Home Market Releases for April 19th, 2016

April 19th, 2016

The biggest release on this week's list is The Revenant. There are no other releases that come close to that film's box office run and / or Awards Season run. However, personally I think it is well overrated and would be considered a merely good film if it weren't for its reputation for being a difficult shoot. As for the Pick of the Week, there were only a couple of contenders. In the end, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead on Blu-ray was the clear choice. More...

International Box Office: BvS Tops International Chart with $254 million, but There are Signs of Weakness

March 31st, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice destroyed the competition earning one of the best international opening weekends of all time at $254 million in 66 markets. Worldwide, the film made $420.01 million during its opening weekend, which was the fourth biggest opening weekend of all time. That's the good news. The bad news is the film's legs. Like its domestic run, the film started out amazingly, but saw its fortunes fall as the weekend went on. China is a good example of this. The film started out as well as expected, but by the end it pulled in $56.27 million during its four-day opening weekend. I read that the studio was expecting close to $80 million there. The film also dominated the chart in the U.K. with $21.85 million in 612 theaters. At first look, that's a large number; however, its barely more than Deadpool opened with earlier this year. The film also cracked $10 million in Mexico ($12.43 million) and in Brazil ($10.61 million), while it came close in Australia ($9.54 million). More...

International Box Office: Zootopia Remains Tops with International Haul of $64.8 million

March 23rd, 2016

Zootopia remained in first place with $64.8 million in 49 markets for totals of $389.9 million internationally and $590.8 million worldwide. The film's biggest opening was in Australia, where it earned first place with $3.08 million on 479 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $3.48 million including previews. It also topped the charts during its opening weekend in Brazil with $2.57 million on 774 screens. The film's biggest market overall was China, where it remained in first place with $37.24 million over the weekend for a three-week total of $172.79 million. This blows past Kung Fu Panda 3's record for an animated film and it will soon become the first such film to reach the $200 million mark in that market. More...

Home Market Releases for March 22nd, 2016

March 21st, 2016

This week, there are not many releases to talk about and one of them, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, is dominating the list so much that I could ignore the rest of the list and very little of substance would be lost. I'm not going to do that, but I could. The Box Set is a contender for Pick of the Week, but I'm still waiting for the screener. City Lights is another contender for Pick of the Week, but in the end, I went with the Canadian movie, Mountain Men on DVD, which is Puck of the Week. More...

International Box Office: Ip Man 3 has First Place Debut with $75.0 million, maybe.

March 10th, 2016

It's a really bad week for international numbers, but not because the box office numbers are low. Ip Man 3 reportedly opened in first place with $75.0 million in three markets over the weekend for a total of $76.5 million. This includes $71.28 million in its native China. I say "reportedly" because this week this story broke. If this is true, then we will have to doubt any box office number coming out of China. This is a mess. Chinese films regularly reach the top five on the international chart, so if we can't trust the official reports, it makes these figures nearly useless. More...

International Box Office: Deadpool Has Double-Milestone Weekend with $40.2 million

March 3rd, 2016

Deadpool reached two milestones this weekend topping $300 million internationally and $600 million worldwide. Over the weekend, the film added $40.2 million in 74 markets to its running tally, which now sits at $324.1 million internationally and $609.4 million worldwide. At this pace, the film will have no trouble getting to $400 million internationally and $700 million worldwide. It is massively profitable, but I am worried the studio will double, or triple, the production budget of the sequel and then insist on more control over the process, because the stakes are higher. 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...

Weekend Estimates: Deadpool Enjoys Third Weekend Win

February 28th, 2016

This is shaping up to be a triumphant weekend for 20th Century Fox. The studio will take three out of the top five spots at the box office this weekend, with Deadpool claiming a third straight win with $31.5 million, taking it to a huge (for the time of year) $285.6 million by close of business on Sunday. The studio’s Kung Fu Panda 3 will be down just 28% to $9 million in third place, for $128.5 million to date, and their new release Eddie the Eagle will land in fifth with a slightly disappointing, but not horrible, $6.3 million. Oh, and The Revenant is still in the top ten in its tenth weekend in release, and is the hot favorite to win Best Picture at the Oscars this evening (more on that in a moment).

All of which is a roundabout way of saying that Gods of Egypt had a horrible opening weekend… 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 Lead Actor

February 26th, 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. If Leonardo DiCaprio doesn't win, there will be rioting in the streets. More...

