International Round Up: Harry Potter Puts a Spell on China, Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide

August 20th, 2020

The slow march to recovery at the box office continued in international markets at the weekend as theaters opened up and moviegoers continued to return. Progress is being slowed by the lack of new films, particularly from US studios, but catalog titles are filling the void. China took advantage of an opportunity to release a movie from the Harry Potter archive for the first time in the territory, and Australian film fans got a chance to enjoy some original Star Wars. Some local films are also doing well, partly thanks to the lack of competition.

Here’s a round-up of what’s playing around the world, and how markets are recovering. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Hunting for New Entries

June 19th, 2020

There were some changes on the DEG Watched at Home chart this week; however, the top film was the same. Sonic the Hedgehog earned first place for the fourth week in a row, taking full advantage of the pause in new movies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are still rumors that Netflix is looking to buy Paramount. Maybe this success is enough to keep Paramount where it is, or perhaps it just increases the asking price. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Déjà Vu for the DEG

June 11th, 2020

There were no new releases in the top five of the DEG Watched at Home Chart this week. In fact, the top five were exactly the same as they were last week, right down to the order the were in. This isn’t a huge shock, as the new DVD / Blu-ray releases and VOD releases were far from stellar, so there wasn’t anything new to challenge those at the top of the chart. Sonic the Hedgehog remains one of the few bright spots in a movie industry that has been hit hard by the pandemic. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Invisible Man Avoids the Spotlight

June 4th, 2020

The Invisible Man came out on DVD / Blu-ray / 4K last week, but that wasn’t enough to overtake Sonic the Hedgehog on the DEG Watched at Home chart this week. Sonic the Hedgehog has done so well at the box office and now on the home market that I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an army of interns at Paramount Pictures going over every Sega video game ever made to see what else can be turned into a movie. My top three choices are, in alphabetical order, Altered Beast, Arabian Fight, and Golden Axe. Streets of Rage did just get a new installment, so the property could be hot. I could see that video game franchise successfully turned into a Rumble in the Bronx-style film. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Sonic Sneaks into First Place

May 28th, 2020

Sonic the Hedgehog was released on DVD / Blu-ray / 4K last week and that helped it climb into first place on the DEG Watched at Home chart. The film was already in fifth place last week on the strength of its digital releases, so it has had a very profitable run on the home market already. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Preying for a Miracle

May 21st, 2020

Birds of Prey hit DVD / Blu-ray / 4K last week, and that helped it shoot up the DEG Watched at Home chart from eighth place last week to land in first place. It looks like Warner Bros. should break even on this film before too long. On the downside, the studio only had two other entries in the top twenty, leaving Sony in first place in that regard with five releases in the top twenty this week. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Sony Scores Again

May 14th, 2020

Sony continues to have a good year, given the circumstances. They just chalked up a win on the DEG Watched at Home Chart for the third week in a row. However, this week it was Bloodshot that topped the chart by rocketing up the chart 11 places. Why the massive jump? It debuted on DVD / Blu-ray. We haven’t seen an increase that dramatic since we’ve been tracking this chart; however, this is also a film that was still in theaters when Covid-19 forced it into VOD early, so there’s mitigating circumstances. More...

DEG Watched at Home Chart: Reruns Dominate Home Viewing

May 7th, 2020

For the third week in a row, the top five films on the DEG Watched at Home Chart remain the same, although there are changes in the order from last week. Bad Boys for Life remained in first place. Meanwhile, Sony remained the only studio with more than one entry in the in the top five and tied with Disney / Fox with five in the top twenty. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Bad Boys Continues Sony’s Good Year

April 30th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life rose to first place on this week’s DEG watched at home chart, thanks to its release on DVD and Blu-ray. This wasn’t Sony’s only entry in the in the top five. In fact, the studio was tied with Disney / Fox with five in the top twenty. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Skywalker Remains Top Draw

April 23rd, 2020

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker remained on top of the chart on this week’s DEG Watched at Home Chart. In fact, the top five were nearly identical to the top five from last week, so we are going to spend some more time looking lower down the list. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases: Bad Boys and The Gentlemen New on Disc

April 21st, 2020

It’s a tough week for new releases on physical disc, although not because of the quality of the new releases. In fact, there are several new releases that I’m interested in. However, Amazon is having issues that’s making it hard to research this column. The biggest release on this week’s list is Bad Boys For Life, but I’m still waiting for the screener for that movie. Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen is also a welcome new major release.

