May 2nd, 2018
It is a really shallow week. There are releases that are fighting for a spot in the top five that normally would be so far down the list that we wouldn’t even cover them. That doesn’t mean there are no releases that are worth picking up. In Between was a limited release that earned near perfect reviews. The 1970s film, Legend of the Mountain, got a recent release and its reviews are even better. I reviewed Mary and the Witch’s Flower last week and it nearly won Pick of the Week then. I reviewed Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: The Complete Series this week and it is one of my favorite recent Anime comedies. It was a really close race between these four films and in the end, it came down to a coin-toss with Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid coming out ahead.
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April 25th, 2018
Rampage remained in first place on the international chart with $58.0 million on 33,140 screens in 61 markets, for totals of $217.6 million internationally and $283.3 million worldwide. The studio’s share of this is very likely above the film’s $120 million production budget, so it has an excellent shot at breaking even early in its home market run. The film’s biggest market of the weekend was China, where it earned $27.07 million on 16,900 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $106.57 million. The film has yet to open in France, Germany, and Japan and by the time it’s done, it will be very close to breaking even.
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April 25th, 2018
Paddington 2 is the biggest release of the week and clearly at least one of the best. However, it isn’t the only film that’s a Pick of the Week contender. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, and others were all in contention for that honor. In the end, the Paddington 2 Blu-ray Combo Pack earned that title.
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April 18th, 2018
Rampage dominated the international box office earning more than the rest of the top ten combined with $115.7 million on 40,200 screens in 61 markets for a worldwide opening weekend of $151.5 million. The film’s biggest opening was in China, where it managed $54.88 million on 21,500 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $55.56 million. This is a good result, compared to recent results. It’s better than Tomb Raider managed, but not as good as Ready Player One, for example. The U.K. and South Korea were in a close race for second place with the former earning $5.8 million on 883 screens and the latter earning $4.99 million on 909 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.60 million.
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April 17th, 2018
It’s a slow week on the home market, which is common for this time of year. The biggest release of the week, The Post, is also one of the best and one of only three contenders for Pick of the Week. In the end, I went with MST3K: Season 11 and awarded it the honor.
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April 10th, 2018
Ready Player One remained in first place on the international chart with $83.8 million on 33,787 screens in 65 markets for totals of $297.1 million internationally and $393.6 million worldwide. The film’s best new market was Germany, where it opened in first place with $2.88 million on 866 screens. Its best market overall was China with $43.45 million in 17,738 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $162.26 million.
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April 4th, 2018
Ready Player One opened in first place on the international chart with $127.5 million on 35,600 screens in 62 markets. Its biggest single market was China with $61.61 million on 18,200 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $62.06 million. This is Warner Bros.’ biggest opening ever in this market. The film’s second biggest international market of the weekend was South Korea, where it earned second place with $6.35 million on 1,079 screens for a total opening of $8.08 million. The film also had to settle for second place behind Peter Rabbit in the U.K. with $7.3 million on 1,251 screens. The film did open in first place in several other major markets, including France ($6.15 million on 719 screens) and Russia ($5.74 million on 1,461).
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March 28th, 2018
Pacific Rim: Uprising easily earned first place on the international chart with $122.4 million in 61 markets during its opening weekend. The film earned first place in China with $63.80 million over the weekend for a total opening of $65.19 million including previews. There were two markets who could claim second place: Russia and South Korea. In Russia, the film earned $6.76 million on 1,538 screens. Meanwhile in South Korea, it opened with $5.27 million on 1,143 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $6.80 million.
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March 22nd, 2018
Black Panther will finally give up its hold on first place, that is unless something goes horribly wrong for Pacific Rim: Uprising. There are four other wide or semi-wide releases hitting theaters this weekend, which is at least two too many. Sherlock Gnomes and Paul, Apostle of Christ are the only two that have a legitimate shot at the top five. Meanwhile, Midnight Sun and Unsane are just hoping to not miss the top ten. This weekend last year, there were three wide releases that earned a combined $60 million. This is more than the five wide releases this year will earn. Also, Beauty and the Beast remained in second place with $90 million. 2018 has already lost its lead over 2017 and this weekend it is going to get crushed in the year-over-year comparison.
