Contest: Go Go Power Prizes: Winning Announcement

June 28th, 2017

The winners of our Go Go Power Prizes contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Transformers: The Last Knight’s opening weekend were... More...

Home Market Releases for June 27th, 2017

June 27th, 2017

It’s a really slow week on the home market. (Next week is even worse. ) The Fate of the Furious is the biggest release of the week, but it is only coming out on Video on Demand, so I would wait. The biggest release of the week is Power Rangers, but it feels like a pilot to a TV show and not a self-contained movie. The best new release of the week is T2: Trainspotting and the Blu-ray Combo Pack. That said, if you don’t have Home Movies yet, then buy the Complete Series right now. More...

Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Power Rangers

June 25th, 2017

Power Rangers, the TV show, has been around for more than 20 years and it is still going strong. Power Rangers, the movie, was supposed to setup a six-part franchise, but its box office numbers probably killed any chance of that happening. Were moviegoers spared five more of these? Or was there enough here that fans would have been looking forward to more? More...

Contest: Go Go Power Prizes

June 16th, 2017

There’s only one wide release coming out next week, Transformers: The Last Knight. However, it is coming out on the Wednesday, so that complicates our weekend Box Office Prediction Contest, because we will have at least one full day of numbers before the contest ends. Since it is the only wide wide release next week, it is the only choice for the target film in this week’s box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening three-day weekend box office number for Transformers: The Last Knight.

Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Power Rangers on Blu-ray Combo Pack. The movie is already out on Video on Demand, but doesn’t come out on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD till the 27th. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of Power Rangers on Blu-ray Combo Pack. Finally, we will be choosing an entrant from the group of people who haven't won, or haven't won recently, and they will win a random prize from our prize pack.

Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

Contest: Wrap It Up: Winning Announcement

June 14th, 2017

The winners of our Wrap It Up contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for The Mummy’s opening weekend were... More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Boss Blasts Off while Ghost Cracks

April 4th, 2017

The Boss Baby beat expectations and earned first place with $50.20 million over the weekend. The strong competition pushed Beauty and the Beast into second place, but it nearly hit $400 million and it is on pace for $500 million, so I wouldn’t feel too bad for the film. On the other hand, you can feel bad for Ghost in the Shell, because an opening of just $18.68 million on a $110 million production budget is a disaster. Overall, the box office rose 16% from last week reaching $169 million. Compared to last year, the box office rose 28%, which is very impressive. Year-to-date, 2017 has pulled in $2.98 billion, putting it 6.1% or $170 million ahead of 2016’s pace. We are far enough into the year that a lead this big is significant. That doesn’t mean 2017 is guaranteed to come out ahead, but this is certainly reason to be optimistic. More...

Friday Estimates: Baby Bosses Beast with $15.5 Million

April 1st, 2017

The Boss Baby opened in first place on Friday with $15.5 million. This is higher than our original prediction and the adjusted prediction based on Thursday previews. Some are expecting an opening weekend of over $50 million, but that seems a tad high. The reviews have continued to improve and are now 49% positive, and the film earned an A minus from CinemaScore, which is bog standard for a family film. I think the direct competition from Beauty and the Beast will prevent it from getting to $50 million, meaning there will be a virtual tie on top of the charts over the weekend. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will New Releases be the Boss of the Beast?

March 30th, 2017

Two new wide releases attempt to dethrone Beauty and the Beast this weekend, but I wouldn’t bet on either of them doing it. Earlier this week, it looked like Ghost in the Shell was a potential $100 million hit. Then its reviews collapsed. The Boss Baby, on the other hand, started with terrible reviews, but its buzz is growing despite this. This weekend last year, the best new release was God’s Not Dead 2, which opened with $7.6 million, and 2017 is in an excellent position to gain ground as a result. Granted, the top film that weekend was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with over $50 million and no film this week will match that, but the top three films last year earned just over $80 million, while the top three films this year should earn more than $100 million. More...

International Box Office: Beauty Holds Off King Kong with $119.2 million

March 30th, 2017

Beauty and the Beast remained in first place on the international chart with $119.2 million in 50 markets for totals of $373.3 million internationally and $692.3 million worldwide. The film had two major market openings this past weekend scoring first place in Australia with $10.02 million on 706 screens, including previews. It also topped the chart in France with $7.9 million over the weekend, $8.4 million including previews. Its biggest market overall was the U.K., where it added $15.41 million in 636 theaters over the weekend for a two-week total of $49.82 million. At the end of the weekend, Disney’s share of the worldwide box office was just over $300 million, so unless the movie cost more to advertise than it did to make, it has broken even. Furthermore, even if the film had no more major markets left to open in, it would be on pace to reach $1 billion to $1.1 billion worldwide. With Japan and a few more smaller markets left, it could top $1.2 billion. More...

Contest: Power On: Winning Announcement

March 30th, 2017

The winners of our Power On contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Power Rangers’s opening weekend were... More...

