Weekend Wrap-Up: Empire Strikes Back, Again

July 14th, 2020

For the third time in the past 40 years, The Empire Strikes Back opened in first place on the weekend box office chart. According to Deadline, the film pulled in $611,000 over the three-day weekend for a total opening of $644,000. This puts it near the very top of the pandemic re-releases, ahead of last week’s winner, Ghostbusters, looking at the three-day figure, but behind it over five. More...

Oscar Predictions: Mad Max Heads Technical Categories, Revenant Favorite for Best Picture

February 28th, 2016

Voting in our annual Predict the Academy Awards contest is now closed, and we can reveal the final vote totals in each category, along with the rough probability for which film will win each award. This is a year where readers are very confident about the outcomes in many of the categories. In fact, there isn’t a single major category where less than 50% of readers picked the same winner, and there are five Oscars where 90% or more of readers agreed on the outcome, including a massive 97% of the vote for Inside Out for Best Animated Feature. That makes The Revenant a rather more uncertain bet, with 70% of readers favoring it for Best Picture. That’s actually theoretically the closest call among all the major prizes… More...

2015 Awards Season: Oscar Preview

February 28th, 2016

It’s Oscar day and, if all goes to plan, I will be live-blogging the ceremony tonight. Here is the list of nominees marked according to predictions from our readers, and my personal wishes. Nominees in Bold are the ones predicted to win by our readers (we’ll have a full rundown of the predictions at noon, after the contest ends). If I am predicting a different film, those are in Italics. Meanwhile, the nominees I want to win, but don’t think will win, are Underlined. There are a few categories where the film I really think deserves the award was not even nominated, plus a few I don’t have a real opinion on.

If you haven’t done so already, it’s not too late to enter our Oscar competition, and win all Best Picture nominees on Blu-ray or DVD. More...

2015 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Picture

February 27th, 2016

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest closing at noon tomorrow, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try to figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This morning, we get to the final category, Best Picture. The film I think should win, Inside Out, wasn't even nominated. Of the movies on this list, I think The Martian is the best. If you look at the odds makers, it isn’t even in the top three. I’m going to be doubly disappointed tomorrow. More...

2015 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Original Screenplay

February 20th, 2016

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. The Best Original Screenplay category isn't the most lop-sided category we will highlight, but it is also not very competitive. More...

2015 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Feature-Length Animated Film

February 18th, 2016

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Feature-Length Animated Film. Inside Out has a better than 90% chance of winning. If it doesn't win, it would almost certainly be the biggest surprise of Oscar night. More...

2015 - Awards Season: BAFTA - Winners - Revenant and Mad Max Lead the Way

February 15th, 2016

The BAFTA awards were handed out over the weekend. There were two main winners, The Revenant, which won most of its five awards in the high-prestige categories, and Mad Max: Fury Road, which earn all four of its awards in technical categories. It appears the Oscars will be very similar in that breakdown. More...

2015 Awards Season: The Big Short’s Surprise PGA Win Shakes Up Oscar Race

January 24th, 2016

The Producers Guild of America handed out their awards last night and The Big Short came out the surprise winner for the top prize. That victory shakes up an awards season that had looked like it would be a two-horse race between Spotlight and The Revenant. More...

2015 Awards Season: Oscars - Nominations

January 15th, 2016

The Oscar nominations were announced at 5:30 am Pacific time. Nothing is good that early in the morning. Worse still, this was a terrible year for snubs, especially when it comes to diversity of the nominees. The voters for the Oscars are 94% white and 77% male... but that's still more diverse than the list of nominees. The Revenant led the way with 12 nominations and it is expected to win a few of those, while it is a serious contender in most of the categories it was nominated in. More...

2015 - Awards Season: Golden Globes - Winners

January 11th, 2016

The Golden Globes were handed out on Sunday evening. There were a few minor surprises and some infuriating results. On the other hand, no one film truly dominated, with The Revenant leading the way with just three wins. Only two other movies earned more than one win, The Martian and Steve Jobs. More...

