DVD and Blu-ray Releases: Bad Boys and The Gentlemen New on Disc

April 21st, 2020

It’s a tough week for new releases on physical disc, although not because of the quality of the new releases. In fact, there are several new releases that I’m interested in. However, Amazon is having issues that’s making it hard to research this column. The biggest release on this week’s list is Bad Boys For Life, but I’m still waiting for the screener for that movie. Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen is also a welcome new major release.

The review DVD for Looking for Alaska did arrive, but not until Monday, so the review will have to wait. That said, it has some of the best reviews on this week’s list, and solid extras, which is enough to be the only real contender for Pick of the Week. More...

VOD Releases: Rarely, Sometimes, Repeated

April 3rd, 2020

The VOD market is beginning to return to a new state of normal with a collection of wide theatrical releases from earlier in the year, as well as some smaller releases that are more or less VOD premieres. Usually it is the wide releases that stand out on these lists, but Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always is the VOD release I would recommend the most. That said, if you are a fan of political documentaries, then you have a few choices, Slay the Dragon being the best of this selection. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Invisible Man Makes a Showy Entrance

February 28th, 2020

The Invisible Man is easily the best-reviewed horror film released in 2020 so far. It also looks like it should be one of the highest grossing, as it pulled in $1.65 million in previews on Thursday. The current 2020 champ is Fantasy Island, which didn’t even have previews, so we can’t us that film as a comparison. However, both Gretel and Hansel and The Turning earned between $400,000 and $500,000, so this is a stellar debut in comparison. It is still too early to tell if it will match predictions, but I remain cautiously optimistic. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Wild has a Tame Debut

February 21st, 2020

The Call of the Wild earned $1 million on Thursday, which is better than expected. Granted, it is nowhere near the $3 million Sonic the Hedgehog earned last Thursday, but if The Call of the Wild can open with a third as much as Sonic the Hedgehog did last weekend, then it will beat expectations, but won’t come close to what it needs to earn to break even. Its reviews are about the same as Sonic’s reviews, but this film has a much smaller Fanboy Effect, so it should have better legs. We will have to wait till tomorrow to tell if that is true. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Bad Boys Still Feeling Good, New Releases are Bad and Worse

February 4th, 2020

The Super Bowl turned out to be a good game, at least according to the score sheet. This perhaps hurt the box office over the weekend, as Bad Boys for Life fell a little faster than expected. That said, it still dominated the box office with a huge lead over the second place film, 1917. Meanwhile, the two new releases, Gretel and Hansel and The Rhythm Section, both bombed to varying degrees. The overall box office fell 33% from last weekend, hitting $81 million; however, an extreme decline like this is to be expected on Super Bowl weekend. More importantly, this is 11% higher than the same weekend last year and that helped 2020 extend its lead over 2019 to 8.9% / $77 million at $945 million to $868 million. A few more weeks like this and I’ll actually become optimistic about the year’s box office chances. More...

Weekend Estimates: Bad Boys Enjoy Life at the Top

February 2nd, 2020

Bad Boys for Life is extending its run at the top of the chart the weekend with Sony projecting a total of $17.675 million as of Sunday morning. That’s down 48% from last weekend, which is another solid hold, and takes the film to the brink of $150 million at the domestic box office—it’s expected to have around $148 million by close of business. The studio is baking in a big 71% drop today thanks to competition with the Super Bowl, so it may end up doing just a little better than predicted. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Gretel Gets off to a Faster Start than Rhythm

January 31st, 2020

Gretel and Hansel got off to a faster start than The Rhythm Section did during Thursday previews. This isn’t surprising, as horror movies tend to be more front-loaded than nearly all other genres. The movie managed $475,000, which his a little more than the $425,000 The Turning earned during its previews. Furthermore, its reviews are flirting with the overall positive level, so its legs could be decent, all things considered. That said, even optimistic projections from this point have it barely beating our prediction with between $7 million and $8 million. This is a good start for a film that reportedly cost just $5 million to make. More...

