2018 Awards Season: Oscars: And the Winner is... Green Book for Best Picture

February 24th, 2019

It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. We will announce the winners and have our reactions as they happen, while keeping track of how our readers did in predicting the outcomes. More...

2018 Awards Season: Oscars Nominations: Final Look

February 24th, 2019

It’s Oscar Day, and we will be live blogging the show. Before that, let’s take a last look at the nominations with a few annotations. in Italics are those that have received the most votes from our readers so far in our Oscar contest (which is open to new entries until noon, Pacific, today—enter now!). Bold films are those films I think will win. Meanwhile, those that are Underlined are those I want to win. Not all categories have underlined nominees, because not all categories have someone I’m cheering for, or because there are two nominees I couldn’t pick between. For example, I would be happy with half of the Best Picture nominees winning. More...

Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

January 28th, 2019

I knew The Nutcracker and the Four Realms was in trouble when Disney didn’t push Christopher Robin over $100 million at the domestic box office. At that point, every film they released in 2018 had hit the century mark, so there was a chance they could have had every film released in a calendar year get to that milestone. They wouldn’t pass up that chance, unless they knew The Nutcracker and the Four Realms wasn’t going to get there. It didn’t get there. It barely managed to get halfway to $100 million. Is the film as bad as its box office numbers? Or was it unfairly ignored? More...

2018 Awards Season: Oscar Nominations

January 23rd, 2019

The Oscar nominations were announced yesterday starting at just after 5 am Pacific time. They do this every year for reasons no one has been able to adequately explain to me. Because it was the day after a long weekend, it took a bit of time to get all the normal work done and digest the results. And there were some interesting results to digest. No one film led the way with total nominations, as two films, The Favourite and Roma tied with 10 nominations each. More...

Home Market Releases for November 6th, 2018

November 6th, 2018

This is either an amazing week or a terrible week, depending on how you look at things. It is amazing, because there is a trio of releases I was really looking forward to reviewing: BlacKkKlansman, Incredibles 2, and Christopher Robin. It’s a terrible week, because none of those screeners showed up. I normally don’t like giving the Pick of the Week when I’m still waiting for the screener, but that’s not an option this week, so Incredibles 2 wins. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Summer Ends on a Sweet Note with Crazy Rich Asians Crossing $100 million

September 5th, 2018

Crazy Rich Asians came close enough to our predictions over the weekend that I’m willing to call it a victory. The only other film to earn more than $10 million over the three-date weekend was The Meg. This wasn’t enough to help the overall box office grow, but the overall box office only fell 3.6% when compared to last weekend earning $99 million. It is a little disappointing to drop below the $100 million mark, but it could have been much worse. Speaking of much worse, this weekend last year, the overall box office was just $76 million, meaning 2018 improved on the three-day mark by 29% and stretched its year-to-date lead. 2018 now sits 10.6% or $790 million ahead of 2017 at $8.22 billion to $7.43 million. The lead won’t remain this large for long, not with It’s opening on the horizon. That said, it would take a spectacular collapse for 2018 to completely lose this lead. More...

Weekend Estimates: Crazy Killing it at the Box Office with $28 million

September 2nd, 2018

Crazy Rich Asians is just destroying the competition over the weekend and should pull in an estimated $22.24 million over the three days. We won’t have a Monday estimate from Warner Bros. until Monday, but I would imagine the four-day weekend would be about $28 million, giving the film a running tally of $117 million after 20 days of release. This is a little lower than our weekend prediction, but close enough that I’m calling it a victory. Internationally, the film made $10.4 million on 1,565 screens in 24 markets for an early total of $19.9 million. The film opened in Australia with $5.4 million on 447 screens, which is better than its opening here, relative to the size of the two markets. More...

Friday Estimates: Crazy Matches Expectations with $5.87 million

September 1st, 2018

Crazy Rich Asians will easily remain on top of the chart this weekend, as it earned $5.87 million on Friday. Depending on when you are reading this, it might have already crossed $100 million domestically, a milestone it will certainly reach by the end of business on Saturday. The film is on pace for $24 million over the three-day weekend and $30 million over four, matching our prediction perfectly. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will the Box Office Relax Over Labor Day?

August 31st, 2018

The last weekend of summer is a slow weekend. There’s only one true wide release, Kin, and it’s not expected to open in the top five. Operation Finale is opening in just over 1,800 theaters, but it should open in the top five, even though it is a Wednesday release. Searching is expanding into 1,200 theaters this weekend and that should get it into the top ten. Meanwhile, Crazy Rich Asians should complete the threepeat without any real competition. This weekend last year, The Hitman’s Bodyguard was the only film to earn more than $10 million. More...

Weekend Predictions: Can Happytime Overtake Crazy Rich Asians at the Box Office?