The review DVD for Looking for Alaska did arrive, but not until Monday, so the review will have to wait. That said, it has some of the best reviews on this week’s list, and solid extras, which is enough to be the only real contender for Pick of the Week. More...

DEG Watched At Home Chart: Skywalker Rides High

April 16th, 2020

With Covid-19 still running high, and the industry’s focus shifted to what people are watching at home, we’re please to announce the launch of a new chart here at The Numbers. The DEG Watched at Home Top 20 chart, produced by our friends at the Digital Entertainment Group, looks at the most popular films being watched at home each week. This includes traditional DVD and Blu-ray sales, digital sales (“EST”), and digital rentals (“tVOD”), with rankings based on the total consumer spending for a given title across those four categories. Note that it does not currently include PVOD releases, like the recent debut of Trolls: World Tour. The weekly chart will be published each Thursday for the week ending the previous Saturday.

This week, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker led the way, as it did last week. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, because even though the film earned the weakest reviews of the live-action Star Wars films, it is still a Star Wars film. More...

VOD Releases: Go on a World Tour from Your Own Home

April 9th, 2020

This could turn out to be the most important weekend for the movie industry in decades. It’s the weekend Trolls: World Tour comes out on the home market. This is the first major motion picture with a planned saturation level release that is not being pushed back due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but is instead coming out on Video on Demand. In a few years, we might look back at this week as the week the movie industry changed fundamentally, if this film is a big enough hit to convince studios that theatrical releases are unnecessary. More...

VOD Releases: Will these VOD Releases Rescue the Movie Industry?

March 26th, 2020

With the COVID-19 outbreak causing mass shutdowns of non-essential businesses in a lot of places, theatrical releases are, for the most part, non-existent. However, the movie industry is trying to rapidly adapt to this and so are we. They are fast-tracking lots of theatrical releases to VOD and we will be expanding our coverage of VOD releases. Like last week, there are a lot of fast-tracked theatrical releases coming out this week, but we also have the more typical VOD premieres to talk about. Of the former category, Bad Boys for Life is clearly leading the way, although Birds of Prey is coming out on Friday rather than Tuesday, so it gets a jump on the action. Of the latter category, Banana Split is the film that I’m most interested in seeing. Sadly, there are so many major VOD releases this week that I fear it will slip between the cracks. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Invisible Man first Horror Film Truly Seen by Audiences

March 3rd, 2020

It has not been a good year for horror films so far, but The Invisible Man broke the slump by earning first place over the weekend with $28.21 million. It is already the biggest horror hit of the year after just three days of release. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough, as the overall box office fell 4.2% from last weekend to $98 million. Worse still, this was 14% lower than the same weekend last year. Granted, 2020 is still ahead of 2019, so there is no reason to panic. In fact, thanks to weekday numbers, the lead has grown to $116 million / 8.1% at $1.55 billion to $1.43 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Invisible Man Appears at Top of Chart

March 1st, 2020

The Invisible Man will debut this weekend with $29 million, according to Universal’s Sunday morning projection. That’s enough to make it the highest-grossing horror movie of 2020 after just three days in release, and is well ahead of predictions. The result is helped considerably by strong reviews, with the film earning a B+ from CinemaScore, and a 90% critics’ score and 89% audience score from Rotten Tomatoes. More...

