Originally posted Monday, November 11, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
"Dr. Sleep," a sequel to the seminal horror film "The Shining," flickered badly at the box office this past weekend, not even hitting $15 million. It was shot in Georgia a year ago and stars Ewan McGregor.
Studio expectations and prognosticators had the movie opening in the mid-$20 million range.
This under-performance happened following passable reviews and a relatively so-so B+ CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences. It is unlikely to make money for the film studio.
Dan Torrance (McGregor), who was a child in the original Jack Nicholson film, is now an adult who meets a young girl with similar powers as him. He tries to protect her from a cult seeing immortality by cultivating this particular power.
The World War II flick “Midway” was No. 1 with an estimated $17.5 miliion but the $100 million budget means it will be a challenge to make money unless international audiences take to it.
John Cena's "Playing With Fire" ($12.8 million) and the rom-com "Last Christmas" ($11.6 million) both did modest business. (Audiences really disliked "Last Christmas," giving it an average of B-minus on CinemaScore which is horrendous for that service.)