This graph shows Jackie Chan’s score on our annual analysis of leading stars at the box office. The Star Score represents points assigned to each of the leading stars of the top 100 movies (based on box office) in the current year and two preceding years. For appearing in the number one movie in a year a star gets 100 points, the number two movie 99 points and so on..
Latest Ranking on Selected Box Office Record Lists
Vanguard will attempt to dislodge Freaky from its perch atop the domestic box office chart this weekend. Even though the new release stars Jackie Chan and earned around $45 million in its native China, our model thinks it’ll struggle to do so. But that skirmish is a sideshow this weekend as theaters are taking another blow from the surging pandemic and related lockdowns.
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Freaky enters its second week as the widest release, even though it’s losing 415 theaters thanks to new lockdowns around the country. The new pandemic restrictions are taking a toll on all films currently playing, with theater-count declines in the hundreds. The only new wide release is Vanguard, a Chinese-made Jackie Chan action movie from Gravitas Ventures, which opens in 1,376 venues. Let Him Go, and The War With Grandpa still occupy the second and third place spots on the list. Walt Disney is keeping Guardians of the Galaxy in theaters for another week and are adding the Tim Allen Christmas classic, The Santa Clause this week.
In order to save his homeland from certain doom, a kung fu master must escape from maniacal James Hook in order to send his daughter a secret talisman that will allow her to control a massive and mythical dragon.
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The spring doldrums continue with very few major releases and almost no big hits arriving on the home market this week. There are a couple of titles competing for Pick of the Week: Police StoryDouble-Shot and Arctic. Both are worth owning, but I went with Police Story as the Pick of the Week.
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It’s a short week for limited releases; however, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to talk about. Sorry to Bother You is earning some of the best reviews of the week and it has the loudest buzz. Meanwhile, Whitney is playing in over 450 theaters and could reach the top ten.
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This weekend will be another winner for horror movies, with Happy Death Day powering into first place with a projected $26.5 million, according to Universal’s Sunday morning numbers. That puts it miles ahead of Blade Runner 2049, which failed to broaden its audience this weekend, and is down 54% to $15.1 million, for $60.6 million in total.
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September destroyed the previous September monthly record for total box office take, with $800 million or so (we won’t know the exact figure until after the weekend), which tops 2016’s record of $616 million. Granted, this is almost entirely due to It’s record breaking run, and the rest of the month was merely average. Kingsman: The Golden Circle was the only other film to come close to $100 million. October doesn’t look any better, as far as depth is concerned. Blade Runner 2049 is widely expected to be the biggest hit of the month, but it is the only film expected to reach $100 million domestically. Boo 2 should be the second biggest hit of the month, while there are only a couple of other films that have a shot at $50 million. Part of the problem is the level of competition, as there are 16 films opening during the four October weekends. (Needless to say, some of the predictions below will be a little short, as there’s not much to say about a film that will barely open in the top ten and disappear two weeks later.) That’s way too many and most will be buried by the competition. Last October was a flop, as no film earned more than $100 million at the box office. There were a few films that came close, including the original Boo! movie. As long as Blade Runner 2049 matches expectations, 2017 should win the year-over-year comparison by a small margin. If we get one surprise hit, then 2017 has a real shot at closing the gap with 2016 by a significant margin. I choose to be cautiously optimistic.
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July is over and we should all be happy about that. Granted, there were some positive results we can talk about. Spider-Man: Homecoming is a huge hit and Despicable Me 3 will pull in a sizable profit before it reaches the home market. There were also a couple of other $100 million hits and a midlevel hit or two; however, overall, 2017 wasn’t able to compete with 2016 and the box office finally lost its lead over last year. 2017 started the summer about $200 million ahead of 2016, but will finish July about $100 million behind last year’s pace. August doesn’t look any better. There are a couple of films that have a reasonable shot at $100 million, The Dark Tower and Annabelle: Creation, as well as a few that should be solid midlevel hits. However, last year we had Sausage Party and Don’t Breathe, both of which nearly hit $100 million, then we had midlevel hits like Pete’s Dragon, Kubo and the Two Strings, and War Dogs. I don’t know if 2017 will be able to compete with that. ... Now some of you are thinking I forgot about Suicide Squad. Trust me, I will never forget that movie. I ignored it to make a point. Even without Suicide Squad, I don’t think 2017 will make up the deficit it has with 2016. With Suicide Squad, it is going to be a disaster. I want to be optimistic, but there’s no evidence to suggest I should be.
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This is usually a terrible time of year to release a limited release. There are some exceptions to this rule, including releasing a foreign-language film that just picked up an Oscar nomination. That’s the case with The Salesman, which is arguably the best release on this week’s list.
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It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the first weekend of January is a slow week for limited releases. It’s too late to qualify for this year’s Awards Season and the competition for late entries into the Oscar race is intense. I, Daniel Blake is the best of a limited field and is certainly worth checking out, while Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America is also worth it, if you like documentaries.
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It’s a bad week for limited releases, as the only two films earning any real advance buzz are Skiptrace and Yoga Hosers, neither of which are earning good reviews. Of all of the films on this week’s list, Zoom is the only one I really want to see. It’s just $5 to rent on Video on Demand.
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Skiptrace earned first place internationally with $47.37 million over the weekend for a total opening of $63.04 million. The film dominated the box office in its native China with $45.58 million last weekend for a four-day opening of $61.25 million. This is the best opening in Jackie Chan's career, but unfortunately, it is only getting a limited release here.
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Fortunately, summer is coming to an end, so the quality of the home market releases will start to climb very soon. Unfortunately, this week the biggest first-run release is Unfriended. It is worth picking up, if you are a fan of the genre, but it is not exactly a blockbuster title. As for the best releases of the week, I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story is close to the top of the list. However, in the end I went with Felicia Day: You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), which is a bit of an unorthodox choice, as it is not a DVD or Blu-ray. However, it is the best new release of the week.
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The first Ong-Bak film looked like it would propel Tony Jaa to super stardom. That hasn't worked out just yet, but there were two other films made in the franchise, which is being released this week. It is just the previous Blu-rays being released in a box set, but I only reviewed one of these films previously, so I jumped at the chance to see the other two. Are they worth picking up if you don't have them already?
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It is a good, but very shallow week on the home market. The Wolf of Wall Street is leading the pack, with the Blu-ray Combo Pack earning first place and DVD earning second. This is a $100 million hit and a multi-Oscar nominee, so it is not surprising it is earning the top two spots. On the other hand, third place currently belongs to Monster High: Frights, Camera, Action! on DVD. That's a real sign that it is a shallow week. That's not to say some of the smaller releases are not worth picking up. Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIX is certainly a contender for Pick of the Week, but in the end I went with The Wolf of Wall Street. On a side note, Continuum: Season 2 on Blu-ray earned the Puck of the Week, for Best Canadian Release.
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