The Weekend Ticket is Will Smith’s High-Tech Thriller, or Your Favorite Peculiar Family in Animation

By: Keaton Marcus

Who will save you from yourself? From visionary director Ang Lee, watch the official trailer for Gemini Man, starring Will Smith. In theatres October 11. Gemini Man (#GeminiMan) is an innovative action-thriller starring Will Smith (#WillSmith) as Henry Brogan, an elite assassin, who is suddenly targeted and pursued by a mysterious young operative that seemingly can predict his every move.

IN THEATERS FRIDAY. Get Tickets Now - https://www.addamsfamily.movie/ Get ready to snap your fingers! The first family of Halloween, the Addams Family, is back on the big screen in the first animated comedy about the kookiest family on the block. Funny, outlandish, and completely iconic, the Addams Family redefines what it means to be a good neighbor.

While it doesn’t look like we have a massive weekend on our hands, it’s pleasing to break down the more moderate stuff, and it looks like an epic box office battle on a much smaller scale. On one side, Ang Lee presents a clone battle between the present Will Smith, and a much-younger version of the same actor in high-tech, big-budget thriller Gemini Man. On the other hand, directors Conrad Vernan and Greg Tiernan reboot The Addams Family, this time in animated form starring Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron. Sure, the films in financial combat don’t exactly have similar genres, or audiences in fact—and when that’s the case, it’s wholly the people’s mindset that will decide the winner. The odds are more on the family adventure to scare out a victory, but Smith’s fanbase is strong enough to at least spark competition.

Firstly we tackle Gemini Man, which attempts to wow audiences once more with its innovative use of special effects. Starring Will Smith and directed by critical darling Ang Lee, this 138 million production may not be confirmed for the trophy, especially since last weekend’s Joker is heading for another weekend on top—but it could make a play for runner-up, topping The Addams Family. Just two weeks ago, analysts were forecasting a 30M+ bout for October 11 to the 13th, however, its dipped a tad over the 14 days, with experts now predicting a more conservative 25M or so—which is still pretty decent, if not quite spectacular. It’s smart to consider how well Smith’s previous feature film did, which was Disney’s live-action reboot of Aladdin, where he portrayed a CGI’d genie. It ended grossing a massive 355.4M solely in North America, along with 694.9M in other territories for a worldwide total of 1.050 billion dollars. However, besides the largely poor reviews, we also have to consider that its completely lagging according to IMDb page-view tracking. We see it pacing behind Ender’s Game (27M opening), star Will Smith’s After Earth (27.5M), Alita: Battle Angel (28.5M) and Edge of Tomorrow with a 28.7M debut. It’s only then when we take in the reviews.

Looking at the critical reception, things don’t look so appealing, receiving an approval rating of just 29% “Rotten” on RottenTomatoes based on 155 reviews. This comes with a disappointing critics consensus reading: “Gemini Man’s impressive visuals are supported by some strong performances, but this sci-fi thriller is fatally undermined by a frustratingly subpar story.” All you have to know is that the reception isn’t that fantastic. On the bright side, before it was screened for the critics, social media thought the picture was excellent. Twitter users call it “a visually visceral experience”, “pretty amazing to watch”, “a huge breakthrough”, “a technical marvel” and “absolutely an Ang Lee movie”. This tells cinema-goers that its gonna be one of those productions where you either trust the critics, or the people. Listen, if you’re in the mood for a Bruckheimer produced, action-packed, no-brains type operation—by all means, go—but be warned: you may lose a cell or two in the head.

Critics-and-audiences are going head-to-head, some calling it a breakthrough of special effects, others saying it’s horrible—but the real question is: will Will Smith as the title character, or promising visuals be enough—or will it succumb to be one of those expensive flops that have populated the cinema since god knows when. While our wish is to say that its possible that Gemini Man could climb to 30M, considering the reception, we are forecasting more on the 20-25M side.

The other end of the ring holds something completely the opposite, an animated, kid-friendly reboot of The Addams Family. The reviews have hit the internet, and there is some impressive anticipation, so we should know what to expect. Most likely, we will be seeing this Halloween-season adventure in the second place slot. At first, experts were gunning for a lower expectation of 20M, currently, Wikipedia reports that analysts are buzzing about a possible 30M opening, which would principally be a clinch for runner-up. Furthermore, the 87-minute romp has a 400 theater lead over Gemini Man, officially set to play in approximately 4,007 sites across North America, against the 3,600 locations from the competition—this brings promise, but not quite enough. IMDb page-view tracking says that the film is respectably pacing ahead of 2017’s The Emoji Movie, which opened to 24.5M from a similar 4,075 theaters—it is far ahead of the likes of both Storks (21.3M opening) and The LEGO Ninjago Movie (20.4M opening). On a surprising side, it’s actually outpacing both Hotel Transylvania (42.5M) and Hotel Transylvania 2 (48.4M), but we also have to consider the negativity of the early reviews.

On review aggregator RottenTomatoes, last night, The Addams Family’s first reviews hit the website. To make it concise, things aren’t looking terrific for Conrad Vernan’s adaptation. With an approval rating falling short to 33% “Rotten” on the Tomatometer, based on 40 early reviews—this comes with a critics consensus reading: The Addams Family’s starry voice cast and eye-catching animation aren’t enough to outweigh its saccharine handling of the delightfully dark source material”. Ouch. With the two original films scoring 64%, and 75% respectively, it certainly is a bit of a disappointment. This proves that even with the classic animation style that was used in the original comics, and Charlize Theron thrown in the mix—you still don’t have much of a compatible film. The main doubts were against the mishandling of the source material, and how it played it way too safe, bringing color instead of angst. Some argue that the younger viewers will be entertained, and it sure is made for them, but nevertheless, the adults will be expecting some nostalgic fun as well, and most likely, they won’t find it with this remake.

The IMDb page-view tracking seems largely positive, with The Addams Family pacing ahead of two pictures that debuted with over 40 million—but considering the poor critical reactions, we don’t think it’s possible to travel that high. Instead, taking in the positive and negative sides, we think that while it won’t surprise us if this family adventure climbs to 35M, but we are looking at a more conservative 25-30M, meaning that we overall, expect it to travel notably higher than Will Smith’s Gemini Man, but from here on out, check for updates on Box Office Face Offs!!