Home Market Releases for August 22nd, 2017

August 23rd, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 comes out this week and it is such a big release that is scared away nearly all of the competition. Fortunately, it is also a great film and a serious contender for Pick of the Week. The main competition are Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 2 and Supergirl: Season 2. In the end. I went with Ash vs Evil Dead, but it was a close race. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Hitman Tops Chart with $21.38 million as Summer Closes

August 22nd, 2017

The summer is over, but The Hitman’s Bodyguard did well for this time of year earning $21.38 million over the weekend. Logan Lucky was well back opening with just $7.60 million. Overall, the box office fell 18% from last week to just $96 million. This is also 27% lower than the same weekend last year. The top two films this year actually did better than the top two films earned last year, but the depth was just terrible. Year-to-date, 2017 has pulled in $7.21 billion, putting it $430 million or 5.6% lower than last year’s pace. More...

Featured TV on DVD Review: Ash vs The Evil Dead: Season 2

August 21st, 2017

I previously reviewed the first season of Ash vs The Evil Dead and loved it. The ratings were also very good and it was renewed for a second season. The network renewed the show for a third season less than a week after the second season premiere. However, ratings slipped and the season finale was watched by barely more than half of the people who watched the first season finale. Does this mean the quality tanked? Am I still excited for season three? More...

Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

August 20th, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 was the second biggest hit of the summer and the third biggest hit of 2017 so far. It is also part of the MCU and there hasn’t been a truly bad movie in the MCU so far. Spoiler alert: This movie doesn’t break the winning streak. However, it could be a really good movie and still not live up to the original. Is that the case? Or can Vol 2 outshine the first installment? More...

Weekend Estimates: Hitman’s Bodyguard Tops Chart with Solid $21.6 Million

August 20th, 2017

We’re at that point in the year when we’ll take what we can get at the box office, and The Hitman’s Bodyguard will deliver according to that lowered metric this weekend with about $21.6 million, according to Lionsgate’s Sunday morning projection. That’s in line with to a little ahead of expectations, but a B+ CinemaScore and mediocre reviews suggest it won’t have substantial legs. For Ryan Reynolds, the opening is ahead of this year’s Life, which debuted with $12.5 million, and well clear of 2015’s Self/Less ($5.4 million). Samuel L. Jackson, meanwhile, appears in such a mess of movies it’s hard to say how this compares to any one of them. More...

Friday Estimates: Bodyguard Hits Its Target with $8.0 million

August 19th, 2017

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is giving the late summer box office a bit of a boost, earning $8.0 million on Friday. This is far from a monster opening, but assuming it has average legs, it will become a midlevel hit by the end. This assumption seems safe, as its reviews are only 40% positive, while it earned a B plus from CinemaScore, both of which suggest below average legs; however, the next two weeks are particularly bad when it comes to new releases, so the lack of competition should help out. The film has a better than 50/50 shot at over $20 million over the weekend, but even if it just misses that mark, it is still great for this time of year and Lionsgate should be happy with this result. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: California Dreaming

August 18th, 2017

It isn’t a particularly busy week for the art-house and VOD market, but there are several films that are earning good, even great reviews. California Typewriter, Marjorie Prime, Patti Cake$, and Dave Made a Maze are all worth checking out and that’s not the entire list. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Hitman has $1.65 million Night, Logan is not as Lucky

August 18th, 2017

The Hitman’s Bodyguard opened with $1.65 million during previews, which is on the high end of expectations. This is good for this time of year, but its reviews suggests its legs will be on the low end of average, so a $16 million opening is the new target. Anything above that will be bode well for its chances for the next couple of weekends when there is little to no competition. The film reportedly cost $30 million to make, so it will need about $55 million domestically for Lionsgate’s share to top that. That’s probably out of reach. On the other hand, it will only need close to $100 million worldwide to break even eventually. This opening night suggests it will get there. More...

Contest: Leap of Faith

August 18th, 2017

There is one wide release coming out next weekend, Leap!, and it only has about a 50/50 chance of opening in more than 2,000 theaters. Birth of the Dragon and All Saints are opening in less, but both have a shot at the top five. In fact, All Saints could be the biggest new release of the weekend, as faith-based films are notoriously unpredictable. However, I’m going with Leap! as the target film in this week’s box office prediction contest, because All Saints is just too unpredictable. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening three-day weekend box office number for Leap!.

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...

Theater Counts: Hitman’s Bodyguard Arrives in 3,377

August 18th, 2017

Summer continues to wind down this weekend with The Hitman’s Bodyguard the widest new release, in 3,377 theaters. We don’t have an official count for Logan Lucky, but it is expected to open in something a little over 3,000. Both figures are decent for the type of film, but well short of the 4,000 theaters that is becoming the benchmark for a big release. More...