After Boss Baby took the number one spot at the box office away from Beauty and the Beast last weekend, another family-friendly flick enters the competition.
The last two Smurf movies were relatively successful blends of live action and animation, but Sony Pictures has decided to reboot the series with an all-animated feature. Because of this, Smurfs: The Lost Village does not star Neil Patrick Harris or Hank Azaria as Gargamel, but rather a whole new voice cast including Mandy Patinkin (replacing the late Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf), Demi Lovato (replacing Katy Perry as Smurfette), Jack McBrayer (replacing the late Anton Yelchin as Clumsy Smurf) as well as Gabriel Iglesias, Joe Manganiello, Titus Burgess, Gordon Ramsay, Jeff Dunham, Michelle Rodriguez, Ellie Kemper, Julia Roberts and Rainn Wilson as the new Gargamel.
Meghan Trainor, who performs the song I’m a Lady for the soundtrack, also provides the voice of Smurf Melody. In this all-new adventure, Smurfette has become great friends with all the Smurfs but being the only girl, she feels out of place. One day, she follows a blue creature into the forbidden forest and is convinced that it is another Smurf. Although she loses sight of the creature, she does discover a map and leads a group of her fellow Smurfs on an adventure that gets them captured by Gargamel. The group escapes from his grasp but because he also wants to find the secrets that map holds, it becomes a race against time to find the mysterious village that may contain the biggest secret in Smurf history.
Going in Style is a remake of the 1979 film starring Art Carney, Lee Strasberg and George Burns as three pensioners who decide to rob a bank. The new movie stars Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin as the three pensioners who decide to pull off the heist after their pensions are cancelled due to corporate restructuring of their former employer. They decide to steal back the money rightfully owed to them from the bank holding the company’s pension funds. Also starring Matt Dillon, Ann-Margaret, Christopher Lloyd and Kenan Thompson, it is directed by Zach Braff, best known for the indie-flick Garden State and his starring role in the TV show Scrubs.
Opening at Landmark Cinemas Grand 10 is The Case for Christ, based upon the auto-biographical book of the same name by Lee Strobel chronicling the quest of an atheist journalist looking to disprove his wife’s Christian faith because their opposing views are contributing to their failing marriage. While chasing the biggest story of his career, he soon discovers his beliefs challenged and becomes a believer himself. The Case of Christ stars Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen, Faye Dunaway and Robert Forster and is from the producers of God’s Not Dead.