Home Market Numbers: Aladdin Shakes Things Up

November 11th, 2015

It was a strange week on the home market, as there were two new releases that could legitimately say they won on the combined DVD and Blu-ray chart for October 18th. San Andreas sold 801,000 units / $16.42 million for an opening week Blu-ray share of 40%. This put it on top of the chart; however, Aladdin arguably had the better week, as it sold 706,000 units / $13.92 million, all of which was on Blu-ray. 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...

Weekend Predictions: Is There Still an Audience for a Jurassic Film?

June 12th, 2015

Jurassic World is the only wide release this week and its box office potential is so high that it has scared away even the counter-programming. It isn't the only film playing in theaters this weekend, but it will very likely make more at the box office than the rest of them combined. Spy will be a distant second place and is hoping not to be crushed. If it can avoid falling 50%, it should have enough legs to reach the century mark. ... with a push from the studio. The only other film that is on track to earn more than $10 million over the weekend is San Andreas, which already crossed the $100 million mark. This weekend last year, two films opened wide, 22 Jump Street and How to Train Your Dragon 2. Neither film will match Jurassic World individually, but they might have the advantage if you combine their openings. Additionally, there will only be two $10 million films this weekend, while there were three last year. 2015 will win on top, but 2014 has better depth and I think 2015 will lose the year-over-year comparison... again. More...

International Box Office: After Shocks for San Andreas

June 11th, 2015

San Andreas remained in first place over the weekend with $97.8 million in 69 markets for a total of $188.0 million internationally and $286.5 million worldwide. It is almost guaranteed that the film's production budget is fully covered and the film should have the legs to cover its full advertising budget before its international run is over. That means its home market run will be pure gravy. This week, its biggest market was China, where the film earned first place with $34.26 million over the weekend for a six-day opening of $51.95 million. It won't last in first place for long, as Jurassic World has already opened in that market and taken over top spot. (More on that this time next week.) Its next biggest opening was South Korea, where it also earned first place with $5.74 million on 847 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $7.25 million. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Spy High, but not a Monster Hit

June 9th, 2015

None of the three new releases matched expectations and while the holdovers pulled their weight, it wasn't enough to help the overall box office. Spy didn't make it to $30 million during its opening weekend, but it came within a rounding error of that mark. Insidious Chapter 3 did very well compared to its production budget, but will likely be the weakest installment in the franchise. Meanwhile, if it weren't for its lower production budget, Entourage would be considered a bomb. Overall, the box office fell 4.3% from last weekend to $133 million. Worse still, the box office fell 18% from last year. Year-to-date, the overall box office has pulled in $4.39 billion, which is 1.2% above 2014's pace. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Spy Become McCarthy / Feig's Third Hit?

June 5th, 2015

There are three wide releases this week, including one that is already in theaters. The biggest of these three releases is Spy, which is the latest film from Melissa McCarthy and Paul Feig. Both of their previous films crossed $100 million with ease. Insidious Chapter 3 is the third film in the Insidious franchise, but most think it won't be the best. Entourage started out ahead of expectations, but its reviews could cause a quick decline. This weekend last year, The Fault in Our Stars opened with nearly $50 million, while Maleficent landed in second place with more than $30 million. I don't think 2015 will be strong on top, but I think it will have better depth. More...

International Box Office: San Andreas Rumbles to the Top

June 4th, 2015

San Andreas opened in first place on the international chart with $63.9 million on 15,420 screens in 60 markets. Its best international market was Mexico where it earned first place with $9.97 million. It also opened in first place in Australia with $2.47 million in 449 theaters. The film generated $7.07 million in 505 theaters in the U.K. and $5.16 million on 2,256 screens in Russia. The film was also potent in Brazil with an opening of $3.2 million in 926 theaters, while it earned a nearly identical amount in France with $3.19 million in 496. It is still too soon to tell where the film will end up, but it made more worldwide than it cost to make during its opening weekend, so the studio must be happy. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: San Andreas Shakes Up Box Office

June 2nd, 2015

The post-holiday weekend was softer than the holiday weekend, which is to be expected. However, thanks to a stronger than predicted opening by San Andreas, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. On the other hand, Aloha was on the low end of expectations. The overall box office fell 9.5% from last weekend to $139 million, which is acceptable. By comparison, the overall box office fell 17% from this weekend last year, as San Andreas couldn't keep up with Maleficent's opening. Year-to-date, 2015 has pulled in $4.20 billion, putting it 1.2% ahead of 2014's pace of $4.15 million. 2015 is coming dangerously close to losing its lead over last year. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will May End on a Disastrous Note?