2015 - Awards Season: BAFTA - Nominations

January 9th, 2016

The BAFTA nominations were announced and you can read them on their site... in alphabetical order. Alphabetical order is very useful in most circumstances, but not here. On the other hand, the nominees within each category are not presented in alphabetical order. ... Are the BAFTAs trolling us? As for the actual nominees, the big winners here are Bridge of Spies and Carol, both of which earned nine nominations. For Carol, this is just another impressive score, but this was a pleasant surprise for Bridge of Spies. More...

2015 - Awards Season: Golden Globes - Nominations

December 10th, 2015

The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning and we are already beginning to see a trend for this year's Awards Season. For the most part, the same films are coming up over and over again. Carol led the way with five awards, while there was a three-way tie for second place with The Big Short, The Revenant and Steve Jobs each picking up four. More...

Home Market Numbers: Pixels Can't Take on Indominus Rex

December 3rd, 2015

There were five new releases for the week of October 20th that reached the top 30 on the combined DVD and Blu-ray chart for November 1st. This includes three in the top five. However, none of them were able to top Jurassic World. The film remained in first place selling 867,000 units / $15.52 million for the week giving it running tallies of 3.17 million units / $69.97 million after two weeks of release. It was able to jump ahead of The Avengers: Age of Ultron and into fourth place on the yearly chart. More...

2015 - Holiday Gift Guide - Part I

November 27th, 2015

It's Thanksgiving weekend, which means Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and of course the first installment of our Holiday Gift Guide. This week we will tackle first run releases, as well as franchise box sets. I'm going to try to keep it to a dozen or so releases, as these columns are notorious for getting out of hand. Also, while there were a record number of $1 billion box office hits, there were not as many first run releases that earned stellar reviews this year. More...

Home Market Releases for November 3rd, 2015

November 3rd, 2015

It's a short list of new releases this week for two reasons. The first reason is the previously mentioned technical problems. I need to get three days of work done today so that I can get my computer off to the shop for an upgrade. Meanwhile, I've been battling an only mostly functional computer for a week. The second reason is Inside Out is coming out and that scared away the competition. The Blu-ray Combo Pack or 3D Combo Pack are clearly the Pick of the Week this week. However, it is far from the only new release worth picking up. It's just that the rest of the contenders are much smaller releases. More...

Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Toy Story That Time Forgot

November 2nd, 2015

Toy Story that Time Forgot is the latest Disney TV special to hit the home market. It is based on the Toy Story franchise and hit TVs last December. Is is worth checking out if you haven't seen it before? Is it worth picking up? More...

Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Inside Out

November 2nd, 2015

Inside Out was one of the monster hits of the summer earning more than $350 million domestically and $800 million worldwide. This makes it the third biggest hit in Pixar's history. Is it also one of their best? Or was it swept up in the "irrational exuberance" we saw at the box office this summer? More...

International Box Office: Milestones for The Martian

October 14th, 2015

The Martian remained in first place with $58.1 million in 75 markets for totals of $119.0 million internationally and $227.7 million worldwide. $200 million worldwide was the minimum needed for the studio to save face. If it can get to $300 million worldwide, then we start talking about profitability. I don't see a way it won't get to $300 million, perhaps as early as this time next week, while $500 million worldwide is a reasonable goal to aim for. Its biggest new market of the weekend was South Korea where it earned first place with $11.09 million on 1,132 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $13.00 million. It also dominated the chart in Russia with $8.18 million on 2,246 screens. On the other hand, it only managed second place in Germany with $3.85 million on 676 screens. As far as holdovers go, the film remained in first place in the U.K. with $5.96 million in 582 theaters over the weekend for a two-week total of $20.44 million. This is about on par with its run here, which bodes well for its worldwide total. More...

Home Market Releases for October 13th, 2015

October 13th, 2015

There are two $100 million movies on this week's list of Home Market Releases: Spy, which earned more than $100 million domestically, and Tomorrowland, which merely cost more than $100 million to make. Spy is arguably the best release on this week's list, but the Blu-ray was already named Pick of the Week, so that honor is going to Aladdin's Blu-ray debut this week. More...

