Weekend Estimates: Kingsman Circles $39 Million

September 24th, 2017

The fine line between mere popularity and capturing the zeitgeist (or going viral, to use a slightly more up-to-date term) is shown in this weekend’s box office results. Kingsman: The Golden Circle, a decently-reviewed sequel to a very popular franchise-starter, will pick up a very respectable $39 million this weekend. That’s a shade better than the original film made on its opening weekend, and a pretty satisfying result for all concerned. With good business expected overseas (we don’t have an official estimate yet), the film should cruise to profitability overall, and will most likely top $100 million domestically. It would also have counted as the fourth-best opening weekend in September, were it not for the behemoth zeitgeist-capturer, It. More...

Friday Estimates: Kingsman Not Quite Golden with $15.33 million Opening Day

September 23rd, 2017

Kingsman: The Golden Circle opened on the low end of expectations with $15.33 million on Friday. This puts it on pace for just under $40 million over the full weekend. This is a little more than the $36.21 million the original managed back in 2015. This film has earned weaker reviews, but both films earned a B plus from CinemaScore. Still sequels tend to have shorter legs, so getting much past $100 million domestically will be difficult. This is not good news for a film that cost $104 million to make. I don’t think there will be a third film in the franchise, not unless it shows some growth internationally. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Battle of the Early Award Season Contenders

September 22nd, 2017

There are a trio of films on this week’s list that are Awards Season adjacent: Battle of the Sexes, Stronger, and Victoria and Abdul. All three earned some pre-release Awards Season buzz, but I’m not sure any of them will be serious contenders. Hopefully at least one of them will be a box office success. More...

Isle of Dogs Trailer

September 22nd, 2017

Animated adventure written and directed by Wes Anderson, with the voices of, among many others, Bill Murray, and Edward Norton opens March 23, 2018 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Kingsman Pulls in $3.4 million in Golden Debut - Updated

September 22nd, 2017

As expected, Kingsman: The Golden Circle had the best previews, earning $3.4 million last night. The original film opened with $1.4 million during its previews; however, this is not a good predictor for two reasons. Firstly, that was two years ago, which is a lifetime ago in terms of previews. Secondly, it was at a different time of year and previews are very dependent on time of year. Perhaps a closer comparison would be The Magnificent Seven, as that film earned $1.75 million this weekend last year, on the way to $67 million. However, Kingsman: The Golden Circle earned weaker reviews and it has a younger target audience, so it will likely have worse legs. In fact, it could have worse legs than It did, which would leave the film with just $31 million during its opening weekend. I was expecting about $4 million last night, so unless its legs are better, it won’t match its prediction. That said, just over $40 million is still good and if it can merely match its predecessor’s legs, then it will break even sometime during its home market run. More...

Contest: Halloween Arrives Early

September 22nd, 2017

September ends on a low note with two wide releases, American Made and Flatliners, neither of which are expected to be anything more than midlevel hits. American Made is nearly done its international run (It only has about a dozen markets left to open in) and it is not going well. That said, it is still expected to do much better than Flatliners, so it is the better choice for the target film in this week’s box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening three-day weekend box office number for American Made.

We are starting the Halloween Trick or Treat contests a little early, because I still have a lot of horror films I’ve saved for this time of year and this will be the last Halloween for the Box Office Prediction contest. In fact, the Box Office Prediction contest will be ending at the end of the year. Each winner from now until Halloween will either win a horror movie or a movie so bad it is scary it was made. (Each winner will also get a TV on DVD release or a kids DVD, because I’m trying to run out of prizes by the end of the year.)

Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film’s opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Trick or Treat Frankenprize, as described above. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film’s opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a Trick or Treat Frankenprize, as described above. Finally, we will be choosing an entrant from the group of people who haven’t won, or haven’t won recently, and they will win the final Trick or Treat Frankenprize, as described above.

Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don’t delay! More...

Theater Counts: Ninjago and Kingsman Both Hit 4,000 Theaters this Weekend

September 21st, 2017

Fall season gets under way in earnest this weekend with the release of The Lego Ninjago Movie and Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Both films are expected to do well, and at least one of them should beat current box office champ, It this weekend. Ninjago opens in 4,047 theaters, while Golden Circle launches in 4,003. It will remain in 4,007 movie houses, which gives us three films playing in over 4,000 locations this weekend. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will the New Releases Earn Gold?

September 21st, 2017

There are three wide releases coming out this week, which is one more than anticipated. Kingsman: The Golden Circle is widely expected to earn first place during the weekend, but The Lego Ninjago Movie is widely expected to have longer legs and that could give it the win overall. Meanwhile, Friend Request is just hoping to earn a spot in the top five. It’s not a sure bet that it will. Meanwhile, It will relinquish first spot and fall to third place, but still earn a ton of money. This weekend last year, the one-two punch of The Magnificent Seven and Storks helped the overall box office pull in $104 million. The top three films this year should earn more than that, to give 2017 another win. It will still take a lot to recover, but this result at least makes that possible. More...

Same Kind of Different as Me Trailer

September 21st, 2017

Drama starring Greg Kinnear, Renée Zellweger, and Djimon Hounsou opens October 20 ... Full Movie Details. More...

International Box Office: War Comes to China and earns $61.07 million

September 21st, 2017

War for the Planet of the Apes returned to the top of the chart earning $62.9 million in 21 markets for totals of $287.9 million internationally and $433.8 worldwide. The film debuted in first place in China with $59.66 million over the weekend for a total opening of $61.07 million. More...