2015 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Supporting Actor

February 24th, 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. Like the Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor is a two-horse race, making it one of the more competitive categories of the ones we are going to look at. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Deadpool Assassinates the Competition

February 17th, 2016

Most people thought Deadpool would be a big hit over the weekend. I didn't see a single prediction that said it would be this big. It earned $132.43 million over the three-day weekend, which is more than enough to cover its entire production budget and a healthy chunk of its advertising budget. ... Or at least its initial advertising budget. Needless to say, there is already a sequel in the works. How to be Single had a very solid opening, while Zoolander 2 will need to become a hit on the home market in order to break even. The overall box office rose 150% from last weekend to $239 million over three days. Wow. This weekend last year, Fifty Shades of Grey debuted. Deadpool made almost as much in the four days it was in theaters than Fifty Shades of Grey made in total. It goes without saying that 2016 won the year-over-year comparison. Its 11% difference is impressive. Year-to-date, 2016 has earned $1.44 billion, which is 1.9% more than 2015's running tally at the same stage. 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...

Weekend Estimates: Deadpool Smashes February Record with $135m Debut

February 14th, 2016

This weekend last year, Fifty Shades of Grey broke one of the longest-standing records in the business by posting a $85.2 million opening weekend, besting the record for biggest weekend in February that had been held by The Passion of the Christ since 2004. Fifty Shades and, in 2014, The LEGO Movie dispelled the myth that big movies couldn’t open in February, and this year Deadpool is single-handedly making President’s Day weekend look like a Summer holiday weekend with an opening projected by Fox at $135 million for the Friday–Sunday period and $150 million over four days. More...

Weekend Predictions: Deadpool Looking for Dead Presidents

February 11th, 2016

It's Valentine's Day weekend and Presidents Day long weekend, so the box office should be very robust, at least compared to last weekend. Deadpool has the best reviews and the best buzz and should have no trouble earning first place at the box office. Zoolander 2 is earning weak reviews, but nostalgia could help during its opening weekend. Finally there's How to be Single, which is a Romantic Comedy. Any romantic film should do well on Valentine's Day, even one earning mixed reviews. This weekend last year, Fifty Shades of Grey came out, which is a movie my mind keeps trying to forget happened. It earned just over $85 million during its opening weekend, but less than that during the rest of its run. Deadpool won't open as fast, but it very likely won't collapse next weekend either. 2016 will lose in the year-over-year comparison in the short run, but perhaps by Monday, the tide will turn. More...

International Box Office: Force Awakens Drops Out of Top Five, but Cracks $2 Billion Worldwide

February 10th, 2016

The Revenant returned to first place with $24.0 million in 67 markets over the weekend for totals of $176.4 million internationally and $325.9 million worldwide. By this time next week, the film will very likely be above $200 million internationally, while $400 million worldwide is within reach. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Broncos Biggest Winners, but Pandas still earn $21.24 million

February 8th, 2016

Super Bowl weekend was not a good weekend at the box office. The competition usually takes its toll at the box office, but this year it was particularly bad. Kung Fu Panda 3 led the way with just $21.24 million, while Hail, Caesar! was the only other film to earn more than $10 million. In fact, the weekend was so bad that Star Wars: The Force Awakens remained in third place during its eighth weekend of release. The overall box office took a massive hit, down 31% to just $95 million. This was 37% lower than the same weekend last year, but miraculously, 2016 maintained its lead over 2015, by the tiniest of margins, $1.34 billion to $1.33 billion. With a difference of 0.5% or $6 million, the lead will likely disappear during the week, but 2016 should get it back when Deadpool debuts this Friday. More...

2015 Awards Season: DGA Winners—The Revenant Bounces Back

February 7th, 2016

The Directors Guild of America awards were handed out and it was a big night for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and The Revenant. More...

Weekend Predictions: Hail, Holdovers!

February 4th, 2016

It's a new month and there are three wide releases trying to score and get February off to a fast start. That's probably not going to happen. Not only do the wide releases have to deal with Kung Fu Panda 3, but it is also Super Bowl Weekend with the Carolina Idontknows Playing the Dever Somethingabouthorses. ... Once the Seattle Seahawks were eliminated, I completely stopped caring about the NFL. The best new release of the week is Hail, Caesar!, which is the only film with a real shot at becoming a midlevel hit. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies started out with mixed reviews, but that might not be a dealbreaker for its target audience. Finally there's The Choice. There are still not enough reviews for a Tomatometer Score and the buzz appears to be getting worse. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water led the way this weekend last year, with more than all three new releases will earn this year. More...

