Home Market Releases for January 14th, 2020

January 13th, 2020

It’s a really bad week on the home market. Granted, there are three wide releases on this week’s list, which is better than most weeks. However, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is the biggest and the best of these three releases. That’s not a good sign. There are not even a lot of smaller releases to make up for the weakness at the top. More...

Home Market Releases for December 24th, 2019

December 26th, 2019

This year, Christmas Eve landed on a Tuesday. Christmas Eve is the busiest shopping day of the year, but that’s most people buying last minute groceries and the rest of the retail sector suffers as a result. This is true this year and there are so few releases to talk about that there will only be two sections in this week’s report: the main section and VOD releases. Judy is the only release on this week’s list that a majority will have heard of. It is also the best new release of the week. More...

International Box Office: Chinese Movie Fans Have Seen Better Days

October 30th, 2019

Better Days opened in first place in China with $86.11 million, which was also enough to give it first place internationally. This is an amazing start, all things considered. The movie was supposed to open in June, but the Chinese censors yanked the film at the last minute, then announced a new release day less than a week before the film opened. It is a minor miracle it was able to do this well. More...

International Box Office: Maleficent Takes Her Evil Worldwide

October 23rd, 2019

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil topped the international chart with $117.0 million in 56 markets during its debut weekend. This includes a $23.41 million first place debut in China, which is a little more than the original opened with there. On the other hand, the film slipped a little in Russia earning $11.1 million during its opening there, although it still managed first place in that market. On the other hand, the film really struggled in Mexico, when compared to its predecessor, earning $7.62 million, which is barely more than half of the first film’s debut there. Furthermore, the film has debuted in every international market, so it won’t be able to rely on new releases to hang around on the international chart for long. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: It Took a Trio of Hits for 2019 to Win

October 22nd, 2019

The weekend went about as well as expected, overall. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil didn’t open as well as expected, but Zombieland: Double Tap helped make up the difference. The overall box office was still down 6.5% from last weekend at $140 million; however, this was 5.3% higher than the same weekend last year and that is a much more important number. 2019 is still behind 2018’s pace by 5.3% or $500 million at $8.86 billion to $9.35 billion, but that’s not as bad as it has been this year. More...

Weekend Estimates: Maleficent Leads the way, but Box Office is a Team Effort

October 20th, 2019

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil did bounce back on Saturday and that is helping it earn an estimated $36.0 million during its opening weekend. It is still missing expectations, but by a more reasonable margin. Its internal multiplier is about the same as the first film managed, despite this film earning weaker reviews. Audience reactions were the same, as both films earned an A-rating from CinemaScore. As for the movies international numbers, it is pulling in $117.0 million, but it also opened everywhere, so it needed a monster start and I’m not sure this was it. The film did have a faster opening that its predecessor did in China with $22.4 million, while it cracked $10 million in Russia with an an opening of $10.7 million. The film cost $185 million to make, so this is not a fast enough start to break even in the short term, but with Disney+ starting next month, it could break even eventually. More...

Friday Estimates: Maleficent isn’t Evil, but it is far from Good

October 19th, 2019

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil wasn’t expected to be a monster hit, but its previews gave reason to be optimistic. That optimism is gone as a result of Friday’s estimates. The film pulled in just $12.5 million on Friday, meaning it will have to have nearly as good legs as the original had just to avoid opening below the low end of expectations. That seems unlikely, especially with its weaker reviews, although it did manage the same A rating from CinemaScore. Maybe it will really bounce back today, but we won’t really know till the weekend estimates come out tomorrow. More...

Weekend Predictions: Can a Dynamic Duo of Sequels Stop the Joker?

October 18th, 2019

There are two wide releases this week and both of them are delayed sequels. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is widely expected to top the box office chart this weekend, but it is also widely expected to fail to match the original by a huge margin. On the other hand, Zombieland: Double Tap will likely only manage third place, but it has a real shot at matching Zombieland, at least in terms of raw dollars. By comparison, this weekend last year saw the near record-setting debut of Halloween. (It would have set the October record, had Venom not set it two weeks earlier.) I really thought 2019 would have a chance to win in the year-over-year comparison, but unless Maleficent: Mistress of Evil really beats expectations, that’s not going to happen. More...