International Box Office: Mars is in Ascension

October 8th, 2015

The Martian opened in first place with $45.2 million on 9,299 screens in 50 markets. This includes a first place, 10.01 million opening on 582 theaters in the U.K. This was the biggest opening for both the director and the star. The film had a similarly strong opening in Australia earning first place with $4.28 million on 582 screens. It also earned first place in Hong Kong ($2.26 million on 70 screens) and Taiwan ($1.68 million on 137 screens). It only managed second place in Italy with $2.53 million on 464 screens and in Mexico with $2.9 million on 1,757, while it debuted in third place in Brazil with $1.82 million on 507. Overall, the film it doing about as well internationally as it did here, which is good news for Fox. More...

International Box Office: Lost Finds Its Way to the Top

October 1st, 2015

Lost in Hong Kong opened in first place in China and internationally with $106.80 million. This is better than Monster Hunt opened with, so if it has the same legs, the box office record in China will fall for the third time this year. Speaking of records, the overall Chinese box office rose to $5 billion with three months left in the year. This is amazing. More...

International Box Office: Runner Breaks Out to an Early Lead

September 23rd, 2015

The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials rose to first place with $43.3 million in 67 markets over the weekend for a total of $78.0 million internationally and $108.3 million worldwide. The film's biggest opening came from South Korea, but it only managed second place there with $5.66 million on 804 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $7.20 million. On the other hand, the film dominated the Russian box office with $4.19 million on 2,328 screens. The original movie opened stronger in Russia, but The Scorch Trials performed better in its opening in South Korea. Given these results, it is still too soon to tell how well this film will do compared to its predecessor. That said, it already has more worldwide than it cost to make. In fact, it almost has enough worldwide to pay for its entire production budget. Its advertising budget would have to be much larger than expected for it to not break even sooner rather than later. More...

International Box Office: Mission: Accomplished

September 17th, 2015

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation rocketed up the chart into first place with $91.3 million in 63 markets over the weekend... sort of. This includes $86.42 million during the film's six-day opening in China. Its three-day weekend number is a lot smaller than that, but still enough for first place. Overall, the film now has $424.8 million internationally and $612.9 million worldwide. It became only the second film in the franchise to reach the $600 million mark worldwide. This is more than enough to break even, so it should come as no surprise that there's another installment in the works. More...

International Box Office: Summer is Terminated

September 10th, 2015

Terminator: Genisys remained in first place on the international chart, but with only $11.5 million in 8 markets. This lifted its international total to $346.3 million, while it now has $435.9 million worldwide. This helped the film become the second biggest hit in the franchise, assuming you don't take inflation into account. In China, the film managed $26.67 million, but that was for the full week, giving the film a total of $111.92 million after 15 days of release. More...

International Box Office: Terminator Generates Black Ink

September 3rd, 2015

Terminator Genisys remained in first place with $23.6 million in 26 markets over the weekend for totals of $320.1 million internationally and $409.5 million worldwide. In China, the film pulled in $23.4 million over the weekend for an eight-day total of $85.15 million in that market. It is going to hit the century mark in that market, while its overall worldwide number is high enough to break even. More...

International Box Office: Genisys Reborn in China

August 27th, 2015

Terminator Genisys earned $26.97 million on Sunday in China. That was enough for first place in that market over the entire weekend. In fact, that was enough for first place internationally. Adding in one holdover market, and the movie made $27.4 million in 2 markets for totals of $264.0 million internationally and $353.1 million worldwide. One final note, China is already the film's biggest single market and it could save the franchise and make another installment likely. More...

International Box Office: Mission Completes Hattrick, but International Fair Thrives

August 20th, 2015

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation remained in first place for the third weekend in a row with $46.1 million in 63 markets over the weekend for totals of $235.3 million internationally and $373.6 million worldwide. The film's biggest opening was in France where it easily earned first place with $7.96 million on 719 screens. It also earned first place with $2.99 million on 947 screens in Brazil. The film isn't quite done its international run. It opens in Italy this weekend and China next month. It should have no trouble getting to $300 million internationally and could get all the way to $500 million worldwide. China could be a huge market for the movie. More...

