September 11th, 2019
There are two monster hits coming out this week, Aladdin and John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, and this has scared away almost all of the competition. Fortunately, John Wick is amazing and a clear Pick of the Week contender. There was only one other film in contention for that title, Echo in the Canyon. Granted, I like Parabellum more, but it was already awarded the Pick of the Week when it hit VOD, so Echo in the Canyon gets the honor this week.
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September 9th, 2019
This week, the live action Aladdin comes out on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD for the first time, while the original animated Aladdin gets a Blu-ray re-release and debuts on 4K Ultra HD. I’ve previously reviewed the 1992 animated film and I consider it a classic. How does the new remake live up to the original? And is the re-release of the original worth picking up?
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August 28th, 2019
This week, the main list of new releases is particularly short for two reasons. Firstly, it is a slow week. Secondly, I’ve filtered out the TV on DVD releases for their own section. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while and we are entering the heart of TV on DVD season on the home market, so it made sense to do it this week. (I’m including all TV on DVD releases, both individual seasons and full series Megasets.) As for the biggest new releases, there are not a lot to talk about. Godzilla: King of the Monsters and The Secret Life of Pets 2 both missed expectations at the box office, but both are worth picking up for their respective target audiences. As for the best, only The Last Black Man in San Francisco and Rocketman are contenders for Pick of the Week. The latter has far better extras, but the former is the better movie and wins that title.
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July 31st, 2019
The Lion King remained in first place on the international chart earning $142.8 million in 53 markets for totals of $611.9 million internationally and $962.7 million worldwide. The film’s only opening this weekend was in Hong Kong, where it earned $2.0 million opening in first place. The film has yet to open in Italy and Japan, so it will have no trouble getting to $1 billion before it finishes its international run.
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July 24th, 2019
After an early start in China, The Lion King expanded nearly worldwide earning $269.4 million in 52 markets for two-week totals of $346.0 million internationally and $537.8 million worldwide. The film’s best new market was the U.K. at $20.84 million in 713 theaters, but France wasn’t too far behind at $19.6 million. It also had stellar starts in Mexico ($18.43 million) and Brazil ($17.9 million), as well as is in Russia ($17.06 million). Other major markets include Australia where it earned with $14.46 million over the weekend for a total opening of $17.43 million and in South Korea with $13.44 million over the weekend for a total opening of $17.45 million. The film has yet to open in Japan and Italy and it will be over $1 billion before it gets there.
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July 18th, 2019
Spider-Man: Far from Home ended its international run by opening in Italy this past weekend and this helped it remain in top spot on the international chart. Overall, the film pulled in $97.50 million on 30,559 screens in 86 markets for totals of $569.88 million internationally and $844.47 million worldwide. The film earned first place in Italy with $4.38 million on 829 screens over the weekend for a four-day opening of $6.08 million. If we compare just the three-day weekend, which is unfair to Far From Home, this result is still 45% more than Homecoming’s debut in that market. The film’s top holdover was South Korea, where it remained in first place with $9.80 million on 1,708 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $48.97 million. China wasn’t too far behind with $9.61 million over the weekend for a three-week total of $192.18 million. The film has very likely overtaken Homecoming at the global box office by the time you read this and could top $1 billion this weekend, assuming The Lion King doesn’t take too big a bite out of Far from Home’s box office numbers.
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July 11th, 2019
Last weekend, Spider-Man: Far From Home was the first pleasant surprise at the box office since Aladdin came out in May. This weekend, we have two new releases hoping to continue the pleasant surprises. Unfortunately, neither Stuber nor Crawl are expected to be big hits. In fact, they likely won’t match Far From Home’s sophomore stint combined. Worse still, this weekend last year, both Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation and Skyscraper opened with more than Stuber and Crawl are expected to open combined, meaning 2019 will lose once again in the year-over-year competition.
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July 11th, 2019
Spider-Man: Far from Home expanded nearly worldwide over the weekend, and earned $236.74 million on 53,120 screens in 85 markets for a still early international total of $393.37 million, and $578.43 million worldwide. The film’s biggest new market was South Korea, where it earned $24.55 million on 2,173 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $33.45 million. Far From Home also cracked $10 million in the U.K. with $10.53 million on 979 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $17.77 million and in Mexico with $10.39 million on 3,806 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $13.42 million. The film earned a total opening of $12.11 million in Australia, including $7.26 million on 332 screens over the weekend. The film’s biggest holdover was China, where it earned $29.88 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $166.63 million. Italy was the only market the film wasn’t playing in over the weekend, but that changed on Wednesday and we will have those numbers next week.
