Home Market Releases for June 26th, 2018

June 26th, 2018

As long time readers know, summer is the worst time of the year for the home market. Summer blockbusters are taking up everyone’s attention and it is still too soon for the rush of TV on DVD releases. The biggest first-run release of the week is Acrimony, which is only for Tyler Perry fans. As for the best of the rest, there are a handful of Pick of the Week contenders, including two Anime titles. To be more accurate, only one of them came out this week, as it took a couple of weeks for my screener of My Hero Academia: Season Two, Volume Two: Limited Edition Combo Pack to arrive. It is the Pick of the Week. More...

Home Market Releases for June 12th, 2018

June 12th, 2018

There are not many big releases on this week’s list. Tomb Raider, Sherlock Gnomes, The Strangers: Prey at Night, and Love, Simon were, at best, midlevel hits domestically. Worse still, only the last one earned good reviews. Fortunately, the film is good enough that the DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack is worthy as Pick of the Week. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Party Generates some Noise, Breaking In Could find Some Loot

May 11th, 2018

Life of the Party only managed $700,000 during its previews, which is well below the $985,000 The Boss managed two years ago. If this film has the same legs, it will open with just under $17 million. Granted, Life of the Party is earning better reviews, so it could perform a little better over the weekend, but matching our $21 million prediction might be asking too much. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Quiet Place Helps the Box Office Make Some Noise

April 9th, 2018

A Quiet Place not only topped predictions, it nearly doubled them earning $50.20 million during its opening weekend. The rest of the new releases also beat expectations, albeit by much smaller margins. Blockers nearly matched its production budget, while Chappaquiddick and The Miracle Season didn’t embarrass themselves. Add in some strong holds and the total box office was a surprisingly robust $162 million. This is 19% higher than last weekend and 36% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2018 is still behind 2017 by $60 million or 1.8% at $3.07 billion to $3.12 billion. This is half as much as the gap was this time last week, which is great news going forward. More...

Weekend Estimates: A Quiet Place Opens in the Black with $50 million

April 8th, 2018

If it weren’t for Black Panther, A Quiet Place would be the biggest surprise hit of the year so far. The film earned $50 million during its opening weekend, on a budget of just $17 million. Its initial ad buy was probably less than $25 million, meaning this film earned more in its opening weekend that its combined budget. However, I assume Paramount Pictures put in at least another $10 million ad buy on Saturday after Friday’s estimates showed up. As for the film’s future, its reviews are close to Award-worthy and it earned a B plus from CinemaScore, which is impressive for a horror film. Additionally, the film saw its score rise on Saturday when compared to Friday, which is not common for a new release. Previews plus the opening day rush usually result in small declines for films aimed at this target audience. It is still a horror film and next week there is big competition and direct competition, so its legs likely won’t be great, but its nearly guaranteed a profit by this time next week. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will April Have a Quiet Start?

April 5th, 2018

There are only two wide releases this week, A Quiet Place and Blockers, both of which are expected to be midlevel hits. There are also two films opening semi-wide, Chappaquiddick and The Miracle Season, neither of which are expected to open in the top five. This weekend last year, The Boss Baby led the way with $26.36 million during its second weekend of release. A Quiet Place could top that, but even if it does, last year’s depth will probably keep 2017 behind 2018 in the year-over-year comparison. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Spielberg’s Decade Best Can’t Save Overall Box Office

April 3rd, 2018

Ready Player One not only opened in first place over the weekend, but its three-day total of $41.77 million was Steven Spielberg’s best opening weekend as a director in almost exactly a decade. Acrimony was a solid second place finisher with $17.17 million. God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness missed the top ten. Overall, the box office rose 4.9% from last weekend hitting $136 million, but this was still 20% lower than the same weekend last year. 2018 is now 4.9% or $150 million behind 2017’s pace at $2.84 billion to $2.99 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Ready Player One Solid On Debut

April 1st, 2018

The gulf between blockbusters and also-rans could hardly be starker these days. Since the release of Black Panther to a whopping $202 million on February 16, three movies that could have caught the general public’s imagination have arrived on the scene, and earned somewhere between a fifth and a seventh of that on opening weekend. Ready Player One is the most successful among them, with an opening of $41.2 million predicted by Warner Bros. as of this morning. That compares favorably to the openings of A Wrinkle in Time (which started out with $33.1 million), and Pacific Rim: Uprising ($28.1 million), and is, in fact, the best weekend in 2018 for a movie not called Black Panther, but it barely starts to chip away at considerable marketing costs, let alone a reported $150 million production budget. More...

Friday Estimates: Player One is Ready and Able with $15.2 million Friday

March 31st, 2018

Ready Player One earned first place on Friday with $15.2 million, for a two-day total of $27.2 million. Continuing the comparison I’ve been doing with G.I. Joe: Retaliation, this news is mixed. Ready Player One had a much better preview night, which we can attribute to previews being relatively new when Retaliation came out. The two films’ 24-hour Thursday numbers were nearly the same, and now Ready Player One has slipped just behind Retaliation’s pace. Ready Player One does have very good reviews, but the two films both earned A-minuses from CinemaScore, so they should have similar legs. I’m still going to give the edge to Ready Player One at $41 million / $52 million, but it is close. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Player Starts Out as Number One

March 30th, 2018

Ready Player One pulled in $12.1 million on Thursday, including $3.75 million in previews. If we again compare this start to G.I. Joe: Retaliation, we see some good news, but also some troubling news. Relatiation only managed $2.6 million in previews, but $10.51 million on Thursday, so Ready Player One has shorter legs already. That said, Relatiation came out before previews were as big as they are now, so perhaps it is better just to judge the film’s Thursday numbers. If we use the full Thursday numbers, then Ready Player One is on pace for a $47 million / $59 million opening weekend. If we just use the 24-hour Thursday numbers, then Ready Player One will open with $41 million / $51 million over the weekend. Ready Player One does have better reviews, but they both earned A minuses from CinemaScore, so perhaps having the same legs from now on is more likely than not. We will have a better idea once Friday’s numbers are out. More...

Weekend Predictions: Is Player One Ready to Dominate the Box Office? (With Preview Numbers)

March 29th, 2018

March comes to a close with three wide releases. Of these, only Ready Player One is expected to be even a midlevel hit. In fact, it will likely earn more over its four-day weekend than the other two films earn in total. Acrimony should open in the mid to low teens, while God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness will barely make the top ten. This weekend last year, The Boss Baby opened with just over $50 million. Maybe Ready Player One will make that much over four days. Even if it does, 2017’s impressive depth means there’s almost no chance 2018 will win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

2018 Preview: March

March 1st, 2018

February was an amazing month, thanks mainly to Black Panther, but Fifty Shades Freed and Peter Rabbit were also significant hits and overall the month was a massive improvement over last February. Looking forward, there’s nothing opening in March that will earn as much in total as Black Panther did during its opening weekend. That said, A Wrinkle in Time and Ready Player One should have no trouble getting to $100 million, while Tomb Raider has a 50/50 chance of getting there. Unfortunately, compared to last March, this is still a pittance. There’s a chance that no film opening this March will earn as much in total as Beauty and the Beast opened with last march. We will need Black Panther to have good legs to keep 2018 ahead of 2017 by the end of the month. More...

Acrimony Trailer

February 20th, 2018

Tyler Perry thriller starring Taraji P. Henson opens March 30 ... Full Movie Details.

A faithful wife tired of standing by her devious husband is enraged when it becomes clear she has been betrayed. More...