2015 - Awards Season: Independent Spirit Awards - Nominations

November 25th, 2015

Awards Season begins with the Independent Spirit Awards nominations. There were definitely some surprise nominees this year, but that also meant there were some unfortunate snubs as well. The overall leader was Carol, which just opened this past weekend. This is great timing and should help its box office numbers, as well as its chances throughout Awards Season. Its six nominations were one ahead of Beasts of No Nation and Spotlight. (One of Spotlight's was the Robert Altman Award, which has no nominations, just one winner.)

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Home Market Numbers: Longest Ride Rides Tall

August 3rd, 2015

The new releases for July 14th dominated the combined DVD and Blu-ray chart for July 19. In fact, they took every single spot in the top five. The Longest Ride led the way with 514,000 units / $9.03 million Its opening week Blu-ray share was 24%, which is better than the Blu-ray share of a lot of female-centric dramas. More...

Home Market Releases for July 14th, 2015

July 13th, 2015

It is both a good and a bad week on the home market. The biggest new release is Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2. That's bad. However, there are also a trio of limited releases coming out this week that are easily contenders for Pick of the Week: Clouds of Sils Maria, Ex Machina, and It Follows. It is really a coin-toss between those three, but in the end, I went with Clouds of Sils Maria - Buy from Amazon: DVD. More...

Home Market Releases for June 30th, 2015

June 30th, 2015

There's a short list this week, for two reasons. Firstly, there's not a lot of new releases worth mentioning. Secondly, I really have to concentrate on the July preview (look for that on the site tomorrow). The biggest release of the week is clearly Get Hard, but it was not the best. As for the best, there are two that jump out: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (Blu-ray) and The Decline Of Western Civilization Collection (DVD or Blu-ray). Both are top-notch picks, but I went with Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. More...

Per Theater Chart: Ultron is Still Big

May 12th, 2015

The Avengers: Age of Ultron remained in first place on the per theater chart with an average of $18,182. It wasn't the only film in the $10,000 chart this week. Pather Panchali was close behind with $16,333 in its lone theater. I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story earned $10,150 over the weekend for a total of $13,053 from Wednesday through Sunday. More...

Per Theater Chart: Machina Saves Box Office

April 15th, 2015

Ex Machina's opening weekend was surprisingly potent earning an average of $59,316 in four theaters. This is the biggest per theater average for a film that opened in 2015. I was not expecting that. On the other hand, I was expecting Clouds of Sils Maria to do well, and it did, earning an average of $20,603 in three theaters. Furious 7 remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $14,815 in more than 4,000 theaters. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Furious Races into Top Spot for the Year

April 14th, 2015

It didn't take long for for Furious 7 to become the biggest hit of the year; in fact, it took just five days to top Cinderella. Over the weekend, it became the first film released in 2015 to reach the $200 million milestone and thanks to a better than expected hold, reached $250 million as well. Home finished well back in second place, while The Longest Ride managed third place. Overall, the box office fell 42% from last weekend down to $131 million, which is 6.3% lower than the same weekend last year. Furious 7 topped Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but Rio 2 and the other films of 2014 had better depth giving 2014 the win. 2015 is still ahead in the year-to-date comparison, up 4.1% at $2.85 billion to $2.74 billion. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Seven Does Furious Business

April 7th, 2015

As expected, Furious 7 easily won the race for top spot on the weekend box office chart. However, it did so in an unexpectedly robust way, destroying a number of records along the way. This helped the overall box office grow 49% from last weekend to $224 million. More importantly, the overall box office was 34% more than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2015 is now 3.1% above 2014's pace at $2.64 billion to $2.56 billion. Assuming Furious 7 has any legs at all, this lead will continue to grow next weekend. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Home Run

March 31st, 2015

After a couple of soft weeks at the box office, both new wide releases beat expectations. In fact, Home nearly doubled predictions. Get Hard also beat expectations, albeit by a smaller margin. Add in solid runs by the holdovers and the overall box office was very strong at $150 million. This is 19% higher than last week and 7.3% higher than the same weekend last year. We can thank Home entirely for this win. If it had merely matched predictions, 2015 would have lost the in the year-over-year comparisons. Year-to-date, 2015 is ahead of 2014 by a 2.0% margin at $2.37 billion to $2.32 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Home has Best Dreamworks Animation Debut in Six Years

March 29th, 2015

DreamWorks Animation has been having a tough time of it recently. Aside from How to Train Your Dragon 2, their last three films, Penguins of Madagascar, Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Turbo were all financial failures, and, as an animation house, they are stuck with a business model that demands putting $100 million–$200 million into each film and hoping for a $500 million-plus global hit. That’s made doubly-difficult when you’re operating as a standalone entity and can’t fall back on the wider resources of the studio during hard times.