International Box Office: Rogue Remains Massive, While Fantastic Fairs Better

August 13th, 2015

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation expanded over the weekend and saw its weekend haul grow, but by a tiny amount. It pulled in $65.5 million in 59 markets over the weekend for totals of $156.7 million internationally and $264.5 million worldwide. The film earned first place in a trio of major markets, led by Russia where it made $4.07 million on 1,125 screens. It also debuted in Germany ($2.84 million on 612) and Spain ($1.73 million on 603). On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in Japan with $4.60 million on 600 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $6.07 million. Jurassic World earned first place in Japan, so that's hardly a poor opening. Its biggest market overall was South Korea, where it made $6.57 million on 818 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $31.99 million. The film is below average for the franchise so far, but that's still enough to break even and justify yet another installment. More...

International Box Office: Rogue Nation Goes International

August 6th, 2015

Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation opened in first place on the international chart with $64.5 million in 41 markets. Its biggest opening by far came in South Korea, where it made $13.80 million on 1,202 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $16.90 million. That total opening was more than twice the film's second biggest opening, $8.31 million in 572 theaters in the U.K. The film also had major market openings in Mexico ($4.17 million) and in Australia ($3.68 million). The film has yet to open in most major markets, including Germany, Russia, Spain, and Japan. The film opens in all four this weekend, so it should strong on the international chart. More...

Weekend Estimates: Rogue Nation Takes Off with $56 Million

August 2nd, 2015

Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation will comfortably win the weekend at the box office, with Paramount projecting a total of $56 million on Sunday morning. That’s a very respectable performance by any measure, although it falls short of the franchise record, which was set by Mission: Impossible 2 15 years ago. It’s early days yet, but the prospects of another franchise chapter making around $200 million seem good, based on the excellent reviews this outing has been receiving. Overseas business is reportedly very good so far, although we don’t yet have any official figures. More...

International Box Office: Monster Hunt Chomps Chinese Record Book

July 29th, 2015

Monster Hunt remained in first place on the international chart with $46 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $225 million. The film again dominated its home market (China) earning $113.16 million over the full week for a running tally of $221.41 million after eleven days of release. It became the biggest Chinese film in its native market and the third biggest film of all time, behind Transformers: Age of Extinction and the current record holder, Furious 7. More...

International Box Office: Monster Hunt is Monster Hit

July 23rd, 2015

It is a special week on the international chart, as we have an international film in first place. Monster Hunt earned first place in China with an estimated $72 million over the weekend and a total opening of $107.58 million. (This includes less than $1 million in early previews.) This movie is a romantic comedy, of sorts, set in a world of CGI monsters. This is the kind of film that could have appeal in many markets outside of the usual markets Chinese films play in. Additionally, this is the kind of opening that will make distributors here interested in obtaining the rights. It is too soon to tell if it will have a global run, but it will be worth keeping an eye on. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Ant-Man Tops Terrific Weekend

July 20th, 2015

The top of the box office had a small surprise, as Ant-Man earned first place with $57.23 million over the weekend. This is a little lower than predicted, but Minions really collapsed, so Ant-Man easily won the race for the top of the box office race. Meanwhile, Trainwreck had a solid third place opening and could be on its way to $100 million, thanks in part to its target demographic and to its reviews. Overall, the box office pulled in $194 million. This is 9.6% lower than last weekend, but more importantly, it is 30% higher than the same weekend last year. 30%. That's a massive margin of victory. Year-to-date, 2015 has pulled in $6.20 billion, which is 8.1% more than 2014's pace. Summer is winding down, so 2015 is in a great place moving into the slower part of the year. Even if August and September are slower than average, there's almost no chance 2015 will blow through the $460 million lead it has over 2014. More...