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July 9th, 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home really brightened up the box office earning $92.58 million over the three-day weekend for a six-day opening of $185.06 million. This is one of the biggest positive surprises of the year and we desperately needed some good news after June. Toy Story 4 and Aladdin held on better than expected and the overall box office surged growing 21% from last weekend to $183 million. This is still lower than this weekend last year, but by only 2.7% and at this point, I’m willing to call that a victory. Year-to-date, 2019 did manage to close ground with 2018, thanks mostly to Far From Home’s strength before the weekend. However, this year is still 8.4% or $540 million behind last year at $5.88 billion to $6.42 billion.
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July 7th, 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home is getting off to a fantastic start with a three-day weekend haul of $93.6 million giving it a six-day debut of $185.1 million. This is more than it cost to make and it means the film is nearly guaranteed a healthy profit before it reaches the home market, even if it has soft legs. Additionally, its reviews are outstanding and it earned an A from CinemaScore, so its legs should be long for a blockbuster film. Internationally, the film pulled in $238 million on 52,800 screens in 66 markets for totals of $395 million internationally and $580 million worldwide. This was led by a six-day, $33.8 million first place debut in South Korea, while it earned $30.6 million during its second weekend in China for a two-week total of $167.4 million there.
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July 6th, 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home got off to a record-breaking performance and it has since shown better-than-expected legs by earning $32.5 million on Friday for a four-day running tally of $124 million. Because it opened on Tuesday and not Friday, the film should have a better than average internal multiplier, giving it a better than 50/50 chance of cracking $90 million over the three-day weekend. The film cost $160 million to make and it will match that domestically on Sunday. Additionally, its reviews suggest strong word-of-mouth (The CinemaScore still hasn’t been released. I blame the Fourth of July holidays.) and with no direct competition for the rest of the month, it should have a long stay in theaters. It is yet another success story for the M.C.U. and enough to lift 2019 to a rare win over 2018 in the year-over-year competition. This could be a good omen going forward and perhaps we will look back at this weekend as the weekend that 2019 turned things around.
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July 3rd, 2019
It has been a long time since we’ve had a pleasant surprise at the box office. In fact, the last film to really beat expectations and earn first place was Aladdin, which came out in May. However, it appears that streak is over, as Spider-Man: Far From Home broke the record for biggest Tuesday with $39.26 million. Additionally, Midsommar earned $1.1 million during its previews, which means July should get off to a faster than expected start. Additionally, there should be some strong holds in the top five as well, with Toy Story 4, Annabelle Comes Home, and Yesterday all looking to earn more than $10 million over the three-day weekend. This weekend last year, Ant-Man and the Wasp opened with $75.81 million. Spider-Man: Far From Home could top that after its record-breaking start and the overall box office does look a little healthier as a result.
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July 3rd, 2019
Spider-Man: Far from Home made its international debut the weekend before its domestic start earning $111.20 million on 35,187 screens in three markets. Those three markets where led by China, where it earned $97.72 million on 34,300 screens. It was also very potent in Japan with $9.36 million on 465 screens and in Hong Kong with $4.12 million on 422.
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July 2nd, 2019
June ended with shrug, as the weekend was neither a success nor a disaster. Toy Story 4 was the top draw, but it fell faster than most family films do, down 51% to $59.70 million. Annabelle Comes Home had the weakest opening in the franchise, while Yesterday did well as counter-programming, but that’s all. The overall box office fell 26% from last weekend and, more importantly, 15% from the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2019 has fallen behind 2018’s pace by a margin of 9.5% or $580 million at $5.52 billion to $6.10 billion. At the beginning of June, I thought 2019 would have cut into 2018’s lead by $100 million, but that clearly didn’t happen.
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June 30th, 2019
Toy Story 4 is earning first place over the weekend with $57.92 million. A few weeks ago, a 52% sophomore stint drop-off by a family film would have been a really bad sign; however, June was so bad that this result matches expectations, more or less. The film now has $236.92 million domestically and should race past $300 million here before it is done. This is a monster hit and more than enough to be profitable, but still disappointing. This film is having a better weekend internationally, earning $80.6 million in 45 markets for totals of $259.6 million internationally and $496.5 million worldwide. This includes a $7.0 million opening in France, which is the best in the franchise.