Theater Averages: Beast’s Reign Continues with $21,479

March 29th, 2017

It was a bad week for limited releases, as the only two films to top $10,000 on the per theater chart were also the two biggest hits on the weekend chart. Beauty and the Beast remained in first place with an average of $21,479, while Power Rangers were well back with an average of $10,913. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Beast Blows Past $300 million with $90.43 million Weekend

March 27th, 2017

Our predictions for Beauty and the Beast was higher than average, but even we underestimated the film’s weekend box office numbers. It fell just 48% to $90.43 million, which was more than double the second place film, Power Rangers. This one-two punch helped the overall box office earn $202 million, but this was 23% lower than last weekend. It was also 20% lower than the same weekend last year. Granted, this weekend last year was the weekend Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice debuted, so a decline like this was expected. Year-to-date, 2017 has earned $2.75 billion, putting it 6.7% or $170 million ahead of last year’s pace. More...

Weekend Estimates: Beauty and the Beast Beats Strong Power Rangers Start

March 26th, 2017

An impressive 49% second-weekend drop for Beauty and the Beast will be more than enough to secure its place at the top of the box office chart once more, but that doesn’t diminish the achievement of Power Rangers in debuting with an estimated $40.5 million. With two strong movies powering box office receipts, a weekend that was expected to be down substantially from the comparable weekend last year, when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice launched with $166 million, will actually be off just 20%, and 2017 remains 5% ahead of 2016 year-to-date. More...

Friday Estimates: Rangers, $14.96 million, Can’t Overpower the Beast, $23.56 million

March 25th, 2017

Most people were expecting Beauty and the Beast to retain first place on Friday with around $20 million. The consensus appeared to be $19 million, but my prediction was based on a little more than $21 million. In reality, it earned $23.56 million. This will help it to just over $90 million during the weekend and the film’s box office will blow past $300 million by Sunday. On the other hand, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earned $81.58 million on its opening Friday alone, so 2017 is still likely going to lose in the year-over-year comparison. More...

Thursday Night Previews: Rangers Power Up with $3.6 million

March 24th, 2017

Power Rangers easily dominated the other two new releases during Thursday previews earning $3.6 million. In fact, this is barely lower than the $3.7 million Kong: Skull Island earned just a couple of weeks ago. Does this mean Power Rangers will open with a similar amount, say $60 million? No. The film’s reviews are much weaker and the film has a much stronger Fanboy Effect. It does have a real shot at $40 million over the weekend, but our $37 million prediction seems like a safe bet at the moment. If the film is earning better legs, we will adjust this figure tomorrow. More...

Weekend Predictions: Can the Rangers Power Their Way to the Top?

March 23rd, 2017

There are three wide releases this week, but none of them have a shot at topping Beauty and the Beast at the box office. In fact, all three films combined won’t make as much as Beauty and the Beast does this weekend. Of the three wide releases, Power Rangers has the best chance of box office success and it does have a shot at $100 million domestically. Life could become a midlevel hit and since it likely cost a lot less to make, it could be a bigger financial success. Finally there’s CHiPs, which has gained no traction with audiences. It will likely miss the top five. This weekend last year, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opened with a then March record of $166.01 million. Nothing playing this weekend will match that. Beauty and the Beast might not make half that. Fortunately, 2017 has a $100 million lead on 2016, so one bad weekend in the year-over-year comparison won’t do too much damage. More...

Contest: Beauty and the Best: Winning Announcement

March 22nd, 2017

The winners of our Beauty and the Best contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Beauty and the Beast’s opening weekend were... More...

Contest: Power On

March 17th, 2017

There are three wide releases next weekend: Power Rangers, Life, and CHiPs. However, none of them are expected to match Beauty and the Beast’s second weekend of release. That said, Power Rangers is widely expected to be the biggest of the three films and it is the best choice for the target film in this week’s box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Power Rangers.

Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Frankenprise consisting of their choice of either one TV on DVD release, two movies, or a kids package (could be a theatrical release, a couple of single-disc TV on DVD releases, or a full season TV on DVD release). Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a Frankenprize, as described above. Finally, we will be choosing an entrant from the group of people who haven't won, or haven't won recently, and they will win the final Frankenprize, as described above.

Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2017 Preview: March

March 1st, 2017

February was an okay month. The films that missed expectations were mostly balanced by the films that were pleasant surprises. Unfortunately, last February was amazing as Deadpool dominated the chart, so 2017 has fallen further behind 2016 and 2016’s lead is now about $100 million. It is not so bad that a good March won’t help 2017 back into the lead. Will that happen? We have some good news and some bad news. Good news: Every week there is one movie that has at least a shot at $100 million. Two of them, Logan and Beauty and the Beast, could reach $200 million or a lot more. Bad News: last March, both Zootopia and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earned more than $300 million. That’s a really powerful one-two punch and I don’t think we can replicate that this time around. On the other hand, last March, the third best film of the month was 10 Cloverfield Lane, while there were four films that were expected to open wide that earned less than $10 million at the box office. 2017 likely won’t be as good at the top, but I also don’t think it will have as many bombs either. If Beauty and the Beast reaches the very high end of expectations, then 2017 could even close the gap with 2016 entirely. I’ll be happy getting halfway there. More...