Friday Estimates: Ant-Man Stands Tall on Opening Friday

July 18th, 2015

Ant-Man opened in first place with $22.64 million on Friday, which puts it well ahead of Minions on the Friday box office chart. On the other hand, it was a little disappointing compared to expectations. Figuring out where it will end up is deceptively tricky given the number of other Marvel Cinematic Universe films to compare it to. Ant-Man's reviews continued to tick up, and are now at 80% positive—in the same range as the first Captain America movie. It also had a similar opening day to that film. However, Captain America opened before The Avengers and one could argue that every film after that should be considered a sequel, which would tend them towards being even more front-loaded than original films. Factoring that in, look for Ant-Man to post around $56 million over its opening weekend, which will give it an easy first place debut. Unless its legs are as long as Guardians of the Galaxy’s, it won't reach $200 million in total, but it should top its budget (reportedly $130 million) so it will become a box office success. Analysts hoping for the first MCU bomb will have to wait. More...

Weekend Predictions: How Large Will Ant-Man Grow?

July 16th, 2015

There could be an interesting race on top of the box office charts this weekend, as Ant-Man will be looking to unseat Minions. However, while I think Ant-Man will come out on top on Friday, I think Minions will repeat over the weekend. The other new release of the week is Trainwreck, which has seen its reviews fall from 100% positive to a mere 90% positive. The amazing reviews and the success of R-rated female-centric films lately suggests it has the potential to reach $100 million. Inside Out and Jurassic World will also both hit milestones, so it should be an exciting weekend. This weekend last year, none of the three wide releases were particularly strong, which left Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in first place for the second weekend in a row with $36.25 million. Both Minions and Ant-Man will top that. Trainwreck might top that as well. It should be a good weekend for 2015 in the year-over-year comparison. More...

International Box Office: Minions Crowd Out the Competition

July 15th, 2015

Matching its stellar domestic debut, Minions rose to first place with $130.7 million on 9,606 screens in 56 markets at the international box office at the weekend for totals of $287.77 million internationally and $403.49 million worldwide. The film debuted in 30 new markets, earned first place in all of them, and broke the record for the biggest animated opening in 28 of them. This includes Russia, where it earned $15.12 million on 1,209 screens, which is the biggest opening in that market, animated or otherwise. Its biggest opening was in Mexico, where the film earned $15.72 million on 692 screens over the weekend. Meanwhile, it earned first place in France with a total opening of $12 million on 868 screens. It remains above Despicable Me 2's pace and this puts it on track to reach $1 billion worldwide. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Minions Crush Competition, but Fall Short of Record

July 14th, 2015

As expected Minions dominated the box office earning first place with more than a 50% share of the total box office. It became the fourth film to open with more than $100 million this year. Three of those were released by Universal. On the other hand, the less said about The Gallows or Self/Less the better. To be fair, The Gallows earned more during its opening day that it cost to make, but its advertising budget is much bigger than its production budget. Meanwhile, Self/Less barely topped the Mendoza Line (earning only just over $2,000 per theater). The overall box office reached $215 million, which was 59% more than last week and 43% the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2015 has earned $5.92 billion, which is 6.4% higher than last year's pace. More...

Friday Estimates: Minions On Pace for Century Opening, Perhaps Record

July 11th, 2015

The Friday estimates are in and Minions pulled in $46.2 million. On the one hand, this makes my job as a box office analyst easy, because all I have to say is “Wow!” On the other hand, it is hard to compare this film to others to calculate its most likely weekend haul, because there are so few animated films that opened this well. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Minions Top $100 Million?

July 9th, 2015

Of the three wide releases this week, only Minions is dominating the box office tracking. Unfortunately, its reviews are nowhere near as strong as they were at the beginning of the month. Even worse, they are twice as good as the reviews for Self/Less and The Gallows. The Gallows should earn a spot in the top five during its opening weekend, but the prospects for Self/Less are not as good. This weekend last year, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opened with $72.61 million. Minions should crush that number. Also, last year only three films earned more than $10 million over the weekend, while this year, the top five should do the same. 2015 should earn a solid win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

