December 16th, 2019
The first two installments of our Holiday Gift Guide had plenty of first-run releases and several TV on DVD releases. This installment includes limited releases and foreign imports. The list of classics isn’t up to the usual standards for the same reasons the TV on DVD list was rather short. Streaming is taking over that part of the market. Did you know The Criterion Collection has their own streaming service? So does Magnolia Pictures. On the one hand, that’s a lot of amazing movies for one price. On the other hand, as a fan of physical media, I’m not happy streaming is becoming so popular. There are still some great smaller titles worthy of the season.
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September 11th, 2019
There are two monster hits coming out this week, Aladdin and John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum, and this has scared away almost all of the competition. Fortunately, John Wick is amazing and a clear Pick of the Week contender. There was only one other film in contention for that title, Echo in the Canyon. Granted, I like Parabellum more, but it was already awarded the Pick of the Week when it hit VOD, so Echo in the Canyon gets the honor this week.
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August 8th, 2019
It was a busy weekend on the theater average chart with five films in the $10,000 club. Luce led the way with an average of $26,597 in five theaters. This bodes well for any future expansion. The Nightingale was next with an average of $20,041 in two theaters. Jay Myself arguably had a stronger opening, earning $18,909 in one theater over the weekend for a five-day debut of $27,571. Exit managed an average of $16,221 in two theaters, which is excellent for a foreign-language film and hopefully means more Asian movies will be released here. The final film in the $10,000 club was the overall box office champ, Hobbs and Shaw, with an average of $14,117.
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July 18th, 2019
The Farewell topped the theater average chart with an average of $87,833 in four theaters. This was not only the best of the weekend, it overtook Avengers: Endgame for the best theater average of the year. Anytime a film does better than Endgame, it is serious reason to celebrate. The Art of Self-Defense was well back with an average of $16,339 in seven theaters. This is still a good start, but I don’t know if it is good enough for its planned wide expansion. The final film in the $10,000 club was Sword of Trust with an average of $11,256 in two theaters.
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June 27th, 2019
There weren’t many new releases to talk about, but a surprising percentage of them landed in the $10,000 club. This includes the overall box office champ, Toy Story 4, which opened with an average of $26,428. Wild Rose was the best of the limited releases earning an average of $13,235 in four theaters, while Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am was right behind with an average of $12,013, also in four theaters.
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June 13th, 2019
2019 set a new record on the theater average chart, as Late Night got off to the fastest start for a limited release so far earning an average of $61,576 in four theaters during its opening weekend. This is better than Echo in the Canyon managed just two weeks ago, although Avengers: Endgame still owns the overall record with an average of $76,601. The Last Black Man in San Francisco also did incredibly well with an average of $33,610 in seven theaters. This Ones for the Ladies was well back with an opening of $13,688 in one theater. Meanwhile, the overall number one film, The Secret Life of Pets 2, was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $10,229.
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June 6th, 2019
It was a bad week on the theater average chart with only one film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, in the $10,000 club. That film earned an average of $11,630 during its opening weekend. The best limited release was Echo in the Canyon with an average of $6,915 in 14 theaters during its second weekend of release. The best new limited release was Mayday Life with an average of $5,971 in 8 theaters.
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May 30th, 2019
Echo in the Canyon just demolished the competition on the theater average chart. It earned an average of $58,826 in two theaters. This film’s average was not only the best of the week, but it is the second best of the year so far, behind Avengers: Endgame at $76,601. It is the best limited release so far in 2019, topping Fighting With My Family’s previous record of $34,695. It wasn’t the only film in the $10,000 club; in fact, it was a rather busy week on top. Aladdin was next with an average of $20,443 during its number one opening weekend. Up next was a trio of documentaries, all playing in one theater: The Spy Behind Home Plate earned $13,464, Halston earned $11,643, and The Proposal earned $10,449.
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May 26th, 2019
Aladdin’s box office continues to grow with Disney projecting $86.1 million over the three-day weekend, putting it on pace for $105 million including Monday. Its reviews are fine, but its A from CinemaScore is really telling a story here and it should lead to long legs, especially with school holidays starting soon. Internationally, the film earned $121.0 million, not including Monday, for a $207.1 million global debut. The film did okay in China with $18.7 million, but clearly the lack of nostalgia was hurting it here. The film was a much bigger hit in Mexico with $9.2 million, but it was also a smash in the U.K. ($8.4 million); Italy ($6.6 million); and others. More on that during our International Top Five column.
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May 24th, 2019
Documentaries dominate this week’s list of limited releases with five such films appearing below. All of them are about an artist, music, or fashion, so if you are into those, you are in luck. Of these, I think Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation will do the best. Meanwhile, there are a couple of VOD titles that are also worth checking out: Avengement and Funny Story.
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