Home Market Releases for June 27th, 2017

June 27th, 2017

It’s a really slow week on the home market. (Next week is even worse. ) The Fate of the Furious is the biggest release of the week, but it is only coming out on Video on Demand, so I would wait. The biggest release of the week is Power Rangers, but it feels like a pilot to a TV show and not a self-contained movie. The best new release of the week is T2: Trainspotting and the Blu-ray Combo Pack. That said, if you don’t have Home Movies yet, then buy the Complete Series right now. More...

The Dark Tower Trailer

June 27th, 2017

Sci-fi Western starring Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey and Tom Taylor, based on the books by Stephen King opens August 4 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Weekend Wrap-up: Knight is First for the Weekend, Last for the Franchise with $44.68 million

June 27th, 2017

Transformers: The Last Knight had the weekend to itself, but it couldn’t take advantage earning $44.68 million / $68.48 million over the full five days. It earned less over five days than last year’s winner, Finding Dory, earned over three days. Wonder Woman remained in second place becoming just the third film released in 2017 to hit $300 million, but there was not much else to celebrate at the box office. This explains why the overall box office fell 27% from last weekend down to $139 million. More importantly, this is 26% lower than the same weekend last year. 2017 is still ahead of 2016, but its lead was cut in half to just 1.3% or $70 million. This is a little distressing. More...

Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: T2 Trainspotting

June 26th, 2017

The original Trainspotting came out 20 years ago and earned amazing reviews and was one of the biggest limited release hits of the year. It was also not a film that usually gets a sequel. T2 Trainspotting failed to live up to the original at the box office, but does that mean it is a bad movie? Is it a pale imitation of the original film? Or should more people have given it a chance? More...

Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Power Rangers

June 25th, 2017

Power Rangers, the TV show, has been around for more than 20 years and it is still going strong. Power Rangers, the movie, was supposed to setup a six-part franchise, but its box office numbers probably killed any chance of that happening. Were moviegoers spared five more of these? Or was there enough here that fans would have been looking forward to more? More...

Weekend Estimates: Will International Earnings Be Enough to Save Last Knight?

June 25th, 2017

A tepid $45.3 million Friday-to-Sunday domestic weekend for Transformers: The Last Knight is pretty much unmitigated bad news for Paramount Pictures. The studio is in desperate need of a hit, and the Transformers franchise is by far their biggest property. Even including the film’s grosses from Wednesday and Thursday, its $69 million debut is barely in the top ten for the year so far, and poor reviews and a B+ CinemaScore mean that it won’t have significant legs, even with a bit of help from the upcoming July 4 weekend. So all eyes are going to be on its overseas performance. More...

Friday Estimates: Dawn of a New Day for Last Knight

June 24th, 2017

Transformers: The Last Knight suffered a 48% plummet on Thursday to earn just $8.14 million; however, it bounced back on Friday with $13.69 million. If we again compare this to Dark of the Moon, which is the last film in the franchise to open on a Wednesday, we get mixed messages. The Last Knight fell faster on Thursday (48% to 43%) but bounced back more on Friday (68% to 53%). If we assume The Last Knight will continue to outperform Dark of the Moon over the rest of the weekend, then it will earn about $42 million over the three-day weekend and $66 million over five. This is the worst opening in the franchise by a wide margin, but there is good news for Paramount, as the film earned $41.46 million during its first day in China, and $47.55 million if you include previews. The international numbers will save this film and justify more sequels. More...

Contest: Me Me Me

June 23rd, 2017

Despicable Me 3 is going to win next weekend’s box office race. There’s no doubt about that. In fact, it will make more than Baby Driver and The House will make combined. Because of this, 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 Despicable Me 3.

Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Frankenprise consisting of their choice of either one TV on DVD release, two movies, or a kids package (could be a theatrical release, a couple of single-disc TV on DVD releases, or a full season TV on DVD release). 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 Frankenprize, as described above.

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

Limited and VOD Releases: Sick and Tired

June 23rd, 2017

Not many limited releases are earning any real buzz this week. The Beguiled has the best pedigree and its reviews might be good enough to help it thrive in theaters. The Bad Batch is the biggest in terms of theaters, but its box office potential is close to zero. This leaves The Big Sick as the best new release. That said, if you are not near one of the five theaters it is playing, you could always stay home and binge GLOW on Netflix. I reviewed it this week and it is worth the praise. More...

Theater Counts: Transformers Dominates New Releases

June 23rd, 2017

Transformers: The Last Knight opened in 4,069 theaters on Wednesday, and will continue in those venues through the weekend. With most of those theaters coming from The Mummy, It Comes at Night, and Baywatch, and no other wide releases, there is still plenty of room for the likes of Wonder Woman and 47 Meters Down to maintain or increase their theater count. Next week will be a lot tougher. More...