International Box Office: Panda Tops Chinese Box Office earning $75.7 million Internationally

February 4th, 2016

Kung Fu Panda 3 opened in first place on the international chart with $75.7 million in six markets over the weekend. This includes a first place, $50.77 million over the weekend in China for a total opening of $57.47 million. The film also earned first place in South Korea with $9.14 million on 1,364 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $10.54 million. Its other major market opening was in Russia, where it topped the chart with $4.71 million on 1,190 screens. The film will clearly do better internationally than it will domestically. It is too soon to tell how well it will do worldwide when compared to the other films in the franchise. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Kung Fu Wins with $41.28 million lifting Box Office Along the Way

February 2nd, 2016

Kung Fu Panda 3 led the way during the weekend with $41.28 million over the weekend. This was below admittedly optimistic predictions, but still great for this time of year. The rest of the new releases were not as strong and it is likely all three will lose money in the end. Fortunately, Kung Fu Panda 3 was strong enough to help the overall box office grow. The overall box office rose 22% to $139 million. More impressively, and more importantly, the box office was 38% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2016 has pulled in $1.01 billion, reaching the $1 billion mark faster than last year. It wasn't the fastest year to get there, as 2010 holds that record thanks to Avatar. 2016 has regained the lead over 2015 at 1.9% or $19 million. Obviously the usually caveats apply here: It is far too early and that lead is far too small to be of real significance. That said, it is always better to be ahead than to be behind, no matter how small that lead it. More...

2015 Awards Season: SAG Winners—Oscar Picture Clarifies, Mostly

January 31st, 2016

The Screen Actors Guild winners were handed out last night and for the most part the winners here will likely walk away with an Oscar. There is one major exception. More...

Weekend Predictions: Kung Fu vs. Sniper

January 28th, 2016

There are three, three and a half, wide releases coming out this week. (I've seen reports that Jane Got a Gun is opening in 600 to 1,200 theaters. Even the high end will likely keep it out of the top ten.) Of the three truly wide releases, only Kung Fu Panda 3 is expected to be a significant hit. In fact, it will likely earn more than the rest of the top five combined. On the other hand, The Finest Hours will likely bomb compared to its $85 million production budget, while Fifty Shades of Black will be a financial hit only because its production budget is very low. This means for Kung Fu Panda 3 the only real competition is from last year, when American Sniper earned $30.66 million. Kung Fu Panda 3 should top that by about $20 million. Additionally, no other film earned more than $10 million last year, while this year there could be five films in the top five reaching that mark. 2016 should bounce back in the year-over-year comparison after two soft weeks. More...

International Box Office: The Revenant Rises to First with $33.8 Million

January 28th, 2016

The Revenant rose to first place with $33.8 million in 48 markets for totals of $104.5 million internationally and $223.7 million worldwide. This includes a first place opening in Mexico with $5.3 million, but its biggest market was the U.K. with $5.51 million in 623 theaters for a two-week total of $17.16 million. The film will need to reach at least $300 million to break even any time soon, but that seems likely at this pace. More...

Weekend Estimates: The Revenant wins chilly weekend with $16 million

January 24th, 2016

With the weekend jam-packed with new releases and Oscar hopefuls, and thrown off course by Winter Storm Jonas, it’s perhaps fitting that a tale of battles against the elements will come out on top. The Revenant will be down 50% from last weekend’s MLK Holiday-inflated number to $16 million, but that will be enough to leapfrog over Ride Along 2 and into first place. The Leonardo DiCaprio film, which remains a good bet for a fistful of Oscars, although perhaps not the major prize, has $119 million to date. Also overtaking Ride Along 2 to move back to second place is Star Wars: The Force Awakens with $14.26 million for a weekend and $879.3 million in total to date. With $1.06 billion internationally, the film is drawing close to becoming the third film to earn over $2 billion worldwide. 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...

Friday Estimates: New Releases Struggle as Revenant Hangs Tough

January 23rd, 2016

While some are blaming the storm for hurting Friday night box office numbers, I think it is wiser to point the finger at the reviews instead. So far, The Boy has earned the best reviews, but with a Tomatometer Score of just 23% positive, that's damning it with faint praise. At the box office, Dirty Grandpa did the best of the new releases, earning second place with $4.2 million. It's early in the year, but it is safe to say its 7% positive reviews will be among the worst of any 2016 release when the year is over. Its CinemaScore was just a B, which is bad. Remember, CinemaScore is based on ratings given to a movie by people who were interested enough to see it on opening day. Anything less than a B+ suggests poor word-of-mouth. It did earn about about 10% more than That Awkward Moment's opening day. Additionally, That Awkward Moment had to deal with The Super Bowl on Sunday, so Dirty Grandpa should have better legs and should pull in $11 million. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Fifth Wave Open in the Top Five?

