DEG Watched At Home Chart: Déjà Vu for the DEG

June 11th, 2020

There were no new releases in the top five of the DEG Watched at Home Chart this week. In fact, the top five were exactly the same as they were last week, right down to the order the were in. This isn’t a huge shock, as the new DVD / Blu-ray releases and VOD releases were far from stellar, so there wasn’t anything new to challenge those at the top of the chart. Sonic the Hedgehog remains one of the few bright spots in a movie industry that has been hit hard by the pandemic. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Preying for a Miracle

May 21st, 2020

Birds of Prey hit DVD / Blu-ray / 4K last week, and that helped it shoot up the DEG Watched at Home chart from eighth place last week to land in first place. It looks like Warner Bros. should break even on this film before too long. On the downside, the studio only had two other entries in the top twenty, leaving Sony in first place in that regard with five releases in the top twenty this week. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Skywalker Remains Top Draw

April 23rd, 2020

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker remained on top of the chart on this week’s DEG Watched at Home Chart. In fact, the top five were nearly identical to the top five from last week, so we are going to spend some more time looking lower down the list. More...

International Box Office: Onward Starts On Top, but it could have a Short Journey in Theaters

March 12th, 2020

Onward opened in first place internationally with just $28.0 million in 47 markets during its opening weekend. Worse still, the film has opened in most major markets and it wasn’t a serious hit in any of them. Its biggest market was the U.K., where it did open in first place with $4.45 million on 632 theaters. It also earned first place in France ($3.5 million) and in Mexico ($2.84 million). On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in Russia ($2.99 million on 1,631 screens) and Germany ($1.7 million). More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Onward on the Outs

March 10th, 2020

It was a bad weekend at the box office. There’s really no way to spin this in a positive way. Onward opened just below the low end of predictions with just $39.12 million. The Way Back couldn’t make up the difference, as it only managed $8.17 million. The overall box office was up 2.0% from last weekend at just over $100 million. Sadly, this was 52% lower than the same weekend last year when Captain Marvel debuted. I don’t think anyone truly thought 2020 would win this weekend in the year-over-year competition. However, I don’t think many thought it would lose this badly. In fact, 2020 has slipped below 2019’s pace by 1.3% or $22 million at $1.68 billion to $1.70 billion. This is a disaster. More...

Weekend Estimates: Onward Hits $40 million, Maybe

March 8th, 2020

According to Disney, Onward will earn $40.0 million during its opening weekend. I strongly suspect they rounded up to get to that number, because opening below $40 million would have been a lot harder to spin in a positive way and they wanted to delay that admission one more day. Or maybe the final weekend number will be higher and I will have egg on my face. If it does match its estimates, it will still be on the lower end of expectations, but it will at least have a very healthy internal multiplier, meaning its reviews and its A minus from CinemaScore are helping its box office numbers. The film’s demographics were evenly split with 52% of the audience being female and 42% being general audiences vs. 58% families. Internationally, the film really struggled with just $28.0 million in 47 markets. The film opened in most major markets and this includes first place debut in the U.K. ($4.4 million); France ($3.3 million); and Mexico ($3.0 million). On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in both Russia ($2.1 million) and Germany ($1.9 million). The film is going to need very long legs or a massive home market run to break even any time soon. More...

Friday Estimates: Onward is Off the Pace

March 7th, 2020

It looks like March will start slower than anticipated, as Onward only managed $12.1 million on Friday, putting it on pace for just under $40 million during its opening weekend. If it does miss $40 million by any real degree, then it will be Pixar’s worst wide opening since Toy Story. Even if it avoids that fate, it is on pace to have the worst three-day opening for a Pixar film since The Good Dinosaur, and that film opened on a Wednesday. I’m not sure how to explain this other than look at the COVID-19 outbreak. Granted, its reviews are strong, but well below average for the studio. Likewise, its CinemaScore is a mere A minus, which isn’t great for a family film. It’s still good, but not great, certainly better than its box office numbers would indicate. More...