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June 29th, 2019
It looks like June won’t end on a high note, as Toy Story 4 is falling faster than hoped for. The film earned $17.04 million on Friday, which is almost as much as the rest of the top five earned in total. However, and more importantly, it is 64% lower than the film’s opening Friday and that’s a sharper decline that I was anticipating. Granted, its $196.03 million running tally is in line with budget expectations, so it will break even, even if it doesn’t match expectations. A profitable disappointment.
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June 27th, 2019
So far June has been a disaster with no film topping expectations to any significant degree. In fact, Aladdin was the last time we had a film that really beat expectations at the box office and that came out more than a month ago. This weekend is the last chance for June to not be a complete disaster and frankly I’m not optimistic. Annabelle Comes Home is part of the biggest horror franchise around. However, the most recent installment was also the weakest by far and I fear this film will also be significantly below average for the franchise. Yesterday is the smaller of the two films, but in this case this means it doesn’t have to do much business at the box office to be seen as a success. Meanwhile, Toy Story 4 is expected to remain in top spot over the weekend and if its legs are long enough, it could be seen as a real success rather than a profitable disappointment. This weekend last year, there were no major new releases, but Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Incredibles 2 were strong as holdovers.
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June 27th, 2019
Toy Story 4 dominated the international chart with $120.0 million in 37 markets, representing 64% of the international marketplace. Interestingly, China wasn’t the film’s biggest market, as it had an absolute monster debut in Mexico taking top spot there with $23.82 million. The film also dominated the chart in the U.K. with $16.90 million, which isn’t as strong as its opening here, but still impressive. Likewise, the film managed $13.4 million in China, which is good for an animated film there. Good, but not great. The film broke the record for an opening by an animated film in Brazil with $9.6 million and did nearly as well in neighboring Argentina with $7.5 million. It was also impressive in South Korea with $7.47 million on 1,335 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $8.55 million.
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June 25th, 2019
I think 2019 is done. The year isn’t quite halfway done, but I think I’m ready to call the box office race with 2018 over. Toy Story 4 was the latest potential monster hit to miss expectations by a huge margin. Granted, it still opened in first place with $120.10 million and it will make a substantial profit, but this is still about 25% lower than a lot of people expected and the overall weekend is still a massive disappointment. It did rise 50% from last weekend hitting $204 million, but this was 25% lower than the same weekend last year and that’s a much more important figure. Year-to-date, 2019 is now behind 2018 by 8.9% or $510 million at $5.26 billion to $5.77 billion. If you want to stretch for some good news, then this isn’t the worst deficit we’ve seen this year.
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June 23rd, 2019
Almost none of the films on this week’s list are living up to expectations, at least not according to the weekend estimates. Toy Story 4 is earning the best opening in the franchise with an estimated $118.0 million weekend. This is third-highest opening for an animated film, so there is reason to celebrate. However, it is also much lower than expected and a little more front-loaded than anticipated, so its future might be in doubt. The film is doing better internationally with an estimated opening weekend of $120.0 million in 37 markets. The film had the third biggest opening in Mexico with $23.4 million, putting it behind just the two most recent Avengers movies. It had the biggest opening for an animated film in Brazil with $9.6 million. The film was also a monster hit in the U.K. with $15.0 million. On the other hand, it struggled in China with a second-place $13.4 million opening there; however, most animated films struggle in China. Hopefully the film’s reviews and its A from CinemaScore translate into long legs, because 2019 really needs more success stories at the box office.
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June 22nd, 2019
Toy Story 4 is on pace to earn the third-best opening weekend for an animated film, but despite this, it will be seen as a disappointment, as many people were expecting a lot more. The film earned $47.39 million on Friday, putting it on pace for $123 million over the full weekend, which is behind Incredibles 2 and Finding Dory on the all-time opening chart for an animated film. It really needed to be higher up that list in order to help 2019 win in the year-over-year competition. At this pace, it won’t even match last year’s number one film, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. On the positive side, the film is earning 97% positive reviews and managed an A from CinemaScore, so it should have long legs. It will be a hit for Pixar and Disney is not going to lose money on this movie. However, I’m getting tired of big films failing to live up to expectations and I don’t think 2019 is going to be able to turn things around.
