The Numbers News - January 2016

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Weekend estimates: Kung Fu Panda posts solid $41 million

January 31, 2016

Kung Fu Panda 3 is making a solid start domestically this weekend with Fox projecting a $41 million debut. That’s the weakest start for any film in the franchise, behind the $47.7 million opening of Kung Fu Panda 2, and Kung Fu Panda’s $60.2 million back in 2008. The downward trend is in large part explained by the January release of the third movie, compared to June and May for the previous two. In fact, it still technically has a shot at having the best first weekend for a film in January, a record currently held by Ride Along with $41.5 million, although American Sniper really has bragging rights, with $89.3 million when it expanded wide last year. More importantly, Kung Fu Panda 3 opened with an estimated $57 million in China, a record for an animated film in the territory, and $75 million internationally. More...

2015 Awards Season: SAG Winners—Oscar Picture Clarifies, Mostly

January 31, 2016

The Screen Actors Guild winners were handed out last night and for the most part the winners here will likely walk away with an Oscar. There is one major exception. More...

Friday Estimates: Panda Tops Tepid Friday

January 30, 2016

Kung Fu Panda 3 topped the chart on Friday with $10.5 million. There are not a lot of animated films that open this time of year, so it is hard to find a good comparison. If the film has the same internal multiplier as The LEGO Movie, then it will earn $42.4 million over the weekend, which would be a record opening for January. However, that movie was an original film, while this is the third film in its franchise. That will probably hurt it enough that $40 million is a more likely number. That's still a good opening, plus it is earning much more in China ($40.34 million after just two days of release) so there’s little reason to worry about its financial prospects.

More...

Thursday Night Previews: Hours is Merely Fine

January 29, 2016

Kids movies rarely have "midnight" shows and that was the case with Kung Fu Panda 3. This left The Finest Hours with the perfect opportunity to grab some of the spotlight. It only managed $375,000 during its previews, which is $200,000 less than In the Heart of the Sea managed late last year. It is closer to the $400,000 Selma earned before its wide expansion. The two films do have similar release dates and are based on real life events, but an action film should do better than a drama when it comes to previews. Even if we are being generous, $12 million looks like the high end for the weekend and that's terrible compared to its $85 million production budget. Less then $10 million is just as likely and that could result in someone losing their job. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: No Shortage of Oscar Nominations

January 29, 2016

It is an incredibly slow week for limited releases. In fact, there are more wide / semi-wide releases than there are limited releases on this week's list. That doesn't mean there is nothing to see. 2016 Oscar Shorts is by far the best limited release of the week and it is also the widest limited release of the week. More...

Contest: Seize Your Prizes

January 29, 2016

There are three wide releases coming out next week and I think Hail, Caesar! is the only one that will be even a midlevel hit. The Choice is the latest from Nicholas Sparks, who used to have a box office winning streak, but that ended a while ago. Meanwhile, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a relatively new addition to the wide release schedule, as it was expected to open in limited release not too long ago. It looks like Hail, Caesar! will be the biggest of the three wide releases and because of this, it is the target film in this week's Box Office Prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Hail, Caesar!.

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 consisting of either two movies, one full-season TV on DVD release, or three single-disc kids shows. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a Frankenprize consisting of either two movies, one full-season TV on DVD release, or three single-disc kids shows. Finally, we will be choosing an entrant from the group of people who haven't won, or haven't won recently, and they will also win a Frankenprize consisting of either two movies, one full-season TV on DVD release, or three single-disc kids shows. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

Weekend Predictions: Kung Fu vs. Sniper

January 28, 2016

There are three, three and a half, wide releases coming out this week. (I've seen reports that Jane Got a Gun is opening in 600 to 1,200 theaters. Even the high end will likely keep it out of the top ten.) Of the three truly wide releases, only Kung Fu Panda 3 is expected to be a significant hit. In fact, it will likely earn more than the rest of the top five combined. On the other hand, The Finest Hours will likely bomb compared to its $85 million production budget, while Fifty Shades of Black will be a financial hit only because its production budget is very low. This means for Kung Fu Panda 3 the only real competition is from last year, when American Sniper earned $30.66 million. Kung Fu Panda 3 should top that by about $20 million. Additionally, no other film earned more than $10 million last year, while this year there could be five films in the top five reaching that mark. 2016 should bounce back in the year-over-year comparison after two soft weeks. More...