August 23rd, 2018

Summer is winding down and there are only one and a half wide releases this week. The Happytime Murders is a high-concept, lowbrow comedy that is probably too out there to find an audience. Meanwhile, A.X.L. is opening in less than 2,000 theaters and tracking has it opening below the Mendoza Line. This does mean Crazy Rich Asians has a real shot at repeating on top of the box office chart. This weekend last year, The Hitman’s Bodyguard was the only film to earn more than $10 million. This year, we should have two or three films do the same and 2018 should easily win in the year-over-year chart. More...

Weekend Estimates: Crazy Getting Richer over the Weekend

August 19th, 2018

Crazy Rich Asians beat expectations and easily came out on top of the box office over the weekend. The film earned $25.24 million between Friday and Sunday, for a five-day opening of $34.00 million, which is amazing for a film that cost $30 million to make. It not only beat our original prediction, but its weekend estimates have grown since it debuted on Wednesday, which is a very good sign that the word-of-mouth is helping ticket sales. Its 92% positive reviews and its A-rating from CinemaScore back up that explanation. With this opening, the film would have to have terrible legs and completely bomb internationally to not break even. Having terrible legs seems unlikely, but we will know more about that next weekend. As for its international numbers, the film hasn’t opened in any major international markets, so it is too soon to tell. It does debut in Australia before the end of the month, so that will be the film’s first big test. More...

Friday Estimates: Asians’ Crazy Rich First Place Opening

August 18th, 2018

Crazy Rich Asians led the way on Friday with an impressive $7.26 million. Since it opened on Wednesday, it should have better legs than most new releases earn. Likewise, its reviews and its A from CinemaScore will also help its legs, putting it on pace for between $22 million and $23 million over the three-day weekend. Over four days, the film should make about $31 million, which is more than it cost to make. Even taking into account the studio’s share of the box office, Warner Bros. will cover its production budget before the end of the month, just on the its domestic numbers. Unless it really struggles internationally, it will break even before it reaches the home market. This might be enough to get more movies with predominantly Asian-American casts made in Hollywood. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Crazy have a Rich Opening, or will Meg Swallow the New Releases?

August 16th, 2018

Crazy Rich Asians leads a group of three films, both in terms of buzz and in terms of reviews. It also opened with $5.01 million on Wednesday, so its already looking like a box office success. On the other hand, Mile 22 has the worst reviews of the week and its buzz is only mediocre. That said, its buzz is still louder than Alpha’s buzz is. On the other hand, Alpha’s reviews are good enough that if it doesn’t struggle too much during its opening weekend, then its word-of-mouth should help its legs. This weekend last year, The Hitman’s Bodyguard opened with $21.38 million. That’s probably more than any film opening this weekend will make. On the other hand, the only other film to earn more than $10 million last year was Annabelle: Creation, while we should have four films do the same this year. The depth should help 2018 earn an easy win. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Meg Chows Down on Moviegoers

August 14th, 2018

The Meg was arguably the biggest box office surprise of the summer, earning more during its opening weekend than many thought it would earn in total and it doubled our prediction. It also earned more than the next three films earned combined, so it was a rather one-sided affair at the box office. Its $45.40 million debut did help the overall box office rise 5.6% from last weekend reaching $147 million. More importantly, this is 26% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2018 now has a 9.1% / $640 million lead over 2017 at $7.68 billion to $7.04 million. More...

Weekend Estimates: Meg is Biggest Killer Shark Movie In Decades

August 12th, 2018

The Meg not only beat our initial prediction, it topped yesterday’s revised estimate and that’s a really good sign. Warner Bros. is reporting an opening weekend of $44.5 million. If this is accurate, then the film’s internal multiplier will be a healthy 2.70. Granted, its reviews are mixed and it only managed a B plus from CinemaScore and that’s not a great sign for its long term chances. However, there are no movies opening for the rest of the summer that are as big as this film, so that could help its legs. After all, The Hitman’s Bodyguard had a multiplier of 3.53. Internationally, the numbers were even better, as the film earned $96.8 million, including $50.3m on 12,650 screens in China. It is also a hit in Mexico ($6.2 million) and Russia ($5.0 million), although it is a more muted success in the U.K. with $4.4 million. That last market is on par with what we thought the film would open with here. On a side note, you are more likely to die eating shark that being eaten by a shark, so don’t kill sharks. They are apex predators and are very important to the environment. More...

Friday Estimates: Meg Keeps Summer Alive

August 11th, 2018

Surprisingly, The Meg dominated the box office on Friday with a very summer-like opening day of $16.5 million. There were some who thought the film wouldn’t earn that much during the entire weekend. Our prediction wasn’t that pessimistic, but this result still blows it out of the water. The film earned 51% positive reviews and a B plus from CinemaScore. Both results are fine. They are nothing special, but also nothing to worry about. The genre does tend to be front-loaded, so a $40 million weekend isn’t not a sure thing, but more of a coin toss. Even if the film doesn’t reach that mark over its opening weekend, this will still be a major win for Warner Bros., which has not has a good year. More...

Weekend Predictions: Do the New Releases Face Impossible Obstacle?

