September 28th, 2023
After a lackluster few weeks, this weekend sees three new films open wide, along with an even wider expansion for Dumb Money. While none of this week’s new arrivals will likely make a monumental splash, they should nevertheless deliver a fun and competitive weekend at the domestic box office, while providing movie aficionados with a wider range of genres to choose from.
More...
September 24th, 2023
Expend4bles will open with a dismal $8.3 million this weekend, according to Lionsgate’s Sunday-morning projection. That’s not just the worst performance for the franchise by a considerable distance, it also won’t be enough to knock The Nun II out of top spot at the box office this weekend.
More...
September 22nd, 2023
Expend4bles looked like it might be an unnecessary return to theaters for a franchise that last produced a movie nine years ago, and the results from Thursday’s preview screenings don’t look promising, with just $750,000 earned so far. All is not entirely lost, as this franchise has rarely had huge audiences on preview night, and our model still thinks it will win the weekend. Earning enough to improve the market as a whole looks well beyond it though, as the Fall slump continues at the box office.
More...
September 14th, 2023
Last week’s box office winner, The Nun II has gained ground in theaters from its opening frame, adding 15 locations for a total of 3,743 theaters, finding itself as this week’s widest release. The horror sequel tallied up $32.6 million in its opening weekend and currently holds a six-day total of just over $40 million. That total brings The Conjuring franchise to a worldwide total of just over $2.2 billion from nine films, including its predecessor, The Nun, which delivered $363 million of that back in September of 2018. This week will see the debut of three new wide releases, including the latest in the mysteries of Hercule Poirot.
More...
November 25th, 2014
It is the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, which means there are only a few days before Black Friday, which is one of the busiest shopping days of the season. At first glance, this might seem like a great day to release a DVD or Blu-ray; however, the massive sales will instead overshadow anything that comes out this week. This explains why there are so few interesting releases. The biggest release of the week is The Expendables 3 on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack, but it might be so bad it killed the franchise. The best release is Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Turkey Day Collection (XXXI), which is the Pick of the Week. We also have a Puck of the Week for Rhymes for Young Ghouls on DVD, a Canadian film that deserves a wider audience.
More...
August 14th, 2014
The strong opening by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles allowed summer to be extended one more weekend. This week three films look to avoid flopping, thus signaling the end of summer, but in order to do so, they must defy critics. The Expendables 3 is the biggest of the three films opening this weekend, but the franchise appears to be on a downward trajectory. Let's Be Cops opened on Wednesday, but with simply awful reviews, the word-of-mouth could kill it by the time the weekend starts. Finally, The Giver is the latest Young Adult adaptation, but this genre has produced more flops than even midlevel hits. Frankly, the most interesting aspect of the weekend box office will likely be milestones reached by Guardians of the Galaxy and other movies, rather than the new releases. This weekend last year was also arguably the the end of summer. The Butler was the only movie to make more than $20 million, while three of the four wide releases opened in fifth place or weaker. It looks like 2014 will continue its winning streak.
More...
August 1st, 2014
July was... well... let's just pretend it didn't happen. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes did well, but week after week 2014 fell further behind 2013 in the year-to-date comparison. At the moment, we are roughly $400 million behind last year's pace and while I don't think August will continue the losing streak, there's really no chance August will put a dent in that number. It looks more and more likely that Guardians of the Galaxy will be a hit, especially given its early reviews, but it could be the last $100 million hit till October, if the bad buzz surrounding Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turns into bad ticket sales. Last August there were two films that reached $100 million, plus two others that came close. This August might match that, while the biggest film this year should top the biggest film from last year. I think the slump 2014 is suffering through will end the first weekend and overall I think it will cut the deficit a little bit. That said, summer 2014 will still end as one of the worst recent summers at the box office.
More...