Friday Estimates: Invisible Man Makes Its Presence Felt

February 29th, 2020

The Invisible Man opened with $9.8 million on Friday, which means it is the sixth-biggest horror film released in 2020 so far after just one day in theaters. It is projected to be in first place by the end of the weekend with $26 million, topping predictions, albeit by a very small margin. The film’s reviews remain excellent and it earned a B plus from CinemaScore. That is stellar, for a horror movie. It would be okay for an action movie and terrible for a family film / faith-based release, but it is amazing for a horror film. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will the Invisible Man be Seen this Weekend?

February 28th, 2020

It is the final weekend of the month and there’s only one wide release, The Invisible Man, which is the eighth horror film released in 2020 so far. This is going to hurt its box office potential; however, its reviews will be a major selling point, assuming audiences like the movie as much as critics do. This weekend last year was the first weekend of March. The box office was led by How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, while Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral made it a close race. Unless The Invisible Man is a surprise $40 million hit, 2020 has almost no chance of matching last year’s box office. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Sonic Repeats on Top, Call Makes it Close

February 25th, 2020

It was a mixed weekend, but at least there was a relatively close race for top spot. This close race happened in part because The Call of the Wild beat expectations by a huge margin, but also because Sonic the Hedgehog fell faster than anticipated. This left the overall box office down 34% from last weekend to just $102 million, but drop-offs like this are normal for post-holiday weekend. Unfortunately, this was also 19% lower than the same weekend last year and this isn’t normal. Year-to-date, 2020 still has a lead over 2019, but it has shrunk to 6.2% or $82 million at $1.41 billion to $1.33 billion. Hopefully this recent weakness is only temporary. More...

Weekend Estimates: Sonic Outlasts the Sled Dog

February 23rd, 2020

Sonic the Hedgehog will remain in first place over the full weekend, albeit with a weaker-than-predicted sophomore stint of $26.3 million. That said, the film already has $106.6 million after just two weeks of release, which is likely more than Paramount thought it would earn in total. It is still too early to tell where the film will finish internationally, but there is also reasons to be optimistic there, as it has nearly $100 million in just two weeks of release, including $38.3 million in 56 markets this weekend. This includes a first place opening in Russia with $6.3 million on 1,800 screens, which is an impressive debut for that market and this time of year. More...

Friday Estimates: Call has a Wilder Start to the Weekend than Anticipated

February 22nd, 2020

The Call of the Wild really bounced back from Thursday’s previews to earn $8.05 million on Friday. The film is projected to earn $24 million to $25 million over the weekend, which is much better than predicted and puts it in a virtual tie with Sonic the Hedgehog for top spot. It is likely to have better legs than most new releases, because of its target audiences, which is a mix of families and older moviegoers who would be fans of the original novel. Additionally, its reviews are good, but not great, and it earned an A minus from CinemaScore, which is also good, but not great, for a family film. Unfortunately, it still has that $125 million production budget to deal with, so breaking even is very unlikely. Maybe it can save face though. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Audience Answer the Call?

February 20th, 2020

It’s a post-holiday weekend, so we are not expecting much at the box office. The Call of the Wild is earning good reviews, but not great reviews, while its buzz is far too quiet for its massive production budget. On the other hand, Brahms: The Boy II is a low-budget horror movie earning terrible reviews and frankly I’m sick of talking about these movies. Seriously. We are less than two months into the year and we’ve already at least four other low-budget horror movies to come out. I don’t want to hear anyone complain about too many super hero movies ever again. … Moving on. Neither of these two films are expected to challenge Sonic the Hedgehog for top spot on the box office chart. In fact, I’m not convinced Brahms will open in the top five. This weekend last year, the final installment of the How to Train Your Dragon opened with just over $55 million. There’s no way the box office will match that this year and 2020 is going to lose in the year-over-year competition unless the holdovers hold on a lot better than anticipated. More...

