April 3rd, 2018
It’s a short week for one reason: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which came out last week, but it is still scaring away top-notch releases. There are only a couple of first-run releases coming out this week, Father Figures and Insidious: The Last Key. However, there are also a few films in the main section that wouldn’t even be included in the secondary releases on a normal week. There are a trio of Pick of the Week contenders, including Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, but that’s a late review. The best of this week’s releases are Jane and My Hero Academia Season Two, Volume One. Both are absolutely worth picking up, but in the end, I went with My Hero Academia.
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March 20th, 2018
It is a slow week with less than a dozen releases in the main section, and that includes two late reviews. There’s no more than that for the secondary Blu-ray releases. That said, a high percentage of these are worth picking up with many Pick of the Week contenders. For example, the biggest release of the week, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, is one of the best, as is one of the smallest releases, Miss Kiet’s Children. However, in the end, I went with Coco, which technically came out a couple of weeks ago, but the screener arrived late and it really deserves the title of Pick of the Week.
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January 24th, 2018
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle remained in first place with $32.6 million on 33,000 screens in 83 markets for totals of $450.8 million internationally and $767.3 million worldwide. Had the film earned half of that, it still would have been a financial success worthy of a sequel. China was the film’s biggest market, both of the weekend and overall, as it earned $7.71 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $66.50 million. The film will have no trouble getting to $800 million worldwide, probably by the end of this coming weekend, while $900 million isn’t completely out of the question.
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January 16th, 2018
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle continues to surprise analysts earning $35.18 million over the MLK long weekend. At this point, I would be shocked if it didn’t finish with $350 million domestically, while I assume Sony has a planned trilogy in the works. The best “new” release of the week was The Post, which expanded into second place with $23.06 million, while the best truly new release of the week was The Commuter at $15.80 million. Overall, the box office fell 4.7% from last weekend, earning $165 million over the the three-day weekend. This was still 5.9% higher than the same weekend last year, and that’s the more important number. It is still very early in the year, extremely early, but 2018 does have a $27 million / 5.1% lead over 2017 at $553 million to $526 million. 2018 could lose that entire lead next weekend, but I chose to focus on the positive for now.
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January 13th, 2018
There was a two-horse race on the Friday box office chart. In the end, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle came out on top with $6.13 million, for $262.26 million after 24 days of release. Because it is a holdover, it should have better legs over the rest of the weekend, putting it on pace for just over $30 million over the weekend, matching our prediction perfectly.
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January 11th, 2018
It is the first long weekend of 2018 and we have four films trying to take advantage of the MLK holiday. However, only Paddington 2 and The Post have a real shot at box office success. The Commuter’s buzz is so quiet that its box office chances have taken a real hit. Worse still, Sony’s treatment of Proud Mary is almost bizarre. I’ve seen limited releases with more marketing push than Proud Mary is getting. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’s legs will likely remain really long, helping it repeat as box office champion. More importantly, it should help the 2018 box office get a sizable win in the year-over-year comparison. This weekend last year, there were seven films that earned more than $10 million over the long weekend, but only one film, Hidden Figures, earned more than $20 million. This year, not only will we match that number of $10 million films, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle should top $30 million, while Paddington 2 and The Post should top $20 million.
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January 10th, 2018
None of the new releases reached the $10,000 club, which is not unexpected. The Post remained in first place earning an average of $47,167 in 36 theaters. This is an amazing omen for its upcoming wide expansion. Phantom Thread slipped to $40,040 in four theaters. There was a large gap to the third place film, Ex Files 3: Return of the Exes, which earned an average of $10,418 in 17 theaters, while I, Tonya was right behind with $10,107 in 242 theaters. The best new release of the week was actually the only wide release of the week, Insidious: The Last Key, with an average of $9,493.
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January 9th, 2018
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle held on strongly during the first weekend of 2018 earning $37.23 million. Insidious: The Last Key opened with $29.58 million, earning a solid second place. Overall, the box office pulled in $165 million, which is 15% lower than last weekend; however, last weekend was a holiday weekend, so this is a better than expected hold. More importantly, this is 21% better than the same weekend last year. 2018 has a small lead over 2017 at 7.1% to $306 million to $285 million. It has been a while since we’ve seen a lead in the year-over-year comparison, but obviously it is far too early for this lead to be meaningful.
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January 7th, 2018
The Last Jedi’s run at the top of the chart came to an abrupt end this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday morning. Disney’s big Christmas hit doesn’t seem to have much by way of legs going into January, as it falls by 55% from New Year’s weekend, the worst performance in the top 10. It will still pick up another $23.551 million or so, according to the studio, for a total of $572.5 million to date domestically. Its global total now stands at $1.2 billion, the 13th-best performance of all time.
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January 6th, 2018
There will be a fifth installment in the Insidious franchise. That much is practically guaranteed after Friday’s debut. Insidious: The Last Key opened in first place with $12.74 million during its opening day. On the downside, its critical / popular reception has been mixed. Its reviews are only 25% positive and that won’t help it draw in new viewers. The film did earn a B minus from CinemaScore, which is better than a lot of horror films manage, so that could help. It will very likely slip to second place on Saturday, but the film will still top our prediction with between $25 million and $30 million.
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January 5th, 2018
Insidious: The Last Key opened with $1.98 million in previews on Thursday, which is surprisingly strong. Most analysts were expecting closer to $1.5 million. Therefore the film is on pace to top our prediction and could earn more than $20 million during its opening weekend. However, it still has to deal with bad reviews and it could be the weakest in the franchise so far. That said, if it hits $50 million domestically and does as well internationally, then the studio could go ahead with another installment.
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January 4th, 2018
It is the first weekend of 2018 and Insidious: The Last Key is the only true wide release, although Molly’s Game is expanding semi-wide. The Last Key isn’t expected to compete with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle or Star Wars: The Last Jedi for first place, but if it can open with more than $15 million, it should at least help the year get off to a good start. This weekend last year, Underworld: Blood Wars opened in fourth place, while Hidden Figures expanded into first place. Both Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Star Wars: The Last Jedi should top Hidden Figures and while 2018 won’t have the same depth, it should still earn a victory in the year-over-year comparison.
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January 1st, 2018
2017 wasn’t a good year. It started out well and ended on a high note, but the summer was a disaster and that proved to be too much for the rest of the year to overcome. Fortunately, The Last Jedi and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle are still doing very well and will help January get off to a fast start. Unfortunately, the biggest new release of January is Paddington 2 and it isn’t expected to match its predecessor at the box office; it certainly won’t top $100 million domestically. It is unlikely any of the Oscar contenders will hit the century mark in January either. This is really bad news, as last January, we had a new release, Split and an Oscar contender, Hidden Figures, which both topped that milestone with ease. 2018 should get off to a faster start in the first two weeks, but overall, this month will end with a loss.
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September 5th, 2017
Horror movie opens January 5, 2018 ... Full Movie Details.
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