The Numbers News - January 2017

← December 2016

February 2017 →

Theater Averages: Salesman Closes the Deal with $23,693

January 31, 2017

There was only one film the $10,000 club this past weekend, The Salesman, which earned an average of $23,693 in three theaters. More...

Home Market Releases for January 31st, 2017

January 31, 2017

It’s a slow week at the top, as there are no new releases that were hits in theaters. That doesn’t mean we have no contenders for Pick of the Week, just that they are smaller films or ones that struggled in theaters. Queen of Katwe is the best of this list and the Blu-ray is the Pick of the Week. More...

CHiPS Trailer

January 31, 2017

Comedy starring Michael Peña and Dax Shepard, written and directed by Dax Shepard opens March 24 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Split Outnumbers the Competition with $25.66 million

January 31, 2017

It was a surprisingly strong weekend at the box office, no thanks to the new releases. Split easily won with $25.66 million over the weekend, well ahead of A Dog’s Purpose, which earned second place with $18.22 million. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter got off to a fast start, but collapsed over the rest of the weekend. Finally, the less said about Gold the better. Overall, the box office was really strong with $141 million. Granted, this was 2.5% lower than last week, but it was 1.3% better than the same weekend last year. This growth is entirely due to Split’s hold plus the Oscar bounce a number of films got. Year-to-date, 2017 has earned $929 million, which is 4.7% lower than last year’s pace of $975 million. It is still too soon to make any real predictions for 2017’s long term success. That said, 2017 did cut into 2016’s lead and it is now down by $46 million or 4.7%. More...

Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Queen of Katwe

January 30, 2017

I think it is fair to say Queen of Katwe is an Oscar-bait movie. It is an inspirational movie about someone rising up from challenging circumstances. However, it struggled in theaters and went nowhere during Awards Season. Is there a problem with the film? Or was it released too soon for Awards Season and without Oscar buzz wasn’t able to find an audience in theaters? More...

A United Kingdom Trailer

January 30, 2017

Historical drama starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike opens February 10 ... Full Movie Details. More...

2016 - Awards Season: SAG - Winners

January 29, 2017

The Screen Actors Guild were handed out tonight and there were a couple of surprises to talk about. There was no one big winner. Hidden Figures won the most prestigious category, but Fences was the only film with multiple wins. More...

Weekend Estimates: Split Retains Box Office Crown with Big Second Weekend

January 29, 2017

An impressive decline of 34% in its second weekend and a crop of middling to poor performances by new releases will be enough to keep Split safely at the top of the box office chart this weekend. With Universal projecting $26.3 million for the weekend as of Sunday morning, Split is well ahead of the studio’s new release, A Dog’s Purpose, which will come in with around $18.4 million. Split will finish the weekend with around $78 million in total. More...

2016 - Awards Season: PGA - Winners

January 29, 2017

The Producers Guild of America awards were handed out last night and I have almost nothing to say about them. The favorite in each category won, including La La Land. Talking about La La Land winning is beginning to sound like a broken record. More...

Friday Estimates: Dog Doesn’t Have Universal Appeal

January 28, 2017

Friday was the beginning of a good weekend for Universal, but it wasn’t a good day for the box office as a whole, as two of the three new wide releases struggled. Split was down just 46% when compared to last Friday and earned $7.9 million. Assuming it acts like, well, practically every film ever made, it will have an even better Saturday and that puts it on pace to earn about $25 million over the weekend. It will top $100 million during the first weekend of February and will still be in wide release over Presidents’ Day long weekend. This is fantastic news for the studio. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Can I Interest You in Some Limited Releases?

January 27, 2017

This is usually a terrible time of year to release a limited release. There are some exceptions to this rule, including releasing a foreign-language film that just picked up an Oscar nomination. That’s the case with The Salesman, which is arguably the best release on this week’s list. More...

