Entertainment

Will 'RoboCop' Remake Rake In At The Box Office?

by Caitlyn Callegari

RoboCop, starring Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton with a healthy side of Samuel L. Jackson (not Laurence Fishburne) is about to open to some seriously err-- not so hot reviews. The Boston Globe declares that it "doesn't hold a candle to the original," and The Chicago Sun-Times asserts that it, "lacks intent, insight of the original." Alas, that doesn't mean the remake will necessarily do bad at the box office (cough, Star Wars: Phantom Menace, cough). After all, the award winning movies are hardly ever the big budget blockbusters.

Looking back over the top Wednesday openers, the highest grossing films were inevitably the ones with the largest fan bases. To name a few-- The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Spider-Man 2, Transformers:Dark of the Moon, were all hugely successful franchises in their own right even before the movie. Twilight grossed over $68 million on its opening day, and Spider-Man and Transformers grossed over $40 million and $37 million, respectively. Because RoboCop is a remake, it does give it the advantage of the known. Those who flocked to the movies in the 87 and enjoyed the film will most likely return to theaters to see an old favorite come back to life or to at least see if this one matches up. (Although according to the critics, they should probably save the 12 bucks).

Really, the most disheartening evidence gathered from looking at previous Wednesday top grossing openers is that no matter how terrible RoboCop might be, if it makes the big bucks were likely to see the sequel in theaters in the near future. Especially because the highest earning openers did significantly better than their original counterparts. So it goes in Hollywood-- quantity, not quality, makes a work successful. Check out the RoboCop trailer below and decide for yourself whether it's worth the hype or not.

Image: Getty Images