Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (For Friday, September 14th)

Andrew: Hello readers! It's been a while since we've done our weekly preview, but now that our schedules are back to normal (or close to normal) we can get back to making sure we do one of these every week! That said, this particular weekend doesn't have a whole lot in regards to brand-spanking new films coming out. The only one that fits that bill is the fifth installment in the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil: Retribution. However, I'd argue that the biggest release this weekend is actually a 3D re-release of a very beloved Pixar film, wouldn't you agree Sarah?

Sarah: I would! Resident Evil definitely has it's fans, and it will make a lot of money from the people who have been so excited for it to come out, but Finding Nemo will definitely draw the crowds. There are also a lot of kids that never got to see this movie in the theatres, so this is a great chance to see such a beautiful movie on the big screen. I'm not usually a huge fan of the movies that are transitioned from 2D to 3D after the fact, but I actually think that Nemo will have a very easy transition. What do you think?

A: Well I have to state, first off, that Finding Nemo is in my top three as far as all the Pixar films go. It's only behind The Incredibles and Toy Story 3, so take that for what it's worth. Secondly, I agree with you that I'm usually skeptical of a film being post-converted into 3D but animated films like Finding Nemo are the exception.

Official Trailer for Finding Nemo 3D

That's because Pixar films are computer-generated so everything on the screen was actually rendered in 3D on a computer to start with. So it's not like they're going back and having to cut out every single thing frame by frame and post-convert it like they did for Beauty and the Beast. It's going look way more natural, like when we saw Madagascar 3 earlier this year.

S: Exactly, so I'm really excited for that. It was such a great movie to begin with and then to add the 3D was genius. It's set to bring in the big bucks once again for the Disney/Pixar family.

Now, I have only seen the first Resident Evil movie and wasn't super impressed. But I do know that these movies have such a cult following that it will be pretty popular.

A: I guess you could say there's a fan-base for the Resident Evil films. Where the fan-base is, I have no idea. But they keep making these movies and that's because of the money they make. Ready for my crazy awesome research skills?

The first Resident Evil film was made on a budget of $33 million, grossed $40.1 million in the United States and grossed $102.4 million worldwide; a tidy profit of $69 million.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse was made for $45 million, grossed $51.2 million in the United States and grossed $129.4 million worldwide for an even better profit $84.4 million.

Resident Evil: Extinction was made for the same $45 million, grossed a little less domestically at $50.6 but made more internationally for a worldwide total of $147.7; a profit of $102.7 million.

And here's where it gets insane to me - Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D was made for $60 million, only made $60.1 million in the United States, but ended up with a worldwide total of $296.2 million! Those international moviegoers must LOVE their 3D! So Screen Gems and the three studios that produced these films (Constantin Films, Davis Films and Impact Pictures - all of whom I've never heard of until now) made a profit of $236.2 million.

Official Trailer for Resident Evil: Retribution 3D

It's a no-brainer to keep making these films and to release them all in 3D now, no matter how cheesy they look. Will we be seeing RE: Retribution? Probably not. But apparently tons of people outside the U.S. will.

S: I definitely think Milla Jovovich is a primary reason that these movies draw such a large foreign following. She definitely has that foreign feel to her. Those numbers are staggering though! I honestly can’t believe the fourth one made that much, that’s ridiculous. I guess we’ll see how this one pans out in the box offices this weekend!

A: Well you also can never count out the mindless action of shooting up a bunch of zombies. There's definitely a market for that.

Ok, so those are really the only two films that are coming out in wide release this weekend, but we want to touch on one last film that's been in limited release (and still is) but is coming to our neck of the woods finally, and that's the R-rated comedy For a Good Time, Call...

It stars Ari Graynor (Celeste and Jesse Forever) and Lauren Miller as Katie and Lauren, two former enemies who become roommates through a mutual friend (Justin Long) and wind up teaming up together to build a successful phone sex line. It looks incredibly raunchy, very funny, and it's really the first leading roles for either lady so I'm interested to see how they handle it.

Official Trailer for For a Good Time, Call...

S: I am so excited for this movie! It's "chick flick" meets "raunchy comedy," what could be funnier!? I have a feeling this one is going to do very well in the theatres. I like Long as the quirky friend that brings the two together. He is a funny actor whom I haven’t seen in a lot of things but when I do it's as a leading role.

This will be only the second thing that we have seen Graynor in, and judging from Celeste and Jesse Forever, we are in for a real treat from her. Sprinkled with other comedic actors (Seth Rogen) I think it is safe to say that this is the only movie I am most looking forward to this weekend!

A: I'm excited to see it, too. The trailers for it, both the green-band and red-band, have been pretty hilarious (the former of which you can watch above). I just hope they haven't given away too many of the best parts. I haven't really read any reviews for it so I don't have any ideas just yet about how successful it will be, but I bet there will be an audience there because we've seen how R-rated comedies like Bridesmaids, The Hangover and Ted can be successful.

S: I would encourage us both to not read any reviews on it because this is one I want to go in with zero expectations for. I don't want a review to tell me, "Oh it was awful," or "Oh it was the funniest thing ever," because so many times those will skew expectations and then skew the movie itself. I want to go in fresh.

A: Fair enough! Okay readers, that's all for now. We have somewhat of a busy weekend so I can't quite promise that we'll get to see a movie this weekend, but we WILL be seeing For a Good Time, Call... at some point for sure and we'll probably get in for Finding Nemo 3D, too. So be on the lookout for those reviews! And as always, thanks for reading!