The dog days of August are officially upon us, with Warner Brothers’ The Meg serving as the last big budget title of the season. Meanwhile, Focus Features’ BlacKkKlansman hopes to make a splash in moderate release, while Sony seems to be burying their horror title Slender Man.

The Meg, which carries an alarming $150 million production budget ($130 million after taxes, however) is the result of a 21 year development hell cycle, as the rights to the book were originally bought by Disney all the way back in 1997. It was also reported that the original cut of the film was a gorier, R rated affair, with some of the death sequences being cut down to achieve a PG-13 rating and make it a more accessible summer blockbuster. This doesn’t seem to count for much, however, considering the film is tracking for an opening of just $20 million. The film is, however, somewhat of an international play. Not only was part of the production cost covered by Flagship Entertainment, a joint venture between Warner and a Chinese organization. One of the lead roles in the film is played by Chinese actor Li Bingbing, who should be able to draw in somewhat of an audience. Warner Brothers should hope that that $20 million number ends up being inaccurate, because The Meg needs to round up considerably more than that to avoid being labeled a flop.

After several release date changes, Sony is finally releasing their PG-13 horror thriller Slender Man with remarkably little fanfare. The 2,358 theater count and terrible 20% on Rotten Tomatoes are a decent indication as to the quality of the film, which is tracking for an opening between $8 and $12 million. Even without a budget currently available, it’s hard to imagine that would be an acceptable result, mostly considering the online fad it’s based on peaked in popularity more than half a decade ago. Still, supernatural PG-13 horror is a fairly safe bet, especially during such a slow time at the box office.

Opting for a more moderate release is Focus Features’ BlacKkKlansman, the new Spike Lee film about a black police officer infiltrating the KKK. With almost-univerally positive reviews and a lack of appealing options for adult audiences, this one has the potential to break out. Focus is being smart by starting off in a relatively light 1,512 locations, meaning if it does well this weekend, they can capitalize on word of mouth to expand into several hundred more theaters next weekend. Tracking currently expects it to open with around $10 million, with the possibility to wind up in the low-to-mid teens if things really work out.

Also opening is LD Entertainment’s Dog Days, which opened on Wednesday to an abysmal $635K, which means it will be lucky to top $6 million by Sunday.

Predictions

Mission: Impossible – Fallout: $23.5 million The Meg – $18.2 million Christopher Robin – $12.3 million BlacKkKlansman – $10.5 million Slender Man – $9.5 million