Home Market Releases for April 2nd, 2019

April 3rd, 2019

Bumblebee is the last of the major winter release to hit the home market and with that we enter the summer doldrums. Fortunately, it is a great movie, even if it can’t live up to its Tomatometer Score, but it is still worth picking up and a contender for Pick of the Week. The only other contender is A Silent Voice on Blu-ray. It wasn’t a really close contest and A Silent Voice truly earns that honor. More...

International Box Office: Some of the Shine Comes off for Glass

January 31st, 2019

Glass remained in first place with $23.6 million in 55 markets for a two-week total of $89.1 million. It has no new markets this past weekend. In fact, it only has one major market left in its run, China. The film’s biggest market was the U.K. where it remained in first place with $2.55 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $9.06 million. In Russia, t fell 60% to just $2.08 million on 1,381 over the weekend for a two-week total of $8.68 million. The film opened faster than Split did, but it has shorter legs, so it may or may not overtake its predecessor in the end. More...

International Box Office: Glass Sparkles on Top

January 24th, 2019

Glass opened in first place on the international chart with $48.5 million in 55 markets. Its biggest market was Russia, where it opened with $5.19 million on 1,381 screens. On the other hand, arguably its best market was Mexico, where it earned $4.15 million over the weekend for a total opening of $4.39 million. This is more than double the $2.02 million Split opened with and the record for M. Night Shyamalan in that market. On the down side, the film has practically done its international run and only has China ahead. More...

International Box Office: Bumblebee Stings the Competition

January 16th, 2019

Bumblebee remained in first place with $35.6 million in 64 markets for totals of $256.3 million internationally and $365.2 million worldwide. It was able to remain in first place in China with $26.36 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $108.91 million. It fell 55%, which is actually quite good for a film in China. Bumblebee needs about $250 million worldwide, without China, in order to break even during its initial push into the home market. It got there this weekend and it still hasn’t opened in Japan. I think Paramount will be happy with this result and there will be another installment in the Transformers franchise. More...

Weekend Predictions: Is Dog’s Home at the Top of the Box Office?

January 10th, 2019

There are three or four new releases that should reach the top ten, depending on how you look at things. A Dog’s Way Home is by far the biggest of these and has a not unreasonable shot at opening in first place. I think Aquaman will defend its crown, but it should at least be close. The Upside is the only other new release with a better than 50/50 shot of earning a spot in the top five. Replicas, on the other hand, is widely expected to bomb. The last “new” release is On the Basis of Sex, which is expanding nearly truly wide and it has an outside chance of earning a spot in the top five. This weekend last year was MLK Day long weekend. If 2019 doesn’t lose the year-over-year comparison by more than 20%, then it will be a reason to celebrate. More...

International Box Office: Bumblebee Bounces to the Top

January 9th, 2019

Bumblebee rose to first place with $82.7 million in 62 markets for totals of $192.0 million internationally and $289.6 million worldwide. It was able to earn first place thank in part due to its first place debut in China, where it earned $58.06 million over the weekend for a total opening of $59.26 million. The film needs to make more than $150 million in China to have a secure future there. Granted, films in China tend to have short legs, but Transformers has usually been the exception, so I’m cautiously optimistic for its chances. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Aquaman Leads the Way, While Most of Top Five Thrives

January 8th, 2019

It was a good weekend at the box office as four of the top five films beat expectations. This includes Aquaman, which led the way with $31.00 million. Overall, the weekend was down by 26% from last weekend, falling to $138 million, but this was a post-holiday weekend, so this was to be expected. Compared to the same weekend last year, 2019 got off to a 16% slower start. More...

Weekend Estimates: Aquaman Completes Threepeat, Escape Room Thrives

January 6th, 2019

Aquaman is holding on even better than expected with an estimated $30.7 million over the weekend for a total of $259.7 million after three weeks of release. The film will have no trouble topping $300 million domestically, and it might be able to climb a spot or two on the DCEU chart before it is done. Internationally, the film is doing even better with an estimated $56.2 million on 18,900 screens in 79 markets for an international total of $681 million. It is the biggest international hit for a D.C. film, topping The Dark Knight. It has $940.7 million worldwide and will crack $1 billion shortly. More...

Friday Estimates: Aquaman Can’t Escape Top Spot

January 5th, 2019

Aquaman won the race for first place on the Friday box office chart, although it wasn’t as easy as originally expected. The film earned $9.3 million on Friday, lifting its running tally to $238.3 million after 15 days of release. It is on pace for $30 million over the weekend and $300 million in total. More...

Weekend Predictions: Can Escape Find Room in the Top Five?

January 3rd, 2019

It is the first weekend of 2019 and there are not many new releases to talk about. In fact, there’s just one: Escape Room. It should do relatively well, given its low-budget nature, but it won’t knock Aquaman out of first place. In fact, it very likely won’t knock Mary Poppins Returns out of second place. This weekend last year, Insidious: The Last Key opened with nearly $30 million and it wasn’t even able to earn first place. This year, no film will match The Last Key, so 2019 will start on a losing note. More...

