June 2014 had a lot to live up to, at least compared a very successful June 2013, which brought us hits Man of Steel, Monsters University and World War Z. This year, no releases really wowed and with the exception of Age of Extinction, not one will even surpass $200 million. Looking ahead to July, things aren’t looking much better than June. There’s a pretty weak slate of films coming our way, but at least we’ll have Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. So that’s something.

July 2

Earth to Echo

My Thoughts: This flick kinda strikes me as a cross between Super 8 and Chronicle. Or, really, any found footage flick. That said, it doesn’t look as good as either of those films. I’m a bit confused as to why vibe this flick is even shooting for, though that’s more the fault of the advertising. Anyway, I think this one is going to get buried on a crowded weekend.

Opening Weekend: $8 million

Total Gross: $25 million

Deliver Us From Evil

My Thoughts: Around this time last year, The Conjuring shocked the movie world by being a horror movie that was actually good, opened huge and had incredible staying power for the genre. It out-grossed The Wolverine. Seriously. Look it up. Now, all that is not to say that Deliver Us From Evil will approach that level of success. I’m just saying it’s possible. It looks like a pretty tense thriller and I think it will do a bit better than the average horror flick.

Opening Weekend: $22 million

Total Gross: $55 million

Tammy

My Thoughts: To be honest, I don’t really find Melissa McCarthy funny. But, hey, she’s pretty popular now. Coming the successes of Identity Thief and The Heat, she’s riding high at the moment, though Tammy will be a true test of her individual starpower, as there’s really no interesting concept or hook to this movie. My bias might be getting in the way here, but I think Tammy will do decent, if unspectacular, numbers.

Opening Weekend: $18 million

Total Gross: $52 million

July 11

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

My Thoughts: When I first heard that Rise of The Planet of the Apes was coming, I thought to myself, “oh boy, another crappy remake is headed our way.” Then the trailers started coming out and I warmed up to the idea that the movie might actually be decent. And lo and behold, it was actually a good movie. Critics and audiences alike seemed surprising by the quality of that picture, allowing it to open bigger than expected and display solid legs en route to a $177 million total.

Three years later, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is on the way, and it looks good. Darker and grittier than the first, it takes place after a plague has wiped out most of humanity and the apes are becoming the dominant species. I’m pretty sure I already know exactly where the plot will go, but that doesn’t diminish my excitement one bit. The hype for this flick is pretty high, though not quite to the level of some other summer flicks this year. But I think the quality of DOTPOTA will grant it great legs (it also faces little competition) and, if I may make a ballsy claim, allow it become the highest grossing film of the summer.

Opening Weekend: $83 million

Total Gross: $265 million

July 18

And So It Goes

My Thoughts: You know how every month has at least one movie I just really can’t muster up the energy to discuss? Say hello to July’s iteration.

Opening Weekend: $11 million

Total Gross: $35 million

Planes: Fire and Rescue

My Thoughts: It’s ridiculous enough that we got one Planes movie, but now a sequel? Really? Disney truly does put out some amazing movies, but they also churn out a lot of drivel. When you take the Cars films, which are all but unanimously agreed to be the worst Pixar movies, and you produce a crappy spin-off from those….and then you make an unnecessary sequel to that superfluous spin-off–that’s Planes: Fire and Rescue. It’s a quick, easy, stupid, cash-grab. I can’t judge Disney too much, because this probably won’t cost much to make and parents will get dragged to see it by their kids. I’ll just toss out similar numbers to the first one for my predictions.

Opening Weekend: $19 million

Total Gross: $75 million

The Purge: Anarchy

My Thoughts: Wow. From one completely unnecessary sequel to another. The first Purge had a good advertising campaign, which covered up how unoriginal it actually was (despite an admittedly cool concept), and that allowed it to explode with a $34 million opening. It went on to awful legs, finishing with only $64 million. Finishing with a total gross that doesn’t even double your opening weekend is actually quite difficult to do. So I fully expect this sequel to not even approach the heights of its successor.

Opening Weekend: $15 million

Total Gross: $28 million

Sex Tape

My Thoughts: My assessments on the movies this weekend have been quite negative. But, hey, it’s not my fault it’s been a lot of crap. That said, Sex Tape definitely looks much better than anything else coming out this weekend. A comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel conjures up memories of the very mediocre Bad Teacher, but I think Sex Tape should probably be funnier than that effort. And by the time this comes out, 22 Jump Street will be winding down, so I think this flick can do alright for itself.

Opening Weekend: $19 million

Total Gross: $62 million

July 25

The Fluffy Movie

My Thoughts: I…..I just don’t care.

Opening Weekend: $6 million

Total Gross: $14 million

Hercules 

My Thoughts: Well, I think it goes without saying that this will be a bigger success than other Hercules tale we got this here. The Rock looks as jacked as he always has, and he remains a pretty decent box office draw, though he really does better in ensemble flicks. If The Expendables franchise ever does make a fourth film, I think Dwayne Johnson has to be in it. Anyway, I do think this flick doesn’t really look that good. But it should do decent enough numbers.

Opening Weekend: $22 million

Total Gross: $65 million

Lucy

My Thoughts: Let’s get this out of the way: the whole “ten percent of our brains” thing is a complete and total myth. Anyway….I’m somewhat intrigued by this movie. ScarJo is beautiful as always, and telekinesis is always cool. But ScarJo is actually pretty unproven as a box office draw by herself. Sure, she’s a good complementary piece in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but can she open a film based on her own starpower? Lucy should be a good test of that.

Opening Weekend: $13 million

Total Gross: $40 million

There ya go. The story of July is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Most everything else is just kinda there. Sure, there’s always room for a breakout sleeper hit here and there, but I would not be even the slightest surprise if no film this month makes, in its entire run, as much as DOTPOTA does in its opening weekend. I don’t expect that to happen, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I do enjoy being proven wrong sometimes, though, because at the very least that can make things more interesting. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this preview. Until we meet again.