Featured TV on DVD Review: American Gods: Season One

October 16th, 2017

American Gods came out about 15 years ago. Since it was first released, lots of people wanted to turn it into a movie, but it never went far, because turning the 465 page book into a 2 hour movie seemed fool-hardy. Turning it into a TV series, on the other hand... Was this the wiser path to take? Or is the book just too hard to adapt? More...

Black Panther Trailer

October 16th, 2017

Super-hero action movie starring Chadwick Boseman opens February 16 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Weekend Estimates: Young Women Power Death Day to Victory

October 15th, 2017

This weekend will be another winner for horror movies, with Happy Death Day powering into first place with a projected $26.5 million, according to Universal’s Sunday morning numbers. That puts it miles ahead of Blade Runner 2049, which failed to broaden its audience this weekend, and is down 54% to $15.1 million, for $60.6 million in total. More...

Friday Estimates: Friday was a Happy, Happy Day as Death Pulled in $11.6 million

October 14th, 2017

Happy Death Day topped expectations by earning $14.3 million on Friday. Even with short legs, it will still make $25 million over the weekend, possibly a little more. This is likely more than it cost to make and advertise, at least initially. I suspect Universal will up their ad buy after this result and will also increase the initial print run for the DVDs / Blu-rays as well. The film’s reviews are 68% positive, while it earned a solid B from CinemaScore. Earning a B would be bad for most movies, but horror films routinely fall in the C range, as horror fans tend to be very negative. For example, gorehounds will hate anything without enough blood, but torture porn will turn off even more fans. Pleasing even half of the opening day audience is impressive. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Don’t Waste this Opportunity to see a Limited Release

October 13th, 2017

The two biggest limited releases in terms of buzz, Breathe and Goodbye Christopher Robin, both failed to live up to expectations with critics and likely won’t have long legs at the box office. On the other hand, there are several documentaries worth checking out, like 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene, The Departure, Human Flow, and Wasted! The Story of Food Waste. More...

The New Mutants Trailer

October 13th, 2017

Superhero horror movie starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams opens April 13, 2018 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Should Happy Death Day be Happy with $1 million

October 13th, 2017

Happy Death Day started its box office run with $1 million during its previews. This is a mere fraction of what It earned earlier this fall, but it is better than the $772,000 Ouija: Origin of Evil earned this time last year. If Happy Death Day earns the same legs, then it will pull in about $18 million this weekend. Its reviews are not as good, but it is also not a sequel, so those two factors should balance out. This is exactly what we predicted, so I’m happy with this result. Since the film only cost $5 million to make and likely less than $20 million to advertise, the studio should also be happy. More...

Contest: Jump Scare

October 12th, 2017

Next weekend will be a busy weekend with up to five new releases coming out. I would be very surprised if all five films do actually open truly wide, while only Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween has a real shot at first place. Because of that, it is the only real 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 Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween.

We are continuing the Halloween Trick or Treat contests this week. Each winner will get a Frankenprize that is either Halloween Treat, a Horror film plus another prize, or a Halloween Trick, a movie so bad it is scary it was made plus another prize.

Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film’s opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a 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 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 win a 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: Crush of Newcomers Dampens Opening Numbers

October 12th, 2017

This weekend and the four before it have been the five busiest weekends for new releases in 2017, with an average of just over 30 films being released in theaters each week, by our count. Aside from sending our data team scrambling, it makes it hard for distributors to secure screens, and the results can be seen in the theater counts for this weekend, and the current projections for next weekend. Happy Death Day has a shot at winning the weekend, but won’t be helped by playing in more than 900 fewer theaters than incumbent champion Blade Runner 2049. Death Day’s 3,149 venues, however, is quite a bit more than its competition. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Happy Day be the Death of the Box Office?

October 12th, 2017

I thought this would be a really busy weekend with Blade Runner 2049 repeating in first place and four wide releases competing for spots in the top five. However, last weekend, Blade Runner 2049 missed expectations, so it won’t dominate the chart this weekend. Meanwhile, two of the four wide releases are not going to open truly wide. This leaves Happy Death Day with a relatively easy path to first place. The Foreigner has almost made enough in China to pay for its production budget, so as long as it can cover its advertising budget here, it will break even before it reaches the home market. Meanwhile, Professor Marston & The Wonder Women is opening semi-wide and Marshall is opening nationwide. They may or may not open in the top ten. This weekend last year, The Accountant opened in first place with close to $25 million, while all three wide releases combined made $38 million. It is going to be tough for 2017 to match that. More...