November 20th, 2013
There are some good releases this week, but it is also a shallow week. If you look at Amazon.com's list of new releases, by the third or fourth page, you will find more filler than releases worth talking about. On the other hand, there are a number of late releases that finally arrived and I was able to get done. There are a number of contenders for Pick of the Week this week, including Doctor Who Story 29: The Tenth Planet, which is a must have for all Whovians. Kinky Boots is a very fun movie and you can't beat the price of the DVD. On the other hand, the Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray releases for Season Five and Unification are expensive, but worth it for fans. In the end, I went with The World's End on Blu-ray Combo Pack for Pick of the Week.
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August 7th, 2013
The Spectacular Now debuted in first place on the Per Theater Chart with an average of $49,354 in four theaters. This result, plus its excellent reviews, suggests it will have long legs in limited release. Last week's number one film, Blue Jasmine, slipped to second place with an average of $37,174, but it is now playing in 50 theaters, which is an amazing result. Space Station popped back into the $10,000 with an average of $15,352. It has pulled in $88 million after more than a decade of release. The Canyons earned $13,351 in its lone theater, proving there is no such thing as bad publicity. The reviews, on the other hand, were really bad and the film's only real hope is to become a cult classic. That might happen.
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August 1st, 2013
Blue Jasmine earned top spot on the per theater chart, not just for the week, but for the year. Its per theater average was $102,011 in six theaters, topping the previous yearly best by Spring Breakers. Spring-Breakers finished its theatrical run with just over $14 million, which is a figure Blue Jasmine should top. The Act of Killing remained potent in second place with an average of $13,890 in three theaters. The overall box office leader, The Wolverine, was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $13,536.
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July 28th, 2013
The Wolverine will have a very solid, but far from spectacular debut this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Its $55 million total will give it the tenth-biggest weekend of the year, and the best for Fox, but it is falling well behind comparable films like World War Z (which opened with $66 million) and Star Trek Into Darkness ($70 million). Good reviews and lessened competition as the Summer season comes to a close will help it a bit, but it looks like $100 million and out for the franchise, unless its $86.1 million international debut turns into a $400 million global run.
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July 25th, 2013
It's the final weekend of July and there is only one wide release to deal with, The Wolverine. It should be the easy winner of the weekend, it might pull in enough to become the biggest opening weekend of the month. This isn't likely, but there is a slim chance. There is one other film that might make an appearance in the top ten, The To Do List. Again, it doesn't have a strong chance, but it could happen. The holdovers should be far behind The Wolverine, as only The Conjuring has a shot at $20 million. This weekend last year, both new releases bombed, which is good news for 2013 in the year-over-year comparison. Granted, The Dark Knight Rises took in $62.10 million, which is something The Wolverine should have no trouble topping, while the holdovers should provide more depth.
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July 18th, 2013
Next week there is only one major release coming out: The Wolverine. (The To Do List is also coming out, but it not opening wide, or even semi-wide.) With only one wide release, it is really easy to choose the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for The Wolverine.
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 Dragons: Riders of Berk, both Part 1 and Part 2. Normally when we have two prizes, we split them up, but this makes more sense to go as a double-pack.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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July 1st, 2013
For the most part, June was a really strong month at the box office with nearly every film either matching expectations, or at least coming close enough to call it a victory. Looking forward, there are a dozen films opening wide in July, more or less. One of them, The Smurfs 2, is opening on a Wednesday, so I'm going to hold off talking about that movie till the August preview. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain is opening in less than 1000 theaters, but it has a shot at reaching the top ten during its opening weekend. If we include both of them, there are twelve films, but I think it is better to stick with the ten truly wide, truly July openings. Of these, Despicable Me 2 is clearly going to be the biggest hit at the box office. It could become the second biggest hit of the year so far. It is not the only film that could be a $100 million hit. In fact, there are six films opening in July that I think have a better than 50% chance of reaching that level. There is currently only one film that I think won't at least become a midlevel hit. By comparison in 2012, there were three $100 million movies, led by The Dark Knight Rises, but the rest of the new releases struggled. There's no chance any movie opening this month will top $400 million, in fact, it is quite possible no film will get to $300 million. That said, 2013 has a lot better depth, so it might come out on top in the end.
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