife Goldie Hawn. The 2018version stars Eugenio Derbez and Anna Faris. Derbez is ‘Leonardo,’ aself-centered, rich womanizer, but after going overboard (literally) fromhis yacht, he wakes up with amnesia. Faris as ‘Kate’ seizes theopportunity to turn the tables on her former employer who had treatedher poorly. Of course, the strange thing about memory loss (especiallyin the movies!) is that you’re never quite sure when it might return,providing for good suspense.
On May 11th , another comedy hits the screens in ‘Life Of The Party,’starring Melissa McCarthy, Gillian Jacobs, and Maya Rudolph. WhenMcCarthy’s no-good husband deserts her, she uses the opportunity toreturn to college and pursue dreams that have been left on theroadside of her past. The twist is that she lands in the same collegewhere her daughter is enrolled! Does anybody remember RodneyDangerfield in the classic ‘Back To School’? Before you know it,McCarthy’s character – named Deanna – is known around campus asDee-Rock. The other students love her…except perhaps one…
‘Breaking In’ is the other release this week. It stars Gabrielle Union as amother whose two kids have been taken hostage inside a house thatwas specifically built with super-security systems and designs to thwartintruders. But if hell hath no fury like that of a scorned woman, it alsohas no house that will keep out a mother trying to save her cubs!
May 18th brings the drop of one of the summer big boys – in this case, akind of bad boy. It’s ‘Deadpool 2’ with Ryan Reynolds returning in thesequel to the R-rated superhero smash hit of 2016. Zazie Beetz andJosh Brolin co-star. Reynolds as Wade Wilson is battling ninjas, yakuza,sex-starved dogs (hey, it’s Deadpool!) and other craziness in thisinstallment of the series. It is not for the very young or the verysensitive, of this you can be certain, but it will be hilariouslyentertaining if it follows up on the achievement of its predecessor.
The second coast-to-coast opening this weekend is a comedy-dramaexploring that favorite gathering of bibliophiles: ‘Book Club.’ And thebook that these four aging women who have been friends for life arereading? 50 Shades of Gray. The steamy novel inspires the four –played by Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen, and CandaceBergen – to take some hilarious new chances regarding their love lives.One of them is widowed, one a confirmed bachelorette, one divorced,and one in a dead-end marriage – but they all have each other forsupport as they blaze some new trails late in life.
The third feature release this weekend is ‘Show Dogs,’ a live-action filmthat employs voice talent for its canine characters. The human FBIpartner of the main dog Max (voiced by Ludacris) is Will Arnett, whomust investigate the kidnapping of a baby panda by a ring of notoriousanimal trainers. Macho Max has to become a prim and proper showdog to go undercover and help crack the case. Natasha Lyonne co-stars.
