Movies With Butter

After last weekend’s box office blowout, any quality release would have a hard time topping it—unfortunately, only one of them is rated well, so they have almost no chance. It’s going to be a sad weekend no matter how you slice it, so let’s get to it.

The highest-profile release is the Michael Bay reboot of a classic franchise: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The film follows live-action renditions of the timeless four ninja turtles (Alan Ritchson, Pete Ploszek, Jeremy Howard, Noel Fisher) as they fight evil amidst cheesy dialogue.

This may come as a shock, but critics were not crazy about this film—it currently sits at a lowly 20% on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s a reason Michael Bay is the whipping boy of B-rated action films, and this is it—there is very little thought involved in this film, and all the action and nostalgia in the world can’t save it. Still, the hype might be enough to get the film $36 million over the weekend, according to Box Office Guru.

Also opening today is the latest in a long series of dramatic dance films: Step Up: All In. The film echoes aspects of the previous installments—tall dark, stranger/dancer (Ryan Guzman) blows into town with big dreams, and a local dance crew with a sultry romantic interest (Briana Evigan) helps him climb his way to the top.

Surprisingly (and even embarrassingly), this film received a better Tomatometer rating than Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at 44%. Most critics agreed that, by normal standards, the film was pretty sub-par; however, enough folks might appreciate it for what it is to earn it around $9 million over the weekend.

Also joining this lackluster set of new releases with Into the Storm. The successor to the disaster-movie throne, this film follows the inhabitants of a small town that is suddenly and inexplicably beset by tornadoes of epic proportions.

This film took the worst flogging from critics this week, rating at 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s not much good to be said for the film—it takes itself far too seriously to get away with the mindless entertainment gag. It might make around $17 million over the weekend.

Finally, our only promising release this weekend is The Hundred-Foot Journey, the romance-laced tale of a restaurant war in France between Helen Mirren’s condescending gourmand and Manish Dayal’s genius-level cook just arriving in Paris from India. Rotten Tomatoes rated the film at 64%; the stylized cinematography help to bring the characters—and the food—to life in a very singular way, which is helped by tasteful acting and a convincing screenplay. It’s predicted to bring in $8 million over the weekend.

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