International Box Office: Sonic Speeds its Way to $100 million Globally

February 20th, 2020

Sonic The Hedgehog opened with $43 million in 40 markets for an early worldwide total of just over $101 million. This is a fantastic start for a film that cost $90 million to make and there’s already talk of not just a sequel, but a Sonic Cinematic Universe. The film’s biggest individual market was Mexico, where it opened with $6.82 million, while the U.K. was right behind with $6.17 million on 619 screens. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Sonic Sets Records and Returns 2020 to the Top

February 19th, 2020

The long weekend turned out to be a lot more lucrative than many predicted, especially on the top. Sonic the Hedgehog broke records for a video game adaptation opening with $58.02 million over the three-day weekend and $70.00 million including Monday. It wasn’t the only success story of the weekend, as Fantasy Island did well for a low-budget horror movie and The Photograph did well enough to break even, eventually. The overall box office rose dramatically from last weekend, up 64%. However, it was a holiday weekend, so impressive growth was expected. More importantly, the box office was up 26% from the same weekend last year. And while the misalignment in Valentine’s Day did have an effect, this is still a good result for the box office. 2020 has opened a nearly $100 million lead on 2019, up by $99 million or 8.4% at $1.28 billion to $1.18 billion. A few more weeks like this and I will start to become optimistic. More...

Weekend Estimates: Sonic is Faster than a Speeding Pikachu

February 16th, 2020

Sonic the Hedgehog was in a close race with Detective Pikachu for the best weekend by a video game adaptation of all time, based on Friday’s estimates, however, that has changed. The film’s opening weekend estimates are $57 million over three days and $68 million over four, which is well above Detective Pikachu’s three-day opening weekend of $54.37 million. That said, this film’s reviews have slipped just below the reviews Detective Pikachu earned and Detective Pikachu didn’t open on a holiday, so that does make a difference. Regardless of whether or not you consider Sonic the Hedgehog to be the true video game box office champion, it is smashing predictions. Interestingly, the films demographics was 56% general audiences and only 44% families. Perhaps adult fans of the video game franchise decided to check out the movie for themselves. Boys under 12 outnumbered girls under 12 by a 69% to 31% margin, so this one is definitely leaning male. We have no international details, but the film is reportedly earning $100 million globally, which is a fantastic start for a movie that cost $90 million to make. I suspect Paramount is already working on a sequel. More...

Friday Estimates: Sonic Laps the Competition

February 15th, 2020

Love is in the air and it is moving fast. Sonic the Hedgehog decimated the competition, and predictions, earning $21.0 million on Friday. To put this into perspective, the next-best film is projected to earn just over $21 million over the four-day weekend. The film’s reviews have slipped, but they do remain in the overall positive level, while its A from CinemaScore is going to be a big help going forward. Paramount is projecting $60.0 million for the four-day weekend, but I suspect they are being overly cautious. Either way, it is clearly the studio’s biggest hit in over a year and will become their first $100-million movie since Bumblebee.

If the estimate holds, it will also be the best single day for a movie based on a game, bettering the $20.575 million earned by Pokémon: Detective Pikachu on its opening day back in September. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Audience Love Sonic and the Other New Releases?

February 13th, 2020

Valentine’s Day and Presidents Day combine into one long weekend. It’s a great early weekend of the year and there are four films hoping to take advantage of the holiday to get off to a fast start. Unfortunately, four films is too many for all of them to succeed and it looks like one or two will fall between the cracks. Sonic the Hedgehog is the biggest release of the week and will likely earn more during its opening weekend than any of the three other films will earn in total. This includes The Photograph, the only new release that is earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. It looks like Fantasy Island will have some of the worst reviews of the year. Finally, Downhill has the quietest buzz and that’s going to kill it more than its mixed reviews will. Meanwhile, this weekend last year, Alita: Battle Angel opened with $28.5 million, while The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part earned $20.8 million during its sophomore stint. Sonic the Hedgehog should top that with ease. In fact, there are some who think it will top those two films’ combined weekend hauls. If so, then 2020 will return to its winning ways. More...

