Trailer: Click to Play
Official Site: Movies.Sisney.com/Onward
Distributor: Walt Disney
Release Date: March 6th, 2020
MPAA Rating: PG for action/peril and some mild thematic elements.
Source: Original Screenplay
Genre: Adventure
Keywords: 3-D, 3-D - Shot in 3-D, IMAX: DMR, Road Trip, Young Child Dealing with the Death of a Parent, Family Bonding, Urban Fantasy
Directed By: Dan Scanlan
Written By: Dan Scanlon, C.S. Anderson, Jason Headley, Keith Bunin
Starring: Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Octavia Spencer, Lena Waithe, Ali Wong, Mel Rodriguez
Production Budget: Unknown - Estimated at $200 million
Box Office Potential: $195 million

I have made the, “And the Oscar goes to...” joke so many times when talking about Pixar films that it became a cliché a long time ago. I’ve done this because they’ve also won so many times that practically every film they make has to be seen as a potential Oscar winning movie. I don’t think that is the case this time around. Don’t get me wrong, the early reviews are very good, but they are not award-worthy. It should please its target audience of families and adult fans of animation and that’s important for the film’s box office chances. That said, its box office chances are weaker than average for Pixar and many think it will have the studio’s worst box office performance since Cars 3. Again, this would still be enough to break even early in its home market run, but it won’t be a $1 billion hit.

Trailer: Click to Play
Official Site: TheWayBackMovie.net
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Release Date: March 6th, 2020
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout including some sexual references.
Source: Original Screenplay
Genre: Drama
Keywords: Basketball, Inspirational Sports, Inspirational Coach, Addiction, Rehab / Former Addict, Redemption
Directed By: Gavin O’Connor
Written By: Brad Ingelsby
Starring: Ben Affleck
Production Budget: Unknown - Reported at $25 million
Box Office Potential: $40 million

Ben Affleck plays a former high school basketball star turned former alcoholic who gets a chance at redemption when he is asked to coach his old high school team. There are still no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which makes it hard to judge its box office potential. Usually, a lack of reviews this close to release date is a bad sign, but it is normal for a Warner Bros.’ release. I don’t like this strategy, but I can’t hold it against the film’s box office chances. On the other hand, the buzz is quiet, so I’m not bullish about its box office chances and I don’t think it will hit $50 million domestically. I do think it will come close, but it won’t quite get there.

Trailer: Click to Play
Official Site: Bloodshot.movie/
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, some suggestive material and language.
Source: Based on Comic/Graphic Novel
Genre: Action
Keywords: Super Soldiers, Death of a Spouse or Fiancée / Fiancé, Faulty Memory, Revenge
Directed By: Dave Wilson
Written By: Eric Heisserer, Jeff Wadlow, Kevin VanHook, Don Perlin, Bob Layton
Starring: Vin Diesel, Eiza González, Sam Heughan
Production Budget: Reported at $42 million
Box Office Potential: $45 million

This is the first in what the studio hoped would be a Valiant Comics shared cinematic universe. Behind-the-scenes business dealings now makes that very unlikely and this will likely be yet another aborted cinematic universe. Maybe if the movie turns out to be a surprise hit, it will still happen, but at the moment, even getting to $50 million doesn’t seem like a sure thing.

Trailer: Click to Play
Official Site: TheHunt.movie/
Distributor: Universal
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence, and language throughout.
Source: Based on Fiction Book/Short Story
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Keywords: Political, Satire, Humans as Prey, Delayed Release
Directed By: Craig Zobel
Written By: Damon Lindelof, Nick Cuse
Starring: Ike Barinholtz, Emma Roberts, Justin Hartley, Glenn Howerton, Betty Gilpin
Production Budget: Reported at $18 million
Box Office Potential: $20 million

This movie is about a group of elites who hunt regular folk for sport, but one of the regular folk fights back. … This movie got pushed back from last summer, because some real-life regular folk thought the elites were being portrayed as the good guys. That says a lot more about the people complaining than it does about the people who made this movie. Maybe this controversy will help the film at the box office, but I suspect it will struggle to find an audience in theaters and will, at best, become a cult classic.