International Box Office: Genisys Takes Over the World

July 9th, 2015

Terminator: Genisys expanded its market count to 47 over the weekend, which allowed it to rise to first place with $74.0 million for a two-week total of $85.5 million internationally. Its biggest new market was Russia, where it dominated with $11.17 million on 2,192 screens over the weekend. South Korea was close behind with $9.24 million on 1,113 screens for a total opening of $11.06 million. The film earned first place in Mexico with $4.73 million on 1,307 for a total opening of $6.18 million. It only managed second place in Brazil with $3.9 million on 1,012. In all four markets, the film set records for the franchise. It wasn't as lucky in the U.K., where it opened in second place with $5.83 million in 536 theaters. That's about on par with its opening here in the US. The goal for the film is to earn over $200 million internationally and $300 million worldwide. If it can get there, then the film will likely break even, eventually. On the other hand, "breaking even" isn't enough to justify continuing the reboot trilogy. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: New Releases are on the Outside

July 6th, 2015

It was not a good weekend for new releases, as the top two spots went to holdovers. Fortunately, Inside Out earned first place over Jurassic World, because I had no idea what I was going to do for an image this time around. (That's not true. I was going to look for pictures of corgis dressed as dinosaurs.) Neither Terminator: Genisys or Magic Mike XXL matched expectations. At least Terminator: Genisys came close. Overall, the box office plummeted 26% from last weekend to just $135 million. Granted, that's still 2.2% higher than the same weekend last year, but boy have we come down from the highs we saw just a few weeks ago. Year-to-date, 2015 has earned $5.62 billion, which is 6.0% above 2014's pace of $5.31 million. 2015 would really need to sink for a number of weeks before that lead was in trouble, but after this week, that scenario is a little more likely. More...

Weekend Estimates: Inside Out, Jurassic World Neck and Neck for July 4 Honors

July 5th, 2015

Two much-anticipated sequels have fallen short of knocking the two incumbents from the top of the box office chart this weekend. Terminator: Genisys will come closest with a mediocre $28.7 million three-day weekend, and $44.1 million after five days in release. That’s a couple of million behind the two returning giants, which are essentially tied for the weekend at this point. Jurassic World has the edge according to the official studio estimates, with Universal putting its total at $30.94 million for the weekend, compared to Disney’s $30.11 million projection for Inside Out. Other tracking we’ve seen suggests that the films will both end up with a shade over $30 million. The film’s respective performance on Sunday will determine who ends up the weekend winner. More...

Friday Estimates: Inside Out On Top as New Releases are Not Magical

July 4th, 2015

Inside Out earned first place on the Friday chart, just ahead of Jurassic World $12.5 million to $11.8 million. This is bad news, as the new releases will be well behind films that are three and four weeks old respectively. At this pace, Inside Out should top $30 million over the weekend, but barely. Jurassic World will earn about $28 million. This is roughly in line with Friday's predictions. On the other hand... More...

Weekend Predictions: Will the New Releases Free the Box Office from Jurassic's Grip?

July 3rd, 2015

If one of the new releases doesn't earn top spot this weekend, then the box office is in trouble. Jurassic World has been in first place for three weeks in a row and even last week it only won because the new release, Ted 2, missed expectations. If it or Inside Out win this weekend, it will be because Terminator: Genisys and Magic Mike XXL are both struggling. Fortunately, the two films topped the chart on Wednesday during their opening day, but not by enough to ensure they come out on top over the full weekend. It could be a very close race for first place. This weekend last year was led by Transformers: Age of Extinction with $37 million, while Tammy was second with an opening of $21.58 million over the three-day weekend and $33.51 million over five days. The overall box office take was just $133 million last year, while the top five could top that this year. 2015 should have no trouble coming out on top in the year-over-year competition. More...

International Box Office: Billion Dollar Dinosaurs

July 2nd, 2015

(As I warned previously, we've run out of images for Jurassic World, so we are down to Picture Unrelated. And no, I will not explain the context of the image. I will say the TV show it comes from is surprisingly good.)

Jurassic World completed a hat-trick at the weekend by earning first place with $82.5 million in 67 markets for totals of $737.5 million internationally and $1.238 billion worldwide. The film entered the top ten on the all-time worldwide box office chart over the weekend and has already moved into seventh place. Its biggest single market was China, where it made $38.07 million over the full week for a total of $206.57 million after three weekends. Hopefully this is the last weekend the film spends in top spot, as new releases finally rise to overtake it. If it is still in first place next week, it will be a sign that the box office is slowing down. More...