International Box Office: The Revenant Rises to First with $33.8 Million

January 28, 2016

The Revenant rose to first place with $33.8 million in 48 markets for totals of $104.5 million internationally and $223.7 million worldwide. This includes a first place opening in Mexico with $5.3 million, but its biggest market was the U.K. with $5.51 million in 623 theaters for a two-week total of $17.16 million. The film will need to reach at least $300 million to break even any time soon, but that seems likely at this pace. More...

Contest: Do the Wave: Winning Announcement

January 27, 2016

The winners of our Do the Wave contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for The 5th Wave opening weekend were... More...

Theater Averages: Ip Man is the Big Man at the Box Office with Average of $7,620

January 27, 2016

No film earned an average of more than $10,000. The closest film was Ip Man 3, which earned an average of $7,620. More impressively, it was playing in just over 100 theaters, which is a lot for a limited release. More...

Home Market Releases for January 26th, 2016

January 26, 2016

It is a really slow week on the home market this week. Not only are there very few releases, none of them are top-tier. The biggest release of the week is Goosebumps, but it is only good and not great. There are plenty of films worth picking up (The Assassin, Chi-raq, The Wrong Man, etc.) but none truly rise to Pick of the Week level. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Revenant Stumbles, but still Tops Chart with $16.01 Million

January 26, 2016

It was a typical January weekend in many respects. There were three wide releases, all of which earned bad reviews, while none of them were big hits. However, none of them bombed either and there were six films to earn more than $10 million over the weekend. The Revenant led the way with $16.01 million, but that wasn't enough to help the overall box office. Week-over-week, the overall box office fell 32% to $114 million. Meanwhile, The Revenant earned less than 25% of what American Sniper earned this weekend last year and this resulted in a 28% drop year-over-year. Worse still, the 5.9% lead 2016 had over 2015 at the end of last weekend has evaporated and been turned into a 2.1% deficit at $838 million to $856 million. It is obviously very early in the year and this losing streak might end next week, so there's no reason to panic yet. More...

Featured DVD Review: The Looking Glass

January 25, 2016

The Looking Glass was a labor of love for a small town, which you can read about on the official site. It is also a very small movie, costing just $300,000 to make. Does it work? Or does the small budget result in a small movie? More...

Weekend Estimates: The Revenant wins chilly weekend with $16 million

January 24, 2016

With the weekend jam-packed with new releases and Oscar hopefuls, and thrown off course by Winter Storm Jonas, it’s perhaps fitting that a tale of battles against the elements will come out on top. The Revenant will be down 50% from last weekend’s MLK Holiday-inflated number to $16 million, but that will be enough to leapfrog over Ride Along 2 and into first place. The Leonardo DiCaprio film, which remains a good bet for a fistful of Oscars, although perhaps not the major prize, has $119 million to date. Also overtaking Ride Along 2 to move back to second place is Star Wars: The Force Awakens with $14.26 million for a weekend and $879.3 million in total to date. With $1.06 billion internationally, the film is drawing close to becoming the third film to earn over $2 billion worldwide. More...

2015 Awards Season: The Big Short’s Surprise PGA Win Shakes Up Oscar Race

January 24, 2016

The Producers Guild of America handed out their awards last night and The Big Short came out the surprise winner for the top prize. That victory shakes up an awards season that had looked like it would be a two-horse race between Spotlight and The Revenant. More...

Friday Estimates: New Releases Struggle as Revenant Hangs Tough

January 23, 2016

While some are blaming the storm for hurting Friday night box office numbers, I think it is wiser to point the finger at the reviews instead. So far, The Boy has earned the best reviews, but with a Tomatometer Score of just 23% positive, that's damning it with faint praise. At the box office, Dirty Grandpa did the best of the new releases, earning second place with $4.2 million. It's early in the year, but it is safe to say its 7% positive reviews will be among the worst of any 2016 release when the year is over. Its CinemaScore was just a B, which is bad. Remember, CinemaScore is based on ratings given to a movie by people who were interested enough to see it on opening day. Anything less than a B+ suggests poor word-of-mouth. It did earn about about 10% more than That Awkward Moment's opening day. Additionally, That Awkward Moment had to deal with The Super Bowl on Sunday, so Dirty Grandpa should have better legs and should pull in $11 million. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Fifth Wave Fails to Find Audience

January 22, 2016

The 5th Wave started off on a soft note with $475,000 in previews last night. To put this into perspective, The Giver, another Young Adult Novel Adaptation, earned $750,000 during its previews back in 2014. That film only managed an opening of $12.31 million and a domestic total of $45.09 million. At this point, it looks like The 5th Wave will open with less than $10 million. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Will there be a Monster Hit?