International Box Office: Aquaman Cracks $750 million Worldwide

January 3rd, 2019

Aquaman remained the top draw on the international market with $88.4 million on 23,360 screens in 78 markets for totals of $562.4 million internationally and $751.4 million worldwide. The film’s biggest new market was Australia where it opened with $7.94 million on 632 screens over the weekend for a total opening $11.04 million. Its biggest market overall is China where it added $11.45 million over the weekend to its running tally, which now sits at $261.28 million after four weeks of release. It overtook Suicide Squad for third place in the D.C.E.U. and it is not done yet. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Aquaman Ends the Year on Top

January 2nd, 2019

Due to the holidays, there was a delay in getting final numbers from major studios for the weekend box office, but the last of them have finally arrived. Aquaman dominated with $52.11 million over the three-day weekend, while it cracked $200 million on New Year’s Day. Mary Poppings Returns isn’t matching expectations, but it is still having a profitable run. Meanwhile, both Bumblebee and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse are overcoming incredible competition to dig out profitable runs of their own. Overall, the weekend box office hit $188 million, which is 6.2% higher than last weekend, and while it is 3.5% lower than the same weekend last year, this is still better than expected. It will take a long time to get the final yearly results, not until the MPAA’s state of the industry report in April, but preliminary results have 2018 beating 2017 by 8.4% or $920 million at $11.91 billion to $10.99 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Aquaman and Entire Top Five have a Repeat Performance

December 30th, 2018

It has been an even more predictable weekend than expected, as every film in the top five finished in the same order as last weekend. This includes Aquaman topping the chart with an estimated $51.55 million over the weekend for a ten-day total of $188.79 million. It will cross $200 million shortly and overtake A Star is Born as Warner Bros.’ biggest domestic hit of the year. Internationally, the film added $85.4 million this weekend to push its global running tally to just shy of $750 million at $748.8 million. It is already ahead of Man of Steel and Suicide Squad on the DCEU chart and should soon step into first place. More...

Friday Estimates: Aquaman Rises with the Tides

December 29th, 2018

The Friday box office estimates are almost exactly as predicted, with most films out-pacing expectations by a small amount. At least as far as the top five is concerned. The lower films struggled more. For example, Aquaman led the way with $17.1 million putting it on pace for $52 million over the weekend. The film will become Warner Bros.’ second film released in 2018 to get to the $200 million mark (A Star is Born quietly got there before Christmas.) but it might have to wait till the new year to get there. Internationally, the film has already cracked $500 million with a running tally of $511.8 million as of the end of business on Friday. More...

Weekend Predictions: Aquaman Will Celebrate the New Year on Top

December 28th, 2018

It’s the weekend after Christmas and as is the holiday tradition, there are no new releases this week. I guess you could technically call Holmes and Watson and Vice new releases, but they’ve been out since Tuesday. This means there won’t be much new news to talk about. Aquaman will dominate, while Mary Poppins Returns will bounce back, as will most other family fair. I think the same five films that appeared in the top five last weekend will appear in the top five this weekend. Holmes and Watson might not collapse and could grab a spot in the top five, but I personally wouldn’t bet on it. This weekend last year, Star Wars: The Last Jedi barely stayed ahead of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, as both films earned more than $50 million. Aquaman has close to a 50/50 chance of earning $50 million, but the rest of the films will be well back resulting in 2018 ending on a losing note. That said, it should be relatively close and 2018 has already topped last year’s final box office by a significant margin. More...

International Box Office: Aquaman Surfs to $400 million Internationally

December 27th, 2018

Aquaman had another significant expansion helping it keep first place with $95.2 million on 31,900 screens in 70 markets for totals of $415.5 million internationally and, including updated Domestic tallies, the global take is $488.2 million worldwide. It is ahead of every other film in the D.C.E.U. on the international chart, which is impressive. Its biggest new market was South Korea, where it earned first place with $7.94 million on 1,272 screens for a total opening of $10.08 million. It also opened in first place in France with $6.6 million on 607 screens, as well as in Germany with $4.9 million 805. The film’s biggest market overall was China, where it slipped to second with $23.41 million on 12,000 screens for a three-week total of $233.59 million. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Box Office Christmas Clean-up

December 27th, 2018

The Christmas holiday is over for most people, although it is not entirely over for some studios. This is making getting all of the box office details much harder to do. In fact, we are still limited to estimated for more than half the top five this weekend. We have enough details now to look at the weekend results and the Christmas Day releases and see which are thriving and which are not. Aquaman dominated the charts with just over $100 million so far, including its paid previews. On the other hand, Mary Poppins Returns missed expectations by a substantial margin. It will still break even. The same can be said of Bumblebee, which could usher in a new era of Transformers movies. Overall, the box office rose by 53% from last weekend to $177 million. This is just 0.3% lower than the same weekend last year; however, last year, Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday and Christmas Eve is a dead zone at the box office. We can’t even compare Christmas Day, because landing on a Monday vs. a Tuesday is a huge difference. Next weekend’s comparison will be much easier to make. Year-to-date, and this is up to Boxing Day, 2018 is ahead by 7.7% or $810 million at $11.37 billion to $10.56 billion. This would be an impressive year, even if no more movie tickets were sold after boxing day. More...