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March 21st, 2018
Tomb Raider roared into first place on the international chart earning $87.2 million on 33,290 screens in 65 markets for an early total of $105.2 million. The film’s biggest single market was China, where it opened in first place with $40.79 million on 15,640 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $41.26 million. The film’s second best opening was in the U.K. at $4.29 million in 585 theaters. The only other market where the film opened with more than $4 million was Russia with $4.11 million on 1,457 screens. The film debuted in first place in all three markets and is in a good position to break even early in its home market run.
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March 20th, 2018
As predicted, Black Panther remained in first place on the weekend chart. Tomb Raider had an okay opening in second place, while I Can Only Imagine was the biggest positive surprise of the weekend. Love, Simon had a solid opening, especially compared to its production budget. The less said about 7 Days in Entebbe, the better. Overall, the weekend box office was down 4.8% from last weekend to just $132 million. This is 49% lower than this weekend last year. A 49% decline usually only happens when there is a misalignment in holidays, but in this case it’s due to Beauty and the Beast’s debut. 2018 is still ahead of 2017, albeit by a fraction of last week’s lead at just $66 million or 2.8%. In fact, with a margin of just $2.46 billion to $2.39 billion, it is very likely 2018 will lose its lead before the next weekend begins.
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March 15th, 2018
Another week and another film trying to dethrone Black Panther. This week, it’s Tomb Raider’s chance to finally remove Black Panther from first place on the weekend chart. I don’t like its chances. The only other truly wide release of the week is Love, Simon, which should have a solid, but not spectacular opening. There are two other films with a shot at earning a spot in the top ten: I Can Only Imagine and 7 Days in Entebbe. This weekend last year, Beauty and the Beast opened with nearly $175 million. That’s more than the entire box office is going to earn this weekend. 2018 is going to get crushed.
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March 8th, 2018
There are four wide releases coming out this week, but only one of them, A Wrinkle in Time, has a shot at dethroning Black Panther. Only one other, The Strangers: Prey at Night, has a shot at the top five. The other two, Gringo and The Hurricane Heist, are just hoping to not embarrass themselves. This weekend last year, the top two movies earned nearly $100 million. This year, the top five likely won’t earn that much. 2018 will lose the year-over-year comparison, but hopefully it will be close.
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March 7th, 2018
Operation Red Sea remained in first place with $62 million in seven markets for an international total of $472 million. Of this, the film earned $61.90 million in its native China for a two-week total of $471.44 million there.
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March 6th, 2018
Black Panther keeps beating expectations to the point where it is my fault for not being overly optimistic. This past weekend, it earned $66.31 million, becoming the third fastest film to reach $500 million. The two new releases weren’t bad either. Red Sparrow earned second place while Death Wish wasn’t that far behind in third. Overall, the box office still fell 24% from last weekend, earning $147 million. It was also down from this week last year last year by a similar 22% margin. Year-to-date, 2018’s lead shrunk by almost exactly $10 million, but we still have a $220 million / 12% lead over 2017 at $2.09 billion to $1.87 billion. That lead will shrink dramatically over the next few weeks.
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March 1st, 2018
March will begin the same way February ended, with Black Panther on top of the box office. The two new releases, Red Sparrow and Death Wish, might not make as much over the full weekend as Black Panther will earn on Friday. This weekend last year, Logan opened with $88.41 million, while Get Out held on better than expected with $28.24 million. There’s little chance 2018 will be able to beat that at the top, so 2018’s winning streak might come to an end.