The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature Trailer

January 27, 2017

Animated adventure opens August 18 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Resident Moves into Theaters with $1 million in Previews - Update

January 27, 2017

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter opened with $1 million in previews on Thursday, easily topping the competition. It was only half as much as Split managed last weekend, but if The Final Chapter earned half as much during its opening weekend, the studio would be very happy. That seems unlikely, as this is the latest installment in a franchise, so it should be more front-loaded as a result. Additionally, its reviews are much weaker than Split’s are, so the word of mouth won’t be as strong. That said, we predicted just over $17 million and we’re sticking with that for now. More...

Contest: Put a Ring On It

January 27, 2017

Next week there are two wide releases: Rings and The Space Between Us. Apparently, they are opening in a similar amount of theaters. However, even if I thought they had a similar box office potential, Rings would be the better choice for the target film in this week’s box office prediction contest, because horror films tend to start faster and fade quicker. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Rings.

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 (updated): La La Land Goes Big on Back of Oscar Nominations

January 26, 2017

La La Land is using its 14 Oscar nominations to drive up its theater count in a big way this weekend. After five weeks in middling release in 700 to 1,900 theaters, the Best Picture favorite will expand into 3,136 cinemas tomorrow, making it the fourth-widest release. Its not the only film with awards buzz getting some additional play time though. Arrival will add 1,041 locations to play in 1,221 on Friday; Manchester by the Sea will expand to 1,165 theaters, up over 600 from its current 537; Moana will add just under 600 theaters, going from 1,296 to 1,894. And there are more expansions for several other films. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Final Come in First? Or will Dog Find a Purpose?

January 26, 2017

It is not a good week at the box office. There are two films opening at saturation level theaters counts, 3,000 or more theaters, and both have a shot at first place. A Dog’s Purpose was expected to win with relative ease, but recent controversy, and weak reviews, have put that in doubt. This leaves an opening for Resident Evil: The Final Chapter to squeak out a win. However, it will be dealing with direct competition and that’s going to hurt. Finally there’s Gold, which is barely opening truly wide and is just hoping for a spot in the top ten. This weekend last year, Kung Fu Panda 3 opened with just over $40 million. This could be more than all three wide releases open with this weekend. 2017 does have better depth, but it won’t be enough to win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

The Belko Experiment Trailer

January 26, 2017

Horror movie directed by Greg McLean opens March 17 ... Full Movie Details. More...

International Box Office: xXx has an Extreme Start with $50.5 million

January 25, 2017

xXx: Return of Xander Cage easily took first place on the international chart with $50.5 million in 53 markets. The film’s biggest market was India, where it pulled in $7.4 million. Russia was second best with $5.39 million on 1,191 screens. The film had similar debuts in France ($3.1 million); Germany ($2.8 million); Mexico ($2.62 million); and Australia ($2.24 million on 331 screens). This film is clearly doing better internationally than it is domestically, but it will need about $200 million worldwide to have any chance of breaking even any time soon. More...

Contest: Return to Sender: Winning Announcement

January 25, 2017

The winners of our Return to Sender contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for xXx: Return of Xander Cage’s opening weekend were... More...

Theater Averages: Split Separates Itself from the Pack with $13,170

January 25, 2017

The overall number one film, Split, was also the only film in the $10,000 club, earning an average of $13,170. The closest competition was Tanpopo, which earned $7,677 in one theater during its 13th week of re-release. More...

2016 Awards Season: Oscar Nominations

January 24, 2017

The Oscar nominations were announced starting at 5:18 am Pacific time. Nothing is good that early in the morning. Worse still, it’s a boring year for nominations with very few surprises worth talking about, especially in the biggest categories. Leading the way was La La Land with 14 nominations, tying the record. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Split’s $40.01 million Helps Box Office Soar

January 24, 2017

Split dominated the weekend box office earning $40.01 million, which is nearly double predictions and nearly double its nearest competition, xXx: Return of Xander Cage. The overall box office still shrunk from last weekend, but it was down just 3.2%, which is excellent for a post-holiday weekend. Compared to this weekend last year, 2017 was 27% stronger. Year-to-date, 2017 is still behind 2016, but that gap has closed to 9.4% at $736 million to $812 million. More...