International Box Office: Joker Takes on All of the Top Five and Wins

October 17th, 2019

Like last weekend, this weekend’s international box office was toped by Joker, while the nearest competition was a Chinese film. Unlike last weekend, Joker dominated the chart earning more than the rest of the top five combined. It managed a weekend haul of $125.3 million on 24,555 screens in 79 markets for totals of $354.7 million internationally and $548.3 million worldwide. The film hit half a billion dollars worldwide in just 12 days and given its legs so far, it is on pace to reach $1 billion. Joker had very similar openings in France and Germany with $10.6 million on 630 screens and $9.8 million on 1,003 screens respectively. It goes without saying that the film was the best Warner Bros. opening of 2019 in both markets. However, the film flopped in those markets when you compare how well it is doing in the U.K. In that market, Joker was down just 22% earning $12.0 million on 1,472 screens during its sophomore stint for a running tally of $36.9 million. It has earned more in the U.K. than it has domestically, relatively speaking, and I don’t think anyone was expecting that. On the downside, the film is done with openings and it will be coasting on holdovers from now on. That’s not much of a downside. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Joker’s Hold is No Laughing Matter

October 15th, 2019

Joker dominated the weekend box office, crushing expectations and setting records in the process. The Addams Family also beat expectations and this really helped 2019. Granted, the box office was still down 7.8% from last weekend to $138 million; however, this was 3.8% higher than the same weekend last year. More...

Weekend Estimates: Joker Setting October Sophomore Record with $55 million

October 13th, 2019

Joker is setting the record for the biggest sophomore weekend in October. It is estimated to earn $55.0 million over the weekend, which is nearly $12 million more than the current record held by Gravity. It is also nearly $20 million more than Venom earned during its second weekend of release. If this estimate holds, then Joker will have earned nearly $192.7 million after just ten days of release. Furthermore, its international numbers are just as potent with a weekend haul of $123.7 million on 24,000 screens in 79 markets giving it totals of $351.2 million internationally and $543.9 million worldwide. Given its legs so far, $1 billion worldwide seems like a safe bet. It would be nice to get a billion dollar hit from 2019 that isn’t from Disney / Marvel. The film had a pair of stunning debuts in France ($10.3 million on 630 screens) and Germany ($9.3 million on 912). However, its biggest weekend haul was in the U.K., where it was down just 22%, earning $12.0 million on 1,472 screens for a two-week total of $36.9 million. More...

Friday Estimates: The Joker Laughs at the Competition

October 12th, 2019

Joker remained in first place earning $17 million on Friday. This is 57% lower than the film’s opening Friday, which is a really good hold and puts it on pace for $58 million over the full weekend. This would lift its running tally to nearly $200 million after just 10 days of release and might even be enough to cover the film’s entire combined production and advertising budget. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Gemini Has No Equal, For Now

October 11th, 2019

As expected, Gemini Man, got off to the fastest start of any of the three films opening this weekend. After all, it is an action film with a bankable star. Unfortunately, it didn’t open as fast as expected, earning $1.6 million. Because it is an action film with weak reviews that will likely turn into poor word-of-mouth, it will very likely have short legs. It needed about $2 million to match our $24 million prediction, so with this opening, I’m not convinced it will get to $20 million during its opening weekend. More...

Weekend Predictions: It Looks Like a Scary Weekend

October 11th, 2019

There are three wide releases coming out, two of which have terrible reviews, The Addams Family and Gemini Man, while the third film, Jexi, as no reviews. It’s one of those weekends. Joker is widely expected to earn first place and it should hold better than Venom did during its second weekend of release, which is great news for 2019. Furthermore, this weekend last year, there were three wide releases with a total opening of $40 million. We should be able to top that this year by a significant margin, but A Star is Born is the one reason why 2018 could win in the year-over-year competition. More...

2019 Preview: October

October 1st, 2019

September ended on a bit of a weak note, but overall the month was excellent helping 2019 gain some ground on 2018. Can October continue this trend? There are certainly some potential box office hits coming out this month, starting with Joker, which opens the first weekend of the month and should be the biggest hit of the month. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil is aiming for $150 million and should be a hit, even if it doesn’t match the original at the box office. There are also a handful of films with an outside shot at getting to $100 million and I wouldn’t be shocked if one of them made it to that milestone. Meanwhile, last October, Venom broke records during its opening weekend, while A Star is Born had stellar legs helping both earn more than $200 million domestically. I don’t think the top two films will be able to match that this year, but we do have better depth, for the most part, so perhaps 2019 will continue its winning ways and close ground, at least by a little bit. More...

Gemini Man Trailer

July 25th, 2019

Action movie starring Will Smith, directed by Ang Lee opens October 11 ... Full Movie Details.

Henry Brogan is an elite assassin who is suddenly targeted and pursued by a mysterious young operative that seemingly can predict his every move. More...

Gemini Man Trailer

April 23rd, 2019

Ang Lee action movie starring Will Smith opens October 4 ... Full Movie Details. More...