International Box Office: Prey for Birds’ International Chances

February 13th, 2020

Birds of Prey debuted in first place on the international chart with $46.5 million on 23,010 screens in 78 markets. This includes some impressive openings, like its first place debuts in Mexico, where it earned $4.18 million on 3,915 screens. It also earned first place in Russia with $3.81 million on 1,881 screens and in Brazil with $2.8 million on 1,506. On the other hand, the film had to settle for second place in the U.K. with $3.7 million on 1,260 screens and in South Korea with $1.30 million on 946 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $1.98 million. The film could still break even, if it has long legs in some of the major markets, and if it can increase the home market revenue of some of its other D.C.E.U. films. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: 2020 Suffers Its First Loss

February 11th, 2020

It was bound to happen, I was just hoping it wouldn’t happen this soon, but 2020 suffered its first loss in the year-over-year comparison. Birds of Prey failed to live up to the very low end of expectations opening with just $33 million. On the positive side, the holdovers held on really well and that helped limit losses. In fact, the overall box office was $95 million this weekend, up 18% from last weekend. That said, this is still down 16% from the same weekend last year and this number is a lot more important. Year-to-date, 2020 is still ahead of 2019 by $62 million or 6.2% at $1.07 billion to $1.01 billion, so we clearly shouldn’t be panicking this early on, but there are some troubling signs at the box office. More...

Weekend Estimates: Harley Quinn Can’t Lead Her Film to Box Office Success

February 9th, 2020

Birds of Prey is missing even the very low end of expectations with an estimated opening weekend of $33.25 million. The film is earning good reviews and a decent B plus rating from CinemaScore, and it is also the cheapest installment in the D.C.E.U., so this start isn’t disastrous. On the other hand, it is struggling more internationally with just $48 million on 22,362 screens in 78 markets. Part of this has to do with the coronavirus, which has caused major disruptions in many Asian countries. And I’m not just talking about the entertainment industry. So far close to 1,000 people have died, which is a major disaster. Although to put this into perspective, this flu season, about 10,000 people have died in the United States alone. More...

Friday Estimates: Are We Witnessing 2020’s First Loss?

February 8th, 2020

Ouch. Birds of Prey only managed $13.03 million on Friday, putting it on pace for just $32 million to $33 million over the full weekend. This is miles below expectations; it’s even lower than projections based on Thursday’s previews. However, it isn’t a bad opening for a film that cost $75 million to make. Add in the film’s reviews and its B plus from CinemaScore and it should have decent legs, especially with the holiday next weekend. It will be the weakest installment in the D.C.E.U. and I think this is clear evidence that making the film R-rated was a mistake. More...

Weekend Predictions: Can Quinn Capture Audience’s Attention?

February 7th, 2020

It’s the first weekend of February and the only wide release is Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), the latest installment in the D.C.E.U. There is no question that it will earn first place over the weekend. There is some question about how well it will do during its opening weekend, as ticket pre-sales have been weaker than anticipated. This weekend last year, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part opened with $34.12 million. Birds of Prey will top that; however, it needs to come close to matching the combined openings of last year’s top two films, The Lego Movie 2 and What Men Want, in order to have a real shot at leading 2020 to a victory in the year-over-year competition. That doesn’t seem as likely as it did last week. More...

International Box Office: Bad Boys Battle in Brazil

February 6th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life remained in first place on the international box office chart, again, this time earning 31.21 million on 13,180 screens in 81 markets for totals of $143.09 million internationally and $291.15 million worldwide. The film has now made more internationally than the first film in the franchise earned worldwide. The film’s biggest new release of the weekend came in Brazil where it earned first place with $1.71 million on 810 screens. The film’s biggest holdover was France where it was down just 39% to $2.75 million on 614 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $8.10 million. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Bad Boys Still Feeling Good, New Releases are Bad and Worse

February 4th, 2020

The Super Bowl turned out to be a good game, at least according to the score sheet. This perhaps hurt the box office over the weekend, as Bad Boys for Life fell a little faster than expected. That said, it still dominated the box office with a huge lead over the second place film, 1917. Meanwhile, the two new releases, Gretel and Hansel and The Rhythm Section, both bombed to varying degrees. The overall box office fell 33% from last weekend, hitting $81 million; however, an extreme decline like this is to be expected on Super Bowl weekend. More importantly, this is 11% higher than the same weekend last year and that helped 2020 extend its lead over 2019 to 8.9% / $77 million at $945 million to $868 million. A few more weeks like this and I’ll actually become optimistic about the year’s box office chances. More...