Wilson Trailer

January 23, 2017

Comedy starring Woody Harrelson and Laura Dern opens March 24 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Home Market Releases for January 24th, 2017

January 23, 2017

It’s not a particularly good week for top-notch releases. There are only three contenders for Pick of the Week, one of which doesn’t come out till next week. I was able to review Pinocchio a week early. The others are a classic from the 1970s, The Man Who Fell To Earth on Blu-ray Combo Pack, and an import from South Korea, The Handmaiden on DVD. Even though The Handmaiden is only coming out on DVD, it is still the best and is this week’s Pick of the Week. More...

Featured Blu-ray Review: Pinocchio: The Signature Collection

January 23, 2017

I previously reviewed Pinocchio almost eight years ago and called it an absolute classic and named it Pick of the Week. My opinion on the movie hasn’t changed, but is this version worth upgrading to? Or is it more for people who hadn’t purchased a Blu-ray player back in 2009? More...

Weekend Estimates: Split Stuns with $40 Million Debut

January 22, 2017

2017 has its first surprise hit. Split is set for a weekend just north of $40 million, according to Sunday morning’s projection from Universal. That’s not just the biggest weekend of the year so far, but it almost doubles the $22.8 million earned by Hidden Figures a couple of weeks ago, and moves the studio ahead of Fox as the leading distributor for the year so far. It also marks, of course, a return to form for M. Night Shyamalan. It basically ties the debut of The Last Airbender back in 2010, and his last movie to do significantly better on opening weekend was The Village, which started out with $50.7 million in the Summer of 2004. More...

Friday Estimates: In a Surprise Twist, Split’s a Hit with $14.6 million

January 21, 2017

Split easily won on Friday, doubling its nearest competition, and earning $14.6 million. This is the best opening day for M. Night Shyamalan since The Last Airbender opened in 2010. Its reviews are 76% positive, and it earned a B+ from CinemaScore, which is good for a horror film. This puts it on pace for an opening weekend of $34 million, which is more than it cost to make and advertise. If the film can match this during the rest of its run, then it will break even on its domestic numbers alone. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Turn On and Tune In some Limited Releases

January 20, 2017

There are a dozen limited releases we have release dates for, not all of which are big enough to be featured here. This is is a good number of releases for one week. Sadly, too many films just results in good films falling between the cracks due to the competition. Unfortunately, while there are a number of great films on this week’s list, like The Red Turtle, I don’t think any will thrive in theaters. More...

Logan Trailer

January 20, 2017

Super hero actioner starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Dafne Keen opens March 3 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Split Consolidates Movie Audiences with $2 million in Previews

January 20, 2017

Split started off with $2 million in previews, which is better than anticipated. It is also nearly double what The Visit managed during its previews in 2015. This doesn’t mean Split will earn twice as much as The Visit did. Different times of year and different levels of competition make that very unlikely. Even so, an opening of $25 million is now more likely than it was before these numbers came out. More...

Contest: Prizes, Evil Prizes

January 20, 2017

I thought A Dog’s Purpose would have a real shot at first place next weekend, but ... oh boy. If you haven’t seen the video supposed taken on the set yet, it’s tough to watch. It is also by PETA and released by TMZ, so I’m not 100% convinced it is legit. Those are two organizations I don’t trust. (Personally, I give to the local branch of the SPCA. Also, when you donate to charities like this, do NOT tell them what to do with the money. A lot of people do and they have to follow these requests and this results in popular programs being over-funded and less glamorous programs going under-funded.) Because of this video, there is talk of a boycott and that could really hurt its box office numbers. This leaves Resident Evil: The Final Chapter as the safe 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 Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.

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

Weekend Predictions: Will Xander’s Return Result in Box Office Dominance?

January 19, 2017

It is a deceptively busy week with five films opening or expanding wide. At least that’s what the dsitributors are saying. In reality, there are only two truly wide releases, xXx: Return of Xander Cage and Split. There is also one semi-wide release, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, as well as two semi-wide expansions, The Founder and 20th Century Women. Return of Xander Cage and Split are the only two of the films that have a shot at the top ten and they could be in a close race for first place. This weekend last year, there were three wide releases, but none of them made significantly more than $10 million at the box office. The biggest film of the weekend, The Revenant, earned just $16.01 million. 2017 could finally win in the year-over-year comparison. More...

