I had previously written about how if Ben Affleck’s “Air” wants to be an Oscar contender, not to mention its performances by Viola Davis and Matt Damon, it’ll have to make a decent amount of dough at the box-office.
Well, it’s had a decent start. Nothing more, nothing less. It’ll need some legs, though. The budget for this one is much higher than such a film should be.
The $90 million-costing “Air” grossed an estimated $14.47M this weekend (from 3,507 locations). Its estimated 5-day total domestic gross stands at $20.21M.
Positive word of mouth will hopefully carry it forward. Here we have an adult-oriented film that is making money. Hooray. Although, it did make 10x less at the box-office this weekend than “The Super Mario Bros Movie,” these are sharp numbers that far exceed many of last year’s Oscar contenders.
Call it the first actual Oscar movie of 2023, with great reviews, a modest hit. “Air” will wind up on Amazon Prime at some point, but people want to see it on the big screen.
Now that it’s out, let’s gauge some of our readers on what they thought about Affleck’s film. I’ve already reviewed it — predictable, well-made, well-acted, never dull. A commendable effort from Affleck, although nothing groundbreaking either. A “dad movie”!
It’s your turn.
The ‘Smile’ franchise has a new director. David Bruckner, who made “The Night House” and the 2022 “Hellraiser” reboot, has been hired to direct “Smile 3” for Paramount.