Weekend Estimates: Bad Boys Enjoy Life at the Top

February 2nd, 2020

Bad Boys for Life is extending its run at the top of the chart the weekend with Sony projecting a total of $17.675 million as of Sunday morning. That’s down 48% from last weekend, which is another solid hold, and takes the film to the brink of $150 million at the domestic box office—it’s expected to have around $148 million by close of business. The studio is baking in a big 71% drop today thanks to competition with the Super Bowl, so it may end up doing just a little better than predicted. More...

Friday Estimates: Bad Boys Beat Up Newcomers

February 1st, 2020

If Friday’s estimates are any indication, then the weekend will be a little weaker than anticipated. Bad Boys for Life will easy lead the way after pulling in $5.19 million on Friday. Sony is projecting $17 million based on this result, which is a little lower than our $19 million to $20 million prediction, but still a great hold for a mainstream action film on Super Bowl weekend. This won’t be enough to get the movie to $150 million by the end of the weekend and it likely ends the film’s chances at $200 million domestically. That said, it is still going to be the biggest hit in the franchise by the end of Saturday, so there’s still plenty of reasons to celebrate. More...

Weekend Predictions: The Box Office Looks far from Super

January 31st, 2020

It is Super Bowl weekend, which is one of the biggest media events of the year. Even people who have no interest in the NFL tend to at least pay attention to the game. Because of that, no studio wants to release a typical film this time of year and instead focus on counter-programming, usually female-led counter-programming. Neither The Rhythm Section nor Gretel and Hansel are expected to challenge Bad Boys for Life for first place, but the pair could be in a close race with each other. This weekend last year, no movie earned $10 million or more, while Miss Bala opened with less than $10 million. 2020 should end the month on a huge winning note. More...

Theater Averages: Feeling Bad

January 30th, 2020

No film cracked $10,000 on the theater average chart this week. Bad Boys for Life came the closest with an average of $9,010. More...

International Box Office: Bad Boys can’t Be Beat

January 30th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life remained in first place on the international box office chart with $44.04 million on 12,933 screens in 76 markets for totals of 96.5 million internationally and $217.33 million worldwide. This is already more than the first film in the franchise earned in total. However, before we get too excited, it did come out 25 years ago and not only does this film have 25 years of inflation behind it, it had huge growth in the international market to help it out as well. The film’s biggest new market was Russia, where it earned $5.02 million in 1,466 theaters, but it also had an impressive debut in France with $4.53 million on 619 screens. The film earned first place in both markets. As far as holdovers are concerned, the movie has already earned $10.82 million in the U.K., including $3.59 million in 559 theaters this past weekend. It is doing even better in Germany, if you take into account the relative size of the two markets, with $3.30 million on 669 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $9.55 million. On the downside, the film is rapidly running out of markets to open in, so it won’t remain in the top five for too much longer, but it has already earned enough to ensure a healthy profit in the end. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Bad Boys’ Box Office Boon Balances Mixed Opening Results

January 28th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life saved the box office this weekend earning $34.01 million, which was more than The Gentlemen and The Turning earned combined. Granted, the overall box office was still down 27% from last weekend, but it is a post-holiday weekend, so this decline was expected. More importantly, it was 23% higher than the same weekend last year and this helped 2020 continue its early winning streak. 2020 is now ahead of 2019’s early pace by 8.2% / $63 million at $828 million to $765 million. It is still way to early to make any projections for the end of the year, but any lead 2020 can build up now will help it during the slower stretches of the year. More...

