January 31st, 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.
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January 30th, 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?
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January 9th, 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.
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October 12th, 2016
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Asura: The City of Madness was the only film in the $10,000 club with an average of $10,627 in two theaters. Interestingly, Operation Mekong nearly rose to that milestone with an average of $9,511 in 17 theaters.
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October 5th, 2016
Denial and American Honey were the only two films in the $10,000 club on the theater average chart this week. Denial earned first place with an average of $18,746 in five theaters, while American Honey was relatively close behind with an average of $17,801 in four.
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September 28th, 2016
Like last week, no films joined the $10,000 club this past weekend. Two came close though. Firstly, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy earned $9,511 in its lone theater. That’s excellent for a documentary and hopefully this start will help it be seen by more. The number one overall film, The Magnificent Seven, was close behind with an average of $9,446.
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September 25th, 2016
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The Magnificent Seven will almost exactly match Sully’s debut two weeks ago by posting a $35 million opening, according to Sony’s Sunday projection. To us, it looks as though the film will fall fractionally short of that number, but it should still have the sixth-best September opening of all time (not adjusted for inflation). Those two films alone have given the box office enough of a boost that the industry will wrap up the month in fairly healthy condition.
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September 24th, 2016
The Friday box office was not particularly good, as The Magnificent Seven led the way with just $12.7 million. This isn’t terrible. In fact, it is nearly the record for biggest opening day in September for a non-sequel. (Sweet Home Alabama still holds that record.) However, this is far below the nearly $20 million a lot were expecting. There are some positive signs going forward. The film’s reviews are good and it did earn an A- from CinemaScore, so that should help its legs. Likewise, Denzel Washington’s films do tend to have long legs. A $35 million opening weekend is likely on the cards and that could be enough to get to the century mark domestically. I’m not saying $100 million is likely, but I also wouldn’t bet against it.
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September 23rd, 2016
Like last week, approximately 30 films open in limited release this week. That is far too many and all but ensures most will not find an audience. Furthermore, it means I have to be a little more liberal when it comes to pruning releases that don’t have enough buzz to talk about. There are lots of films that still made the cut, including a few highlights: The Age of Shadows, Audrie & Daisy, The Dressmaker, The Lovers And The Despot, My Blind Brother, and Queen of Katwe. Some of these are playing on VOD, so they will go nowhere in theaters. Several are aiming for Oscars, including Queen of Katwe, which will expand semi-wide next week.
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