This graph shows Ralph Fiennes’s score on our annual analysis of leading stars at the box office. The Star Score represents points assigned to each of the leading stars of the top 100 movies (based on box office) in the current year and two preceding years. For appearing in the number one movie in a year a star gets 100 points, the number two movie 99 points and so on..
Latest Ranking on Selected Box Office Record Lists
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will easily win its second box office crown this weekend, helped by a lack of direct competition and the tailwinds of a $181-million opening weekend. Our model thinks $70 million will be around a par score for the Marvel movie, and no new release will come within $50 million of that. Three new films come in with a shot at second place: The Menu, She Said, and The Chosen. Of those three, our model thinks The Menu has the best shot at taking that honor.
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After amassing a colossal $181 million in its domestic opening weekend, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever holds steady going into its second weekend, keeping its 4,396 locations from week one. The sequel surpassed $400 million globally on Wednesday, with $213 million coming from North American viewings, while $187 million arrived from overseas markets. Wakanda Forever won’t be challenged this week at the box office, but two new wide releases make their arrival to cinemas, and She Said, and The Menu, should provide options for nearly every taste.
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As the Christmas holiday approaches, there are plenty of options for movie-goers. The only question is what to watch? Spider-Man: No Way Home opened last Friday and took nearly everyone by surprise as it posted an opening domestic weekend of $260 million, placing itself between 2019’s Avengers: Endgame and 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War as the second-biggest opening of all time. The film is currently showing in 4,336 locations, which makes it the 30th-widest opening of all time, just behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. Spider-Man: No Way Home might not be challenged at the box office, but there are still a wide array of films for every interest.
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Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in theaters in a big way this weekend, landing in a stellar 4,336 locations. That count places it as the second-widest release of the year, behind No Time to Die’s 4,407 and in front of Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s 4,315. This latest Spider-Man feature again pairs director Jon Watts and Tom Holland (as Spider-Man) from 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home; a film that went on to score over $1 billion worldwide. Spider-Man: No Way Home carries a $200m budget, eclipsing its predecessor by $40m. Also making its theatrical debut this week is Nightmare Alley. The neo-noir psychological thriller directed by Guillermo del Toro is set to release in 2,145 locations. The film, which is based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham contains a bevy of top Hollywood actors.
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As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them.
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It is a rough week for limited releases, as Avengers: Endgame is scaring away all of the competition. The biggest release of the week is JT LeRoy, but its reviews strongly suggest it will do better on VOD than in theaters. There are some films on this week’s list that earned stellar reviews, like Okko’s Inn, Carmine Street Guitars, etc., but none of them have the buzz to be major hits.
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The Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced last night and thus the 2016 Awards Season begins. There were a few surprises and some snubs to discuss, but for the most part, there’s not a lot nominations that broke the established narrative. It’s because there isn’t really an established narrative. This means films that earn nominations here have a much better chance of doing well going forward and Moonlight looks like it could rise up as a result.
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Kubo and the Two Strings came out in the late summer and struggled at the box office, despite its nearly unanimously positive reviews. It wasn’t a bomb and was better than most Stop-Motion animated films at the box office, but that still meant it wasn’t seen by many moviegoers. Should it be seen by more? Or will it only appeal to the niche market fans of this animation style?
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Out of all of the new releases this week, A Bigger Splash is the only one earning lots of buzz. Of course, Captain America: Civil War's buzz is so great that it is drowning out all limited releases, which explains why there's not a lot of films on this week's list.
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Spectre is the latest Bond film. It is a follow-up to Skyfall, which not only earned stellar reviews, but was also the biggest box office hit in the franchise earning more than $1 billion worldwide. Spectre wasn't as strong at the box office or with critics, but I'm a long time fan of the franchise, so I will still like it, right?
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As expected, January was dominated by holdovers with Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Revenant leading the way. That's not to say there were no new releases that did well, as Ride Along 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3 were hits with moviegoers. Looking forward, there is only one film that looks like a sure hit, Deadpool. There's a slim chance it could be a surprise $200 million hit. There's a much better chance it will be the only $100 million hit. Conversely, last February started with a $100 million hit coming out, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, while there were two other $100 million movies to come out that month, Fifty Shades of Grey and Kingsman: The Secret Service. Looks like 2016 is going to lose in the year-over-year comparison.
