Long Range Forecast: ‘Rock Dog,’ ‘Get Out’

Note: when originally publishing this article, we mixed up our numbers for ‘Rock Dog’ and ‘Get Out.’ The table at bottom has since been corrected with our current predictions. Boxoffice Pro regrets the error.

The month of February will end with two new titles: Lionsgate’s animated Rock Dog and Universal’s horror Get Out. Will they “rock” the box office or “get out” of the top slots?

Rock Dog (Lionsgate)

PROS:

  • The animated film about an animal who wants to make it music — in this case as a rock star — is similar to December’s Sing and 2006’s Happy Feet. Both were box office successes, with $123.6 million and counting after only nine days to date for the former, and $198.0 million cumulative for the latter. (On the other hand, audiences could tire of the concept, especially a mere two months after Sing.)

CONS:

  • The film takes place in China and stars a Tibetan Mastiff dog, a Chinese breed. Financed in large part by Chinese production companies, the film was a box office bomb in that country after earning the U.S. equivalent of only $5.7 million. Can it do that much better in the U.S., especially facing competition from the animated expected smash The LEGO Batman Movie two weeks earlier?

Get Out (Universal)

PROS:

  • Blumhouse Productions is the producer behind this horror film, about a man who starts to suspect eerie goings-on at his girlfriend’s parents’ house when he visits there for the first time. The horror production company has had several decent horror hits in recent years on relatively low budgets, including the Paranormal Activity franchise, the Insidious trilogy, and 2015’s The Visit with $65.2 million.

CONS:

  • Jordan Peele, one half of modern legend comedy duo Key & Peele, couldn’t attract audiences as an actor with his April film Keanu, a box office dud with only $20.5 million. What are the odds he’ll be able to attract audiences behind the camera instead as a writer-director? Besides, February 2017 will be an incredibly busy month for horror at the box office, with Rings and an as-yet-untitled horror film on February 3, plus A Cure for Wellness and Patient Zero on February 17. Split, a late January release, could still potentially be making some money by late February if it holds on well.

Check out the official Boxoffice Pro long range forecast in the table below.

Title Wide Release Date Distributor Opening Weekend Cumulative
Rock Dog Fri, Feb 24 Lionsgate $3,000,000 $8,000,000
Get Out Fri, Feb 24 Universal  $20,000,000  $56,000,000
The Great Wall Fri, Feb 17 Universal $34,000,000* $68,000,000
Fist Fight Fri, Feb 17 Warner Bros. $25,000,000* $63,000,000
A Cure For Wellness Fri, Feb 17 Fox $13,500,000* $35,000,000
Patient Zero Fri, Feb 17 Sony / Columbia $8,500,000* $19,000,000
Fifty Shades Darker Fri, Feb 10 Universal $41,000,000 $83,000,000
The LEGO Batman Movie Fri, Feb 10 Warner Bros. $56,000,000 $210,000,000
John Wick: Chapter Two Fri, Feb 10 Lionsgate $20,000,000 $45,000,000
Rings Fri, Feb 3 Paramount $19,000,000 $45,000,000
The Space Between Us Fri, Feb 3 STX Entertainment $7,000,000 $20,000,000
Same Kind of Different as Me Fri, Feb 3 Paramount $4,500,000 $12,000,000
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Fri, Jan 27 Sony / Screen Gems $24,000,000 $52,000,000
A Dog’s Purpose Fri, Jan 27 Universal $16,000,000 $65,000,000
Bastards Fri, Jan 27 Warner Bros. $8,000,000 $22,000,000
Gold Fri, Jan 27 Weinstein Company $7,000,000 $22,000,000
xXx: The Return of Xander Gage Fri, Jan 20 Paramount $32,000,000 $72,000,000
Split Fri, Jan 20 Universal $16,000,000 $45,000,000
The Founder Fri, Jan 20 Weinstein $9,500,000 $39,000,000
The Resurrection of Gavin Stone Fri, Jan 20 High Top Releasing $1,400,000 $3,000,000
Live By Night Fri, Jan 13 Warner Bros. $15,000,000* $35,000,000
Patriots Day Fri, Jan 13 Lionsgate $23,500,000* $78,000,000
Sleepless Fri, Jan 13 Open Road Films $13,000,000* $42,000,000
Monster Trucks Fri, Jan 13 Paramount $12,000,000* $22,000,000
The Bye Bye Man Fri, Jan 13 STX Entertainment $8,000,000* $17,000,000
Underworld: Blood Wars Fri, Jan 6 Sony / Screen Gems $17,000,000 $42,000,000
Amityville: The Awakening Fri, Jan 6 Weinstein / Dimension $8,000,000 $17,000,000
Hidden Figures Fri, Jan 6 Fox $11,000,000 $43,000,000

*= 4-day weekend, Friday-Monday, referring to Martin Luther King Day in January or Presidents Day in February.

Shawn Robbins and Jesse Rifkin contributed to this report.