December 16th, 2021
Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in theaters in a big way this weekend, landing in a stellar 4,336 locations. That count places it as the second-widest release of the year, behind No Time to Die’s 4,407 and in front of Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s 4,315. This latest Spider-Man feature again pairs director Jon Watts and Tom Holland (as Spider-Man) from 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home; a film that went on to score over $1 billion worldwide. Spider-Man: No Way Home carries a $200m budget, eclipsing its predecessor by $40m. Also making its theatrical debut this week is Nightmare Alley. The neo-noir psychological thriller directed by Guillermo del Toro is set to release in 2,145 locations. The film, which is based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham contains a bevy of top Hollywood actors.
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December 9th, 2021
This weekend will be a pleasant change from the last one at the box office as we see two new wide releases make their way into North American theaters. Both are starting out with targeted releases, rather than opening as wide as possible. The one with the largest release is the romantic musical West Side Story, which is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars a distinguished ensemble cast including Ansel Elgort and Ariana DeBose. West Side Story will open in 2,820 locations. Also new this week is National Champions. The film from STX Entertainment follows a star collegiate quarterback who ignites a players’ strike hours before the biggest game of the year in order to fight for fair compensation, equality, and respect for the athletes who put their bodies and health on the line for their schools. Arriving in 1,197 locations, National Champions stars Stephan James and J.K. Simmons, along with an array of cameos from the NFL and sports world.
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October 1st, 2019
Spider-Man: Far From Home was the first installment in the M.C.U. to come out after Endgame. It not only needs to tell a story by itself, it has the unenviable goal of setting up the post-Infinity Stones era of the M.C.U. Is it able to accomplish both of these tasks?
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October 23rd, 2017
It was a terrible summer at the box office, but Spider-Man: Homecoming was one of the few bright spots. It was one of three films to cross $300 million domestically and has a slim shot at finishing in the top five for the year. Does it deserve this success? Or did it thrive just because it’s part of the MCU?
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July 1st, 2017
I hate it when the first of the month lands on a Saturday. By the time this story goes live, we will still have almost no box office data for Despicable Me 3, so we won’t know if June ended on a positive note. Fortunately, Wonder Woman beat expectations and might end up as the biggest hit of the summer, at least for a little while. July begins with Spider-Man: Homecoming, which should make at least $300 million and is the last film being released this summer that has a shot at being a $400 million hit domestically. It is very likely that nothing else this month will come within $100 million of that movie, so that could help its legs. There are a few potential $100 million hits, including War for the Planet of the Apes, Dunkirk, and a couple of other long shots. Last July had a similar feel with The Secret Life of Pets topping the list with well over $300 million, while there were five other $100 million hits. This July would have to beat expectations substantially to match this performance. I’m not confident 2017 will be able to maintain its pace at the box office. I’m worried at least one big film will struggled and 2017 will end the month behind 2016’s pace.
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