July 18th, 2018
It’s a shallow week in terms of the total number of releases, but a lot of films on this list are worth picking up. Rampage is the biggest and it is worth buying, if you are into popcorn action flicks. There are a lot of other releases that are worth picking up, but not quite Pick of the Week contenders, like Disobedience, The Good Place: Season Two, etc. As for true Pick of the Week contenders, we have a limited selection and I’m going with Isle of Dogs on Blu-ray Combo Pack for that title.
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July 3rd, 2018
We are deep into the summer doldrums on the home market. Blockers is the biggest first-run release of the week, and also the best. The DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack is a contender for Pick of the Week, thanks in part to the lack of competition. It’s not the only contender, as both Dietrich and von Sternberg in Hollywood: The Criterion Collection and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Set 2: Stardust Crusades Arc are also worthy of that title. In the end, I rolled a dice and Blockers came out on top.
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May 15th, 2018
Avengers: Infinity War became the second fastest film to opened in China earning $190.68 million over the weekend for a total opening of $200.02 million, including previews. This is the highest ever opening in terms of American currency. In local currency, The Fate of the Furious still holds the record at RMB1.352 billion to RMB1.266 billion. Overall, Infinity War earned $281.3 million in 55 markets for totals of $1.059 billion internationally and $1.607 billion worldwide. It became the first film in the MCU to reach $1 billion internationally and it is already the highest grossing film in the franchise worldwide. It is in fifth place on the all-time international chart and will be in third place by this time next week. Meanwhile, it is also in fifth place on the worldwide chart and is aiming for third place there as well, although it will take a little while longer to get there.
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April 24th, 2018
As expected, A Quiet Place returned to the first place with $20.94 million over the weekend. However, Rampage was much closer than expected with $20.09 million. It is on pace for $100 million domestically, assuming Infinity War doesn't reduce it to rumble this coming weekend. The new releases were led by I Feel Pretty, which came within a rounding error of expectations, while Super Troopers 2 beat expectations earning fourth place. Traffik barely made the top ten, but it could have been worse. Overall, the box office still fell 17% from last week, falling to $122 million. This is still 13% higher than the same weekend last year, which I was not expecting. I really thought The Fate of the Furious would earn more than the top two films earned this weekend, while the depth was also a lot better this week than I was anticipating. Year-to-date, 2017 is still behind 2018, by a 2.1% or $75 million margin at $3.43 billion to $3.51 billion. This should change this coming weekend. It better change.
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April 21st, 2018
Super Troopers 2 opened in first place on Friday with $7.9 million, which is more than I predicted it would make over the entire weekend. On the other hand, this film’s reviews are wea. It managed a B plus from CinemaScore, which isn’t terrible, but it’s not particularly good either. Its legs likely won’t be great, as the target demographic is much more likely to rush out to the movie opening night, leaving the film with just over $17 million during its opening weekend. This could be more than its combined budget, especially if you disregard the money it earned from Kickstarter. (The film doesn’t have to earn a profit on those numbers.)
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April 19th, 2018
There are two wide releases this week, I Feel Pretty and Super Troopers 2, as well as a semi-wide release that has a shot at the top ten, Traffik. However, most analysts think A Quiet Place will return to first place on the box office chart. Meanwhile, Infinity War opens next week and that’s all most moviegoers are talking about and this will likely really hurt this week’s box office. This weekend last year, The Fate of the Furious remained on top with $38 million, while the top three films combined earned $60 million. I don’t think 2018 will be able to match that, but it should be close.
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April 16th, 2018
Rampage was widely expected to earn first place over the weekend, and it did. However, A Quiet Place gave it a real run for its money and after Friday’s estimates, it looked like the horror film would repeat on top. Meanwhile, Truth or Dare was also a pleasant surprise at the box office earning close to $19 million on a $3.5 million production budget. Overall, the box office fell 9.8% from last weekend to $147 million. This is also 13% lower than the same weekend last year. That said, The Fate of the Furious opened this weekend last year and earned almost $100 million, so it could have been worse. Year-to-date, 2018 is still behind behind 2017 by $70 million or 2.0% or $3.27 billion to $3.33 billion.
