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...
October 23rd, 2019
The Lion King is scaring away all of the competition and while the Blu-ray / 4K Ultra HD is not Pick of the Week material, there’s almost nothing else to talk about. It might be worth buying WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?: The Complete Series just because of that ridiculously long name.
More...
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...
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...
August 11th, 2019
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...
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...
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...
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...
June 21st, 2019
Crime caper starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss opens August 9 ... Full Movie Details.
Three 1978 Hell’s Kitchen housewives’ mobster husbands are sent to prison by the FBI. Left with little but a sharp ax to grind, the ladies take the Irish mafia’s matters into their own hands—proving unexpectedly adept at everything from running the rackets to taking out the competition… literally.
More...