November 15th, 2018
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is the latest installment in the Harry Potter franchise, but sadly, its reviews are, by far, the worst in the franchise. It should still have no trouble earning first place and will very likely break even just on its international numbers, but this is still troubling for its future. The second biggest release of the week is Instant Family and its reviews are good, but not great. They are certainly fine for a family comedy. Widows is the best-reviewed new release, but its buzz is quiet enough that it will barely finish in the top five. Meanwhile, A Private War is expanding nationwide and that could help it earn a spot in the top ten, but I wouldn’t bet on it. This weekend last year, Justice League opened with $93.84 million, while Wonder debuted in second place with $27.55 million. Add in The Star’s $9.81 million opening and the three wide releases pulled in $130 million. There’s no way the new releases this year will match that and 2018 will likely lose in the year-over-year comparison.
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February 19th, 2018
It’s another slow week; however, I prefer to think of it as the calm before the storm, as there are several blockbusters and Oscar contenders coming out over the next few weeks. That’s not to say there are no big hits or Oscar contenders on this week’s list. The Florida Project and Loving Vincent are both up for an Oscar, while there are some massive hits coming out on VOD, like Thor: Ragnarok. As for the Pick of the Week, it was an easy choice: The Florida Project on Blu-ray.
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December 6th, 2017
Coco climbed into first place with $69.0 million in 33 markets for totals of $171.3 million internationally and $281.4 million worldwide. The film opened in a trio of major markets in Europe, earning first place in all three. France led the way with $5.2 million, $6.4 million including previews, while Spain ($2.8 million) and Germany ($2.0 million) were also strong results. It beat Moana’s opening in all three markets. The film grew 146% during its second weekend in China earning $44.17 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $75.79 million. The film is already the biggest Pixar hit in China and is in third place for Disney animated films, behind Zootopia and Big Hero 6.
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November 12th, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok maintains a firm hold on top spot at the domestic and international box office this weekend, with a respectable decline of 54% at home taking it to $56.6 million for the weekend and $211.6 million to date. With another $75.9 million internationally, for a total of $438.5 million overseas,
Ragnarok will pass $650 million worldwide today. That makes it the most successful Thor film already, and it seems like it should retain decent traction into the holidays, even with Justice League coming out next weekend.
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November 1st, 2017
October wasn’t a good month; then again, outside of a few bright spots, the overall box office has been a disaster since early summer. I would love to say November will turn things around, but, while it should be better, in this case “better” is a relative term. There are two films on this list with a chance at $300 million, Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League, while Coco is nearly a guarantee for $200 million. By comparison, last November had a similar result with three films earning between $200 million and $300 million, but none topping that figure. This means, if Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League both get to that milestone, then 2017 could cut into 2016’s lead during the month. It will still take a minor miracle for 2017 to catch up in the end, but just cutting the lead in half by the end of December would be a reason to celebrate at this point.
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