After years as a laughing stock, the Star Wars universe has once again returned to claim its rightful place at the top of the Hollywood hierarchy. As such, not too many upcoming films have an active desire to compete with an entry in the Star Wars saga; it's a suicide mission very few have an interest in. However, it turns out that one movie seems to have the gumption to stand up to the Star Wars: Rogue One release, and it’s a movie fronted by the type of actor who can handle a suicide mission.
A new report from Variety indicates that Will Smith’s upcoming drama Collateral Beauty has officially been slapped with a December 16 release date. This means it will go toe to toe with Star Wars: Rogue One at the box office. When we say that Collateral Beauty is brave for taking on Rogue One, we absolutely mean it; other studios have specifically gone out of their way to avoid conflict with the Star Wars anthology film. In particular, the Variety report details how Warner Bros. recently bumped the release of Chicken Soup for the Soul in order to avoid any conflict with Star Wars: Rogue One – as such a conflict would almost certainly eat into the profits of any challenger.
Given the financial success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we can safely consider any movie set within the Star Wars universe a credible threat at the box office. Even Lionsgate recently came out and admitted that the release of The Force Awakens played a major role in the underwhelming performance of their anticipated blockbuster The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. If the franchise can take down The Hunger Games then you know it means business.
Of course, Collateral Beauty could benefit from the fact that it doesn’t seem to be gunning for the same audience as Rogue One. Collateral Beauty is a more grounded drama about a man trying to put his life back together. In the film, Will Smith plays a wealthy New York businessman who suffers a deeply personal loss, and then retreats into himself. On the other hand, Star Wars: Rogue One will be a bombastic adventure film about the mission to steal the plans for the first Death Star. As they don’t inherently target the same core demographics, Collateral Beauty may in fact have a fighting chance after all.
There’s also the matter that Collateral Beauty could benefit from its star-studded cast. Aside from Will Smith, the film will also feature A-listers such as Helen Mirren, Edward Norton, Michael Pena, and Naomie Harris. By contrast, Star Wars: Rogue One seems comprised primarily of lesser-known actors – with the notable exception of Forrest Whitaker.
We will bring you all of the latest and greatest news regarding the showdown between Collateral Beauty and Star Wars: Rogue One as to becomes available to us. Both films will hit theaters on December 16, 2016.