January 22, 2016

There are not a lot of interesting limited releases this week. The lone exception might be Monster Hunt. This film earned nearly $400 million in China, so box office analysts will be paying close attention to its limited release run. If it can find crossover appeal, it could signal a wave of Chinese movies getting releases here. On the other hand, its reviews suggest that won't happen. More...

Contest: Kung Fu Dino

January 22, 2016

There are four wide releases debuting next week, but only Kung-Fu Panda 3 is expected to do very well at the box office. It could make more than the other three films combined make. 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 weekend box office number for Kung-Fu Panda 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 copy of Land Before Time: Journey of the Brave on DVD. (It is a Walmart Exclusive.) Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a Frankenprize consisting of two single-disc kids shows. Finally, we will be choosing an entrant from the group of people who haven't won, or haven't won recently, and they will also win a Frankenprize consisting of two single-disc kids shows. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Fifth Wave Open in the Top Five?

January 21, 2016

Three wide releases are coming out this week, all of which are expected to earn similar openings. None of which are expected to compete for the top five. The 5th Wave is the latest Young Adult Adaptation and as I'm writing this at about 10 am on Thursday, it is still the only new release with any reviews. Dirty Grandpa is the widest release of the week, but with no reviews, it is hard to judge how well it will do. Finally there's The Boy. If it can match The Forest, I'm sure STX Entertainment will be happy. The weakness in the new releases doesn't mean we won't have a new number one film, as The Revenant seems poised to climb to first place over the weekend. This weekend last year, American Sniper remained dominant with nearly $65 million. It's a near certainty that all three new releases won't make that much this year. There's a chance the top five combined won't make that much this year. 2016 is going to lose in the year-over-year comparison. More...

International Box Office: The Force Awakens Likely Finishes its First Place run with $47.3 Million

January 21, 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned first place on the international chart with $47.3 million over the weekend for totals of $1.012 billion internationally for a worldwide total of $1.865 billion. It became the third film released in 2015 to hit $1 billion internationally and the fifth film of All-Time to do so. However, without any more market lefts to open in, there is a good chance the film will fade away before catching up to Furious 7, meaning there will be no "undisputed" box office champion this year. This won't affect the bottom-line, but it will be a bragging point for Furious 7. As for individual markets, the film earned $44.04 million in China, for the full week, for a nine-day total of $97.46 million. More...

Contest: Free Ride: Winning Announcement

January 21, 2016

The winners of our Free Ride contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Ride Along 2 opening weekend were... More...

Theater Averages: The Lady in the Van tops Yearly Chart with $18,066

January 20, 2016

I know it is early in the year, but The Lady in the Van has set the record for best opening theater average for 2016 at $18,066. That record likely won't last very long, but it is good for this time of year. The only other film in the $10,000 club was the overall number one film, Ride Along 2, which earned an average of $11,100. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Ride Along Rides the Wave to the Top with $41.01 Million

January 20, 2016

As anticipated, Ride Along 2 earned first place over the long weekend earning more than it cost to make in just four days. The other two wide releases were less successful. Despite costing more to make, 13 Hours earned less than half Ride Along 2 opened with, while the less said about Norm of the North, the better. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was pushed into third place over the three-day weekend, but it rose to first place on the daily chart on Monday. It is not done yet. The overall, the three-day weekend was up 4.2% from last weekend; however, it was down 18% from last year. This is not surprising, as this weekend last year, American Sniper set the record for biggest January weekend. Year-to-date, 2016 has pulled in $693 million, giving 2016 an early lead over 2015. That lead was cut to 5.9% or $39 million and will likely be cut further next weekend. Hopefully it won't be entirely gone. More...

