September 1st, 2020
We finally had some wide releases in August, and things went well, relatively speaking. Antebellum was pulled from the schedule at the last minute, leaving Unhinged as the only semi-wide release for the weekend of August 21, and that helped it open better than anticipated with $4 million. Then The New Mutants had the best opening since the pandemic first caused theaters to close, with $7 million last weekend.
That record won’t last long as Tenet is now playing in US theaters, officially as an “Early Access” release on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, then “In Theaters” (which seems to be basically the same thing, only more so) from Thursday. It should outpace The New Mutants’ running tally, and maybe as early as its opening day. Not only will it have the biggest opening in months, it should stay in first place for the entire month, mainly due to a lack of competition. Three other films are getting wide releases, and each on their own weekend, so there’s no competition between them; however, that’s the end of the good news as the buzz for all three films is quiet. In fact, the buzz for Antebellum is in some ways louder, and that will be going direct to Apple TV on September 18.
Here’s the complete rundown of major movies coming to theaters this month.
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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.
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February 1st, 2014
Escape Plan features two of the biggest action stars of the 1980s, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It earned mixed reviews and failed to find an audience here. (It did perform well enough internationally that it could break even early on the home market.) Is the film better than its box office performance? Or did it fail to find an audience for a reason?
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October 1st, 2013
October is an awkward month. It sits between the dumping ground that is September and November, the unofficial start of Awards Season / holiday blockbuster season. For the most part, September was stronger than average for the month and there's reason to be optimistic going forward. After all, box office success tends to feed on itself, as does box office struggles. That said, there are not a lot of sure hits over the coming four weeks. Of the nine or ten films opening wide this month, only Gravity has a better than 50/50 chance at $100 million. Captain Phillips could have a shot at the century mark, but only if it becomes a serious Awards Season player. Its early reviews suggest that could be a possibility. Last October, there were two films to reach the $100 million mark, Taken 2 and Argo. On the other hand, pretty much everything else that opened that month crashed and burned. While this October doesn't have as strong a top end, it will hopefully have much better depth.
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