Theater Counts (updated): Xander Cage Opens in 3,651

January 19, 2017

xXx: Return of Xander Cage will make the widest debut of the year so far on Friday. To be fair, the year is very young, but securing 3,651 theaters against quite a bit of competition is impressive, and could set the stage for a big weekend. Split will have a slightly more modest start, but still tops 3,000 theaters. More...

Collide Trailer

January 19, 2017

Thriller starring Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones, Ben Kingsley and Anthony Hopkins opens February 24 ... Full Movie Details. More...

International Box Office: Passengers Takes the Wheel with $30.59 million

January 19, 2017

For the first time in its run, Passengers earned first place with $30.59 million on 17,000 screens in 78 markets for totals of $136.34 million internationally and $226.07 million worldwide. At this point, the studio has either earned back the $110 million production budget, or has come close. If it can find an audience on the home market, then it could break even, eventually. This weekend, the film’s biggest opening was in China where it earned first place with $17.45 million on an estimated 10,000 screens over the weekend for a total of $17.52 million including previews. China is already the film’s biggest market overtaking Russia, where it has $16.25 million after four weeks of release, including $618,000 on 528 screens this past weekend. More...

Contest: Ultimate Prize: Winning Announcement

January 19, 2017

The winners of our Ultimate Prize contest contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Patriots Day’s opening weekend were... More...

Theater Averages: Worlds Starts Apart from the Competition with $16,353

January 18, 2017

Despite earning 50% positive reviews, Worlds Apart topped the theater average chart with $16,353 in its one theater. The only other film in the $10,000 club was 20th Century Women, which spent its third week there with an average of $10,894 in 29 theaters. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Hidden Figures Really Helps the Box Office with $27.51 million

January 18, 2017

As expected, Hidden Figures remained in first place as the box office was dominated by holdovers. The best of the new releases / wide expansions was The Bye Bye Man, which earned fifth place with $15.20 million. On the positive side, while there was only one film to earn more than $20 million over the weekend, there were seven that earned $10 million or more. That’s really good depth. It’s good enough for an 8.5% increase from last weekend reaching $149 million. However, this is still 10% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2017 is behind 2016 by 15% at $562 million to $659 million, but again, it is way too soon to make any predictions. More...

Home Market Releases for January 17th, 2017

January 17, 2017

The are not many major releases on this week’s home market release list. The Girl on the Train is the biggest, but it is not the best. It is not even close to being the best. The race for best was mostly a two-way race between Long Way North and Ouija: Origin of Evil, with Ixcanul and Train to Busan being close behind. In the end, I went with Long Way North on Blu-ray Combo Pack as the Pick of the Week, but all four are worth owning. More...

Before I Fall Trailer

January 17, 2017

Drama starring Zoey Deutch opens March 3 ... Full Movie Details. More...

A Cure for Wellness Trailer

January 16, 2017

Sci-fi thriller created and directed by Gore Verbinski opens February 17 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Death Race 2050

January 16, 2017

The original Death Race 2000 is one of my favorite films of all time. It is campy, B-movie fun with a serious satirical streak to it. The film spawned a remake / prequel in 2008, which in turn spawn two, soon to be three sequels, none of which really captured the essence of the original. However, Death Race 2050 is produced by Roger Corman, so does that mean it will be closer in tone and quality? More...

Weekend Estimates: Hidden Figures wins MLK Weekend

January 15, 2017

A pile-up at the box office this weekend will leave a crush of new releases behind Hidden Figures and La La Land, which remain the top two films at the box office. Hidden Figures will be down just 10% (in part thanks to expanded distribution) to $20.45 million, for $54.8 million in total, as of Sunday evening. Fox is projecting a $25.3 million 4-day weekend for the film. La La Land is even more impressive, growing its box office by 43% and moving from fifth to second on the chart with $14.5 million, and $74.1 million to date. It’s record-breaking performance at the Golden Globes has clearly lifted it to another level with audiences. More...