Home Market Releases for January 19th, 2016

January 20, 2016

It was a slow week with only a handful of significant releases. However, that was good news for me, because it allowed me review the screener that arrived late. That screener was for The Martian, which was as good as I had hoped it was and it is the Pick of the Week. It is not the only new release that was in contention for that title. Both Adventure Time - Stakes! (DVD) and All Things Must Pass (DVD or Blu-ray) were in the running. More...

Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: The Martian

January 19, 2016

The Martian opened in early October and became a huge box office and critical success. The film became the biggest hit in Ridley Scott's career and recently picked up seven Oscar nominations. Will I love it as much as the average critic did? Or will I be in the minority here? More...

Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: The Diary of a Teenage Girl

January 17, 2016

The Diary of a Teenage Girl opened with amazing reviews and even scored some major Season Nominations. However, it never really caught on with moviegoers. When this happens, there's the chance the film can be dismissed as one aimed solely at critics and not the average moviegoer. More...

Friday Estimates: Riding High...ish

January 16, 2016

As expected, Ride Along 2 earned first place on Friday, but it was a little softer than anticipated. The film earned $12 million during its first day of release, which is 17% less than Ride Along opened with back in 2014. Because this film is a sequel and the reviews are so weak, it will likely have a smaller internal multiplier. Additionally, Ride Along 2 cost more than the first film cost to make. That said, it still only cost $40 million and it looks like it will earn close to that much during its four-day weekend. There will be a part three of the franchise. They are just too profitable not to make another. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Oscar Bounce Dissuades New Releases

January 15, 2016

It is one of the worst weekends to release a film in limited release, because the Oscars nominations were just announced and people who are most interested in limited releases are more likely to check out any Oscar nominated film they might have previously missed. There are only a few films with more than a handful of reviews, and only one of those is earning overwhelmingly positive reviews: The Lady in the Van. More...

Contest: Do The Wave

January 15, 2016

Next weekend, there are three wide releases coming out. None of these look to be huge hits, but it doesn't look like any of them will be bombs either. The 5th Wave and Dirty Grandpa are both expected to open in 2,800 theaters and they will likely be a coin-toss as to which one tops the week's list of new releases. Speaking of which, The 5th Wave won the coin-toss and it will be the target film in this week's Box Office Prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for The 5th Wave.

2015 Awards Season: Oscars - Nominations

January 15, 2016

The Oscar nominations were announced at 5:30 am Pacific time. Nothing is good that early in the morning. Worse still, this was a terrible year for snubs, especially when it comes to diversity of the nominees. The voters for the Oscars are 94% white and 77% male... but that's still more diverse than the list of nominees. The Revenant led the way with 12 nominations and it is expected to win a few of those, while it is a serious contender in most of the categories it was nominated in. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Riding High - Updated

January 15, 2016

Ride Along 2 started its box office run with $1.26 million in Thursday night previews. This is better than the $1.06 million in previews Ride Along managed and that's a good sign for its weekend total. Maybe it will top the original with $50 million over four days. Or maybe the reviews will kill its legs. We will know more tomorrow when Friday's estimates come in. More...

Weekend Predictions: Along for the Ride

January 14, 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens will finally relinquish its hold on the weekend box office and there are three new releases looking to grab as much of the box office share as they can. Ride Along 2 is the film with the best shot at first place, assuming its reviews don't kill it. The Revenant should have one of the best week-to-week declines, thanks in part to its Awards Season success. 13 Hours looks like a solid top-five film, but not a major hit, while Norm of the North is just hoping not to embarrass itself. This weekend last year, American Sniper expanded wide and set the record for biggest January weekend. That record fell earlier this year, but that's not a lot of comfort for this weekend, as all three new releases combined won't match American Sniper's haul. 2016's winning streak will end at two weeks. Hopefully the upcoming losing streak won't be much longer than that. More...

2015 - Awards Season: DGA - Nominations

January 14, 2016

The Directors Guild of America spread out the nominations, which I always felt hurt the buzz. There are ten categories of awards, but only three of which pertain to theatrical releases. There are very few surprises across these three categories, so the Oscar nominations today shouldn't be full of surprises either. More...

Contest: Don't Go Into the Woods: Winning Announcement

January 14, 2016

The winners of our Don't Go Into the Woods contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for The Forest opening weekend were... More...