Weekend Estimates: Bad Boys are Doing Well

January 26th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life will remain in first place on the weekend chart with an estimated $34.0 million, which is down just 46% from the film’s opening weekend. This amazing hold not only beat predictions by a significant margin, it helped the film blow past $100 million yesterday. Its running tally will sit at $120.0 million at the end of the weekend, assuming the estimate holds. Internationally, the film held even better, earning $42 million on 12,700 screens in 58 markets for a total of $95 million so far. This includes a $4.7 million debut in Russia, as well as a $3.5 million hold in the U.K. The film is already ahead of the franchise average, both domestically and globally, while it is rapidly approaching first place in both. At this rate, not only will there be yet another sequel, I could see a spin-off happening as well. More...

Friday Estimates: Audiences Turn Away from New Releases

January 25th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life remained in first place earning $8.93 million on Friday, down 62% from its opening Friday. This is significantly better than anticipated and it means the film could fall less than 50% during the full weekend. Regardless, the film will reach $100 million domestically tonight, becoming the first film released in 2020 to get to that milestone. Obviously it won’t be the last. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Gentlemen’s Start in Line with Expectations

January 24th, 2020

The Gentlemen started its box office run with $725,000 from Thursday’s previews. This is not a great number, especially when compared to Bad Boys for Life’s $6.36 million in previews last week; however, this film has a more mature target audience and that should help its legs over the rest of the weekend. I’m cautiously optimistic it will match our $12 million prediction with a little room to spare. More...

Weekend Predictions: The Box Office will have a Gentle Weekend

January 23rd, 2020

It is a post-holiday weekend and the weekend before the Super Bowl. Needless to say, there are no prime releases coming out in theaters. The Gentlemen is the widest release of the week a should open in the top five, even if it doesn’t compete for top spot. The Turning is a low-budget horror movie, and we’ve already had one of those struggle at the box office this year. There’s little hope this one will be better. Finally, there’s The Last Full Measure, which is only opening nationwide, not even semi-wide. It’s not even going to make the top ten, so we will talk about that film with the other limited releases. This leaves Bad Boys for Life as the only real contender for first place this weekend. The question is more about how far it falls from last weekend. As for this weekend last year, we were in a similar situation with the two new releases, The Kid Who Would Be King and Serenity, failing to make any real impact, leaving Glass in first place for the second weekend in a row. The Upside was the only other film to earn more than $10 million that weekend, while this weekend we will have four, perhaps even five films above $10 million. 2020 should walk away with an easy win. More...

Theater Averages: The Weather was Bright and Shiny on the Theater Average Chart

January 23rd, 2020

Bad Boys for Life easily won the race for top spot on the theater average chart. In fact, it was the only film in the $10,000 club with an average of $16,557. The best new limited release of the week was Weathering With You, which earned $5.28 million, although that was over six days. It managed an average of $3,716 in 486 theaters over the three-day weekend, which isn’t enough to expand, but it is enough to encourage more theater owners to book Anime in the future. More...

International Box Office: Bad Boys Bounces Star Wars Out of Top Spot

January 22nd, 2020

Bad Boys for Life took over top spot with $37.50 million on 8,945 screens in 54 international markets over the three-day weekend and $38.96 million including previews and non-standard days, as Sony puts it. The film’s biggest market was arguably Germany where it earned $4.71 million on 661 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.14 million. However, the film made more money over the three-day weekend in the U.K., $4.93 million in 535 theaters, to be more precise. The film earned strong openings in Australia with $3.97 million on 259 and in Mexico with $3.88 million on 2,242 screens. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Bad Boys Gives the Box Office Life

January 22nd, 2020

The first long weekend of the year was fantastic at the box office as Bad Boys for Life set a number of box office records, including MLK Long Weekend Opening Record, which is arguably the most prestigious of the records it set. Dolittle, on the other hand, managed to avoid embarrassing itself, which is about as good as it was going to get after its troubled production. Overall, the box office had amazing growth from last weekend, improving by 25% to $166 million. More importantly, this is 28% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2020 is ahead of 2019 by 10.5% or $63 million at $666 million to $602 million; however, every little bit helps. We don’t have an Endgame this year, so getting off to a fast start will be more important than usual. More...

