One of the things that amuses me is the way movies either hit or sink.

There seems to be no rhyme or reason… one film connects with audiences and can become a HUGE box office hit, beloved by audiences world-wide, while another film is a complete (or near complete) wiff and sinks without much of a trace. Often this comes down to how “good” or “bad” a film is but not always. There are films that are critical bombs yet connect with audiences. There are films that are critical darlings yet bomb with audiences. Then there are those films that are complete box-office failures which, over the years, become cult darlings. Some even manage to become viewed as genuinely classic films, even if they did nothing when they were originally released. In the later case, you have the classic Metropolis and Blade Runner, both of which didn’t do very well upon their initial release and are now considered film classics.

We’re at the beginning of the school year and the latest movie releases are slim pickin’s indeed. This is not terribly unexpected. The summer rush is over and with the beginning of school, people aren’t as free to go to the theaters during the week, so studios aim their “biggest” guns to the summer period and release lower budget works they hope will recoup their investment and can hope -but do not expect- the box office of these films to be in the mega-hit range.

This past week, two films were released to theaters, one which I only discovered at literally the very last moment.

That film, Angel Has Fallen, is the third of the “Fallen” movies featuring Gerard Butler as Mike Banning, the President’s secret service detail. The two previous films featuring the character were 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen and 2016’s London Has Fallen.

The plot of the first two films involve Banning trying to save/keep the President, played in those films by Aaron Eckhart, alive despite an intense terrorist attack. In the first film, that attack was on the White House itself. In the second film, it was while the President was in London.

In this third film, Mr. Eckhart is gone, replaced by Morgan Freeman (who was in the original two films as well), as the new President. Further, Radha Mitchell, who portrayed Banning’s wife, has been replaced by Piper Perabo. This time around, Banning is framed for trying to kill the President and must clear himself…

The other relatively “big” film being released this past week was the horror/comedy Ready of Not…

Both films, IMHO, look interesting based solely on their trailers, though I have less interest in Angel Has Fallen because the previous film, London Has Fallen, was so awful IMHO and Ready or Not features an intriguing (again, IMHO) concept for a horror/comedy.

So, going into the weekend, I figured Ready or Not would likely be the box office champ, with Angel Has Fallen either a very, very close second or perhaps just taking the #1 spot.

Boy, was I wrong.

Angel Has Fallen easily took the #1 spot at the Box Office with a much stronger than expected $21 plus million take. Ready or Not came in 6th with a decent (considering the film’s very low budget) take of $7.5 million.

One other new film, Overcomer (another film I know absolutely nothing about), came in at #3 with $8.2 million. The rest of the films in the top 10 were holdovers from past weeks (if you’re curious, here’s the complete rundown of the box office weekend via Box Office Mojo).

Again: I’m intrigued by this. Incredibly so. I suppose audiences were in a mood for an action extravaganza and that’s why Angel Has Fallen did well. There might be other times and other weeks where there are plenty of action films available and a film such as this one may not have done quite as well. As for Ready or Not… maybe audiences weren’t in the mood for a horror film this weekend. Maybe if the film had been released closer to Halloween it might have garnered a little more interest.

Is this the reason one did really well and the other not quite as well? I suppose its possible.

Ultimately, who knows?

As it is, I once again fall back on the quote by screenwriter William Goldman, of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (among others) fame. In his book Adventures in the Screen Trade, Mr. Goldman provided a quote I’ve posted here many times which, in my opinion, encapsulates the entire entertainment industry…

“Nobody knows anything…… Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work. Every time out it’s a guess and, if you’re lucky, an educated one.”

I absolutely love this quote because its so damn true. You can create what you think is an absolutely smashing work, one you think audiences will eat up and make you a zillionaire… and the work comes and goes without so much as a shrug from audiences. Then you can create something almost literally in your sleep, a work you think is nothing big, and it becomes HUGE.

The best we can hope for is some mild/moderate success in the works we do, and hope the next one does even better.

Ultimately, nobody knows nothing.

Least of all me.