January 21st, 2016

Three wide releases are coming out this week, all of which are expected to earn similar openings. None of which are expected to compete for the top five. The 5th Wave is the latest Young Adult Adaptation and as I'm writing this at about 10 am on Thursday, it is still the only new release with any reviews. Dirty Grandpa is the widest release of the week, but with no reviews, it is hard to judge how well it will do. Finally there's The Boy. If it can match The Forest, I'm sure STX Entertainment will be happy. The weakness in the new releases doesn't mean we won't have a new number one film, as The Revenant seems poised to climb to first place over the weekend. This weekend last year, American Sniper remained dominant with nearly $65 million. It's a near certainty that all three new releases won't make that much this year. There's a chance the top five combined won't make that much this year. 2016 is going to lose in the year-over-year comparison. More...

International Box Office: The Force Awakens Likely Finishes its First Place run with $47.3 Million

January 21st, 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned first place on the international chart with $47.3 million over the weekend for totals of $1.012 billion internationally for a worldwide total of $1.865 billion. It became the third film released in 2015 to hit $1 billion internationally and the fifth film of All-Time to do so. However, without any more market lefts to open in, there is a good chance the film will fade away before catching up to Furious 7, meaning there will be no "undisputed" box office champion this year. This won't affect the bottom-line, but it will be a bragging point for Furious 7. As for individual markets, the film earned $44.04 million in China, for the full week, for a nine-day total of $97.46 million. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Ride Along Rides the Wave to the Top with $41.01 Million

January 20th, 2016

As anticipated, Ride Along 2 earned first place over the long weekend earning more than it cost to make in just four days. The other two wide releases were less successful. Despite costing more to make, 13 Hours earned less than half Ride Along 2 opened with, while the less said about Norm of the North, the better. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was pushed into third place over the three-day weekend, but it rose to first place on the daily chart on Monday. It is not done yet. The overall, the three-day weekend was up 4.2% from last weekend; however, it was down 18% from last year. This is not surprising, as this weekend last year, American Sniper set the record for biggest January weekend. Year-to-date, 2016 has pulled in $693 million, giving 2016 an early lead over 2015. That lead was cut to 5.9% or $39 million and will likely be cut further next weekend. Hopefully it won't be entirely gone. More...

Friday Estimates: Riding High...ish

January 16th, 2016

As expected, Ride Along 2 earned first place on Friday, but it was a little softer than anticipated. The film earned $12 million during its first day of release, which is 17% less than Ride Along opened with back in 2014. Because this film is a sequel and the reviews are so weak, it will likely have a smaller internal multiplier. Additionally, Ride Along 2 cost more than the first film cost to make. That said, it still only cost $40 million and it looks like it will earn close to that much during its four-day weekend. There will be a part three of the franchise. They are just too profitable not to make another. 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...

Weekend Predictions: Along for the Ride

January 14th, 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will finally relinquish its hold on the weekend box office and there are three new releases looking to grab as much of the box office share as they can. Ride Along 2 is the film with the best shot at first place, assuming its reviews don't kill it. The Revenant should have one of the best week-to-week declines, thanks in part to its Awards Season success. 13 Hours looks like a solid top-five film, but not a major hit, while Norm of the North is just hoping not to embarrass itself. This weekend last year, American Sniper expanded wide and set the record for biggest January weekend. That record fell earlier this year, but that's not a lot of comfort for this weekend, as all three new releases combined won't match American Sniper's haul. 2016's winning streak will end at two weeks. Hopefully the upcoming losing streak won't be much longer than that. More...

2015 - Awards Season: DGA - Nominations

January 14th, 2016

The Directors Guild of America spread out the nominations, which I always felt hurt the buzz. There are ten categories of awards, but only three of which pertain to theatrical releases. There are very few surprises across these three categories, so the Oscar nominations today shouldn't be full of surprises either. More...

