2017 - Holiday Gift Guide - Part III - Limited Releases, Classics, Foreign Imports

December 16th, 2017

Both the first installment First-run Releases and the second installment, TV on DVD releases, were shorter than I would have liked, as this hasn’t been a great year for either wide releases or TV on DVD releases. That said, the third installment of our Holiday Gift Guide deals with limited releases, classics, and foreign imports and this list can get out of hand rather quickly. There will more releases on this list than the previous two, starting with... More...

Home Market Releases for August 15th, 2017

August 16th, 2017

Alien: Covenant is the biggest release on this week’s list, but the franchise is off its peak and has been for a long time. As for Pick of the Week contenders, there are not a lot of them. If I were to stretch the definition, Food Wars: Season One is great, if you are into that subgenre of Anime. Descendants 2 is arguably better than the original, but the DVD isn’t going to really appeal to those outside the target audience. That leaves The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: 50th Anniversary Blu-ray as the clear winner for Pick of the Week. More...

Home Market Releases for August 1st, 2017

August 2nd, 2017

There is no monster hit coming out this week, but that doesn’t mean there are no new DVD / Blu-rays worth picking up. In fact, there are six Pick of the Week contenders. This includes Slither: Collector's Edition, which took home the title in a close race. There are also two co-winners of the Puck of the Week for best Canadian release, Colossal on Blu-ray Combo Pack and I am the Blues on DVD. More...

Theater Averages: Long, Strange, and Profitable

May 31st, 2017

Long Strange Trip topped the theater chart with an average of $21,739 in two theaters over the weekend. (The film also had a special engagement on Thursday in 50 theaters.) This is more impressive, because of how long the movie is, which limited the number of screenings per day. The only other film to reach the $10,000 club was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales with an average of $14,729. However, Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan came very close with an average of $9,940 in two theaters, plus it was a Wednesday release. More...

Theater Averages: Audiences Didn’t Wait to See Paris

May 16th, 2017

Paris Can Wait topped the theater average chart earning nearly $100,000 in just 4 theaters for an average of $24,713. The overall number one film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, landed in second place with $15,013. The only other film in the $10,000 club was Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe, which earned $11,729 in its lone theater. Manifesto just missed the mark with $9,628 also in one theaters. However, it was a Wednesday release and managed $11,824 during its five-day opening. More...

Weekend Estimates: Second Place Snatched from King Arthur

May 14th, 2017

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword has proved to be a costly bet gone wrong for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow. The film had a long gestation period, and ended up costing $175 million to make. Once another $100 million or so of marketing is added in, that makes for a target of at least $550 million at the global box office before anyone starts recouping anything from the film. A domestic opening of $14.7 million, and $29.1 million overseas, makes that a laughably-distant prospect. Adding to the embarrassment, King Arthur will start out in third place, behind Mothers Day-play Snatched, and even that film isn’t doing particularly well, when all is said and done. More...

Theater Averages: Galaxy Grabs $33,704 on Theater Average Chart

May 10th, 2017

Not only did Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 earn first place on the weekend box office chart, it was also the top film on the theater average chart earning an average of $33,704. This is the fourth best result of the year so far, second best for a wide release. (Beauty and the Beast is still the best of the year with an average of $41,508.) Second place went to the re-release of Stalker with $20,540 in its lone theater. The Lovers was the only other film in the $10,000 club with an average of $16,572 in four theaters. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Galaxy gets the Summer Going with $146.51 million

May 8th, 2017

For the eighth year in a row, a Marvel movie started the summer blockbuster season. This time around, it was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, which earned $146.51 million, or roughly 75% of the total weekend box office of $194 million. That figure is nearly double the box office from last week, an increase of 97%, to be more precise. Unfortunately, this is also 19% lower than the same weekend last year when Captain America: Civil War dominated the chart. 2017 is still ahead of 2016, but the gap has narrowed to 4.5% at $3.88 billion to $3.71 billion. More...

Friday Estimates: Galaxy Doesn’t Shine as Bright, but Still Earns $56.26 million

May 6th, 2017

As expected, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 dominated the box office chart on Friday. However, it didn’t do quite as well as we predicted with $56.26 million. It would have needed north of $60 million to get to $156 million over the weekend. Its reviews are fantastic, the best in the top ten by quite a margin, while it earned an A from CinemaScore, so it should have solid legs over the weekend. On the other hand, it is a sequel and those tend to be more front-loaded, so look for $138 million over the weekend. It is still very early, but the film appears to be on pace for $350 million domestically and close to $900 million worldwide. This is clearly a monster hit, even if it is not quite as large as anticipated. To put it in perspective, it is the sixth best May opening of all time, so there's plenty of reasons to celebrate this debut. On a side note, four of the five films ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 on that list are from the MCU. The lone exception is Spider-Man 3. Marvel owns May. More...