Christmas Predictions: Can Sherlock Solve the Case?

December 24th, 2018

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, which is a surprisingly good day to release a movie, and two new films are hoping to take advantage of this. Holmes and Watson is by far the bigger of the two releases, but despite the comedic talent in the movie, its reviews are, well, practically non-existent. There’s only one review and it is negative. Not that long ago, I thought the film would still open with $10 million for the day, as Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly do have box office drawing power. However, the lack of reviews hurts and the buzz isn’t loud enough to compensate. I think $8 million is more likely. More...

Weekend Estimates: Aquaman Easily Tops Weekend Chart, Poppins / Bumblebee Need Long Legs

December 23rd, 2018

Aquaman is the only certifiable hit of the weekend with an estimated opening of $67.4 million over the weekend for a total of $72.1 million including last week’s paid previews. This is not more than we predicted, but it is dominating the chart, because the competition didn’t show up. It should hit $100 million by the end of Christmas Day. Its reviews are good, but not great, and the same is true of its A minus from CinemaScore. It is also a comic book movie and those tend to have shorter legs, so it might not get as large a multiplier as the average Christmas weekend release, but it should be a large enough hit that Warner Bros. will keep this new direction going for the DCEU. Internationally, it is earning an estimated $91.3 million on 31,930 screens in 70 markets for a three-week total of $410.7 million. Overall, it is tracking ahead of every other film in the DCEU, but a lot of that has to do with China. More...

Friday Estimates: Aquaman Easily Tops Chart, Bumblebee tops Struggling Mary Poppins

December 22nd, 2018

Friday was not as potent as midnight previews led us to believe it would be. That said, Aquaman still had an impressive $28.0 million opening day. This does include the previous night’s $9.0 million in previews, but not last weekend’s $4.7 million in previews, giving the film a $32.7 million running tally. The film’s reviews remain in the overall positive level and it earned an A minus from CinemaScore, so it should have relatively good legs over the weekend, for a comic book movie. We predicted an opening weekend of $67 million and I think the film will top that, by one or two million dollars. It is more than enough for Warner Bros. to continue with the new direction DCEU is taking. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Aquaman Torpedoes the Competition, Mary Poppins has a Quiet Return

December 21st, 2018

Aquaman earned $9.0 million during Thursday’s previews, which is a little lower than the $11.0 million Wonder Woman opened with. However, the film also had $4.7 million in earlier paid previews, which undoubtedly lowered last night’s figure a little bit. Its reviews continue to be good, but not great, so it won’t have amazing legs over the weekend, but after a start like this, topping Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s $71.56 million haul from last year is a lot more likely. In fact, $80 million over three-days is a realistic goal to aim for. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Aquaman Swim to Victory, or will Mary Poppins Return to Top Spot?

December 19th, 2018

It is a busy week, as there are seven films opening wide over the next seven days. Not all of these will be hits—the competition is just too great for that. However, there could be a real race for Christmas champion this year. Because of its fast start in China and its strong pre-sales numbers, many believe Aquaman will top earlier expectations and earn first place over the three-day weekend. However, I think Mary Poppins Returns will be number one over the full week, partially because it should earn a bigger boost over Christmas, but also because it is opening two days early. Meanwhile, Bumblebee’s surprisingly strong reviews are lifting its box office potential. More...

2018 Preview: December

December 1st, 2018

November turned out to be a really, really good month. I thought 2018’s lead over 2017 would shrink, potentially by $200 million to $300 million. However, the lead actually managed to grow a little bit, thanks to hits like Ralph Breaks the Internet, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and Bohemian Rhapsody. December has an equal number of potential hits, led by Mary Poppins Returns, which some think will top $300 million. Additionally, Spider-man Into the Spider-Verse, Aquaman, Bumblebee, and Holmes and Watson all have a realistic shot at $100 million or more. On the other hand, last December was stronger, at least on top. The Last Jedi earned more than $500 million just during December, which is more than any December release this year will earn in total. It could be more than the top two films earn in total. 2018 will win the in year-over-year competition; however, its lead won’t be as large as it is at the start of the month. More...

New Bumblebee Trailer

September 24th, 2018

Sci-fi adventure starring Hailee Steinfeld opens December 21 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Bumblebee Trailer

September 14th, 2018

Sci-fi adventure starring Hailee Steinfeld opens December 21 ... Full Movie Details. More...