Home Market Releases for November 29th, 2016

November 28th, 2016

Last week was the week of Black Friday / Cyber Monday, so the massive sales scared away top-notch releases. This week is the week after Black Friday / Cyber Monday and the new releases are even worse. There are a few midlevel releases, like Don’t Breathe or Pete’s Dragon, but the the size of the release quickly drops from there. Fortunately, both of those releases are very good and on even really busy weeks would be contenders for Pick of the Week. It was a close pick between the two, but in the end, I went with Don’t Breathe as Pick of the Week. More...

Home Market Releases for November 22nd, 2016

November 21st, 2016

This is the Tuesday before Black Friday / Cyber Monday. It is the last chance for a home market release to come out before one of the most important shopping weekends of the year. However, it also means the new releases coming out have to compete with massive sales and they will tend to get lost in the crowd. Overall, this is a negative for the new releases, which explains why there are not many big titles. The biggest release of the week is Kubo and the Two Strings, which is also one of the best. If you don’t have any of the Laika films, then the Box Set is easily worth picking up. However, I’m giving the Pick of the Week title to Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXXVII, because I’m a huge fanboy.

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Weekend Wrap-Up: Sully Saves the Box Office with $35.03 million

September 13th, 2016

Four films opened wide or semi-wide over the weekend, but only one of them, Sully, did well at the box office. It earned more than double its nearest competition, When the Bough Breaks, at $35.03 million to $14.20 million. The other two new releases bombed. Overall, the box office was flat, up 1.1% from last weekend to $101 million. This was also flat when compared to last year, down just 1.7%. Since this weekend was so close to last weekend, it should come as no surprise that the year-over-year comparison hardly moved. This time last week, 2016 was ahead of 2016 by just over 6.7%, while this week its lead is just under 6.8% at $8.10 billion to $7.58 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Sully Executes Safe Landing with $35.5 Million

September 11th, 2016

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Friday Estimates: Sully Breaks Bough

September 10th, 2016

Sully is the only new release not to disappoint this weekend, as it earned $12.21 million on Friday. This is well ahead of Tom Hanks’ recent trio of real-life movies. It tops Captain Philips’ opening day by nearly 50%, and that movie went on to earn more than $100 million domestically. Additionally, the film’s reviews improved and hit 84% positive. That’s on the low end of potential Awards Season buzz, but it isn’t impossible to get there. It also earned a solid A from CinemaScore, which suggests good word-of-mouth. As for its opening weekend chances, it is on pace for about $35 million over the weekend and I’m predicting $100 million domestically. There’s no way the studio isn’t happy with that. More...

Weekend Predictions: The Real Work Begins

September 8th, 2016

The weekend after the Labor Day long weekend is often the worst weekend of the year. However, this year there two films opening wide that have a real shot at $20 million or more. Sully is Oscar-bait, but it is opening a little too early for that role and its reviews are a little below where they need to be. When the Bough Breaks is a thriller aimed at African-Americans and this time of year has become the perfect time to release such a film. Those two films should earn $50 million combined. Unfortunately, there are two other films coming out this week. The Wild Life is a third-tier animated film, while The Disappointments Room isn’t even opening truly wide. There’s a chance neither of them will reach the top five. The Disappointments Room likely won’t reach the top ten. This weekend last year, the top two films were The Perfect Guy and The Visit, which combined earned just over $50 million at the box office. It should be a really close race in the year-over-year competition. More...

2016 Preview: September

September 1st, 2016

August continued to pad 2016’s lead over 2015 in the year-over-year comparison. It managed this feat almost entirely due to Suicide Squad, which is on pace to hit $300 million. The next best film was Sausage Party, which might make $100 million, if it gets a push over the top. September won’t be as strong as that. This is no surprise, as the month is one of the biggest dumping grounds on the calendar. That said, studios have been working to make the end of the month a lot more productive and there are a few potential hits. The biggest of these is The Magnificent Seven, which is expected to crack $100 million, maybe even $150 million. Meanwhile, Sully and Storks both have a limited chance at $100 million. Last September, the biggest release of the month was Hotel Transylvania 2 with pulled in $169.70 million. I don’t think The Magnificent Seven will match that, so we might need a surprise $100 million hit for 2016 to come out on top. More...

The Wild Life Trailer

July 16th, 2016

Animated adventure opens September 9 ... Full Movie Details. More...