Weekend Forecast: 'Carrie', 'Escape Plan', & 'The Fifth Estate'

This Friday, October 18 will see the wide release of three new films: Carrie, Escape Plan, and The Fifth Estate. Will two-week champion Gravity be dethroned?

Carrie

PROS:

- The original film is regarded as something of a horror classic, bringing built-in appeal to this remake.
- Star Chloe Grace Moretz is a budding star thanks to the Kick-Ass franchise and Hugo, among other recent films, in which she turned heads. Julianne Moore adds some veteran star power.
- Flixster and Facebook activity have been very encouraging leading up to release.
- The horror genre is hot right now, and recent remakes have been able to do well.
- As the lone horror offering during Halloween season this year, genre fans should turn out. 

CONS:

- Twitter activity has been sluggish this week.
- Moretz isn't yet a proven draw outside of the film community and genre fans.
- The success of Gravity and Captain Phillips could limit the potential adult audience that is most familiar with the Carrie name.

Escape Plan

PROS:

- Bringing Arnold and Stallone together worked fairly well for The Expendables franchise.
- Twitter activity is somewhat healthier than The Last Stand at the same point before release.

CONS:

- Arnold's The Last Stand and Stallone's Bullet to the Head were box office bombs earlier this year.
- Facebook and Flixster activity are very sluggish.

The Fifth Estate

PROS:

- Benedict Cumberbatch is becoming a more recognizable name/face thanks to his presence in a number of successful films lately, most recently Star Trek Into Darkness.
- The WikiLeaks story was widely publicized in recent years, adding some needed familiarity to the film's reason for being.

CONS:

- Online activity leaves much to be desired.
- The success of other adult-leaning films lately has diminished potential demand for this.
- Critical reviews are in the cellar.
- Cumberbatch isn't yet a proven box office draw.

Check out our weekend forecast for these films and the remainder of the top 10 in the table below.

Phil Contrino, Daniel Garris, Alex Edghill, and Shawn Robbins contributed to this report.