International Box Office: The Force Awakens earns $53.17 million in two-day Chinese Debut

January 13, 2016

Last weekend, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the only Hollywood film in the top five on the International Chart. This week, there were four Hollywood titles in the top five, again led by The Force Awakens. The film earned $104.3 million over the weekend for a total of $921.4 million internationally and $1.734 billion worldwide. It is now the biggest release of 2015 worldwide, but it is fourth on the yearly international chart. This past weekend, the film opened in first place in China with $53.17 million, but that was only over two days. This includes a record Saturday opening of $32.16 million. Meanwhile, the film has climbed into first place on the all-time chart in the U.K. with $162.03 million, putting it ahead of Skyfall. More...

Theater Averages: Anomalisa Leads Uneventful Chart with $12,738

January 13, 2016

There were only three films in the $10,000 club this weekend and all of them were holdovers. Leading the way was Anomalisa with an average of $12,738 in 17 theaters. At this pace, the film will earn some measure of mainstream success. However, unless it wins an Oscar, it likely won't match its $8 million production budget in theaters. The Revenant slipped into second place with $11,801, while the overall number one film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was next with $10,245. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Schwartz is still Strong with Star Wars as it Earns $42.35 Million

January 12, 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned first place on the weekend chart for the fourth time and likely the last time. It was a close race, as The Revenant beat expectations; meanwhile, The Forest was very solid as counter-programming. The overall box office was $159 million, which is 28% less than last weekend, but 26% more than the same weekend last year. After just two weeks, 2016 is 19% / $70 million above 2015's pace. Granted, it is way too early to make any long terms predictions and next weekend will be brutal for 2016 in the year-over-year comparison, but every little bit now will help at the end of the year. More...

Home Market Releases for January 12th, 2016

January 12, 2016

It is a busy week for first run releases with four of them on this week's list. Of these, The Martian is the biggest and the best. It would have been the Pick of the Week except for two things. One, the screener is late. Two, David Bowie passed away over the weekend. He died after an 18-month battle with cancer and just two days after his last album came out. This is the the most poignant Rock'n'Roll death since Freddie Mercury and it seems fitting to give Blackstar the title of Pick of the Week. More...

2015 - Awards Season: Golden Globes - Winners

January 11, 2016

The Golden Globes were handed out on Sunday evening. There were a few minor surprises and some infuriating results. On the other hand, no one film truly dominated, with The Revenant leading the way with just three wins. Only two other movies earned more than one win, The Martian and Steve Jobs. More...

Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Hotel Transylvania 2

January 10, 2016

Hotel Transylvania came out a few years ago. It cost $85 million to make, which is a lot of money by nearly every definition, but relatively cheap for a digitally animated film. The reviews were mixed, but it was a big financial hit. It came as no surprise that there was a sequel. Hotel Transylvania 2 did better than its predecessor in nearly every way, but it is still a second-tier digitally animated film. For a second-tier film like this to succeed, all it needs to do is entertain the kids while not making the parents want to flee the room right away. That's not a particularly high bar to set. Does this film manage to get above that bar? More...

Weekend Estimates: Star Wars tops $800 million, Revenant impressive on debut

January 10, 2016

The Force Awakens will become the first movie to hit $800 million at the domestic box office today, according to Disney’s estimates released on Sunday. With a $41.6 million weekend, the film moves to $812 million in total domestically, becoming the second-highest-grossing Star Wars movie adjusted for inflation, ahead of The Empire Strikes Back’s inflation-adjusted $808 million. It should pass Avatar’s inflation-adjusted $826 million this week. Perhaps the biggest news of the weekend, however, comes from overseas. More...

Friday Estimates: Revenant Mauls Star Wars

January 9, 2016

The Revenant earned first place on Friday with $14 million at the box office, well ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s daily haul of $11 million. The Revenant did have two weeks of limited release and that might have a small positive effect on its internal multiplier this weekend. However, The Force Awakens is a true holdover and holdovers tend to climb much more on Saturday than new releases do. Both films should earn about the same over the three day weekend with $35 million to $38 million. More...