Friday Estimates: Hidden Hogs the Spotlight

January 14, 2017

Hidden Figures unexpectedly led the way on Friday with $5.53 million. This is 28% lower than last Friday, but that was the film’s first weekend wide and this is a holiday weekend, so it should bounce back a lot over the rest of the weekend. Award-worthy reviews and continued Awards Season presence will also help the film earn about $23 million over the four-day weekend. Its running tally will be about $57 million on Monday, putting it on pace for $100 million domestically. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Mixed Reviews Plague Limited Releases as Son of Joseph Sole Exception

January 13, 2017

It’s a deceptively busy week as far as limited releases are concerned. On the one hand, we have release dates for 21 limited releases this week. On the other hand, there are none that are particularly strong. The only film earning overwhelmingly positive reviews is The Son of Joseph, but even this film has almost no shot at box office success. On the other hand, there are a lot of VOD releases this week. Maybe there’s something worth renting out there. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Is Patriots Day Going Bye Bye with $560,000?

January 13, 2017

Patriots Day earned $560,000 from 2,000 theaters during its Thursday previews. This is less than half of what Hidden Figures made last week. Worse still, Patriots Day’s target audience should be more likely to go see a film’s previews than Hidden Figures’ target audience would be. That said, it is still a holiday weekend and it should bounce back over the next few days. I think it will miss our predictions, but it should come close with about $19 million. More...

The Shack Trailer

January 13, 2017

Drama starring Sam Worthington, Octavia Spencer and Radha Mitchell opens March 3 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Contest: Return to Sender

January 13, 2017

Next weekend is busier that we were expecting. We thought there would be three films opening or expanding wide, but we have an additional film opening semi-wide and another expanding semi-wide. That said, xXx: Return of Xander Cage is still the only film that has a real shot at first place and it is therefore the only logical 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 xXx: Return of Xander Cage.

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

2016 - Awards Season: DGA - Nominations

January 12, 2017

The last of the Directors Guild of America nominations were announced and the Oscars are really shaping up to be a one-movie show. That movie is Deadpool. I’m joking of course, but it did get yet another nomination. At this point, it could earn a Best Picture Oscar nomination and I wouldn’t be surprised. The film that is dominating Awards Season is La La Land and frankly I’ve lost count of the number of nominations it has received. More...

Theater Counts: Hidden Figures Expands Significantly for MLK, In Spite of New Release Rush

January 12, 2017

In the midst of a crazy week for new releases and wide expansions, Hidden Figures will increase its theater count by an impressive 818 this weekend, from 2,471 to 3,286, as it seeks to hold on to number one at the box office. That won’t make it the film in widest release, since Sing will hold on in 3,688 venues, but it does mean it’s held off the competition, at least in terms of availability. Whether it can stay number one at the box office remains to be seen, but the film seems like a natural fit for the MLK long weekend, so it’ll be a tough one to top. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will the Patriots Win the Weekend? Or Will Hidden Remain Up Front?

January 12, 2017

Six films are opening or expanding this weekend, which have a shot at the top ten. However, only one of them, Patriots Day, has a real shot at first place. In fact, it might be the only “new” film in the top five. The biggest wide release of the week is Monster Trucks, which is opening in 2,800 theaters. I didn’t see that coming. [Ed.: The final announced theater count for Monster Trucks is an even more impressive 3,119] Meanwhile, Sleepless is only opening in 1,800 theaters, while Silence is expanding into 750 theaters. We still haven’t mentioned all of the new films. As for holdovers, Hidden Figures has a real shot at first place, while La La Land should get a boost from its Awards Season success. This weekend last year, Ride Along 2 opened with just over $35 million over the three-day weekend. There’s no film that will match that figure during the four-day weekend. On the positive side, there were only four films that earned more than $10 million during the three-day weekend and this year we should have five. That’s not enough to win in the year-over-year competition. It likely won’t even be close. More...

