Home Market Releases for December 11th, 2018

December 11th, 2018

There isn’t a huge number of releases on this week’s list home market release report. The Equalizer 2 is the biggest, but it is far from the best. As for the best, there are some Pick of the Week contenders, including Colette, My Neighbor Totoro and A Simple Favor. My Neighbor Totoro is worth owning, but it is a triple-dip at this point, maybe more. A Simple Favor is coming out on VOD this week. This leaves Colette’s DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack as the Pick of the Week. More...

Home Market Releases for November 13th, 2018

November 14th, 2018

There are not many big releases on this week’s list. The Meg is the biggest, but not the best. As for the best, I’m going with Pixar Short Film Collection: Volume Three on Blu-ray. 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 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...

Weekend Estimates: Impossible Tops Chart with Franchise Best $61.5 million Debut

July 29th, 2018

Mission: Impossible—Fallout dominated the weekend box office chart with $61.5 million over the weekend. This is the best opening in the franchise, unless you take inflation into account. Assuming the film can have the same legs as Rogue Nation, it will be able to top $200 million domestically. The film’s reviews and its A from CinemaScore, and the nearly total lack of quality competition in August, make that seem likely; however, I think we should wait a week before predicting a final box office tally. Internationally, the film made $92 million in 36 markets, which is close to 20% higher than Rogue Nation’s debuts in those markets, which should be enough to keep Paramount happy. Although given the studio’s struggles in the past few years, if the film was just marginally profitable, it would have been reason for Paramount to celebrate. More...

Friday Estimates: Fallout on top Friday with Franchise Record

July 28th, 2018

Mission: Impossible—Fallout earned $23.0 million on Friday, putting it on pace for an opening weekend of $58 million, according to Paramount. This is the fastest start in the franchise; although given the age of the franchise and the ticket price inflation, that’s much less impressive. The film’s reviews are among the best we’ve seen from a wide release this year, while it earned an A from CinemaScore, so its legs should be long. That said, this is weaker than we predicted. I really thought the reviews would translate into more ticket sales. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Fallout Rises to the Top

July 27th, 2018

Mission: Impossible—Fallout had the best previews in the franchise with $6 million; although that’s a bit of a backhanded compliment, as only Rogue Nation is new enough to be part of the preview era of Hollywood releases. That film pulled in $4 million during its previews; however, it also opened three years ago when previews were not as lucrative, so it is not a good comparison. On the other hand, The Equalizer 2 is a solid comparison as both are action sequels. If the two films have the same legs, then Fallout will open with nearly $70 million. Its reviews strongly suggest it will have better legs, but the long-running franchise suggests slighly longer legs. Overally, I’m still happy with our $67 million prediction and I expect the film to earn a little more than that, but be close enough to call it a victory. More...

Weekend Predictions: Can Teen Titans do the Impossible?

July 26th, 2018

The last weekend of the month has two wide releases, both of which are earning stellar reviews. Mission: Impossible—Fallout is the sixth film in the franchise. It wasn’t that long ago where a sixth installment in a franchise would be impressive. Teen Titans Go! To the Movie is the first big screen appearance for most of these characters. There should also be three, maybe four other films with $10 million or more during the weekend. 2018 won’t need that depth to win in the year-over-year comparison, as this weekend last year was pretty weak, so the month should end on a winning note. More...

Theater Averages: Eighth Grade Repeats a Grade

July 25th, 2018

Eighth Grade remained on top of the theater average chart with an average of $24,975 in 33 theaters over the weekend. McQueen and Blindspotting were right behind with averages of $24,718 and $24,024 in 4 and 14 theaters respectively. The re-release of Wanda opened with $10,679 in one theater. The two wide releases of the week were next with The Equalizer 2 and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! in a virtual tie at $10,629 and $10,537 respectively. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Equalizer 2 Also has no Equal

July 23rd, 2018

The Equalizer 2 was the surprise winner at the weekend box office chart with $36.01 million over the weekend, which put it just ahead of the $34.95 million earned by Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! The overall box office topped expectations with $171 million, up 2.7% from last week. This is 5.1% lower than the same weekend last year, but this is better than expected. Also, 2018 is still ahead of 2017 by a sizable margin of $560 million / 8.8% at $6.98 billion to $6.42 billion. Again, if 2018 just maintains the raw dollar margin for the rest of the year, it will be a reason to celebrate. More...

Weekend Estimates: Equalizer more than Equals Mamma Mia

July 22nd, 2018

In a shocking turn of events, The Equalizer 2 overtook Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! over the weekend with $35.83 million. This is better than predicted and is better than the original managed. Its reviews are not great, but it earned an A from CinemaScore and it is aimed at a more mature target audience, so it should have better than average legs. We will have a better picture this time next week. Internationally, the film managed $3.3 million on 704 screens in 11 markets, including $2.2 million in Australia. The film first didn’t do great internationally, so while this is a 30% improvement, it is still nothing special. More...

Friday Estimates: Mamma Mia is Here to Stay

July 21st, 2018

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! had a stellar opening earning $14.28 million on Friday, which is enough to put it on pace for nearly $40 million opening. That’s on the very high end of expectations and more than enough to be considered a hit. With strong reviews and an A minus from CinemaScore, the film should have good legs. It won’t have as good legs as the original did, but $100 million is an easy goal after this opening. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Equalizer nearly Equals Mamma Mia

July 20th, 2018

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! pulled in $3.4 million during its previews on Thursday, which is a figure that is nearly impossible to judge. There simply are not enough live-action musicals released to compare to. The vast majority if those that do come out come out at Christmas time, so it is a poor comparison. Rock of Ages is the closest both in terms of style (Both films are Jukebox Musicals.) and release dates, but that film came out before midnight shows became standard. I’ve seen some compare it to Pitch Perfect 2, but that was a sequel and that messes with the comparisons. That said, $3.4 million is still a good amount. The reviews suggest good legs and a $35 million opening is likely, which is a little better than predicted, by a little bit. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Mamma Mia have an Encore on Top?

July 19th, 2018

At the beginning of the month, I didn’t have relatively high hopes for this weekend; I thought it could put up a fight in the year-over-year comparison, but would ultimately lose. That has changed and not for the better. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! is still widely expected to earn first place over the weekend, but it might not do well enough to finish with $100 million domestically. The Equalizer 2 won’t match its predecessor, not with the amount of action films struggling in theaters. Finally, Unfriended: Dark Web is opening in barely more than 1,500 theaters and it is going nowhere. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation should have a good hold, but I’m not sure about any of the rest. This weekend last year, Dunkirk opened with just over $50 million and five other films earned $10 million or more over the weekend. There’s no way 2018 will match that. I don’t even think it will be close. More...

2018 Preview: July

July 1st, 2018

June was amazing, with two absolute monster hits and a solid $100 million hit. By the end of the month, 2018’s lead over 2017 will be well over $500 million, or close to 10%. Even if 2018 only managed to maintain this lead in terms of raw numbers for the rest of the year, it will be a massive jump at the box office. As for July, there are a couple of potential monster hits, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Mission: Impossible—Fallout, plus four potential $100 million hits. Last July, there was only one monster hit, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and three $100 million hits. I don’t think 2018 will match 2017 at the top, but 2018 appears to have more depth and that should put it a little ahead over the full month. More...

The Equalizer 2 Trailer

June 22nd, 2018

Thriller starring Denzel Washington, directed by Antoine Fuqua opens July 20 ... Full Movie Details. More...