Weekend Estimates: Bad Boys Blow Up Record Book

January 19th, 2020

The weekend estimates are a little more estimated than usual, because it is a long weekend, so studios are predicting Monday’s results the day before they happen, and there’s a larger margin of error than usual. That said, Bad Boys for Life is going to have no trouble topping the old MLK long weekend opening record, as it is projected to earn $59.2 million / $68.1 million over the weekend. Its three-day figure is almost $10 million more than the previous record holder, Ride Along, earned over three days. And yes, it has the opening weekend record. American Sniper was a December release that expanded wide on MLK weekend. On another positive note, the film’s reviews have risen to 76% positive, which is enough to earn a Certified Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes, although the site appears to be slow on awarding that. Additionally, the film earned an A-rating from CinemaScore, so audiences liked the film even more than critics did. The audience was 39% African-Americans, compared to 33% Caucasian, while it was 61% male. No real surprises there. The film is earning $38.6 million on 8,200 screens in 39 markets during its international debut, including stellar openings in Germany ($5.1 million) and the U.K. ($5.0 million). More...

Friday Estimates: Bad Boys Sets January Opening Day Record with $23.5 million

January 18th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life earned $23.5 million on Friday, which is the biggest opening day in January, breaking the previous record of $17.16 million set by Cloverfield back in 2008. It is also way more than anticipated, and puts it on pace to crush the opening weekend record for MLK weekend, and all of the associated records. In fact, Sony is projecting a $66 million four-day debut as a result of this start. There are reasons to be bullish, including the film’s solid reviews and its A-rating from CinemaScore. The film is already the biggest hit released in 2020 and if this is a sign of things to come, then we are in for a good year. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Bad Boys has Record MLK Start with $6.36 million

January 17th, 2020

Bad Boys for Life had the best MLK weekend previews earning $6.36 million on Thursday. Granted, best MLK weekend previews don’t even make the top 50 all-time previews, but it is still a good sign going forward. Given the film’s reviews, this should translate into a record opening for MLK long weekend of over $50 million, maybe even $60 million. It depends on the film’s legs and how much the Sequel Effect shortens its legs. I remain cautiously optimistic about the film’s chances. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Bad Boys do a Good Job at the Box Office?

January 16th, 2020

It’s the first long weekend of the year and we have two films that are hoping to take advantage of MLK Day to get off to a fast start at the box office. Bad Boys for Life does have the advantage in terms of reviews and hype, not to mention a much more reasonable production budget. Dolittle is an early contender for worst movie of 2020. It also cost $175 million to make, so if it doesn’t make at least $100 million domestically, then it is practically guaranteed to lose a ton of money for Universal. This weekend last year, Glass earned first place with $40 million over the three-day weekend. I’ve seen some predictions that have Bad Boys for Life earning less than that over the four-day weekend, but I’ve also seen some predictions that would top the $48-million MLK long weekend opening record. 2020 does have better depth, so the year’s short winning streak shouldn’t come to an end just yet. More...

2020 Preview: January

January 1st, 2020

It’s the year 2020, the year where we find out how many times you can say, “Well, hindsight is 20/20.” before you get punched. On the positive side, while December wasn’t a great month, it was good enough to help 2019 end on a positive note, a positive note that should continue into January. There are no real potential monster hits coming out this month, but there are three films that have a real shot at $100 million domestically. These are, in alphabetical order, 1917, which will rely on Awards Season to get to the century mark. Bad Boys for Life will have a much, much easier time getting to $100 million, assuming people still care about the franchise 17 years later. Finally, Dolittle is looking like a disaster with a really troubled production; however, a $100 million run isn’t out of the question and if it can get there, it will at least save face. As for last January, Glass was the biggest hit of the month in terms of raw dollars, but The Upside was more impressive, as it is one the biggest hits in STX Entertainment’s history. We need two of the three potential $100 million hits to reach that mark to keep pace with last year, but we also have one more weekend to get there. More...