Kevin Hart and Ice Cube could score a huge hit this weekend with their comedy Ride Along . The movie is currently expected to top the weekend box office.
Helmed by Fantastic Four director Tim Story, the film tells the story of a security guard (Kevin Hart) who tries to impress his girlfriend’s brother (Ice Cube) by signing on for a ride along. It doesn’t take long for all sorts of shenanigans to ensue.
Since Kevin Hart is hot commodity right now, industry analysts believe the flick could generate between $38 million and $40 million in ticket sales over the next three days. If this is the case, then Ride Along has a chance to break the record for the highest-grossing January opening.
Kevin Hart’s comedy certainly has plenty of competition at the cineplex this weekend. Not only is it up against last weekend’s top flick Lone Survivor , Ride Along also has to contend with the likes of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and the animated family flick The Nut Job .
Although Kevin Kart and Ice Cube are presently expected to win over audiences, critics weren’t overly impressed with the pair’s cinematic outing. The comedy currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 19 percent , which means it’s rotten in the eye’s of film reviewers.
“Scene after scene of a sputtering Hart and a glowering Ice Cube, despite the fact that they were brilliantly funny in, respectively, ‘Think Like a Man’ and ‘Barbershop,’ their previous collaborations with director Tim Story,” The Wrap critic Alonso Duralde explained .
L.A. Weekly writer Amy Nicolson added , “The rapper and activist who recorded a furious album about the Rodney King attack is now embracing exactly the kind of violent, entitled, civil rights-crushing cop he once demonized.”
Of course, Kevin Hart’s flick didn’t receive universally negative reviews. Jessica Herndon over at The Associated Press didn’t mind the cinematic experience at all. In her review of the flick, she credits Hart for keeping the movie afloat.
“Joining the ranks of odd-couple police comedies, ‘Ride Along’ delivers laughs over action, with loudmouthed funnyman Kevin Hart driving the hilarity,” she wrote.
While Ride Along should clean up at the box office this weekend, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit probably won’t do the same amount of business. Analysts predict the character’s latest outing will bring home approximately $18 million at the box office.
Are you a fan of Kevin Hart? Do you plan to catch the comedian alongside Ice Cube in director Tim Story’s comedy Ride Along this weekend?