New Movies In Theaters on Christmas Day - Rotten Tomatoes

New Movies In Theaters on Christmas Day - Rotten Tomatoes

There are six new films in wide release today:

Believe (1000 theaters; unreviewed; PG). Documentary and concert film featuring The Biebs. A judge ruled that it is cruel and unusual punishment to show this to the prisoners at Guantanamo, and the international courts in The Hague have declared that screening it in such a context could be construed as a war crime.

47 Ronin (2700 theaters; 12% positive reviews; PG-13). Keanu Reeves in a tale from ancient Japan. You can't get much better than that without an appearance by Justin Bieber! Some experts have said that Keanu-san's movie will lose more money than The Lone Ranger!

Grudge Match (2800 theaters; 23% positive reviews, PG-13). Stallone and DeNiro in an old coot boxing movie. Critical consensus: "Grudge Match is sporadically funny but meandering, and its strong cast largely mired in a plot that's overrun with clichés."

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2900 theaters; 49% positive reviews; PG). "Ben Stiller directs and stars in THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, James Thurber's classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action." Critical consensus: "It doesn't lack for ambition, but The Secret Life of Walter Mitty fails to back up its grand designs with enough substance to anchor the spectacle."

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (1000 theaters; 56% positive reviews; PG-13) is based on South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography of the same name, which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country's once segregated society.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2500 theaters; 78% positive reviews; rated R for all kinds of nasty stuff, including nudity). Scorsese's big, dynamic, explicit three-hour portrayal of corruption on Wall Street. Reputedly an excellent movie, but not very Christmassy.

Weekend box office guesses:

Wolf of Wall Street, despite the restrictive R rating, should battle for the #1 spot with The Hobbit, Anchorman 2, and Frozen. It should gross about $25M ($40M including Wednesday and Thursday).

Grudge Match and the Secret Life of Walter Mitty should be jockeying for the 5-6-7 spots with American Hustle in the range of $15M ($22-24M).

47 Ronin will be battling for a spot in bottom of the top ten against Saving Mr Banks and Walking With Dinosaurs. It should gross about $9-10M ($19-20M).

Mandela and Believe will finish out of the top ten with $5-6 million ($11-$13M), despite being about the two greatest men of the past 50 years.