September 3rd, 2023
The Equalizer 3 will fall short of a franchise-best opening, but will maintain the remarkable consistency of the franchise by opening with a projected $34.5 million from Friday to Sunday, according to Sony’s Sunday-morning estimate. That falls neatly between the openings of The Equalizer 2 ($36.0 million) and The Equalizer ($34.1 million) to make this the most consistent franchise in movie history.
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October 2nd, 2018
It’s an off week on the home market with no blockbusters to deal with. There are two solid midlevel hits, The First Purge and Sicario: Day of the Soldado, but neither of those are Pick of the Week contenders. (Ant-Man and the Wasp is also coming out this week, but only on Video on Demand). There are some high quality picks: Leave No Trace, Three Identical Strangers, Molly, The Spiral Staircase, and Hyouka. It was a close race, but in the end, I went with Leave No Trace Blu-ray as Pick of the Week.
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September 10th, 2018
It is not a very busy week on the home market. Ocean’s 8 is the biggest release of the week, but it is not a Pick of the Week contender. In fact, there was only one real contender for that title, Hearts Beat Loud on Blu-ray. That said, Ocean’s 8 is worth picking up, as is Modern Family: Season Nine.
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June 12th, 2018
The weekend was very kind to Ocean’s 8, as it opened with $41.61 million. This is not only the top result this weekend, it is the best opening weekend in the franchise. Hereditary also opened on the high end of expectations, leaving just Hotel Artemis as the only disappointment of the weekend. Overall, the box office rose 13% from last weekend to $120 million. More importantly, this was 17% lower than the same weekend last year. That said, it could have been worse and 2018 still has a 5.1% / $250 million lead over 2017 at $5.11 billion to $4.86 billion.
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June 9th, 2018
Two of the three new releases opened well on Friday. Ocean’s 8 open with $15.8 million, putting it on pace for an opening weekend of $42 million. This is the best opening in the franchise. It is also the cheapest installment in the franchise with a $70 million production budget, so it won’t need amazing legs to break even during its initial push into the home market. Its reviews are 69% positive, while it earned a B plus from CinemaScore. Neither of those results are particularly good, but they are no reason to panic either. Unfortunately, it won’t have the same legs as its predecessors, as the market has changed in the past decade. Furthermore, films with predominately female casts don’t do as well internationally, so the film will rely a little more on its domestic numbers to break even. That said, Warner Bros. should be happy with this result.
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June 1st, 2018
This May was an odd month, as Avengers: Infinity War opened on the last weekend of April, rather than the first weekend of May. This meant May started out slowly, but Deadpool 2 and Solo: A Star Wars Story did well enough to give 2018 a healthy lead over 2017. Looking forward, there are two potential monster hits this month, Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and another $100 million hit, Ocean’s 8. Last June, there were four $100 million hits, led by Wonder Woman, which pulled in over $400 million. I think 2018 and 2017 will be an even match at the top, so 2018 will have to rely on depth to improve upon its lead over 2017.
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February 11th, 2013
The Thieves cost $14 million to make, making it one of the most expensive South Korean films made. It also became one of the country's biggest hits, second only to The Host in terms of tickets sold in its native country. It wasn't able to find a major audience here, but it did perform well compared to most limited releases. Should the home market prove to be more lucrative?
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