Weekend Forecast: ‘Cars 3,’ ‘All Eyez on Me,’ ‘Rough Night,’ & ’47 Meters Down’ Take on Reigning ‘Wonder Woman’

This weekend brings a handful of newcomers to the market as June continues to roll on. Our analysis and forecast:

Cars 3
Disney / Pixar

PROS:

• The Cars franchise remains a fairly popular attraction, particularly among its target young male audience.
• Although Captain Underpants opened to healthy numbers two weeks ago, this is effectively the first “marquee” animated release of summer — mainly thanks to Pixar’s branding, which remains a strong attraction for families.
• Social media activity is relatively healthy, particularly on Facebook with the franchise’s 16.6 million+ fans.

CONS:

• The 2011 sequel Cars 2 is one of Pixar’s very few films to generate less than strong word of mouth. That, plus the six-year gap, will likely result in some franchise fatigue for this one.
• Reviews, while mostly positive, stand at a modest 66 percent on Rotten Tomatoes thus far. That’s below typical Pixar benchmarks, which could have some families opting to wait for Despicable Me 3 at the end of the month.

All Eyez On Me
Lionsgate / Summit

PROS:

• Tupac Shakur remains an iconic figure in the world of hip hop two decades after his death. Fans are definitely interested in this biopic.
• Twitter activity is very positive, coming in ahead of the trends of films like Get On Up.

CONS:

• With no reviews available at this time, it’s difficult to gauge the potential reception by audiences. In turn, this may or may not end up much more front-loaded than the likes of Straight Outta Compton.
• Facebook growth is healthy overall, but trailing the numbers of Get On Up.

Rough Night
Sony / Columbia

PROS:

• The ensemble cast led by Scarlett Johansson and Kate McKinnon’s star power should be of significant help in appealing to female audiences, particularly for “girls night out” events.
• The lack of breakout R-rated comedies so far this summer leaves open space in the market for this one.
• Social media is noticeably healthier than Snatched up to this point.

CONS:

• Reviews are heading south, unfortunately, as it stands at 48 percent as of this writing.
• Competition for female audiences may be somewhat challenging still as Wonder Woman continues to attract crowds thanks to its stellar word of mouth.

47 Meters Down
Entertainment Studios

PROS:

• The PG-13 rating could help attract teen audiences in the mood for a thriller.
• Social media buzz has grown in recent days, indicating some potential upside.

CONS:

• Coming from a new distributor, market reach is a major concern as awareness for the title isn’t particularly high compared to a film like The Shallows.

Check out our top ten weekend forecast in the table below.

Shawn Robbins and Alex Edghill contributed to this report.