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February 26th, 2018
Almost everyone expected Black Panther to earn first place over the weekend. I doubt there were many people who expected this. The film fell just 45% earning $111.66 million for a ten-day total of $403.61 million, helping the film make appearances on a number of record charts, including; second biggest second weekend of release, second fastest to $400 million, etc. The new releases matched expectations, more or less, with Game Night earning second place and coming within a rounding error of our prediction. Overall, the box office earned $192 million. This is 33% lower than last weekend; however, this is a good hold for a post-holiday weekend. Compared to last year, the box office was up by 55% and this is a much more important number. Year-to-date, 2018 has a 14% / $230 million lead over 2017, at $1.88 billion to $1.65 billion. This is great news at this point of the year, but we really need to stretch that lead to over $300 million in the next two plus weeks, before we are dealing with Beauty and the Beast, if we can’t, then this lead could evaporate before the end of March.
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February 24th, 2018
As expected, Black Panther dominated on Friday at the box office. However, it was a little better than we were predicting, earning $28.86 million. Usually when outstanding reviews have to go up against the Fanboy effect, the Fanboy effect wins, but not this time. Look for $101 million during its second weekend of release, making it just the fourth film to earn $100 million during its second weekend. On a related note, the film has already topped the lifetime totals of several MCU installments, including Thor: Ragnarok.
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February 22nd, 2018
Three wide releases are attempting to take on Black Panther at the box office; none will be successful. Game Night is the widest release of the week and its reviews are amazing. Annihilation is barely opening in 2,000 theaters, but its reviews are even better. Then there’s Every Day, which is just hoping to not get lost in the crowd. All three new releases combined won’t earn half as much as Black Panther will earn this weekend, so the real competition for the returning box office champ is this weekend last year. Get Out debuted with $33.38 million, while the total box office was $123.61 million. Black Panther won’t get to $123.61 million, but it should do well enough to keep 2018 significantly ahead of 2017.
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February 20th, 2018
Black Panther destroyed expectations over the Presidents Day long weekend earning $202.00 million / $242.16 million over the 3-day / 4-day weekend. The list of records this film broke seems endless, but we will get to that in a bit. Unfortunately, the two other new releases, Early Man and Samson, both bombed. On a more positive note, the total box office rose 103% from last weekend reaching $285 million. This is the third-biggest weekend of all-time, and the biggest non-December weekend. This is also 92% higher than the same weekend last year. Even if we use Presidents Day of last year, 2018 was still 51% higher. More importantly, 2018 completely erased the small deficit it had and is now ahead of 2017 by $120 million or 8% at $1.62 billion to $1.50 billion. More impressively, 2018 is even ahead of 2017 in terms of ticket sales at 178 million to 172 million.
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February 18th, 2018
Black Panther is riding a waving of positive feedback all the way to record territory this weekend, with Disney projecting a $192 million three-day, and $218 million four-day weekend, as of Sunday morning. That gives the film three outright records right off the bat: biggest weekend in February, biggest three-day Presidents Day weekend, and biggest four-day Presidents Day weekend. In each case, the film is topping the jaw-dropping-at-the-time opening of Deadpool in 2016.
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February 17th, 2018
As expected, Black Panther crushed the competition on Friday. However, it beat all but the most enthusiastic predictions to earn $75.81 million for the day. Add in 97% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and an A+ from CinemaScore, and the film should have good legs over the weekend. On the negative side, it is a monster hit thanks in part to the deafening hype, so that’s going to result in shorter legs.
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February 15th, 2018
It’s Presidents Day long weekend and there are two-and-a-half films trying to take advantage of the holiday with wide releases. However, the only film opening this weekend that people are actually talking about is Black Panther. This film is earning more buzz than any film opening until Infinity War and is widely expected to break records. Early Man’s reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, but it is just hoping to reach the top five. Finally, there’s Samson, which is only opening semi-wide. This weekend last year was the weekend after Presidents Day long weekend, so it is not a fair comparison and 2018 will crush 2017. Compared to Presidents Day of last year, 2018 will still crush the competition.
