December 19th, 2016
It’s the final Tuesday before Christmas and there are a few big releases that are trying to become last minute gifts. Sully is the best of the big releases, but according to Amazon.com, Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love is the best-selling new release of the week. I guess a very recent Christmas TV special makes sense near the top, but appearing at the very top it is surprising. As for the Pick of the Week, it is a coin-toss between Sully and Hitchcock/Truffaut on DVD or Blu-ray. Sully won the coin-toss.
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December 5th, 2016
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There are a few releases on this week’s list that are worth picking up. The Secret Life of Pets is by far the biggest release of the week. That said, Don’t Think Twice is the best and the Blu-ray is our Pick of the Week.
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September 28th, 2016
Like last week, no films joined the $10,000 club this past weekend. Two came close though. Firstly, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy earned $9,511 in its lone theater. That’s excellent for a documentary and hopefully this start will help it be seen by more. The number one overall film, The Magnificent Seven, was close behind with an average of $9,446.
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September 27th, 2016
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Is it time to panic? Not yet, but we are definitely getting concerned. The overall box office was soft due to the weaker than expected openings of The Magnificent Seven and Storks. Neither bombed exactly, but they weren’t particular strong either. The overall box office rose 16% from last weekend, but was down 25% from this weekend last year. Ouch. You usually only see that large a change in the year-over-year comparison when there is a misalignment in holidays. Year-to-date, 2016’s lead over 2015 dropped to 6.3% or $490 million at $8.35 billion to $7.86 billion.
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September 21st, 2016
No films made it into the $10,000 club this past weekend, but 3 Weeks in Yerevan came really close with an average of $9,748 in three theaters. Another film, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, did well with an average of $7,322 in 85 theaters. Sort of. In addition to playing in 85 theaters, there were another 80 theaters that had one-time showings over the weekend, which is why its total haul for the weekend is $771,153. I really hope having a mixed of regular showings and one-time screenings doesn’t catch on, because it makes our job of tracking box office numbers more confusing.
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September 18th, 2016
As expected, this weekend’s three new wide releases couldn’t budge Sully from the top of the chart with the Tom Hanks/Clint Eastwood drama down a very respectable 37% in its second weekend to $22 million, for a total of $70.5 million to date. Two films, Blair Witch and Bridget Jones’s Baby both had aspirations to challenge Sully for the title, but had to settle for second and third place.
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September 17th, 2016
Friday was terrible for new releases and Sully will have no trouble repeating on top of the chart this weekend. The film earned $6.57 million on Friday, which is less than a 50% decline from its opening Friday. It might not quite get to $22 million as predicted, but even if it doesn’t, it should come close enough to be considered a victory. This is great news, because it is the only September release so far that has done well enough to call it a box office success.
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September 16th, 2016
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Blair Witch led the way during Thursday’s previews with $765,000. This is well short of the horror films we had during the summer, including The Shallows at $1.33 million and Lights Out at $1.8 million. Then again, it isn’t really fair to compare previews during summer when a lot of the target audience doesn’t have to go to school the next day. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of horror films that come out in September and previews like this have only been ubiquitous for the past few years. I think it is a good sign, but I’m not sure. Maybe if moviegoers like it more than critics do, the film will be a hit.
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September 15th, 2016
There are three wide releases this week, plus another that could sneak into the top ten. Two of the three new releases, Blair Witch and Bridget Jones’s Baby, are expected to do well. On the other hand, Snowden is only going to reach the top five due to the lack of competition. Meanwhile, Hillsong: Let Hope Rise is a faith-based concert film. It could reach the top five, or it could miss the Mendoza Line. There’s no way to predict its box office potential. Despite the number of new releases, Sully is expected to remain in top spot thanks to its reviews and target demographic. This weekend last year, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials led the way with just over $30 million. It is likely no film will make that this year, while the depth is a mixed bag, so it looks like 2016 will lose in the year-over-year comparison.
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September 1st, 2016
August continued to pad 2016’s lead over 2015 in the year-over-year comparison. It managed this feat almost entirely due to Suicide Squad, which is on pace to hit $300 million. The next best film was Sausage Party, which might make $100 million, if it gets a push over the top. September won’t be as strong as that. This is no surprise, as the month is one of the biggest dumping grounds on the calendar. That said, studios have been working to make the end of the month a lot more productive and there are a few potential hits. The biggest of these is The Magnificent Seven, which is expected to crack $100 million, maybe even $150 million. Meanwhile, Sully and Storks both have a limited chance at $100 million. Last September, the biggest release of the month was Hotel Transylvania 2 with pulled in $169.70 million. I don’t think The Magnificent Seven will match that, so we might need a surprise $100 million hit for 2016 to come out on top.
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