Weekend Predictions: Onward and Upward?

March 6th, 2020

The first weekend of March should be much better than the last weekend of February was, as Onward is widely expected to be a much bigger hit than The Invisible Man was. Unfortunately, it is also widely expected to not be enough to compete with what Captain Marvel made this weekend last year. In fact, it isn’t expected to make as much during its opening weekend as Captain Marvel made during its opening day. 2020 is going to get destroyed in the year-over-year comparison. More...

International Box Office: Sonic Completes Threepeat

March 5th, 2020

Sonic The Hedgehog is unstoppable on the international chart earning first place for the third weekend in a row. This past weekend, it pulled in $26.8 million in 62 markets for totals of $137.2 million internationally and $265.8 million worldwide. The film had no major market openings, but did open very well in both Indonesia and Poland at $2 million and $1.1 million respectively. The film has already earned enough to break even and it is quickly becoming one of Paramount’s biggest hits in the last few years. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Invisible Man first Horror Film Truly Seen by Audiences

March 3rd, 2020

It has not been a good year for horror films so far, but The Invisible Man broke the slump by earning first place over the weekend with $28.21 million. It is already the biggest horror hit of the year after just three days of release. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough, as the overall box office fell 4.2% from last weekend to $98 million. Worse still, this was 14% lower than the same weekend last year. Granted, 2020 is still ahead of 2019, so there is no reason to panic. In fact, thanks to weekday numbers, the lead has grown to $116 million / 8.1% at $1.55 billion to $1.43 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Invisible Man Appears at Top of Chart

March 1st, 2020

The Invisible Man will debut this weekend with $29 million, according to Universal’s Sunday morning projection. That’s enough to make it the highest-grossing horror movie of 2020 after just three days in release, and is well ahead of predictions. The result is helped considerably by strong reviews, with the film earning a B+ from CinemaScore, and a 90% critics’ score and 89% audience score from Rotten Tomatoes. More...

Friday Estimates: Invisible Man Makes Its Presence Felt

February 29th, 2020

The Invisible Man opened with $9.8 million on Friday, which means it is the sixth-biggest horror film released in 2020 so far after just one day in theaters. It is projected to be in first place by the end of the weekend with $26 million, topping predictions, albeit by a very small margin. The film’s reviews remain excellent and it earned a B plus from CinemaScore. That is stellar, for a horror movie. It would be okay for an action movie and terrible for a family film / faith-based release, but it is amazing for a horror film. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will the Invisible Man be Seen this Weekend?

February 28th, 2020

It is the final weekend of the month and there’s only one wide release, The Invisible Man, which is the eighth horror film released in 2020 so far. This is going to hurt its box office potential; however, its reviews will be a major selling point, assuming audiences like the movie as much as critics do. This weekend last year was the first weekend of March. The box office was led by How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, while Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral made it a close race. Unless The Invisible Man is a surprise $40 million hit, 2020 has almost no chance of matching last year’s box office. More...

International Box Office: Sonic Runs Another Lap in First Place

February 27th, 2020

Sonic The Hedgehog remained in first place on the international chart this past weekend earning $38.3 million in 56 markets for totals of $96.5 million internationally and $203.0 million worldwide. It’s only major market opening of the weekend came in Russia where the film earned fourth place with $3.84 million on 2,042 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $6.62 million. I think Paramount would have been relatively happy had the film finished with just over $200 million worldwide, so this is a fantastic run so far. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Sonic Repeats on Top, Call Makes it Close

February 25th, 2020

It was a mixed weekend, but at least there was a relatively close race for top spot. This close race happened in part because The Call of the Wild beat expectations by a huge margin, but also because Sonic the Hedgehog fell faster than anticipated. This left the overall box office down 34% from last weekend to just $102 million, but drop-offs like this are normal for post-holiday weekend. Unfortunately, this was also 19% lower than the same weekend last year and this isn’t normal. Year-to-date, 2020 still has a lead over 2019, but it has shrunk to 6.2% or $82 million at $1.41 billion to $1.33 billion. Hopefully this recent weakness is only temporary. More...

