Honestly, I saw the previews. It looked something better to be a quick and funny flick to watch on Netflix or a budget title, not a full theater release.
Also, Sony can't risk a lack of sales by letting the reviews influence people. They threw it all on this movie. They did the logical thing here, to make sure people judge it by actually seeing it properly.
I still think it will bomb, though.
I also read the interview of how it came to be. Kind of a cool story of why the person thought it was a good idea. Simply put, they wanted to make something akin to Toy Story. Somebody sent the person a text with an emoji. That gave quite a bit of inspiration, to see what it's like inside a cellphone with emojis themselves.
http://screenrant.com/emoji-movie-director-tony-leondis-interview/ for the link.
But yeah, I'll be surprised if it makes any money back. I can't even justify seeing it with the current preview I've seen. It does look like it'll have a few good jokes, but nothing strong enough for a full movie. I'll watch it if it comes on Netflix, since I enjoy silly things.