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June 20th, 2019
June has not lived up to expectations and unless Toy Story 4 is a record-breaking hit, we are going to end the month with a loss. I don’t think it will break records, but it will easily be the biggest hit of the month. Also opening this week is Child’s Play, the reboot to the long-running horror franchise of the same name. Finally, Anna is the latest film from Luc Besson and many are comparing it to Lucy. It’s not going to do that well. It likely won’t reach the top five. This weekend last year, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom opened with $148.02 million. I really hope Toy Story 4 tops that; however, even if it does, nothing playing this weekend is going to compare with Incredibles 2’s run last year, so 2019 is going to lose in the year-over-year comparison.
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June 20th, 2019
Men in Black: International did substantially better internationally with $68.22 million on 40,600 screens in 65 markets over the weekend for a total opening of $73.03 million. Its worldwide total was $103.06 million, which isn’t a bad start for a film that cost $110 million to make. It needs to have great legs and a strong home market run to break even any time soon, but this isn’t a number that should cause the studio to panic either. The film’s biggest single market was China where it earned first place with a total opening of $25.90 million, including $25.35 million on 21,000 screens over the weekend. It only managed third place in South Korea with $3.45 million on 1,055 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $4.88 million. Overall, the film is about 20% behind Men in Black 3’s opening in the same markets; however, this film also cost nearly 50% less to make, so financially, it is an improvement.
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June 18th, 2019
There is some good news to report, as the weekend final numbers beat both the projections based on Friday estimates and Sunday’s estimates. There’s also some bad news. Even with this improvement, the weekend was really soft at the box office. Men in Black: International led the way with just $30.04 million during its opening weekend, while only two other films topped $10 million over the weekend. This left the overall box office down 18% from last weekend to just $135 million. This is 50% lower than the same weekend last year; a decline that we normally only see when there is a misalignment in a holiday. However, in this case, it was due to Incredibles 2, which earned more by itself than the total box office did this year. This has left 2019 further behind 2018 and it is now off last year’s pace by 7.0% or $370 million at $4.99 billion to $5.36 billion. Several weeks worth of gaining ground has gone in a single weekend.
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June 16th, 2019
According to weekend estimates, Men in Black: International is topping projections based on Friday estimates, but is still weaker than predicted with $28.5 million. This is a pleasant surprise, as the film’s reviews are terrible and its B from CinemaScore strongly suggested weaker legs. Maybe it will continue to surprise going forward. The film is doing much better internationally with $73.7 million on 41,400 screens in 56 markets. This includes $26.3 million in China, $5.1 million in Russia, $4.9 million in South Korea, and $3.9 million in Mexico. On the downside, the film has opened in most major markets, so it will be mostly coasting on holdovers at this point. It should still earn enough to cover its production budget worldwide, but that’s not enough to break even in any timely fashion.
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June 15th, 2019
It is going to be a really bad weekend. All of the progress we made since Endgame came out could be erased in a week and if Toy Story 4 isn’t a monster hit, then 2019 will be in serious trouble, again. Men in Black: International led the way on Friday, but it only managed $10.4 million. Sony is projecting a $26.2 million opening weekend, which would be the studio’s biggest opening of the year so far. In fact, it would be the studio’s third biggest hit of the year after just three days. Yikes. The film’s reviews are terrible and it only managed a B from CinemaScore, so I don’t expect long legs. There are some rumors going around that the film didn’t cost as much as its official $110 million production budget, but even if those are true, this is still not a good start. Maybe it will thrive internationally.
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June 13th, 2019
It’s a busy weekend at the box office with the potential for four new entries in the top ten. Unfortunately, only one of those films, Late Night, is earning good reviews. The other films’ reviews range from mediocre reviews to depressing reviews. Likewise, the four film’s box office chances range from mediocre, with Men in Black: International expected to open south of $30 million, to depressing, with some suggesting Late Night and / or The Dead Never Die missing the Mendoza Line. This weekend last year, Incredibles 2 opened with $182.69 million. That’s more than the entire box office will make this weekend. 2019 is going to get crushed in the year-over-year comparison.