August 9th, 2018

There are four films opening wide or semi-wide this week. This includes Dog Days, which started on Wednesday. However, while it was released first, it is widely expected to be the last at the box office of the five wide releases. The Meg is widely expected to be the biggest new release of the week and it is the only film with a real shot at unseating Mission: Impossible—Fallout for top spot. I was expecting BlacKkKlansman to only open in limited release this week before trying to expand next week, but it is opening in 1,500 theaters giving it a real shot at a top five opening. Finally there’s Slender Man, a horror movie based on an internet meme that peaked years ago. It likely won’t be the worse box office performer of the weekend, but I’m not sure it will reach the top five. This weekend last year, Annabelle: Creation was the last blockbuster of summer opening with $35 million. No movie is going to match that this year. However, all three new releases made less than $50 million, while the four new releases could top that this weekend. I don’t think 2018 will win, but it should at least be close. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Fallout Continues its Mission

August 7th, 2018

Mission: Impossible—Fallout remained on top of the weekend box office chart thanks in part to a stronger than expected hold and in part to weaker than expected competition. Christopher Robin was the only new release to make any real noise opening in second place with $24.59 million, while The Spy Who Dumped Me opened with less than half of that. Overall, the box office earned $139 million, 11% lower than last weekend. More importantly, this was 14% higher than this weekend last year. 2018 extended its lead over 2017 to just under $600 million or 8.7% at $7.46 billion to $6.86 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Fallout Doesn’t Fall Very Far

August 5th, 2018

Mission: Impossible—Fallout fell just 43% during its second weekend earning $35.0 million for a two-week total of $124.5 million. It will have no trouble getting to $200 million domestically, especially with the weak competition for the rest of the month. More...

Friday Estimates: Christopher Robin can’t make Fallout Fall from Top Spot

August 4th, 2018

There was a virtual tie on top of the Friday box office chart, which was good news for Paramount, but not so good news for Disney. Mission: Impossible—Fallout held on better than expected, remaining in first place with $9.85 million, and putting it on pace for $34 million over the weekend. With this result, it will cruise to $200 million domestically. This would be the first $200 million hit for Paramount since Transformers: Age of Extinction came out in 2014. Four years is a long time between $200 million hits. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Christopher Robin’s $1.5 million Start is a Good Omen

August 3rd, 2018

Christopher Robin earned $1.5 million during its previews last night. There are not a lot of movies that are great matches for this movie, so it is hard to judge if this is a good start or not. This is almost exactly twice as large an opening as the $775,000 The BFG earned during its previews, so if this film earned the same legs, it would top our prediction by a few million dollars. I’ve seen some people compare it to Peter Rabbit, but that was a spring release. Another Pete, Pete’s Dragon, is a much better comparison, but it had no previews. Despite the lack of concrete data, I think this debut is on the high end of expectations and with good reviews, it should top $33 million over the weekend by a little bit. Anything more than $35 million would be a bit of a surprise. More...

Weekend Predictions: Can Christopher Robin Survive the Fallout?

August 2nd, 2018

There are four films opening wide or semi-wide during the first weekend of the August. This includes the only potential $100 million hit, Christopher Robin. The Spy Who Dumped Me’s roller coaster ride on Rotten Tomatoes appears to be coming to an end at the mediocre end of things, but that’s not bad compared to the average August release. On the other hand, bad is the best way to describe The Darkest Minds, while calling Death of a Nation “bad” is a glorious understatement. While most of the new releases are not expected to make an impact at the box office, there could be a close race on top between Christopher Robin and Mission: Impossible—Fallout. This weekend last year, The Dark Tower opened in first place with just under $20 million. This year, the top two films should beat that with ease. Last year’s depth was better, but 2018 should still win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

2018 Preview: August

August 1st, 2018

Overall, July was a a little weaker than expected. Ant-Man and the Wasp appears to be on pace for $200 million, while it is too soon to tell if Mission: Impossible—Fallout will also get there. That said, 2018 is still ahead of 2017 by $550 million, so the month of July was a success in that regard. As for August, there’s only one movie that is expected to earn $100 million, Christopher Robin, and maybe a few others that could hit $50 million. It’s a rather sad slate of movies. Fortunately, last August was even worse, so 2018 should at least maintain its lead. Maybe we can get lucky and come away with a $600 million lead by the end of the month. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: July Ends on an Impossibly Good Weekend

July 30th, 2018

Mission: Impossible—Fallout was easily the biggest hit of the weekend earning more than the rest of the top five combined. Its opening weekend of $61.24 million was the best in the franchise, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the overall box office from dropping 9.3% from last weekend earning $156 million. This is 8.0% higher than the same weekend last year, which is the more important result. 2018 is now ahead of 2017 by a margin of 8.5% or $570 million at $7.23 billion to $6.66 billion. More...

Christopher Robin Trailer

March 7th, 2018

Family drama starring Ewan McGregor opens August 3 ... Full Movie Details. More...