The Weekend Forecast: Spy Will Lead the Pack This Weekend

In which I predict that big winners (and losers) at the box office this weekend.

Say what you will about Melissa McCarthy, but she's proven capable of drawing a crowd in for a weekend.  Spy - her new movie about being a CIA annalist cum spy - is set to do just that this weekend, standing to rake in somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 million.

While the trailers all seemed reasonably funny, I can't say that the movie itself looks any good.  Maybe this is just because I evidently hate all comedies, but I just can't buy into the premise of body humor plus Bond working for me.

The weekend's next most promising movie is Blumhouse's Insidious: Chapter 3.  I've long been a fan of Blumhouse Productions and have had high hopes for this one for a while.  To top it all off, the trailers for it were all pretty good and showed off some fairly intense imagery that will hopefully feature prominently in the movie proper.

The last of this weekend's wide-release newcomers is Entourage, which released somewhat earlier in the week than usual.  Although it looked reasonably funny from the get-go, I can't imagine it doing especially well at the box office.  Although certainly popular in its own right, its home on HBO naturally restricted the number of people who could watch it in the first place.

I doubt that it has a strong enough following to make it a hit after being off of the air for four years, but early reports suggest that it's essentially an especially long episode of the show, which was the exact reason why The Simpsons Movie was as incredible as it actually was.  Fans of the show will doubtlessly enjoy it, but I have to imagine that most comedic movie-goers will opt for the more accessible Spy over this.

Also coming out this weekend - although you'd be hard-pressed to find it in most theaters - is Love and Mercy, the Beach Boy biopic starring John Cusack, Paul Dano and Paul Giamatti.  It's got a great cast and an earnest-looking script, but the trailer honestly made it look like a bit of a mess.  Regardless, if you find it showing in your area and want a break from the listless stream of blockbuster comedies and action movies, it might be worth checking out.

So what movie are you planning on seeing in theaters this weekend?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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