Trailer: Click to Play
Official Site: IStillBelieveMovie.com/
Distributor: Lionsgate
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic material.
Source: Based on Real Life Events
Genre: Drama
Keywords: Christian Contemporary Music, Romance, Terminal Illness, Cancer, Death of a Spouse or Fiancée / Fiancé, Widow/Widower, College
Directed By: Jon Erwin, Andrew Erwin
Written By: Jon Erwin, Jon Gunn, Jeremy Camp
Starring: K.J. Apa, Britt Robertson
Production Budget: Unknown - Estimated at $10 million or less
Box Office Potential: $45 million

A biography of Jeremy Camp, who fell in love and married his first wife, despite knowing she had terminal cancer. The film is earning very little buzz, which would normally be a troubling sign. However, it is a faith-based film and its buzz is actually louder than most such films earn. I don’t think it will be a massive hit, but it has a real shot at $50 million domestically, which would be more than enough to guarantee a healthy profit.

Trailer: Click to Play
Official Site: MySpy.movie
Distributor: STX Entertainment
Release Date: March 13th, 2020
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for action/violence and language.
Source: Original Screenplay
Genre: Comedy
Keywords: C.I.A., Undercover, Shootout, Kid Spies, Delayed Release
Directed By: Peter Segal
Written By: Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber
Starring: Dave Bautista, Chloe Coleman
Production Budget: Unknown - Estimated at $20 million to $30 million
Box Office Potential: $35 million

This film was pushed back nearly a year, because the studio thought this film was too similar to Stuber, another action comedy starring Dave Bautista. That film earned mixed reviews and struggled in theaters. I fear this one will do the same. The early reviews are mostly positive, but unenthusiastically positive, so the film’s Tomatometer Score could tank really quickly. Additionally, the film has already opened internationally and if it does as well here as it did in Australia, then it will manage about $30 million domestically. I think it will top that figure, but not by much.

Trailer: Click to Play
Official Site: AQuietPlaceMovie.com/
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: March 20th, 2020
MPAA Rating:
Source: Original Screenplay
Genre: Horror
Keywords: Directing Yourself, Near Future, 2020s, Deaf, Sign Language, Limited Dialogue, Family Affair, Psychological Horror, Relatives Playing Relatives, Isolation Horror, Alien Invasion, Intertitle, Prologue, Motion Capture Performance
Directed By: John Krasinski
Written By: John Krasinski
Starring: Emily Blunt
Production Budget: Reported at $17 million
Box Office Potential: $175 million

A Quiet Place was expected to be a major hit; our initial prediction was $85 million on a $17 million budget. The film destroyed that figure earning $188 million domestically and over $300 million worldwide. A sequel was inevitable. I think this film will open faster, but have shorter legs, as this is the case with most sequels. This will happen, even if its reviews match the first film’s reviews and I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think the film will still earn great reviews, but its Tomatometer Score will likely be in the 80s and not the 90s.

Trailer: Click to Play
Official Site: Movies.Disney.com/Mulan-2020
Distributor: Walt Disney
Release Date: March 27th, 2020
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence.
Source: Remake
Genre: Adventure
Keywords: IMAX: DMR, Live Action Cartoon, Ancient China, War, Cross-Dressing, Romance, Witches, Shapeshifter, Young Child Dealing with the Death of a Parent, Revenge
Directed By: Niki Caro
Written By: Elizabeth Martin, Lauren Hynek, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
Starring: Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, Gong Li, Jason Scott Lee, Jet Li, Yoson An
Production Budget: Reported at $200 million
Box Office Potential: $225 million

This is the latest live-action Disney remake and frankly there have been too many of them, at least that’s my opinion. Both The Lion King and Aladdin earned $1 billion last year, so there’s clearly still a market for these films. On the other hand, Dumbo and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil earned well under $1 billion combined, so there are some misses in this category as well. I think this film will finish on the lower end of the scale, but still do well enough to earn a healthy profit.

On a side note, I don’t want to hear any talk of boycotting the movie over Liu Yifei twitter activity. “But she supported police violence in Hong Kong!” We have no idea what she thought about the Hong Kong protests, because Chinese celebrities rarely control their social media accounts, and this is doubly true for young female celebrities. When you factor in what happened to Fan Bingbing, it wouldn’t be safe for her to publicly support any protest, because her small amount of fame won’t protect her from repercussions.