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February 13th, 2018
Fifty Shades Freed topped our prediction by a tiny margin earning first place over the weekend with $38.56 million. Peter Rabbit also beat expectations with $25.01 million. Then there’s The 15:17 to Paris. Overall, the box office rocketed up 49% from last weekend to $140 million. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to compete with this weekend last year, as 2018 was 26% lower. That sounds devastating, but remember, there is a misalignment in holidays, so next weekend 2018 will bounce back. Likewise, because of the misalignment in holidays, the year-to-date comparison isn’t particularly useful. 2018 is behind 2017’s pace by 5.0% or $65 million at $1.22 billion to $1.28 billion. However, by this time next week, that entire deficit could be erased.
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February 11th, 2018
Fifty Shades Freed caps the Shades franchise this weekend with a solid $38.805 million debut, according to Universal’s weekend estimate. That’s down from Fifty Shades Darker’s $46.6 million opening, but nowhere near the drop between the first and second movies—Fifty Shades of Grey came out the gate with $85 million back in 2015, although it was helped by Valentine’s Day falling on Saturday.
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February 10th, 2018
Fifty Shades Freed dominated the box office on Friday, earning $18.5 million. This is 14% lower than Fifty Shades Darker earned during its opening day. The two films should have similar legs, as they have similar reviews and both films earned B pluses from CinemaScore. Plug the numbers into that equation and we get an opening weekend of a little more than $40 million, enough to put it on pace for $100 million domestically.
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February 9th, 2018
Fifty Shades Freed got off to a fantastic start with $5.6 million from its previews on Thursday. This is nearly identical to the $5.72 million earned by Fifty Shades Darker. Add in the slight improvement in Tomatometer scores and I think we might have been a little pessimistic in our prediction. We will get a better idea where the film is at tomorrow, but for now, I’m bumping our prediction from $38 million to $42 million.
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February 8th, 2018
As the weekend approaches, there’s only one film that everyone is talking about: Black Panther. The film’s reviews are nearly 100% positive and Fandango announced its presales are the best for any pre-summer release. Unfortunately, it doesn’t open until next weekend. This week we have to settle for Fifty Shades Freed, Peter Rabbit, and The 15:17 to Paris. Fifty Shades Freed is widely expected to be the biggest hit released in 2018, at least so far. On the other hand, its reviews and the Fangirl Effect strongly suggest very short legs. Peter Rabbit is a family film and even though it has direct competition next weekend, it should have the best legs on this week’s list. Finally there’s The 15:17 to Paris, which is not living up to expectations with critics and this will likely hurt its box office chances. This weekend last year was Presidents Day long Weekend. 2018 is going to get absolutely destroyed in the year-over-year comparison.
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February 4th, 2018
In spite of a decent opening, Winchester is proving to be no match for Jumanji this weekend. The holiday holdover returns to top spot on the chart in its seventh weekend with $11 million, down 32% from last time out. That makes it four weekends at the top of the chart for Jumanji, after opening in second place back on December 20. One needs to go back the best part of 30 years to find a film that matches that performance.
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February 1st, 2018
2018 got off to a good start and January more or less held its ground when compared to 2017. There were some misses, but surprise holdovers made up the difference. Looking forward, February will be dominated by Black Panther. In fact, it will very likely make more during its opening weekend than the second place film, Fifty Shades Freed, will likely make in total. Black Panther likely won’t break records, but it could come close, while Fifty Shade Freed and Peter Rabbit both have a 50/50 shot at $100 million. Last February, The Lego Batman Movie both earned $175 million, while Fifty Shades Darker earned over $100 million. Black Panther will easily beat any film from last February; in fact, it could earn more than the top two films earned combined. As long as the rest of the box office isn’t a complete disaster, February should help 2018 earn a significant edge over 2017 in the year-over-year comparisons.
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January 12th, 2018
Adventure starring James Corden, Rose Byrne, and Domhnall Gleeson opens February 9 ... Full Movie Details.
Peter Rabbit, the mischievous and adventurous hero who has captivated generations of readers, now takes on the starring role in his own adventure. Peter’s feud with Mr. McGregor escalates to greater heights than ever before as they rival for the affections of the warm-hearted animal lover who lives next door.
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