2016 - Awards Season: Independent Spirit Awards - Nominations

November 23rd, 2016

The Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced last night and thus the 2016 Awards Season begins. There were a few surprises and some snubs to discuss, but for the most part, there’s not a lot nominations that broke the established narrative. It’s because there isn’t really an established narrative. This means films that earn nominations here have a much better chance of doing well going forward and Moonlight looks like it could rise up as a result. More...

Home Market Releases for October 4th, 2016

October 4th, 2016

The theme for this week on the home market is “good, but not great”. There are a lot of releases, but almost none of them rise above merely good. This meant there were very few contenders for Pick of the Week and the only real choice was The Wailing. It earned perfect reviews, so even though the Blu-ray isn’t loaded with extras, it is still the best release of the week. More...

Theater Averages: Don’t Think Twice hits First Place on Yearly Chart with an Average of $92,835

July 27th, 2016

Café Society's record lasted just one week as Don’t Think Twice earned $92,835 in its lone theater. I expect it to expand rapidly over the coming weeks. Café Society fell to second place with $16,999, but it did expand to 50 theaters, so this is still impressive. The number one film of the weekend, Star Trek Beyond, earned an average of $15,085. The only other film in the $10,000 club was Train to Busan with an average of $10,547 in 28 theaters. However, Kabali came close with $8,380 in 236 over the three-day weekend and $16,539 including Thursday. More...

Theater Averages: Purge Produces at the Box Office, Earning Average of $11,271

July 6th, 2016

The Purge: The Election Year earned top spot on the theater average chart, at least among those films we don’t have doubts about their box office numbers. It pulled in an average of $11,271, putting it just ahead of The Legend of Tarzan, which earned an average of $10,819. The only other film in the $10,000 club was The Innocents at $10,500 in three theaters. More...

Weekend Estimates: Dory wins 3-Horse July 4 Race

July 3rd, 2016

Three new movies entered the race for box office glory this July 4 weekend. One, The BFG, fell at the first hurdle. One of the other two, The Legend of Tarzan is disappointing, but not disastrous. The third, The Purge: Election Year, won the night on Friday and is headed to a great debut. But, in the end, none were a match for the third weekend of Finding Dory. More...

Friday Estimates: Dory swims to $23.21 million, Resurgence shrinks to $16.8 million

June 25th, 2016

Finding Dory held on to first place on Friday and that’s not good news, at least not for the box office as a whole. The film pulled in $23.21 million last night, which puts it on track to earn approximately $76 million. We predicted $74 million, so I’m calling this a victory. This will give the film close to $290 million after just ten days of release and puts it on pace to reach $300 million late Monday / early Tuesday. It will obviously hit $400 million at this pace, and it could become the first film of 2016 and the first animated film of all time to reach the $500 million milestone. That’s not a sure thing, but I think it’s at least 50/50 at this point. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Neon Lights Shine Bright on Limited Releases

June 24th, 2016

Wow. This is a great week for limited releases. Not only are there a few releases earning a lot of buzz (The Neon Demon, Swiss Army Man, and Wiener Dog). There are also even more movies earning 100% positive reviews. Of those, Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the one that I think will have the best chance of breakout success. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Limited Releases have Dozens of Uses

June 17th, 2016

There's not a lot of limited releases coming out this week, but there is one that I'm really interested in seeing: Swiss Army Man. Its reviews are not the best, but its premise is certainly intriguing. On the other hand, Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made is a better movie for fans of movies. It is certainly worth at least a VOD rental. More...