Weekend Estimates: Sonic Outlasts the Sled Dog

February 23rd, 2020

Sonic the Hedgehog will remain in first place over the full weekend, albeit with a weaker-than-predicted sophomore stint of $26.3 million. That said, the film already has $106.6 million after just two weeks of release, which is likely more than Paramount thought it would earn in total. It is still too early to tell where the film will finish internationally, but there is also reasons to be optimistic there, as it has nearly $100 million in just two weeks of release, including $38.3 million in 56 markets this weekend. This includes a first place opening in Russia with $6.3 million on 1,800 screens, which is an impressive debut for that market and this time of year. More...

Friday Estimates: Call has a Wilder Start to the Weekend than Anticipated

February 22nd, 2020

The Call of the Wild really bounced back from Thursday’s previews to earn $8.05 million on Friday. The film is projected to earn $24 million to $25 million over the weekend, which is much better than predicted and puts it in a virtual tie with Sonic the Hedgehog for top spot. It is likely to have better legs than most new releases, because of its target audiences, which is a mix of families and older moviegoers who would be fans of the original novel. Additionally, its reviews are good, but not great, and it earned an A minus from CinemaScore, which is also good, but not great, for a family film. Unfortunately, it still has that $125 million production budget to deal with, so breaking even is very unlikely. Maybe it can save face though. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Wild has a Tame Debut

February 21st, 2020

The Call of the Wild earned $1 million on Thursday, which is better than expected. Granted, it is nowhere near the $3 million Sonic the Hedgehog earned last Thursday, but if The Call of the Wild can open with a third as much as Sonic the Hedgehog did last weekend, then it will beat expectations, but won’t come close to what it needs to earn to break even. Its reviews are about the same as Sonic’s reviews, but this film has a much smaller Fanboy Effect, so it should have better legs. We will have to wait till tomorrow to tell if that is true. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Audience Answer the Call?

February 20th, 2020

It’s a post-holiday weekend, so we are not expecting much at the box office. The Call of the Wild is earning good reviews, but not great reviews, while its buzz is far too quiet for its massive production budget. On the other hand, Brahms: The Boy II is a low-budget horror movie earning terrible reviews and frankly I’m sick of talking about these movies. Seriously. We are less than two months into the year and we’ve already at least four other low-budget horror movies to come out. I don’t want to hear anyone complain about too many super hero movies ever again. … Moving on. Neither of these two films are expected to challenge Sonic the Hedgehog for top spot on the box office chart. In fact, I’m not convinced Brahms will open in the top five. This weekend last year, the final installment of the How to Train Your Dragon opened with just over $55 million. There’s no way the box office will match that this year and 2020 is going to lose in the year-over-year competition unless the holdovers hold on a lot better than anticipated. More...

2020 Preview: February

February 1st, 2020

We had a great start to the year, sort of. Most films that opened / expanded wide in January are going to miss expectations; however, Bad Boys for Life and 1917 are so much stronger than anticipated that they alone will more than make up the difference. Looking forward, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is almost guaranteed to be the biggest hit of the month. There are two questions. Firstly, is it going to top Bad Boys for Life and become the biggest hit of the year so far? Secondly, is it going to be the only $100 million hit of month? Hopefully the answers to those questions are yes and no respectively, but no to both is would still be good news overall. Sonic the Hedgehog is looking better than before and frankly Paramount needs a hit after a very troubling 2019. Meanwhile, there are several midlevel hits that could help the overall box office. Last February was a mixed month with some hits, like How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, but some disappointing results as well, like from The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. I think it will be a close race in the year-over-year competition with 2020 winning some weeks and losing others. More...

Call of the Wild Trailer

November 21st, 2019

Adventure starring Harrison Ford February 21 ... Full Movie Details.

A sled dog struggles for survival in the Alaskan wild. More...