2015 - Awards Season: BAFTA - Nominations

January 9, 2016

The BAFTA nominations were announced and you can read them on their site... in alphabetical order. Alphabetical order is very useful in most circumstances, but not here. On the other hand, the nominees within each category are not presented in alphabetical order. ... Are the BAFTAs trolling us? As for the actual nominees, the big winners here are Bridge of Spies and Carol, both of which earned nine nominations. For Carol, this is just another impressive score, but this was a pleasant surprise for Bridge of Spies. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Two Shakes of a Lamb's Tail

January 8, 2016

It is a terrible time of year to release a film in limited release. It is just too late for Awards Season and there are so many Oscar contenders in theaters that the target audience is busy trying to catch up. That said, there are a couple of films here that I hope do well: Lamb and The Treasure. More...

Contest: Free Ride

January 7, 2016

It is a busier weekend next week with three wide releases. However, Ride Along 2 will likely earn more than 13 Hours and Norm of the North will earn combined. As such, it is the clear choice for the target film in this week's Box Office Prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Ride Along 2.

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 consisting of two DVDs. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a Frankenprize consisting of two DVDs. Finally, we will be choosing an entrant from the group of people who haven't won, or haven't won recently, and they will also win a Frankenprize consisting of two DVDs.

Next weekend is a long weekend, but remember, we only are concerned with the three-day, Friday through Sunday box office number.

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

Weekend Predictions: How will Revenant and Forest Weather the Star Wars Storm?

January 7, 2016

The big news this week was Star Wars: The Force Awakens being officially crowned the All-Time Domestic Box Office champion. It should follow-up that news with yet another first place finish on the weekend box office. There are two films trying to take its crown: The Forest and The Revenant. The Revenant is a very likely Oscar winner and has performed phenomenally well in limited release, so it has a real shot at box office success this weekend. On the other hand, The Forest is a low-budget horror film that is just hoping to land in the top five. This weekend last year was led by Taken 3 with just under $40 million over the weekend, while Selma earned second place with $11 million. The Force Awakens might make more than those two films combined, but even if it doesn't, the one-two punch of The Force Awakens plus The Revenant will give 2016 an easy win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

Star Wars: The Force Awakens overtakes Avatar’s $761 million

January 6, 2016

We don't have the final Wednesday numbers, but it was announced that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has overtaken Avatar to become the All-Time Domestic Box Office Champ. This is far from the end for the film, as it is poised to reach $800 million over the weekend and it has $900 million domestically within its sights. The film hasn't entered the top ten on the All-Time International Box Office, but will continue to climb that chart as well. So while the number of stories we do for The Force Awakens will slow down, there's still plenty of newsworthy events ahead. And of course, we will track its daily numbers on the box office section of the site until it is out of theaters entirely. More...

2015 - Awards Season: WGA - Nominations

January 6, 2016

The Writers Guild of America nominees were announced and there are only a few surprises here. Additionally, one of these three races seems too close to call at this point. More...

International Box Office: The Force Awakens tops $1.5 Billion Ahead of Chinese Debut

January 6, 2016

It's an odd week on the international box office chart, as Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the only Hollywood film in the top five. The latest Star Wars instalment earned $96.3 million over the weekend for an international total of $770.5 million. Its Worldwide total rose to $1.513 billion. At the end of business on Sunday, the film was in third place for the year on the worldwide chart, but that has since changed. It is also in fifth place on the yearly international chart. However, the film opens in China this week and it could jump into third place just due to its opening in that territory. More...

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reaches $750 Million in just 18 Days

January 5, 2016

Before Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out there had only been one film to reach the $750 million milestone. That film was Avatar, and it took the film 253 days, and a late summer re-release, to get there. The Force Awakens reached the milestone in just 18 days. The latest Star Wars installment earned $8.02 million on Monday for a running tally of $750.23 million. Avatar finished with $760.51 million, a figure The Force Awakens will top in two days, at the most. Meanwhile, it should have no problem becoming the first film to ever hit $800 million domestically and will do so over the weekend. More...