International Box Office: The Force Awakens earns $53.17 million in two-day Chinese Debut

January 13th, 2016

Last weekend, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the only Hollywood film in the top five on the International Chart. This week, there were four Hollywood titles in the top five, again led by The Force Awakens. The film earned $104.3 million over the weekend for a total of $921.4 million internationally and $1.734 billion worldwide. It is now the biggest release of 2015 worldwide, but it is fourth on the yearly international chart. This past weekend, the film opened in first place in China with $53.17 million, but that was only over two days. This includes a record Saturday opening of $32.16 million. Meanwhile, the film has climbed into first place on the all-time chart in the U.K. with $162.03 million, putting it ahead of Skyfall. More...

Theater Averages: Anomalisa Leads Uneventful Chart with $12,738

January 13th, 2016

There were only three films in the $10,000 club this weekend and all of them were holdovers. Leading the way was Anomalisa with an average of $12,738 in 17 theaters. At this pace, the film will earn some measure of mainstream success. However, unless it wins an Oscar, it likely won't match its $8 million production budget in theaters. The Revenant slipped into second place with $11,801, while the overall number one film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was next with $10,245. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Schwartz is still Strong with Star Wars as it Earns $42.35 Million

January 12th, 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned first place on the weekend chart for the fourth time and likely the last time. It was a close race, as The Revenant beat expectations; meanwhile, The Forest was very solid as counter-programming. The overall box office was $159 million, which is 28% less than last weekend, but 26% more than the same weekend last year. After just two weeks, 2016 is 19% / $70 million above 2015's pace. Granted, it is way too early to make any long terms predictions and next weekend will be brutal for 2016 in the year-over-year comparison, but every little bit now will help at the end of the year. 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...

Weekend Estimates: Star Wars tops $800 million, Revenant impressive on debut

January 10th, 2016

The Force Awakens will become the first movie to hit $800 million at the domestic box office today, according to Disney’s estimates released on Sunday. With a $41.6 million weekend, the film moves to $812 million in total domestically, becoming the second-highest-grossing Star Wars movie adjusted for inflation, ahead of The Empire Strikes Back’s inflation-adjusted $808 million. It should pass Avatar’s inflation-adjusted $826 million this week. Perhaps the biggest news of the weekend, however, comes from overseas. More...

Friday Estimates: Revenant Mauls Star Wars

January 9th, 2016

The Revenant earned first place on Friday with $14 million at the box office, well ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s daily haul of $11 million. The Revenant did have two weeks of limited release and that might have a small positive effect on its internal multiplier this weekend. However, The Force Awakens is a true holdover and holdovers tend to climb much more on Saturday than new releases do. Both films should earn about the same over the three day weekend with $35 million to $38 million. 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...

Weekend Predictions: How will Revenant and Forest Weather the Star Wars Storm?

January 7th, 2016

The big news this week was Star Wars: The Force Awakens being officially crowned the All-Time Domestic Box Office champion. It should follow-up that news with yet another first place finish on the weekend box office. There are two films trying to take its crown: The Forest and The Revenant. The Revenant is a very likely Oscar winner and has performed phenomenally well in limited release, so it has a real shot at box office success this weekend. On the other hand, The Forest is a low-budget horror film that is just hoping to land in the top five. This weekend last year was led by Taken 3 with just under $40 million over the weekend, while Selma earned second place with $11 million. The Force Awakens might make more than those two films combined, but even if it doesn't, the one-two punch of The Force Awakens plus The Revenant will give 2016 an easy win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

Theater Averages: Revenant Remains Potent with Average of $111,957

January 5th, 2016

The Revenant remained on top of the theater average chart dipping just 6% to an average of $111,957 in four theaters. That's amazing and it bodes very well for its chances during its wide expansion this weekend. Furthermore, there are some major Awards Season events this week that could boost ticket sales even more. Anomalisa was well back in second place, but it still had an impressive opening with an average of $33,806 over the weekend and an average of $52,658 during its five-day opening. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was next with an average of $21,829. Chimes at Midnight earned $20,480 in one theater during its re-release, while Only Yesterday earned $14,970, also in one theater. The latter film is yet another success for GKIDS; this is the only studio that routinely has success with animated films in limited release. 45 Years remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $14,588 in six theaters. It doubled its theater count, but the average only fell 33% and that's a great sign for further expansion. Mr. Six is the fourth holdover in the $10,000 club earning an average of $10,406 in 28 theaters. More...