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June 13th, 2019
Dark Phoenix may have struggled domestically, but it is doing a lot better internationally. The film opened with $107.0 million in 53 markets with Japan being the lone major market it didn’t debut in. China was the film’s biggest single market, representing $44.44 million of its total haul, including $31.85 million over the weekend. The film cracked $5 million in South Korea with a total opening of $5.58 million on 868 screens, including $2.82 million over the weekend. It had nearly identical results in the U.K. ($4.78 million in 615 theaters) and Mexico ($4.65 million). Unfortunately, for all of the film’s success on the international stage, the film is only looking to save face, as it cost $200 million to make and there’s nearly no chance it will recoup that in a timely fashion.
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June 11th, 2019
It was a mixed weekend at the box office with neither of the two new releases matching expectations. Not only that, but most of the top five missed estimates as well. This led to a result 5.6% lower than last weekend falling to $164 million. I was really expecting growth this weekend. The Secret Life of Pets 2 led the way with $46.65 million, while Dark Phoenix really struggled with just $32.83 million. Aladdin was arguably the only real bright spot in the top five this weekend. Fortunately, this weekend last year was even worse and 2019 was able to win the year-over-year comparison by a whopping 37%. This allowed 2019 to close the gap between it and 2018 to just $300 million or 5.9% at $4.78 billion to $5.08 billion. That’s still a large gap, but it is far cry from where it once was.
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June 9th, 2019
Neither of the two wide releases matched expectations over the weekend and in both cases, it could be the end of their respective franchises. The Secret Life of Pets 2 is earning first place with $47.11 million, which isn’t a bad result for a family film that cost $80 million to make. However, this estimate is 55% lower than the first film’s opening weekend. Internationally, it is adding $16.0 million over the weekend to its three-week total, which sits at $49.0 million. Additionally, it has yet to open in most international markets, so it should have long legs on this chart. However, it still isn’t living up to the original. Universal has to be looking at this numbers and deciding to move on from the franchise, even though this film will very likely break even sooner rather than later. Even a moderate decline for a hypothetical third film would put profitability in question.
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June 8th, 2019
June might be in trouble, as both of the wide releases stumbled out of the gate missing expectations. The Secret Life of Pets 2 managed first place on Friday, but with just $16.5 million. This is 57% lower than the first film managed during its opening day. Unlike the first film, school was still in session for a lot of the film’s target audience during Friday, so that could help its legs over the weekend. Universal is projecting a $47 million opening weekend, but it might climb to $50 million. Even so, that’s still a serious decline over the first movie. The film did match the original at CinemaScore earning an A minus, so its weaker reviews aren’t going to be much of an issue. Additionally, the movie only cost $80 million to make, so even a $45 million opening won’t prevent the film from breaking even sooner rather than later.
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June 6th, 2019
It could be a real race on the box office chart this weekend. The Secret Life of Pets 2 isn’t generating as much buzz as I was expecting, while there is actually some good news surrounding Dark Phoenix’s box office chances. There’s no good news regarding its reviews, that’s for sure. Also coming out this weekend is Late Night, but it is now coming out in limited release with a wide expansion next week. That’s not a good sign. This does leave one more spot in the top five for a holdover, meaning Aladdin, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and Rocketman will all remain in the top five for at least one more weekend. This weekend last year, Ocean’s 8 opened with a decent $41.61 million and both The Secret Life of Pets 2 and Dark Phoenix should top that. 2019 should start the month with an easy win.
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June 5th, 2019
Godzilla: King of the Monsters was more dominant on the international chart with $130 million on 53,515 screens in 75 markets for a worldwide debut of $178 million. Most of this success came in Asia, including in China, where the movie opened in first place with $66.65 million over the weekend for a total opening of $70.41 million. Japan was the next biggest market with a haul of $8.4 million on 600, which was enough for first place in that market. The film also earned first place in Taiwan ($4.2 million on 320 screens); Thailand ($2.3 million on 705 screens); and Malaysia ($2.2 million on 653). The film had to settle for second place in a number of major markets including Mexico ($4.7 million on 2,443 screens); the U.K. ($4.43 million in 531 theaters); and France ($2.5 million on 628 screens). The film has yet to open in Spain and a number of smaller markets, so it isn’t done its international run. That said, it was an expensive movie to make and it will need help on the home market to break even.
