Those mixed reviews must have really hurt “Doctor Sleep” at the box-office.
The sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” failed to muster up enough excitement on its opening day, racking up only $6.6 million. The 2 and a half hour runtime may have also played a part in dissuading audiences to go see it, but word-of-mouth, which hasn’t been very good, no doubt played a crucial role in its failure to attract moviegoers. The R-rated movie, which has a budget of $50 million, was supposed to finish first at the box-office this weekend.
That may not happen because …
The even bigger story this weekend is turning out to be Roland Emmerich’s “Midway,” which exceeded expectations and is set to make almost $20 million by Sunday night. It’s already nabbed close to $8 million so far, all this despite poor reviews and barely any marketing to its name.
The WWII movie's solid numbers will no doubt turn some heads in Hollywood, especially since “Midway” is not associated with any franchises whatsoever and is actually an original screenplay. This sends a message to studio execs about the growing need for more adult-oriented movies in theaters. As we’ve seen from the pitiful summer at the box-office, franchise-fatigue has no doubt descended upon the industry and a different mindset, in terms of which projects to greenlight should, may be needed in the years to come.
Is “The Exorcist” truly the greatest horror film ever made, or has time crowned a new champion of fear? Maybe it’s “The Shining,” ‘Texas Chainsaw,’ “Psycho,” or something entirely unexpected that still keeps you up at night.