Friday’s openings: Punches and more get thrown

What with so many 2016 films still hanging around — mostly because of awards season — it's hard to gauge the full extent of what area theaters might be opening. Other than the big films, that is.

Three films are on the national release list for Friday: They are:

"The Great Wall": Matt Damon plays a European mercenary whose trek to ancient China means fighting monsters who want to feed on humanity. Directed by the great Zhang Yimou, this is a joint China-Hollywood production — for what that's worth.

"Fist Fight": Charlie Day plays the hapless nerd/teacher who gets called out by a fellow tough-guy teacher (Ice Cube). Think "Three O'Clock High," only with teachers.

"A Cure for Wellness": When a young executive (Dane DeHaan) heads to a Swiss resort to retrieve a senior colleague, he finds himself mired in a weird world of supposed health "cures." As one reviewer calls it, Gore Verbinski's new film is a "A Gloriously Demented Dose Of Big-Budget Horror."

I'll have the final bookings when they become available. Stay tuned.