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April 15th, 2018
Rampage isn’t exactly living up to its name this weekend, as it heads for a $34.5 million debut—just enough to keep A Quiet Place in second place, with $32.6 million in its second outing (down a very respectable 35% from its debut). As might be expected, international markets are proving friendlier to Rampage than the US and Canada, and it’s off to a healthy $114.1 million start in 61 territories, according to Warner Bros.’ Sunday morning estimate.
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April 14th, 2018
Rampage earned first place on Friday, barely, with $11.5 million. Its reviews slipped down to exactly 50%, but that’s still the best ever for a wide release based on a video game, and it earned an impressive A minus from CinemaScore. This adds up to a $32 million opening weekend. Unfortunately, the film cost $120 million to make and even more for its global P&A. And as we will see shortly, A Quiet Place was right on its tail on Friday. Fortunately, the film is doing better in some international markets. For example, it earned $15.6 million in China alone, with an early estimate of $21.2 million for Saturday.
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April 13th, 2018
Rampage started its box office run with $2.4 million during its Thursday night previews. This is almost $2 million lower than A Quiet Place managed last weekend, but last weekend was also Easter weekend, so a lot of the target audience had Friday off. Even so, this isn’t quite where I was hoping it would land when I made my prediction yesterday. $35 million is still possible, but it would take strong legs to get there. Fortunately, its reviews have continued to improve and the film’s Tomatometer Score is now 53% positive. According to this metric, it is the best wide release based on a video game of all time. This actually makes some sense. The original video game was based on movies like King Kong or Godzilla, so it should be able to inspire at least a passable version of those films.
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April 12th, 2018
Rampage is the biggest new release of the week and at one time it was widely assumed it would be the biggest hit of the month. Granted, this changed the second Infinity War moved up to an April release. However, now the film likely won’t even be the second biggest hit of the month, as A Quiet Place dominated last weekend. Truth or Dare has to deal with direct competition and that’s going to kill it. Finally, Isle of Dogs is expanding semi-wide. It likely won’t reach the top five, but it is already doing well for a limited release. This weekend last year, The Fate of the Furious opened with nearly $100 million. That’s about what the top four will earn this year. I can’t imagine 2018 coming ahead in the year-over-year comparison.
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April 8th, 2018
If it weren’t for Black Panther, A Quiet Place would be the biggest surprise hit of the year so far. The film earned $50 million during its opening weekend, on a budget of just $17 million. Its initial ad buy was probably less than $25 million, meaning this film earned more in its opening weekend that its combined budget. However, I assume Paramount Pictures put in at least another $10 million ad buy on Saturday after Friday’s estimates showed up. As for the film’s future, its reviews are close to Award-worthy and it earned a B plus from CinemaScore, which is impressive for a horror film. Additionally, the film saw its score rise on Saturday when compared to Friday, which is not common for a new release. Previews plus the opening day rush usually result in small declines for films aimed at this target audience. It is still a horror film and next week there is big competition and direct competition, so its legs likely won’t be great, but its nearly guaranteed a profit by this time next week.
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April 1st, 2018
Well, March has ended and it was a very disappointing month. Black Panther made more than any of the new releases did. The only potential big hit that didn’t miss expectations was Ready Player One. Because of this, 2018 lost its lead over 2017 and is now over $100 million behind last year’s pace. April is usually a terrible month, because it is a dumping ground, especially late in the month. No studio wants to compete with the first monster hit of the Summer. This year, the first monster hit of the summer, Avengers: Infinity War, opens in April. It will make more during its opening weekend than any other April release will make in total. It might make more opening day than any other April release will make in total. The only film that has a real chance to earn more than $100 million is Rampage, a video game adaptation. Last April, The Fate of the Furious earned more than $1.2 billion worldwide, but “only” earned $225.76 million of that domestically. Infinity War should earn more than that opening weekend. The second biggest hit of last April was Smurfs: The Lost Village and Going in Style, both of which earned $45.02 million. If 2018 doesn’t retake the lead by the end of the month, then 2018 is in trouble at the box office.
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March 30th, 2018
Blumhouse horror movie starring Lucy Hale opens April 13 ... Full Movie Details.
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