Home Market Releases for May 7th, 2019

May 8th, 2019

It is yet another slow week on the home market with very few first-run releases of note. There are three contenders for Pick of the Week: Better Call Saul: Season 4, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part on 4K Ultra HD, and My Hero Academia: Season Three, Part One. It is too close to call, so I’m declaring a three-way tie. More...

Theater Averages: Fighting for First Place

February 20th, 2019

Not only did we set a new yearly high market for theater average this past weekend, but two of the top three results from 2019 were from this weekend. Fighting With My Family led the way with an average of $34,695 in four theaters over the three-day weekend. The film earned just under $200,000 during its five-day debut, which is great news for its wide expansion this weekend. The re-release of War and Peace managed $22,976 in its one theater. That’s amazing, because the film is six hours long and they could only fit in 2 screenings a day. Then again, the movie is six hours long, they probably charged double to see it. Birds of Paradise was next with an average of $11,541 in two theaters. This is more impressive than it looks at first, because the film debuted on Wednesday, which undoubtedly tempered some of its weekend box office. The final film in the $10,000 club was CatVideoFest with $11,269. At first I was confused by this result, but then I found out it is a charity event, so good job everyone involved. More...

Weekend Wrap-up: 2019 Continues its Slump

February 12th, 2019

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part missed expectations over the weekend, leading to yet another disappointing overall performance at the box office. Granted, the box office did climb by 55% from last weekend to $112 million. However, last weekend was the worst weekend at the box office in more than a year. Additionally, $112 million is still 20% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2019 has pulled in $1.01 billion; however, this is still 15% lower than last year’s pace and the slowest pace since 2011, in terms of raw dollars. If we go by ticket sales, we have to look all the way back to 1999 to find a slower start to the year. More...

Theater Averages: Most New Releases were Left Out in the Cold

February 6th, 2019

Never Look Away held up well earning $19,033 in its lone theater. Its Oscar Nod is helping, but its real test is when the film tries to expand. The only new release in the $10,000 club was Arctic, with an average of $12,720 in four theaters. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Super Bowl Wasn’t Super and Neither was the Box Office

February 5th, 2019

The Super Bowl broke records, but not in a good way. (Lowest scoring Super Bowl... ever.) Even so, the Super Bowl still had a devastating effect on the box office leading to arguably the worst Super Bowl weekend box office results since 1999. More on that year later. As expected, Glass earned first place on the weekend box office chart with $9.55 million, but it is never a good sign when the number one film earns less than $10 million. The best / only new release was Miss Bala, which only managed $6.86 million. Overall, the box office fell 27% from last week down to just $72 million. Hopefully this is the worst weekend of the entire year. Worse still, this was 24% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2019 has pulled in $866 million, which is $160 million or 16% lower than 2018’s pace. This is the worst start in terms of raw dollars since 2012 and the worst start in terms of tickets sold since 1999. However, the box office will pick up in March and while I don’t think we’ll match last year’s record pace, we also won’t see a once in a decade slump either. More...

Weekend Estimates: Miss Bala hits the Glass Ceiling

February 3rd, 2019

The weekend estimates have Glass remaining on top of the chart with $9.54 million over the weekend, giving it a running tally of $88.66 million after three weeks of release. It is a lock to get to $100 million domestically, although it will likely be pushed out of the top five before it gets there. Internationally, the film is earning $12.2 million over the weekend for totals of $110.3 million internationally and $199.0 million worldwide. It will soon become the first film released in 2019 to get to $200 million worldwide and it isn’t done yet. More...

Friday Estimates: Friday Falls In Line

February 2nd, 2019

It looks like it will be a weekend to forget. In fact, if Friday is a reliable omen, then this will be the worst Super Bowl weekend at the box office in more than a decade. The only good news is, this was more or less expected. For example, Glass remained in first place with $2.76 million on Friday, putting it on pace for between $9 million on $10 million. Even if it hits the high end, it will still be within a rounding error of expectations. Get ready to read that phrase again a couple of more times this story. More...

Weekend Predictions: Super Bowl Looks to Bowl Over the Competition

January 31st, 2019

It’s Super Bowl weekend, which is historically one of the worst weekends all year long and it doesn’t look like this year will be an exception. Miss Bala is the only true wide release of the week, while They Shall Not Grow Old is expanding wide enough that it could grab a spot in the top five. Glass should remain in top spot, likely with less than $10 million. It’s not going to be a good weekend at the box office. Meanwhile, this weekend last year, Winchester opened with just over $9 million and two holdovers earned $10 million. 2019 is going to lose in the year-over-year comparison, but because both weekends were so soft, the gap shouldn’t be too large. More...

2018 - Awards Season: BAFTA - Nominations

January 12th, 2019

The BAFTA nominations were announced and The Favorite led the way with 12 nominations. Sometimes the BAFTAs are a really good indicator for who will do well on Oscar night. Other times their bias to British films is too much. I think this year will be an example of the latter and I don't think The Favourite is suddenly an Oscar favorite. That said, there’s still some things you can learn here. More...

Limited and VOD Releases: Growing Old waiting for Prime Limited Releases

January 11th, 2019

It is going to be a while before it is a good time for limited releases. We at least need this year’s Oscar contenders to no longer dominate theaters before high-quality limited releases can thrive. The biggest “new” release of the week is They Shall Not Grow Old, which broke records at the end of last year during special engagements. Now it looks to thrive in regular limited release. I think it will. There are a few others that could do well in VOD, but that’s as good as it gets for most films on this week’s list. More...

They Shall Not Grow Old Trailer

December 10th, 2018

Peter Jackson’s World War I documentary plays special engagements in the US on December 17 and 27 ... Full Movie Details. More...