International Box Office: Rogue gets $56.6 million Closer to $1 Billion

January 12, 2017

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story remained in first place with $56.6 million in 57 markets for totals of $437.1 million internationally and $914.5 million worldwide. It is now in fifth place on the 2016 worldwide chart. ... The entire top five worldwide is from Disney. This is unprecedented. As for this past weekend, Rogue One earned first place in China with $30.11 million over the weekend and $30.65 million including previews. This is on par with expectations, although some were worried it would struggle due to... I was going to say weather, but is smog weather? China is currently dealing with a smog crisis and has been issuing warnings to stay inside. This is the last market for the film, but it should cruise to $1 billion on holdovers. It will likely reach second place on the 2016 worldwide chart, but I think Captain America: Civil War is safe on the top of the chart. More...

Contest: Blood Oath: Winning Announcement

January 12, 2017

The winners of our Blood Oath contest contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Underworld: Blood Wars’s opening weekend were... More...

2016 - Awards Season: PGA - Nominations

January 11, 2017

The Producers Guild of America finally finished announcing their nominations. (They spread out their announcements for reasons I’ve never quite understood.) Most of the films on this list have already earned more than a few previous nominations. We appear to be settling into a predictable Awards Season. More...

2016 - Awards Season: BAFTA - Nominations

January 11, 2017

The BAFTA nominations were announced and it should come as no surprise what film lead the way... La La Land with 11 nominations, Nocturnal Animals and Arrival are tied for second with nine nominations a piece. More...

Get Out Trailer

January 10, 2017

Horror movie written and directed by Jordan Peele opens February 24 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Theater Averages: The New Year has a Patriotic Start

January 10, 2017

The theater average chart was dominated by holdovers, as is the norm this time of year. The top film was Patriots Day with an average of $14,972 in seven theaters. This bodes very well for its wide expansion next weekend. 20th Century Women is becoming a sleeper hit earning an average of $13,047 in ten theaters. This is one of those films that should be earning more Awards Season buzz, but I fear it has slipped between the cracks. Toni Erdmann and Paterson were neck-and-neck with averages of $10,472 and $10,205 respectively. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Hidden Figures is in the Spotlight earning $22.80 million

January 10, 2017

The first weekend of the year wasn’t as potent as anticipated, as none of the holdovers held on as well as expected. This helped Hidden Figures earn first place with $22.80 million, putting it just ahead of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which pulled in $22.06 million. The box office was down 26% from last weekend to $137 million, but this is a post-holiday weekend, so this decline was expected. The box office was also down 14% from this weekend last year. It is still way too soon to compare the box office year-over-year. In fact, we should wait till The Force Awakens faded out of the top five before we can really get a picture of how 2017 will do. That was President’s Day long weekend. So once we get past President’s Day long weekend, the year-over-year comparison will begin it have some real value. More...

Fist Fight Trailer

January 9, 2017

Comedy starring Ice Cube and Charlie Day opens February 17 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Home Market Releases for January 10th, 2017

January 9, 2017

There’s a lull in the quality and quantity of releases on the home market, one that will continue until the holiday releases start coming out. That’s not to say there are no releases worth picking up. Under the Shadow is an amazing horror film and the DVD is a Contender for Pick of the Week. However, the winner of that honor is The Criterion Collection release for His Girl Friday oni Blu-ray. More...

2016 - Awards Season: Golden Globes - Winners - La La Lands on Top

January 8, 2017

The first major awards night was Sunday with the Golden Globes being handed out. La La Land led the way with seven wins, winning in every category it was nominated in. This is great news for its Oscar chances, but there’s already backlash building. More...

Weekend Estimates: Rogue One and Hidden Figures Tied at the Top

January 8, 2017

With one day left in a topsy-turvy weekend, we have a virtual tie at the top of the box office chart, with both studios claiming a narrow win. Disney posted the highest projection this morning, saying they are expecting Rogue One to earn $21.972 million this weekend. Fox, meanwhile, is projecting $21.8 million for Hidden Figures, and thinks that the film’s lead of about $900,000 coming out of Saturday will be enough to hold on for a win. Sunday’s performance will be key, and there are a couple of factors that make the outcome genuinely uncertain… More...

