Home Market Numbers: Hot Pursuit Can't Catch Holdovers

September 10th, 2015

There were more new releases to chart this week than there were last week. However, none of the new releases from August 11th were unable to unseat the holdovers on the combined DVD and Blu-ray chart for August 16th chart. This left Insurgent in first place with 303,000 units / $4.85 million for the week, giving it totals of 1.17 million units / $18.95 million after two weeks of release. More...

Home Market Releases for August 11th, 2015

August 11th, 2015

Fortunately, summer is coming to an end, so the quality of the home market releases will start to climb very soon. Unfortunately, this week the biggest first-run release is Unfriended. It is worth picking up, if you are a fan of the genre, but it is not exactly a blockbuster title. As for the best releases of the week, I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story is close to the top of the list. However, in the end I went with Felicia Day: You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), which is a bit of an unorthodox choice, as it is not a DVD or Blu-ray. However, it is the best new release of the week. More...

Per Theater Chart: In the Name of the Per Theater Chart

May 27th, 2015

In the Name of my Daughter rose to the first place on the per theater chart with an average of $20,069 in four theaters. I'll See You in My Dreams saw its theater count expand to 26 while its average was mostly flat down to $14,593. The best new release was When Marnie Was There, which earned an average of $13,695 in two theaters. This is great for an animated film in limited release. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Perfection, Times Two

May 19th, 2015

The overall box office was a little stronger than expected, including the number one film. Pitch Perfect 2 did something very few sequels do. It opened with more during its first weekend than its predecessor made in total. Mad Max: Fury Road also opened with more than Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome earned in total, but it has 30 years of inflation and population growth of roughly 33% to help it out, so it is a less impressive feat. Because both wide releases were so strong, the overall box office grew by 40% from last weekend to $184 million. This was also 3.4% higher than the same weekend last year, which allowed 2015 to maintain its lead over 2014. At the moment, 2015 is ahead of 2014 by 3.2% or $120 million at $3.78 billion to $3.66 billion. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will We Have a Perfect Opening, or Will the Box Office Be Mad?

May 14th, 2015

Mad Max: Fury Road and Pitch Perfect 2 both open wide this week. It is normally not a good idea to have two films competing for limited box office dollars, but these two films have divergent enough target audiences that it is unlikely that they will cannibalize each other too much. The Avengers: Age of Ultron will also still do well this weekend and help the overall box office do well. This weekend last year, Godzilla led the way with $93 million during its opening weekend. Neither Mad Max: Fury Road nor Pitch Perfect 2 will earn that much this weekend; however, they should earn more than that combined. Additionally, Age of Ultron should earn more than last year's second place film, Neighbors, and this depth could give 2015 the win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

Contest: In Pursuit of Prizes: Winning Announcement

May 13th, 2015

The winners of our In Pursuit of Prizes contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Hot Pursuit opening weekend were... More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Ultron Runs Away from Hot Pursuit

May 12th, 2015

As expected, The Avengers: Age of Ultron earned first place and Hot Pursuit earned second place. Unfortunately, they missed expectations in terms of raw numbers. They missed expectations so much that the box office fell 44% from last weekend to $131 million. Worse still, this is down 4.1% from the same weekend last year. 2015 still has a lead over 2014 by a margin of 4.6% at $3.57 billion to $3.41 billion. Unfortunately, I think this lead will start to slip this week. More...

Weekend Estimates: Hot Pursuit No Match for Ultron

May 10th, 2015

Hot Pursuit is utterly failing to live up to its name this weekend, with an anaemic $13.3 million opening—the worst for Reese Witherspoon since Cruel Intentions in 1999, and her worst ever for a wide-release movie, when adjusted for inflation. The Avengers: Age of Ultron wasn't really expected to be threatened in first place, and is actually doing quite well for a movie that opened with close to $200 million. It will be down about 60% this weekend to $77.2 million, per Disney, the second-best second weekend ever, just ahead of Avatar, and some way behind The Avengers. More...

Weekend Predictions: New Release in Hot Pursuit of Ultron

May 7th, 2015

The Avengers: Age of Ultron will continue to lead the way at the box office this weekend, but Hot Pursuit hopes to at least put in a good showing as counter-programming. Its reviews suggest that will be an uphill battle. Additionally, Age of Ultron will probably suffer a pretty big drop when compared to last week, because it is a comic book movie, its a sequel and its reviews are lower than its predecessor's were. This weekend last year, Neighbors opened with close to $50 million. Age of Ultron will earn more than that. It could earn more than Neighbors and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 made combined, while Hot Pursuit will make twice what the two counter-programming releases made last year. 2015 should come away with an easy win. More...

Contest: In Pursuit of Prizes

May 1st, 2015

Next week Hot Pursuit is the only film opening wide, so it is the only choice for the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Hot Pursuit.

Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of The Barber on Blu-ray. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a Frankenprize consisting of a previously reviewed DVD or Blu-ray. Finally, we will be choosing an entrant from the group of people who haven't won, or haven't won recently, and they will also win a Frankenprize consisting of a previously reviewed DVD or Blu-ray. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2015 Preview: May

May 1st, 2015

April is over and there was good news and bad news. Good news: Furious 7 crushed the competition, and broke records along the way. Bad news: Furious 7 crushed the competition and no other April release will earn as much in total as Furious 7 earned during its opening day. Fortunately, Furious 7 was so strong that it carried April of 2015 to a draw when compared to April of 2014. May has a lot of similarities to April. The Avengers: Age of Ultron is expected to break records during its opening weekend and even the low end has it earning more than $1 billion worldwide. Unfortunately, no other film is going to come close to that figure. There are five other films with a potential to reach $100 million at the box office. The keyword there is "potential". There's a chance less than half of those five films will get to that milestone. And like last April, last May had much better depth with five films that reached $100 million, including four that surpassed $200 million. Age of Ultron will earn more than the combined totals of Maleficent, last month's winner, and X-Men: Days of Future Past, which placed second for the month. I am a little concerned about the lack of depth this month and this could cause May to lose in the month-over-month comparison in the end. More...

Hot Pursuit Trailer

February 23rd, 2015

Comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara opens May 8... Full movie details... More...