Per Theater Chart: Wide Releases Run Away from the Pack

July 2nd, 2015

There were only two films in the $10,000 club and they were the wide releases that earned the top two spots on the overall box office chart. Jurassic World earned an average of $12,990, while Inside Out was very close behind with an average of $12,663. The best limited release was Runoff, which earned $9,515 in one theater. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Jurassic Still Roaring

June 30th, 2015

As expected, there was a race for the top spot on the box office chart over the weekend; however, it was only a two-way race. Jurassic World and Inside Out both earned more than $50 million over the weekend and were in a relatively tight race for first place. On the other hand, Ted 2 struggled somewhat in third. To be fair, it still made enough to become a hit, but not enough to justify a third installment in the franchise. Meanwhile, Max did fine, assuming it didn't cost more than reported. Overall, the box office fell 25% from last weekend, but it still earned $184 million, which is 2.2% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2015 is ahead of 2014 by 5.1% at $5.37 billion to $5.11 billion. This is a great turnaround for a year that looked like it was going to drop below last year's pace. More...

Weekend Estimates: Jurassic World Storms to $500 Million

June 28th, 2015

After losing for the second Friday running on the daily chart to Inside Out, Jurassic World is projected to cling on to top spot for the weekend as a whole, according to studio estimates released on Sunday morning. The official projections are $54.2 million for Jurassic World and $52.1 million for Inside Out, although the numbers we’re seeing suggest it will be even closer. Inside Out has a shot at top spot, although Jurassic World is running the favorite at this point. Either way, it’s a great weekend for both films, and a disappointing one for Ted 2, which will finish third with about $33 million. More...

Friday Estimates: Holdovers Keep Ted 2 on the Outside

June 27th, 2015

Inside Out led the way on Friday with $14.99 million. This was 56% lower than the film’s opening Friday, but that’s a better decline than most movies deal with during this point in their run. By comparison, Monsters University fell 53% on Friday on its way to a 45% weekend-to-weekend decline, while Brave fell 58% Friday-over-Friday on its way to a 49% decline. If we use these two films as guides, Inside Out will drop about 47% to $48 million. I think its superior reviews will help it reach $50 million, but it could be close.

More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Ted 2 Take the Box Office to the Max?

June 26th, 2015

It’s the final weekend of June and there are two wide releases hoping to grab some cash before Independence Day Long Weekend. Ted 2 is a sequel to an amazingly popular R-rated comedy. Unfortunately, we’ve seen too many times that sequels to comedies rarely live up to to their predecessors. The other wide release is Max, which is being called “earnest,” which is both a compliment and an insult. Regardless, it likely won’t be a significant player at the box office this weekend. On the other hand, both Jurassic World and Inside Out have a legitimate shot at first place over the weekend. This weekend last year, the box office was led by Transformers: Age of Extinction, which earned just over $100 million. No film will match that figure this weekend. On the other hand, the second place film last year was 22 Jump Street, which earned $15.84 million. 2015 won’t lead the way at the top of the chart, but it certainly has better depth than 2014 had and should come out on top of the year-over-year competition. More...

International Box Office: Jurassic Worldwide Success

June 25th, 2015

Jurassic World remained in first place internationally, earning $160.5 million on 18,718 screens in 66 markets for a total of $583.1 million internationally. This pushed its worldwide total to $985.9 million. It hit $1 billion worldwide on Monday, which was a speed record for that milestone. Its biggest market was China, where it earned $68.84 million over the full week for a total of $168.24 million after 12 days of release. However, the film has been pushed into second place on the daily chart by SPL 2: A Time For Consequences. On the other hand, the film is still in first place in the U.K. with $17.53 million in 614 theaters for a two-week total of $60.67 million. More...

Contest: Documenting Your Success: Winning Announcement

June 25th, 2015

The winners of our Documenting Your Success contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Inside Out opening weekend were... More...