Friday Estimates: Hidden Gets the Jump on the Competition with $7.6 million

January 7, 2017

It’s looking like a surprisingly close weekend at the box office. The Friday results show three films with a real shot at top spot: Hidden Figures, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Sing. Hidden Figures led the way on Friday with $7.6 million, putting it on pace for between $21 million and $23 million for the weekend. There’s a wide range here, because the studio has made a push to go after African-American churchgoers, so this could really boost the film’s Sunday box office. The film’s legs will be helped by its amazing reviews, as well as its A+ rating from CinemaScore. If it does land on the high end of expectations, then it has a real shot at top spot for the weekend. It does have a lot of competition, on the other hand. More...

John Wick: Chapter Two Trailer

January 6, 2017

Action movie starring Keanu Reeves opens February 10 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Hidden is Seen with $1.2 million in Previews

January 6, 2017

Underworld: Blood Wars was the only true wide release of the week, but it was Hidden Figures’ wide expansion that generated the best result at $1.2 million. This is more impressive, as dramas tend to underperform action films in previews; for example, Selma pulled in just $400,000 during its previews. That film earned $11.31 million during its first weekend of wide release and Hidden Figures is expected to double that figure this weekend. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Daniel Blake Leads Bleak Week

January 6, 2017

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the first weekend of January is a slow week for limited releases. It’s too late to qualify for this year’s Awards Season and the competition for late entries into the Oscar race is intense. I, Daniel Blake is the best of a limited field and is certainly worth checking out, while Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America is also worth it, if you like documentaries. More...

Contest: Ultimate Prize

January 5, 2017

Next weekend, six films are opening or expanding wide, sort of. Six films opening or expanding wide is far too many for one weekend and it looks like two of the three expansions will only be semi-wide, while two of the three wide releases will open barely wide. This leaves Patriots Day and Sleepless as the only two real contenders for the target film in this week’s box office prediction contest. I’m going with Patriots Day even though it is technically expanding wide, because it has the clear advantage at the box office. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Patriots Day.

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 The Ultimate Legacy on DVD. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film’s opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a previously reviewed movie. 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 previously-reviewed movie.

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

Weekend Predictions: Underworld is a Serious Underdog

January 5, 2017

It’s the first weekend of the year and there’s only one wide release, Underworld: Blood Wars, plus one wide expansion, Hidden Figures. (As expected, A Monster Calls is not expanding truly wide and it won’t grow enough to make the top ten. I don’t think it will top $3 million over the weekend.) None of these films are really going to challenge the top two holdovers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Sing, although that pair should be in a close race for first place. This weekend last year was very similar to this weekend, with one new release, one wide expansion, and a Star Wars holdover on top. Unfortunately, this year is much weaker. 2017 is going to get off on a losing note. More...

International Box Office: Rogue’s Threepeat to Tenth Place on 2016 Worldwide Chart

January 5, 2017

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story added $45.8 million in 55 markets to its running tally, which now sits at $350.0 million internationally and $775.0 million worldwide. By the end of Sunday, the film was already in tenth place for the year and while it is not doing as well internationally as it is domestically, it is still on pace to hit fifth place by as early as this weekend. Its biggest market is the U.K., where it has pulled in $64.4 million, but the U.K. might not stay on top for long, because the film opens in China this weekend. More...

2016 - Awards Season: WGA - Nominations

January 4, 2017

The Writers Guild of America is the latest group nominees to be announced. There are a lot of categories that WGA hand out awards, but only three of them are theatrical releases. The list of nominees include several major Awards Season players, like Hidden Figures, but there are also some surprises. More...

Contest: Rogue Pets: Winning Announcement

January 4, 2017

The winners of our Rogue Pets contest contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’s third weekend were... More...

Theater Averages: Hidden Stands Out with Average of $34,329

January 4, 2017

Hidden Figures rose to first place during its first full weekend of release with an average of $34,329 in 25 theaters. It already has more than $2 million and it expands wide on Friday. 20th Century Women was next with an average of $27,800 in four theaters. It isn’t a major player during Awards Season, but it is picking up enough nominations to help it stick around in theaters. Patriots Day was down just 8% earning an average of $21,117 in seven theaters. Last week’s winner, Silence, fell to an average of $20,827 in four theaters. If it has a similar drop next week, it will put its wide release in jeopardy. The best limited release of the week was Paterson, which earned an average of $17,334 in four theaters. Toni Erdmann earned an average of $14,000 in three theaters during its first full week of release. La La Land continues to expand, but remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $12,738. The overall number one film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, was next with an average of $11,934, while the second place film, Sing, was right behind with an average of $10,647. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Rogue One Wins Weekend, Doesn’t Quite win the Year with $65.62 million