The opening weekend for Home, projected at $54 million, according to distributor Fox, is therefore very welcome news indeed. It marks the best opening by a non-sequel for the production house since Monsters vs. Aliens opened with $59.3 million on this weekend in 2009, and the third-best non-sequel debut in their history behind that film and Kung Fun Panda’s $60 million start in 2008. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Hard Get to the Top?

March 26th, 2015

There is an actual race at the box office this weekend. This is rare, because there's usually one obvious number one film, as studios don't want to deal with competition. However, this week, both Get Hard and Home have a shot at first place with $30 million or so. Additionally, there are two other films, Insurgent and Cinderella, that are aiming to reach $20 million over the weekend. That's a lot of depth. There is one final film of note, It Follows, which is expanding semi-wide and could find a spot in the top five. This weekend last year, the box office was led by Noah with $43.72 million, while two other films, Divergent and Muppets Most Wanted earned more than $10 million. 2015 has better depth, but it won't be as strong at the top. I'm not sure which year will come out on top, but it should be close. More...

Per Theater Chart: Danny Boy

March 25th, 2015

Danny Collins led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $14,631 in five theaters. However, since its reviews are merely good and not great, I doubt it will have the legs needed to thrive in limited release. The overall box office leader, Insurgent, was next with an average of $13,487. Last week's winner on the per theater chart, It Follows, was the only holdover in the $10,000 club earning an average of $10,777 in 32 theaters. It has room to grow and should have no trouble earning a least some small measure of mainstream success. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter was the only other film that did well, with an average of $8,529 in four theaters over the weekend, while it earned an average of $10,101 since Wednesday. More...

Weekend Estimates: Insurgent Matches Divergent’s Debut

March 22nd, 2015

A mix of positive and negative factors (poor reviews vs. fan loyalty, competition vs. Spring break and so on) are neatly canceling one another out this weekend to give Insurgent an opening weekend almost perfectly in line with the $54.6 million debut enjoyed by Divergent this time last year. Lionsgate is officially projecting a $54 million weekend. The numbers we’re seeing suggest the film will end up a shade lower than that—perhaps $53 million would be a safer bet—but either way, it’s an impressive start, and the fifth-best weekend of 2015 so far. More...

Theater Averages: It Follows in Shadows’ Footsteps

March 18th, 2015

It Follows was one of five new releases to reach the $10,000 club, based on theater averages this weekend. It opened with an average of $40,022 in four theaters, which is the second-best for a film opening in 2015, just behind What We Do in the Shadows. The overall box office leader, Cinderella, was well back in second place with an average of $17,653. Seymour: An Introduction opened with an average of $13,294 in two theaters. 3 Hearts earned $11,794 in its lone theater. Tales of Hoffmann was right behind with an average of $11,670 in two theaters. More...

Weekend Estimates: Cinderella Comes to Ball with $70 Million or so

March 15th, 2015

Disney’s live action remake of Cinderella dominates this weekend’s box office chart with an opening that the studio is projecting will hit $70 million. That’s probably a little on the high side, based on the numbers we’re seeing, but the film will certainly be in the high 60s, which will comfortably put it in the top 10 weekends in March. By way of comparison, it’s a long way short of the $116 million opening enjoying by Alice in Wonderland during 3D’s heyday back in 2010; it’s a bit back from Oz the Great and Powerful’s $79 million start in 2013; and almost exactly on par with the $69 million pulled in by Maleficent last year. Maleficent opened in late May last year, while the other two opened in March, during school Spring Break season. The numbers suggest that Disney will continue to recycle old material in new ways in years to come. Indeed, Spring 2016 will see not one, but two more franchise recycles, with The Jungle Book and Through the Looking Glass already slated for release. More...

Limited Releases: Following You Around

March 13th, 2015

We have a mixed bag of limited releases this weekend. There are some good films, like It Follows, which has good reviews, but is the wrong genre for a limited release. However, there are a couple of limited releases could find an audience, like The Wrecking Crew and Seymour: An Introduction, but neither is expected to expand wide enough to find much mainstream success. More...