Weekend Predictions: The Box Office Looks far from Super

January 31st, 2020

It is Super Bowl weekend, which is one of the biggest media events of the year. Even people who have no interest in the NFL tend to at least pay attention to the game. Because of that, no studio wants to release a typical film this time of year and instead focus on counter-programming, usually female-led counter-programming. Neither The Rhythm Section nor Gretel and Hansel are expected to challenge Bad Boys for Life for first place, but the pair could be in a close race with each other. This weekend last year, no movie earned $10 million or more, while Miss Bala opened with less than $10 million. 2020 should end the month on a huge winning note. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Bad Boys’ Box Office Boon Balances Mixed Opening Results

January 28th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life saved the box office this weekend earning $34.01 million, which was more than The Gentlemen and The Turning earned combined. Granted, the overall box office was still down 27% from last weekend, but it is a post-holiday weekend, so this decline was expected. More importantly, it was 23% higher than the same weekend last year and this helped 2020 continue its early winning streak. 2020 is now ahead of 2019’s early pace by 8.2% / $63 million at $828 million to $765 million. It is still way to early to make any projections for the end of the year, but any lead 2020 can build up now will help it during the slower stretches of the year. More...

Weekend Estimates: Bad Boys are Doing Well

January 26th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life will remain in first place on the weekend chart with an estimated $34.0 million, which is down just 46% from the film’s opening weekend. This amazing hold not only beat predictions by a significant margin, it helped the film blow past $100 million yesterday. Its running tally will sit at $120.0 million at the end of the weekend, assuming the estimate holds. Internationally, the film held even better, earning $42 million on 12,700 screens in 58 markets for a total of $95 million so far. This includes a $4.7 million debut in Russia, as well as a $3.5 million hold in the U.K. The film is already ahead of the franchise average, both domestically and globally, while it is rapidly approaching first place in both. At this rate, not only will there be yet another sequel, I could see a spin-off happening as well. More...

Friday Estimates: Audiences Turn Away from New Releases

January 25th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life remained in first place earning $8.93 million on Friday, down 62% from its opening Friday. This is significantly better than anticipated and it means the film could fall less than 50% during the full weekend. Regardless, the film will reach $100 million domestically tonight, becoming the first film released in 2020 to get to that milestone. Obviously it won’t be the last. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Gentlemen’s Start in Line with Expectations

January 24th, 2020

The Gentlemen started its box office run with $725,000 from Thursday’s previews. This is not a great number, especially when compared to Bad Boys for Life’s $6.36 million in previews last week; however, this film has a more mature target audience and that should help its legs over the rest of the weekend. I’m cautiously optimistic it will match our $12 million prediction with a little room to spare. More...

Weekend Predictions: The Box Office will have a Gentle Weekend

January 23rd, 2020

It is a post-holiday weekend and the weekend before the Super Bowl. Needless to say, there are no prime releases coming out in theaters. The Gentlemen is the widest release of the week a should open in the top five, even if it doesn’t compete for top spot. The Turning is a low-budget horror movie, and we’ve already had one of those struggle at the box office this year. There’s little hope this one will be better. Finally, there’s The Last Full Measure, which is only opening nationwide, not even semi-wide. It’s not even going to make the top ten, so we will talk about that film with the other limited releases. This leaves Bad Boys for Life as the only real contender for first place this weekend. The question is more about how far it falls from last weekend. As for this weekend last year, we were in a similar situation with the two new releases, The Kid Who Would Be King and Serenity, failing to make any real impact, leaving Glass in first place for the second weekend in a row. The Upside was the only other film to earn more than $10 million that weekend, while this weekend we will have four, perhaps even five films above $10 million. 2020 should walk away with an easy win. More...

2020 Preview: January

January 1st, 2020

It’s the year 2020, the year where we find out how many times you can say, “Well, hindsight is 20/20.” before you get punched. On the positive side, while December wasn’t a great month, it was good enough to help 2019 end on a positive note, a positive note that should continue into January. There are no real potential monster hits coming out this month, but there are three films that have a real shot at $100 million domestically. These are, in alphabetical order, 1917, which will rely on Awards Season to get to the century mark. Bad Boys for Life will have a much, much easier time getting to $100 million, assuming people still care about the franchise 17 years later. Finally, Dolittle is looking like a disaster with a really troubled production; however, a $100 million run isn’t out of the question and if it can get there, it will at least save face. As for last January, Glass was the biggest hit of the month in terms of raw dollars, but The Upside was more impressive, as it is one the biggest hits in STX Entertainment’s history. We need two of the three potential $100 million hits to reach that mark to keep pace with last year, but we also have one more weekend to get there. More...

The Turning Trailer

December 13th, 2019

Supernatural horror movie starring Mackenzie Davis, Finn Wolfhard, and Brooklyn Prince opens January 24 ... Full Movie Details.

At a mysterious estate in the Maine countryside, newly appointed nanny Kate is charged with the care of two disturbed orphans, Flora and Miles. Quickly though, she discovers that both the children and the house are harboring dark secrets and things may not be as they appear. More...