Weekend Predictions: Guarding the Box Office against Civil War

May 4th, 2017

The summer blockbuster season unofficially begins this weekend with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. There are no other films opening wide this week, so it will dominate the chart like few films are able to. In fact, the film’s only real competition is Captain America: Civil War, which opened this weekend last year. There’s very little chance Vol 2 will start as fast as Civil War started, but it could have better legs. I think 2017 will lose the year-over-year comparison this weekend, but the rest of the month should be better. More...

Theater Averages: Baahubali Won’t Conclude after a $24,712 opening

May 2nd, 2017

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion opened on top of the theater average chart with $24,712 in just over 400 theaters. It goes without saying that there will be another installment in this franchise; although I hear it won’t follow the same characters. The only other film in the $10,000 club was How to Be a Latin Lover, which earned an average of $10,959 in 1,118 theaters. Obit was relatively close to the $10,000 mark with an average of $8,093 in two theaters over the weekend; however, it was a Wednesday release earning an average of $17,604 over the five days. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: April’s Conclusion was a Wild Weekend

May 1st, 2017

The weekend box office was a wild one with two limited releases in the top five, How to be a Latin Lover and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. The Fate of the Furious remained in first place with $19.94 million, which is better than expected. Unfortunately, the overall box office was still weak down 8.3% from last weekend to just $99 million. Worse still, this is 8.9% lower than the same weekend last year. 2017’s lead over 2016 took a bit of a hit, but still has a 5.1% or $180 million lead, $3.66 billion to $3.48 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Niche Audiences to the Fore at Home, Guardians Big Overseas

April 30th, 2017

The last weekend before the Summer season is generally a quiet one, but two breakout hits aimed at niche audiences are making this one interesting. How to Be a Latin Lover will post a shade over $12 million from just 1,118 theaters, according to Lionsgate’s weekend estimate. That would be the news of the weekend if it wasn’t for Baahubali 2: The Conclusion earning the best weekend for a Bollywood movie in history with a stellar $10.1 million from just 425 locations. Those two films couldn’t knock The Fate of the Furious off top spot though, as the action blockbuster added another $19.4 million, to take its domestic total to $192.7 million. More...

Friday Estimates: Audiences are still in Love with Furious

April 29th, 2017

The top five this weekend looks a little different than anticipated. Okay, “a little” might be an understatement. The Fate of the Furious dominated Friday’s box office with $5.1 million, which puts it on pace for $18.5 million for the weekend. This is almost exactly as expected. Some of the new releases were a little more surprising. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Circle Doesn’t Live Up to its Promise with $430,000 While Moviegoers Love Latin with $450,000

April 28th, 2017

The Circle was the first film to release Thursday preview numbers and they were not good at just $430,000. Granted, this is far from the worst we’ve seen this year. The Promise only managed $200,000 last week. If The Circle has the same legs during its opening weekend, it will only manage $9 million. Even that might be asking too much, as its reviews went from 50% positive when we made our prediction to just 21% positive today. I really don’t think it will manage $12 million over the weekend. We will have a better idea tomorrow when Friday’s numbers show up. More...

Weekend Predictions: April Circles the Drain

April 27th, 2017

The last weekend in April is usually a terrible weekend and this year is no different. There is only one truly wide release this week, The Circle, although How to be a Latin Lover has a shot at the top five. There are also two films opening in approximately 500 theaters hoping to sneak into the top ten: Sleight and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. However, while it seems like a busy week for new releases, The Fate of the Furious will easily remain in first place. In fact, the top five this week could be nearly identical to the top five last week, with The Circle being the only nearly guaranteed new addition. This weekend last year, The Jungle Book led the way with $44 million, while the biggest new release was Keanu with just under $10 million. The new releases might be stronger this time around, but there’s almost no way 2017 will be able to compete with The Jungle Book. More...

2017 Preview: April

April 1st, 2017

March was a month of extremes, led by two strong performances: Beauty and the Beast breaking records and Logan cracking $200 million with ease. There were also two other $100 million hits and another potential $100 million hit that we don’t have significant box office numbers for yet. This is fantastic. On the opposite end, there were three films on last month’s list that didn’t even open truly wide. This month won’t be as lucrative at the top, as The Fate of the Furious is the only film expected to top $100 million. Fortunately, it is expected to open with over $100 million. On the other extreme, there are many, many films on this list that I’m not sure will open wide. Fortunately, last April wasn’t any better. The Jungle Book made nearly $1 billion worldwide, but the other nine films combined made less than half of that. To emphasize: the other nine films that opened last April averaged less than $50 million worldwide each. If The Fate of the Furious can just come close to the previous installment of the franchise, then 2017 has a solid shot at topping 2016. More...