May 28th, 2015

The weekend after a holiday is usually a bad weekend at the box office. This time around, San Andreas is the clear front-runner while Aloha might struggle, even as counter-programming. San Andreas will earn more than $30 million over the weekend, no other film is on track to hitting $20 million. On the other hand, there could be six other films that earn $10 million or more over the weekend. By comparison, this weekend last year, Maleficent opened with nearly $70 million, while X-Men: Days of Future Past earned more than $30 million. There's no way the top of the chart will match that. Even with better depth, it is very unlikely 2015 will win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

International Box Office: Ultron Still Ultimate Film on International Chart

May 28th, 2015

For the fifth week in a row, The Avengers: Age of Ultron remained in first place. This week it pulled in $45.8 million in 91 markets for month-long totals of $859.8 million internationally and $1.265 billion worldwide. The film made $53.98 million in China, but that was for the full week, giving it a running tally of $209.39 million after 13 days of release. At this pace, the film should have no trouble hitting $900 million internationally and $1.3 million worldwide, likely over the weekend. Meanwhile, it has yet to open in Japan and should made $50 million, more or less, in that market alone. Will it get to $1 billion internationally? It is still too soon to tell. It should at least be close. More...

Contest: Don't Wait till Tomorrow to Enter: Winning Announcement

May 27th, 2015

The winners of our Don't Wait till Tomorrow to Enter contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Tomorrowland opening weekend were... More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Sun didn't Shine on Tomorrow

May 27th, 2015

The Memorial Day long weekend was not as strong as anticipated, as no film in the top five really topped expectations. Tomorrowland did earn first place, but it barely earned more in four days as it was expected to earn in three. Pitch Perfect 2 crossed $100 million over the weekend and The Avengers: Age of Ultron crossed $400 million, so those milestones helped cushion the blow. Even so, the overall box office fell 18% when compared to last week, falling to $152 million over the three day weekend. It was also down 19% from last year over the three day period. Over four days, the box office pulled in $191 million, which was 17% lower than the same weekend last year. This is a disappointing loss. 2015 is still ahead of 2014, albeit by a margin of just 2.1% at $4.02 billion to $3.95 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Tomorrowland Barely Ahead of Pitch Perfect 2

May 24th, 2015

The good news this Memorial Day weekend is that five movies will gross over $20 million. The bad news is that none of them will do any better than Tomorrowland’s soft $32 million debut. Disney’s latest will barely scrape in ahead of Pitch Perfect 2 over three days, with the singing sensation expected to generate $30.3 million. Over four days, Tomorrowland may pull into a slightly larger lead, thanks to its more family-friendly nature, but it will take a much better performance overseas for the sci-fi adventure to recoup its costs. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Tomorrow be a Better Day?

May 22nd, 2015

It's Memorial Day long weekend, which is one of the best weekends of the year at the box office. There are two new releases trying to take advantage of the holiday, Tomorrowland and Poltergeist. There are also three major holdovers that will remain potent over the weekend: Mad Max: Fury Road, Pitch Perfect 2, and The Avengers: Age of Ultron. There's a chance all five of these films will made $30 million or more over the next four days. Like we've seen most weeks this summer, this weekend last year had a much bigger hit on top. X-Men: Days of Future Past opened with more than $90 million, but only one other film, Godzilla earned more than $15 million over the three-day weekend. So again, 2015 won't match 2014 at the top, but the depth should help 2015 win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

Contest: Don't Wait till Tomorrow to Enter

May 15th, 2015

Next weekend is Memorial Day long weekend. When two films, Poltergeist and Tomorrowland, try to take advantage of the holidays. Tomorrowland has the significant advantage at the box office and it is 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 Tomorrowland.

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. It was going to feature Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Best in Show, but the PR company ran out of copies, as there were more screener requests than they anticipated. So we are going to go with Winner's Choice of either a season of TV on DVD, two movies, or three single-disc kids shows that I previously reviewed. This could include Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Best in Show, or other DVDs from that franchise. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a second Winner's Choice Frankenprize. 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 Winner's Choice Frankenprize. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2015 Preview: May

May 1st, 2015

April is over and there was good news and bad news. Good news: Furious 7 crushed the competition, and broke records along the way. Bad news: Furious 7 crushed the competition and no other April release will earn as much in total as Furious 7 earned during its opening day. Fortunately, Furious 7 was so strong that it carried April of 2015 to a draw when compared to April of 2014. May has a lot of similarities to April. The Avengers: Age of Ultron is expected to break records during its opening weekend and even the low end has it earning more than $1 billion worldwide. Unfortunately, no other film is going to come close to that figure. There are five other films with a potential to reach $100 million at the box office. The keyword there is "potential". There's a chance less than half of those five films will get to that milestone. And like last April, last May had much better depth with five films that reached $100 million, including four that surpassed $200 million. Age of Ultron will earn more than the combined totals of Maleficent, last month's winner, and X-Men: Days of Future Past, which placed second for the month. I am a little concerned about the lack of depth this month and this could cause May to lose in the month-over-month comparison in the end. More...

Tomorrowland Trailer

February 26th, 2015

Sci-fi adventure starring Britt Robertson and George Clooney, directed by Brad Bird opens May 22... Full movie details... More...