Weekend estimates: Tom and Jerry shows the strength of family movies with a $13.7-million debut

February 28th, 2021

Tom and Jerry is enjoying the best weekend of 2021 so far, and the third-best of the pandemic era, according to Warner Bros.’ projections released on Sunday mornings. Its $13.71 million opening is a far cry from the $40 million to $50 million it might have earned before the pandemic, but it confirms something we’ve suspected since the stronger-than-expected openings of The War with Grandpa and The Croods: A New Age: family movies are performing much better during the pandemic than other types of film… More...

Weekend estimates: Freaky fails to deliver

November 15th, 2020

Going into the weekend, hopes were high that Freaky could post the kind box office numbers needed to show momentum in the theatrical market. Instead, it’s falling well short of our prediction, and numbers from the rest of the films in the top six, including a sharp 55% decline by last week’s winner Let Him Go, are also mostly disappointing. Instead of an increase in top six box office this weekend, we’re looking at a market that’s still flat, or even declining. What went wrong? More...

Weekend estimates: Let Him Go tops expectations with $4 million opening

November 8th, 2020

Let Him Go is pulling off a comfortable win at the box office this weekend, according to studio projections released on Sunday morning. Its $4.1-million opening is the third-best result during the pandemic, behind Tenet’s $20.2 million and The New Mutants’s $7.0 million, and slightly ahead of Unhinged’s $4.0 million, assuming the final numbers hold on Monday. While this is undoubtedly good news, which pushes the total for the top six close to $10 million for the first time in a while, the evidence points towards this being more a case of one film connecting with audiences rather than a significant market improvement. More...

Weekend predictions: can Let Him Go topple Come Play?

November 6th, 2020

The race to be elected the top film at the box office this weekend is too close to call, according to our model, although the odds favor Let Him Go, which opens in 2,454 theaters, and has enough buzz to probably pull off a victory. Come Play would have to enjoy an unusually strong hold coming off Halloween weekend to secure a surprise win. More...

Weekend estimates: Come Play scores solid Halloween win

November 1st, 2020

Come Play is outperforming expectations and set for a comfortable weekend win, according to studio projections released on Sunday morning. Its $3.15-million debut is a little behind other recent chart toppers like Honest Thief and The War with Grandpa, both of which picked up $3.6-million openings, but it’s also comfortably ahead of our pre-weekend prediction of $2.2 million.

Is this better-than-expected performance a sign of a strengthening market? Unfortunately not. More...

Weekend predictions: Honest Thief set for second weekend win

October 23rd, 2020

Honest Thief has some theoretical competition at the box office this weekend, but the marketing for The Empty Man has been negligible, and its 2,027 theater count is not enough for there to be much chance that we’ll see a change at the top of the chart. The lack of new films also points to a down week at the box office overall, at a time when the industry could desperately do with some good news. More...

Weekend estimates: Honest Thief wins weekend with $3.7 million

October 18th, 2020

Honest Thief will top the domestic box office this weekend with a $3.7 million opening that is in line with expectations, and provides more evidence that the theatrical business is at least stable in the United States. Relatively good numbers for the re-release of The Nightmare Before Christmas bolster that argument, although 2 Hearts is underperforming hopes. Overall, it’s a story of two steps forward, one step back. More...

Weekend predictions: Honest Thief should pull off comfortable weekend win

October 16th, 2020

After last weekend’s surprise win for The War with Grandpa, this weekend is looking a little more predictable, with Honest Thief expected to comfortably top the chart. The overall strength of the market remains very uncertain, but our model is now assuming about 40% of moviegoers are ready to go to theaters, based on Grandpa’s relative strength last weekend. Liam Neeson is a well-known quantity at the box office, and Honest Thief joins a long line of Neeson thrillers, most of which have done very well at the box office. Our model has this new one opening at around $4.4 million. More...

Weekend estimates: The War with Grandpa pulls off surprise win

October 11th, 2020

Although the theatrical market is still in the doldrums, The War with Grandpa is providing some welcome good news this weekend with a surprise win. 101 Studios is projecting $3.608 million for the weekend, which is more than double our prediction, and wouldn’t be a particularly surprising result for a film like this from a new distributor under normal circumstances. Its performance raises some interesting questions about what films will and won’t work in theaters at the moment. More...

Weekend predictions: Grandpa unlikely to challenge Tenet

October 8th, 2020

The War with Grandpa opens in 2,250 theaters this weekend, making it the first truly-wide new release since Infidel back on September 25. Family movies have generally looked weak during the pandemic, but Hocus Pocus did surprisingly well last weekend, earning $1.925 million. Given Grandpa’s wider release and relative freshness, it might have a shot at toppling Tenet from the top of the chart, although our model thinks that’s unlikely. In fact, the re-release of Coco might have a better chance. More...

The War with Grandpa Trailer

August 14th, 2020

Comedy starring Robert De Niro and Oakes Fegley opens in theaters on October 9. Full movie details.

Peter and his Grandpa Jack used to be very close but when Grandpa Jack moves in with the family, Peter is forced to give up his most prized possession: his bedroom. Peter will stop at nothing to get his room back, scheming with friends to devise a series of pranks to drive him out. But Grandpa doesn’t give up easily, and it turns into an all-out war between the two. More...