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June 4th, 2019
Godzilla: King of the Monsters didn’t live up to expectations, but it did well enough to earn first place on the weekend box office chart. King of the Monsters opened with $47.78 million, while Aladdin was right behind with $42.84 million. This helped the overall box office hold on a lot better than expected, down just 4.3% to $174 million, which is a fantastic hold for a post-holiday weekend. The box office was also a huge improvement from this weekend last year, up 63% in the year-over-year comparison. Year-to-date, 2019 has pulled in $4.54 billion, which is still 7.4% or $380 million behind last year’s pace, but a few more wins like this and that gap won’t seem so bad anymore. That said, as anyone who’s read our monthly preview will know, I’m not expecting too many weekends like this in June.
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June 2nd, 2019
As expected, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is leading the way on the weekend box office chart. However, it is falling a little short of expectations with an estimated opening weekend of $49.03 million. The film earned a B plus from CinemaScore, which is much better than its reviews, but still not stellar, while the genre isn’t known for long legs, so I’m not sure about its future. It is performing a lot better internationally with $130 million on 52,000 screens in 75 markets, including $70 million in China and $8.4 million in Japan. It has nearly matched its $200 million production budget in just one weekend, while it has yet to open in Spain and a few smaller markets.
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June 1st, 2019
Godzilla: King of the Monsters dominated the chart on Friday with $19.61 million on its opening day. The film needed to open with a couple of million dollars more than $20 million to match our prediction, but it will come close enough. Its reviews are weak and it only managed a B plus from CinemaScore, which is not great either. It appears the film is aimed at Kaiju fans and might not appeal to all action fans. That said, it is on pace to earn $50 million during its opening weekend, which is enough to be a financial success, assuming it does as well internationally.
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May 30th, 2019
Godzilla: King of the Monsters leads a trio of new releases hoping to make an impact at the box office this weekend. It will have no trouble earning first place and even the low-end of predictions are at $50 million. Rocketman has the best reviews of the week and it could continue the positive trend for musical biopics. Finally there’s MA, a psychological horror that could become a midlevel hit, but even if it fails to live up to expectations, it was inexpensive enough to break even. Meanwhile, Aladdin and John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum will remain in the top five, while Avengers: Endgame could be one of six films earning more than $10 million over the weekend. This weekend last year, Adrift was the biggest new release opening with just $11.60 million, while Solo: A Star Wars Story was the number one film with $29.40 million. There should be three films that top Solo and as many as six that top Adrift. 2019 should come away with an easy win.
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May 30th, 2019
Echo in the Canyon just demolished the competition on the theater average chart. It earned an average of $58,826 in two theaters. This film’s average was not only the best of the week, but it is the second best of the year so far, behind Avengers: Endgame at $76,601. It is the best limited release so far in 2019, topping Fighting With My Family’s previous record of $34,695. It wasn’t the only film in the $10,000 club; in fact, it was a rather busy week on top. Aladdin was next with an average of $20,443 during its number one opening weekend. Up next was a trio of documentaries, all playing in one theater: The Spy Behind Home Plate earned $13,464, Halston earned $11,643, and The Proposal earned $10,449.
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May 29th, 2019
Aladdin opened with $121.0 million in 54 markets earning first place on the international chart. Add in its three-day domestic debut and it had a global opening of $212.5 million at the end of business on Sunday. The film’s biggest market was China, where it managed $18.92 million over the weekend, earning first place along the way. It was also number one in the U.K. with $8.97 million and it topped the chart in Mexico with $8.78 million. The latter is more impressive, given the relative size of the two markets. On the downside, the film was expensive to make and it only has one major market left to debut in (Japan), so it will need long legs to break even in a timely fashion.
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May 28th, 2019
It was a great weekend for Aladdin and an okay weekend for the box office as a whole. Aladdin made more over the three-day portion of the weekend than most predicted it would make over four days. Unfortunately, not all of the rest of the films were able to pull their weight. The overall box office still grew 23% from last weekend reaching $181 million, but it slipped when compared to last year. Granted, it fell less than $1 million or 0.5% when compared to the same weekend last year, which is such a small gap that it is practically a tie. Year-to-date, 2019 has pulled in $4.31 billion, which is 9.2% or $440 million lower than 2018’s running tally of $4.75 million and this number needs to improve over the coming weeks.
