The first full weekend of 2017 starts off with two new releases. Sony and Screen Gems premiere the science-fiction action sequel Underworld: Blood Wars, while Weinstein / Dimension open their horror sequel Amityville: The Awakening. Will these films start 2017 on a high note? And will either be able to surpass the top films of mid-to-late December, including the new Star Wars spinoff Rogue One, the animated Sing, or the Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt movie Passengers?
Underworld: Blood Wars (Sony / Screen Gems)
PROS:
- This is the fifth installment in the Underworld franchise. Installments #2 to #4 have all opened in January and been successful at the box office, especially considering the middling grosses that typically define the month. Evolution made $62.3 million in January 2006, Rise of the Lycans earned $45.8 million in January 2009, and Awakening took $62.3 million in January 2012. Blood Wars hopes to continue that trend.
CONS:
- The two most recent Underworld installments were also the two lowest-grossing ones, adjusted for inflation, indicating that the franchise might be losing steam among audiences. (That being said, both of those films still did well enough to greenlight sequels.)
- Several other sci-fi or action films from December will still be competing for audience eyeballs by the first weekend of January: Star Wars spinoff Rogue One, the Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt vehicle Passengers, and The Space Between Us.
Amityville: The Awakening (Weinstein / Dimension)
PROS:
- This continues the iconic Amityville franchise, which originated in 1979 and takes place in a haunted house in Amityville, New York. The most recent installment was the 2005 remake The Amityville Horror, which started with $23.5 million en route to $65.2 million total. If Awakening can match that sum, that would be impressive, especially for a January release.
CONS:
- Awakening was originally scheduled for release all the way back in January 2015, with the title having now been delayed for a full two years. That’s almost never a good sign. In fact, the main trailer has now been on YouTube since August 2014, a stunningly long amount of time. Building buzz early is usually good, but that does not appear to be what’s happening here.
Check out the official Boxoffice Pro long range forecast in the table below. Shawn Robbins and Jesse Rifkin contributed to this report.
| Title | Wide Release Date | Distributor | Opening Weekend | Cumulative |
| Amityville: The Awakening | Fri, Jan 6 | Weinstein / Dimension | $8,000,000 | $17,000,000 |
| Underworld: Blood Wars | Fri, Jan 6 | Sony / Screen Gems | $17,000,000 | $42,000,000 |
| Why Him? | Fri, Dec 23 | Fox | $11,000,000 | $54,000,000 |
| Passengers | Wed, Dec 21 | Sony / Columbia | $38,000,000* | $177,000,000 |
| Sing | Wed, Dec 21 | Universal | $24,000,000* | $115,000,000 |
| Assassin’s Creed | Wed, Dec 21 | Fox | $13,000,000* | $56,000,000 |
| Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | Fri, Dec 16 | Disney | $135,000,000 | $405,000,000 |
| Collateral Beauty | Fri, Dec 16 | Warner Bros. | $13,000,000 | $75,000,000 |
| The Space Between Us | Fri, Dec 16 | STX Entertainment | $8,000,000 | $45,000,000 |
| Office Christmas Party | Fri, Dec 9 | Paramount | $17,000,000 | $70,000,000 |
| Miss Sloane | Fri, Dec 9 | EuropaCorp | $8,000,000 | $26,000,000 |
| Incarnate | Fri, Dec 2 | High Top Releasing | $4,500,000 | $9,000,000 |
| Moana | Wed, Nov 23 | Disney | $65,000,000* | $285,000,000 |
| Allied | Wed, Nov 23 | Paramount | $14,000,000* | $68,000,000 |
| Bad Santa 2 | Wed, Nov 23 | Broad Green Pictures | $10,000,000* | $34,000,000 |
| Rules Don’t Apply | Wed, Nov 23 | Fox | $5,000,000* | $19,000,000 |
| Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | Fri, Nov 18 | Warner Bros. | $78,000,000 | $210,000,000 |
| The Edge of Seventeen | Fri, Nov 18 | STX Entertainment | $13,000,000 | $58,000,000 |
| Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk | Fri, Nov 18 | Sony / TriStar | $12,000,000 | $50,000,000 |
| Bleed For This | Fri, Nov 18 | Open Road Films | $5,500,000 | $15,000,000 |
* = 3-day weekend (Friday through Sunday)
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