Harrison Ford hasn’t really made a whole film since “42,” the Jackie Robinson story, seven years ago. At 79, he’s been in two of the three last “Star Wars” movies, however, so that’s kept him up to date.
Now Ford has a surprise hit with “Call of the Wild,” which finishes at number 2 this weekend after making $24 million. It comes from Chris Sanders, who directed the first “How to Train Your Dragon” animated film back in 2010, which was a huge hit.
“The Call of the Wild” only hit 63% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It wasn’t like it was being celebrated. But a scruffy looking Ford and a friendly dog sold it. Also, there isn’t much family fare out there right now besides “Dolittle,” which is just about to exit theaters after losing around $100 million.
It won’t mean anything to the kids in the PG audience, but “Call of the Wild” also stars Dan Stevens (still cursing his luck after “Downton Abbey”), Omar Sy from “The Intouchables,” Karen Gillan of Marvel fame, and Bradley Whitford.
The movie is such a nice hit I’m hearing Jack London, who wrote the book, will be contacting Disney-Fox for royalties!
On the other end of the box office, bad news for Katie Holmes. Why in the world did she want do a sequel to a bad horror film, and one not from Blumhouse? The first version “Brahms Bad Boy” only made $35 million in the US. The new one struck out with a $5.9 million weekend. Oh, the horror! Katie needs a great peak-TV show from HBO, Hulu, etc.