Theater Averages: Revenant Remains Potent with Average of $111,957

January 5, 2016

The Revenant remained on top of the theater average chart dipping just 6% to an average of $111,957 in four theaters. That's amazing and it bodes very well for its chances during its wide expansion this weekend. Furthermore, there are some major Awards Season events this week that could boost ticket sales even more. Anomalisa was well back in second place, but it still had an impressive opening with an average of $33,806 over the weekend and an average of $52,658 during its five-day opening. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was next with an average of $21,829. Chimes at Midnight earned $20,480 in one theater during its re-release, while Only Yesterday earned $14,970, also in one theater. The latter film is yet another success for GKIDS; this is the only studio that routinely has success with animated films in limited release. 45 Years remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $14,588 in six theaters. It doubled its theater count, but the average only fell 33% and that's a great sign for further expansion. Mr. Six is the fourth holdover in the $10,000 club earning an average of $10,406 in 28 theaters. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Star Wars misses its third Century Mark, Still Sets Multiple Records with $90.24 Million

January 4, 2016

As expected, Star Wars: The Force Awakens dominated the weekend box office earning $90.24 million, breaking several records along the way. However, it did fall 40% over the weekend, which is a lot for this time of year. It appears The Force Awakens is acting more like a typical blockbuster hit and less like the typically leggy December release. That said, I don't think Disney is disappointed with the results so far. On the other hand, The Hateful Eight got off to a disappointing start earning third place with just a fraction of Django Unchained's opening weekend. The overall box office was down from last week, but was still an incredible $219 million. This was 26% lower than last week, but 41% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date is a little less useful, as 2016 is only 3 days old, but it is 27% higher than 2015 was after the first weekend. This is even more impressive, as 2015 had an extra day before the weekend.

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Home Market Releases for January 5th, 2016

January 4, 2016

We are getting back to normal for the home market releases. There are no major first run releases, but one of the biggest limited releases of 2015 hits the home market. Sicario earned nearly $50 million after starting in limited release and the Blu-ray Combo Pack is the Pick of the Week. It wasn't the only contender for that honor, as Deathgasm (DVD or Blu-ray) and Infinitely Polar Bear (DVD or Blu-ray) were also in contention. More...

Weekend Estimates: Force aweakens with $88.3 million weekend

January 3, 2016

This weekend sees the first signs of a slow-down at the box office for The Force Awakens, which will be down 41% from last weekend, according to Disney’s Sunday morning estimate. That’s the worst comparative performance in the top ten, and much weaker than Avatar’s 9% decline the same weekend in 2010. Such statistics are fairly academic when you already have $700 million in the bank domestically, though, and Star Wars’ momentum coming out of the holidays is such that it will register the biggest ever New Year’s weekend, and the biggest-ever 3rd weekend, overtaking Avatar’s $68.5 million. With $770.5 million overseas so far, its global total is now over $1.5 billion, putting it in the top six all time, and guaranteeing it will end in the top three, with only Titanic and Avatar left to shoot for. More...

Friday Estimates: Star Wars is Top of the Class of 2015 with $686.43 Million

January 2, 2016

It took just 15 days for Star Wars: The Force Awakens to overtake Jurassic World’s final domestic box office. On Friday, the film earned an easy first place with $34.46 million to push its running tally to $686.43 million. Not only is this the best domestic box office for a film released in 2015, it is more than enough to overtake Titanic and push it into second place All-Time. As for the film’s weekend projection, we are looking at a $95 million weekend, plus or minus $5 million. It is possible the film could crack $100 million over the weekend, but very unlikely. That said, it has already broken a couple of major records—Fastest to $650 million and Biggest Domestic Hit of 2015—and will likely break a few more over the weekend (Fastest to $700 million, Biggest third weekend, and Biggest January weekend). More...

Contest: Don't Go Into the Woods

January 1, 2016

The only true wide release next week is The Forest, which will have to deal with competition from The Revenant, as well as Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, it is the only true wide release of the week, so 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 weekend box office number for The Forest.

2016 Preview: January

January 1, 2016

2016 will begin the same way 2015 ended, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens on top. In fact, three of the five films that have the best shot at box office success in January are The Force Awakens, The Hateful Eight, and The Revenant, all of which opened in December. There are two true January releases that could also do really well, for this time of year: Ride Along 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3. The rest of the releases are just hoping to become midlevel hits. Last January, American Sniper dominated earning more than $300 million. Its success could prevent 2016 from being ahead in the year-over-year comparison by the end of the month, but this year does have better depth. More...

The Numbers News - January 2016

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