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May 26th, 2019
Aladdin’s box office continues to grow with Disney projecting $86.1 million over the three-day weekend, putting it on pace for $105 million including Monday. Its reviews are fine, but its A from CinemaScore is really telling a story here and it should lead to long legs, especially with school holidays starting soon. Internationally, the film earned $121.0 million, not including Monday, for a $207.1 million global debut. The film did okay in China with $18.7 million, but clearly the lack of nostalgia was hurting it here. The film was a much bigger hit in Mexico with $9.2 million, but it was also a smash in the U.K. ($8.4 million); Italy ($6.6 million); and others. More on that during our International Top Five column.
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May 25th, 2019
Aladdin is looking stellar after a $31.0 million opening Friday. The film’s reviews are nothing special, but it scored an A from CinemaScore, so clearly audiences are loving the movie much more than critics did. The word-of-mouth should help its legs and this puts it on pace to top $100 million over the four-day weekend and even top last year’s top film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, with about $107 million. This is much better than most predictions and a return to form for live-action Disney remakes after Dumbo’s disappointing run earlier in the year. It could even help 2019 top 2018 in the year-over-year comparison, but that depends on the rest of the new releases and holdovers also matching or exceeding expectations. That doesn’t look as promising.
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May 24th, 2019
Aladdin got off to a great start, earning $7 million from previews last night. Granted, this is just half of what Solo: A Star Wars Story made during its previews last year. However, that film was the definition of the Fanboy Film, while Aladdin is clearly aimed at families and it should therefore have better legs as a result. We could also compare the film to Dumbo, which managed $2.6 million, or Beauty and the Beast with its $16.3 million in previews. If this film can have similar legs as those two films did, then it will have a great opening and top our prediction. Here’s hoping that’s the case.
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May 23rd, 2019
It’s Memorial Day long weekend, which is historically one of the biggest weekends of the year. However, this year there are not a lot of prime new releases to talk about. Aladdin is the only new release expected to become even a midlevel hit, while both Booksmart and Brightburn are expected to struggle in their counter-programming roles. The three new releases will be competing for spots in the top five with three holdovers, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, Avengers: Endgame, and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. That’s six films competing for five slots, so one of them will miss out. This weekend last year, Solo: A Star Wars Story led the way with $84.42 million over the three-day weekend. There are many who think Aladdin won’t make that much over four days. I’m a little more bullish than most, but I don’t think 2019 will get back in the winning column this weekend. Aladdin’s numbers haven’t picked up as they should have.
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May 21st, 2019
The overall weekend was about as good as anyone could hope for with John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum topping expectations with $56.82 million. This mostly made up for A Dog’s Journey and The Sun is Also A Star, both of which missed low expectations. However, the overall weekend still fell 12% when compared to last weekend at $147 million and this is 30% lower than the same weekend last year. To be fair, almost no one was expecting this year to match last year, because last year Deadpool 2 opened. Year-to-date, 2019 is still behind 2018 by a 9.2% or $410 million margin at $4.03 billion to $4.44 billion. Fortunately, if Aladdin does as well next weekend as many are expecting, then this losing streak will end after just one week.
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May 1st, 2019
April got off to a fast start with Shazam! opening the first weekend of the month. Meanwhile, Avengers: Endgame ended the month with a record-breaking debut. Unfortunately for 2019, last April had a very similar result leaving 2019 behind 2018’s pace by over $400 million. Will May be able to turn things around? Last May, there were only two films that reached $200 million, Deadpool 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Meanwhile, this May there are three such films, Detective Pikachu, Aladdin, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters. There are two points we need to make. Firstly, the only reason there are more potential $200 million hits this year is because May has five Fridays this year. Secondly, this May also has a lot better depth with films like John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum and Rocketman being potential $100 million hits. Even if we ignore the final weekend, May should do well enough to cut into 2018’s lead over 2019. It’s not going to be able to cut it in half, but it could do well enough to make box office analysts a little more positive about the year’s chances overall.
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March 12th, 2019
Fairytale adventure starring Mena Massound, Naomi Scott, and Will Smith opens May 24 ... Full Movie Details.
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October 13th, 2018
Fairytale adventure starring Mena Massound opens May 24, 2019 ... Full Movie Details.
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