January 4, 2017

The final weekend of the year wasn’t as potent as we had predicted, but there were still a number of reasons to celebrate. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story won the weekend and is on its way to becoming the biggest hit of the year. Sing was relatively close behind and will get to $200 million this upcoming weekend. Overall, the box office rose by 2.9% from last weekend hitting $186 million. This is 15% lower than the same weekend last year, which again was actually the first weekend of 2016. We need to switch to the Strowbrinian Calendar. I’m not kidding about this. As for the year-over-year comparison, that’s a little confusing. If you just look at the calender years, then 2016 broke the record earning $11.4 billion. However, the movie year actually begins the first Monday of the year and ends the final Sunday before the first Monday of the next year. Going by this definition of the year, 2016 actually just failed to overtake 2015, because we lost a few days of The Force Awakens and only got one extra day of Rogue One. More...

Bastards Trailer

January 3, 2017

Comedy starring Ed Helms and Owen Wilson opens January 27 ... Full Movie Details. More...

A Dog’s Purpose Trailer

January 2, 2017

Drama starring Josh Gad, directed by Lasse Hallström opens January 27 ... Full Movie Details. More...

Home Market Releases for January 3rd, 2017

January 2, 2017

The first Tuesday of the year is deceptively busy. There are a ton of romantic films being re-released on DVD, and a few on Blu-ray that I mention below, with Fandango money for Fifty Shades Darker. Most cost between $8 and $10, so if you really wanted one of these movies and were planning on buying tickets for Fifty Shades Darker, then it is a bargain. However, most of the movies that are part of this deal are not good. Strip those out of the mix and the week is really slow. The best of the week is Denial on Blu-ray, while Best and Most Beautiful Things on DVD and The Librarians: Season Two on DVD are also worth grabbing. More...

Weekend Estimates: Rogue One Tops Sing

January 1, 2017

With most studios closed for New Year’s Day, the weekend estimates have a rather piecemeal look as of this morning. We do have an official weekend estimate for Sing, which Universal projects will make $41.5 million over the three-day weekend and $53.4 million over four, for a total coming out of the holidays at an impressive $177.3 million. That will put it in second place, not far behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Disney won’t be releasing numbers until tomorrow, but we should see a three-day weekend around $50 million, $65 million over four days, and a total of about $440 million by Tuesday morning. More...

2017 Preview: January

January 1, 2017

December box office numbers helped 2016 end on ... a note. The good news and the bad news almost exactly balance out. On the one hand, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will finish the year with more than $400 million after just 16 days of release. That’s a stunning amount of money that helped 2016 earn a record box office at the domestic market. However, Star Wars: The Force Awakens earned $650 million during December of 2015, so the month lost a lot of its lead over 2015, so much so that ticket sales fell behind last year’s total. The weakness at the end of the year will spill over into 2017, which is terrible news. A slow start could result in the dominant box office story being 2017 struggles compared to 2016. Bad news like this can sometimes become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sadly, 2017 is also going to get off to a slow start when it comes to wide releases / expansions. There are 16 films scheduled to open or expand wide this month and none of them are expected to get to $100 million. It is likely none of them will even get very close. xXx: Return of Xander Cage is expected to be the best of a weak bunch, but I could see it getting beat by one of the five Oscar contenders opening wide this month, if it gets off to a slow start and one of the Oscar contenders starts picking up steam. Hidden Figures got off to a great start on Christmas Day and should it continue to earn Awards Season recognition, including some Oscar nominations, it could be in wide release well into February. Last January wasn’t as busy with 13 films opening or expanding wide over five weeks. Of these, two of them, The Revenant and Kung Fu Panda 3, topped $100 million domestically, while another, Ride Along 2, came close. 2017 is going to get destroyed in the year-over-year comparison. More...

The Numbers News - January 2017

Quick Links