Per Theater Chart: Overnight Success

June 24th, 2015

The top two films on the per theater chart were also the top two films on the overall box office chart. Jurassic World led the way with an average of $24,840, while Inside Out was close behind with an average of $22,919. The best new limited release was The Overnight, with an average of $17,674 in three theaters. The final film in the $10,000 club was The Tribe, which earned $11,094 in its lone theater. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Jurassic World Maintains Record-Breaking Run

June 23rd, 2015

It looks like Jurassic World is on pace to top The Avengers to become the biggest movie ever, not directed by a Canadian. It earned over $100 million at the weekend and has already passed $400 million. Meanwhile, Inside Out had the second-best opening for a Pixar film. It was a great weekend at the box office and we really needed it. The overall box office was down 9.5% from last weekend, but it was still at $248 million, which is the ninth-biggest combined weekend box office. Compared to last year, the box office was 70% higher this year. Year-to-date, 2015 has pulled in $5.08 billion, which is 5.2% or $250 million over 2014's pace. More...

Weekend Estimates: Pixar’s Second-Best Not Enough to Topple Jurassic World’s Second Weekend

June 21st, 2015

Getting almost perfect reviews, a prime Summer slot, and no direct competition will be enough to propel Inside Out to the second-best opening ever for a Disney-Pixar film, and their best ever for a non-sequel (Toy Story 3 is their best ever with $110.3 million in 2010). But it won’t be enough for the animation house to record its 15th consecutive opening weekend win, thanks to the continued monster performance of Jurassic World. The monster movie is projected to earn $102 million, the second-biggest second weekend of all time. More...

Friday Estimates: Lots of Upside to Inside Out

June 20th, 2015

Inside Out earned first place during its first day of release with an estimated $34.238 million on Friday. By comparison, the most recent Pixar film, Monsters University, pulled in $30.47 million during its first day of release. With Jurassic World in second place with $29 million on Friday, could Inside Out pull off a surprise weekend win? More...

Weekend Predictions: Inside Out and Upside Down

June 19th, 2015

For the past few months, 2015 had been struggling to keep pace with 2014. Worse still, 2014 wasn't a great year at the box office either. However, that changed with the record-breaking release of Jurassic World. Even if the film falls 60% this weekend, it will still lead the way over Inside Out. For the first time in their history, a Pixar film is expected to open in second place, but they have a good shot of continuing their record of having an opening weekend between $62.58 million and $70.47 million (which has been true of all but three of their films since 2001). That's incredible reliability. Dope is the other wide release, but it is barely opening truly wide and the worst case scenario has it failing to reach the top five. This weekend last year, there were five films that earned $10 million or more. This year, there might be just two. However, last year, Think Like a Man Too was the top film with under $30 million. Jurassic World might earn three times than and Inside Out should at least double that. 2015 should be carried on Jurassic World's wave and easily come out on top of the year-over-year competition. More...

Contest: Documenting Your Success

June 12th, 2015

While there are technically two wide releases coming out next week, Inside Out and Dope, Inside Out is by far the bigger of the two releases. As such, is is the target film for this week's Box Office Prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Inside Out.

Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Frankenprize featuring one of the three documentaries we are giving away this week: If You Build It on DVD. 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 featuring The Swirl on DVD. 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 featuring Where Was God? on DVD. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2015 Preview: June

June 1st, 2015

May turned out to be softer than anticipated with The Avengers: Age of Ultron missing expectations by about $100 million. Additionally, only Pitch Perfect 2 really topped expectations. May 2015 kept pace with May of 2014, more or less. June doesn't have any films as strong as Age of Ultron, but there are two films that should have no trouble getting to $200 million. Those two films are Jurassic World and Inside Out and I'm not sure which one will turn out to be the biggest hit of the month. Last June, the biggest hit was Transformers: Age of Extinction, but both Jurassic World and Inside Out should top that film, albeit by small margins. On the other hand, last June had four other films that reached $100 million, while this time around only Spy! and Ted 2 have a real shot at that milestone. 2015 is stronger at the top, but has weaker depth. It will be interesting to see if 2015 will keep pace with 2014 over the course of the full month. More...