2019 - Holiday Gift Guide - Part I - First-Run Releases and Franchise Box Sets

November 27th, 2019

It's Thanksgiving weekend, which means Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and of course the first installment of our Holiday Gift Guide. This year, Thanksgiving is as late as it could have been, which means there’s no way to squeeze in four weeks of regular installments of the gift guide, as well as the December monthly preview, etc. So we are going to have a condensed list this year. That said, there weren’t a ton of first-run releases that would have made this list regardless. More...

Home Market Releases for November 19th, 2019

November 19th, 2019

It is not a prime week on the home market with Dora and the Lost City of Gold being the biggest first run release. It is worth picking up, but not a contender for Pick of the Week. There were a lot of contenders for that title, including Cold War: The Criterion Collection, Fruits Basket: Season One, Part One, and Rock ‘n’ Roll High School: 40th Anniversary Edition. In the end, I went with Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, but all three will end up in my Blu-ray collection before long. More...

Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Dora and the Lost City of Gold

November 18th, 2019

Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a live-action adaptation of a kids cartoon aimed at preschoolers. Is it going to entertain older kids who grew up on Dora the Explorer? Will it entertain adults? Or does it fall in that awkward space between those two demographics? More...

Home Market Releases for November 5th, 2019

November 6th, 2019

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is easily the biggest release of the week, but it is not the best. Pick of the Week contenders include Galaxy Quest and Good Omens, as well as Alice, Sweet Alice, which arrived late. I’m going with Good Omens, but all three are must haves. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: It Dominates the Chart, Maybe Reinvigorates the Box Office

September 10th, 2019

It: Chapter Two dominated the box office by almost as large a margin as expected. It certainly did well enough that I’m considering it a victory. It earned $91.06 million over the weekend, which is almost exactly what the total box office made last weekend. More importantly, it is almost as much as the top five made this weekend last year, giving the weekend box office a massive increase of 48% from last weekend to $136 million and more importantly, this was 12% more than the same weekend last year. 2019 is still behind 2018 by a massive margin of $500 million or 6.0% at $7.83 billion to $8.33 billion. However, we did catch up to 2017’s ticket sales pace, so as long as we can maintain this pace for the rest of the year, it won’t look like a disaster at the end of the year. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Good Does Well, Box Office is Still Weak

August 20th, 2019

It’s the dog days of summer and Good Boys was the only new release with an impressive debut of $21.40 million, while The Angry Birds Movie 2’s $16.09 million six-day debut isn’t a bad start for this time of year. There were a few holdovers to earn more than $10 million over the weekend, so the overall box office wasn’t a disaster, just a disappointment down 9.5% from last weekend to $119 million. More importantly, this is 7.7% lower the the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2019 has pulled in $7.35 billion, but this is 6.3% or $490 million behind last year’s pace. At this point, I don’t think it is possible for 2019 to catch up, but hopefully it can put together a strong last few months to at least save face. Additionally, the international box office is doing better, so worldwide it is close to a wash. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Hobbs and Shaw Survive Their Sophomore Stint

August 12th, 2019

The weekend box office was mediocre with many of the new releases missing expectations, and some of them had low expectations to begin with. Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw was able to remain in first place, but on the low end of expectations, leaving Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark as the biggest positive news of the weekend. Overall, the weekend box office was 11% lower than last weekend at $132 million. Worse still, this is 10% lower than the same weekend last year, leaving 2019 further behind last year’s pace. 2019 is now behind 2018 by 6.2% or $480 million at $7.16 billion to $7.64 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Hobbs and Shaw Remain Top Draw

August 11th, 2019

Friday Estimates: Scary Tops Friday, Hobbs and Shaw Set to Win Weekend

August 10th, 2019

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark led the way on Friday with $7.86 million. The film’s reviews are Certified Fresh at 80% positive, but it only managed a C from CinemaScore. To be fair, this isn’t a bad result for a horror film, but it does mean it likely won’t have great legs and will sink into second place over the full weekend. It will still beat our prediction and could even become CBS Films’ best opening of all time. Right now, it is on pace to come close to The Woman in Black’s current record with about $20 million during the opening weekend. It would be ironic is CBS Films set the company record now, as it is ceasing theatrical releases and instead shifting towards streaming content. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Stories Scares Up Some Box Office Dollars

August 9th, 2019

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark had the best previews on Thursday, earning $2.3 million. It was expected to top Dora and the Lost City of Gold, because it is a horror movie and that genre tends to be a lot more front-loaded. However, it wasn’t expected to do this well and it will easily top our $15 million prediction for the weekend, especially if its reviews translate into strong word-of-mouth. More...

Weekend Predictions: Can Dora find Box Office Gold?

August 8th, 2019

There are five wide or semi-wide releases coming out this weekend, which is just too many and practically guarantees at least one of them will flop at the box office. Of these films, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is the only one expected to compete for first place, while Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark should do well as a low-budget horror movie. Unfortunately, The Kitchen and The Art of Racing in the Rain are not connecting with critics and that will likely keep them out of the top five. Finally, Brian Banks is opening in just 1,240 theaters and that could keep it out of the top ten. This weekend last year, The Meg opened with $45 million. No film playing this weekend will match that and I don’t think this year’s depth is going to compensate, meaning we are going to lose in the year-over-year competition yet again. More...

2019 Preview: August

August 1st, 2019

July bounced back from June with both Spider-Man: Far from Home and The Lion King getting to $1 billion worldwide. Domestically, we are still behind 2018’s pace by more than $400 million, but that’s a substantial improvement over where we were at the start of the month. August should continue this winning streak, at least initially. Hobbs and Shaw could open with close to $100 million, but the only other film opening this month that has a real shot at $100 million in total is Dora and the Lost City of Gold. Last August, both Crazy Rich Asians and The Meg topped $100 million, while Christopher Robin came within 1% of that milestone. This August might be better at the very top, but I don’t think the top three this month will top the top three last month. Maybe if we get a surprise hit, it will, but I’m not willing to bet on that. On the other hand, unless something dramatic happens, 2019 should at least come close to matching last year’s pace and that’s better than most months have done this year. More...

Dora and the Lost City of Gold Trailer

March 25th, 2019

Adventure starring Isabela Moner opens August 2 ... Full Movie Details. More...