Weekend Estimates: Force aweakens with $88.3 million weekend

January 3rd, 2016

This weekend sees the first signs of a slow-down at the box office for The Force Awakens, which will be down 41% from last weekend, according to Disney’s Sunday morning estimate. That’s the worst comparative performance in the top ten, and much weaker than Avatar’s 9% decline the same weekend in 2010. Such statistics are fairly academic when you already have $700 million in the bank domestically, though, and Star Wars’ momentum coming out of the holidays is such that it will register the biggest ever New Year’s weekend, and the biggest-ever 3rd weekend, overtaking Avatar’s $68.5 million. With $770.5 million overseas so far, its global total is now over $1.5 billion, putting it in the top six all time, and guaranteeing it will end in the top three, with only Titanic and Avatar left to shoot for. More...

Contest: Don't Go Into the Woods

January 1st, 2016

The only true wide release next week is The Forest, which will have to deal with competition from The Revenant, as well as Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, it is the only true wide release of the week, so it is the only real 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 The Forest.

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 consisting of two DVDs. 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 two DVDs. 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 two DVDs. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2016 Preview: January

January 1st, 2016

2016 will begin the same way 2015 ended, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens on top. In fact, three of the five films that have the best shot at box office success in January are The Force Awakens, The Hateful Eight, and The Revenant, all of which opened in December. There are two true January releases that could also do really well, for this time of year: Ride Along 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3. The rest of the releases are just hoping to become midlevel hits. Last January, American Sniper dominated earning more than $300 million. Its success could prevent 2016 from being ahead in the year-over-year comparison by the end of the month, but this year does have better depth. More...

Theater Averages: Revenant Arrives with a Lively Debut of $118,640

December 29th, 2015

The Revenant had the best theater average of the week and the second best opening theater average of the year with $474,560 in four theaters for an average of $118,640. The only film to open in 2015 with a better theater average was Steve Jobs with an average of $130,381. It struggled during its wide expansion. Hopefully that won't happen here. The Hateful Eight was next with an average of $46,107 in 100 theaters. The overall number one film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was next with an average of $36,092. This would have been the fourth best opening weekend average for a wide release all year. 45 Years opened with an average of $21,925 in three theaters over the weekend and an average of $30,119 over its five-day opening. Daddy's Home was the second wide release in the $10,000 club with an average of $11,844. Mr. Six just missed the $10,000 club over the weekend with an average of $9,562 in 30 theaters; however, it earned an average of $12,500 over its four-day opening. More...

Weekend Estimates: Star Wars’ $153 million Christmas demolishes another set of records

December 27th, 2015

The Star Wars juggernaut continues to roll through box office records all around the world this weekend. It will pass $1 billion globally today, Sunday, in just its 12th day in release—one day faster than Jurassic World. That blockbuster figure is largely thanks to an incredible $544 million after just ten days domestically, far ahead of Jurassic World’s $402 million at the same point in its run. The Force Awakens has now broken records for every milestone from $50 million to $500 million, with more to fall. The current record for fastest to $550 million is also Jurassic World, which reached the mark in 24 days. Star Wars will do it in eleven. After that, we will start looking at some serious all-time records. More...

The Force Awakens Doubles Previous Christmas Record with $49.34 Million

December 26th, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens set another record by earning $49.34 million on Christmas Day. This more than doubles the previous record of $24.61 million held by Sherlock Holmes. However, this was only 79% more than it made on Christmas Eve, whereas Avatar rose 107% on the same day in its run. You can't even say Avatar had it easy due to weaker competition, so perhaps the explanation lies elsewhere. Perhaps a lot of people who were scared off by the crowds thus far decided to see the movie on Christmas Eve, because it is historically a slow day a the box office. That’s certainly what I was thinking. Because of this, I'm lowing my expectations for the weekend from $170 million to $160 million. This would have been a good opening weekend result for the film. It will be well above the current Record Second Weekend of $106.59 million by Jurassic World. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Eight Reasons to Love Limited Releases

December 25th, 2015

While there are a massive number of wide releases / wide expansions this week, there are very few limited releases. Generally by this time of year, the competition from previously released Awards Season contenders is just too much. The only type of film that can truly thrive is one that has a lot of pre-release buzz. This year, this includes The Hateful Eight, which has the widest opening on this week's list and expands truly wide next week, as well as The Revenant, which expands wide early in January. 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...

2015 Awards Season: SAG Nominations

December 9th, 2015

The Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced today and there are at least a few surprises to talk about. Trumbo led the way with three nominations, but there were six films with two nods apiece. Six!

More...