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The BAFTA nominations were announced yesterday and unlike most other Awards Season voters, the BAFTA voters gave us some real surprises. For instance, Birdman didn't lead the way. In fact, it was a comedy, The Grand Budapest Hotel, that earned the most nominations at 11. Granted, Birdman and The Theory of Everything were tied for second place with ten each, but it is still strange to see a comedy leading the way.
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The third installment of our annual Holiday Gift Guide involves limited releases, including foreign films and documentaries; classics hitting DVD or Blu-ray for the first time; and of course Canadian films. There were better choices for the limited releases than there were for big releases and TV on DVD releases, which is good news, because this Holiday Gift Guide feels that it ahs been lackluster so far. There have been many great limited releases to come out this year, including several foreign-language films to find some measure of mainstream success. On the downside, every year a lot of these movies hit theaters in the fall, so they won't hit the home market for months. That said, there are still some real highlights among the limited releases, classics, and Canadian films. In fact, we start off with the highest of the highlights for the entire year.
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The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning, at three in the morning, because the people at Golden Globes are under the delusion that news announced at 3:00 a.m. is somehow more important if it is announced before anyone is awake. As for the actual nominations, like with the Independent Spirit Awards and the SAG nominations, Birdman led the way. It earned seven nominations, while Boyhood and The Imitation Game tied for second with five apiece. Starting to notice a pattern here? This could be a really dull Awards Season with very few surprises. On the other hand, predictable means less work for me. Plus, predictable probably means the Awards Season voters are making the right choices, as surprises usually mean someone made the wrong choice.
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The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest film from auteur director, Wes Anderson, and it is also his biggest box office hit. I liked some of his earlier films, but after The Life Aquatic and The Darjeeling Limited, I didn't consider myself a fan of his work. Then I saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Moonrise Kingdom and I lovedboth. Because of this, I was super excited to see The Grand Budapest Hotel and its box office success caused my expectations to rise even more. Did they rise too high? Is this Wes Anderson's best movie, as well as his biggest hit?
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There are a quartet of films opening in limited release this weekend hoping, as this is the last weekend they could open and still have a shot at Oscar glory this year. Three of the four films have already earned at least one major nomination, while the fourth has a shot at Oscar nominations in a technical category or two. Overall, however, their reviews are merely good, but not great. With all of the competition, it might be too difficult for any of them to expand wide. August: Osage County has the best combination of reviews and buzz and should win the weekend.
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Skyfall was the latest Bond movie to come out and while nearly everyone thought it would be a hit, almost no one thought it would be this big of a hit. It earned more than $300 million domestically and $1.1 billion worldwide. Had it made half that, it would have been a monster hit. Was it also better than expected? Did it truly deserve this success?
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Schindler's List came out 20 years ago and immediately earned near universal acclaim and went on to become the big winner at the 1994 Oscars taking home seven awards out of the twelve it was nominated for. This week it makes its Blu-ray debut. Does it still stand up 20 years later? And is the Blu-ray worthy of the film?
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October was pretty good with a few films really crushing expectations, which made up for the few duds that opened at the end. 2012 gained about $100 million over 2011 during the month of October. We really needed this success and hopefully November will continue this push forward. However, November is a bit of a weird month. There are five weekends, but only eight true wide releases, half of which open on the Thanksgiving long weekend, leaving the other four weeks with just one true wide release each. There are a couple others opening in the semi-wide level and another opening in limited release with a planned wide release, but even so, it is not a busy month. That said, it is a case of quality over quantity. There are four films that are pretty much guaranteed to reach $100 million, one of which should reach $300 million. By comparison, last November only produced one $100 million film. Granted, that film was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, which made nearly $300 million, which is a huge number no matter how you look at it. But this year, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 should top that number and with the other $100 million movies pulling in more than $400 million combined, it should be a very profitable month at the box office.
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