January 17th, 2020
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It’s yet another slow week for limited releases. That’s not to say there are no films worth checking out. Weathering With You is earning outstanding reviews and will be the biggest hit opening this week. Extracurricular and Feedback are also worth checking out, but they will find audiences on VOD, not in theaters.
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November 18th, 2017
Here at The Numbers, we strive to improve your reading experience by adding more features we believe you will find interesting. Today, we have two new features to talk about. Firstly, we have a series of new acting records for the various categorizations we use. For example, the highest grossing leading actors in films based on a TV show. The number one actor is Shia LaBeouf, who starred in the first three Transformers movies. Number two is Tom Cruise, who is the star of the Mission: Impossible franchise, while number five is Justin Long, who provided the voice for the titular character in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films. Starting to notice a pattern? Nearly everyone on the top of this list is someone who starred in one TV adaptation that turned into a lucrative franchise. The only exception is Simon Pegg, who has been in two of these franchises: Mission: Impossible and Star Trek trilogy.
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December 1st, 2015
November ended on a positive note with a strong Thanksgiving weekend. Even so, the overall numbers were mixed with a lot of misses mixed in with a few hits. It was better than October and we will call that a victory. Meanwhile, December is potentially record-breaking. Actually, given the evidence, it is almost assuredly going to be record-breaking. Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already set a record for the most money taken from ticket pre-sales and the biggest December weekend will fall. The pre-orders alone will guarantee that. On the downside, it is very likely that no film will make as much in total as The Force Awakens will make during its opening weekend. There's a chance no film makes in total as much as The Force Awakens makes during its opening day. There are a few films that have a shot at $100 million. For example, Joy should get there, if it becomes a major player during Awards Season. If not, it will at least come close. Daddy's Home, and to a lesser extent Sisters, could be surprise $100 million hits. However, like the rest of 2015, December is shaping up to be a month of a record-breaking hit and a lot of films that struggle just to get noticed. On the other hand, last December, was a lot more balanced at the top with four films earning more than $100 million, led by The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. There's a chance The Force Awakens earns more than all four $100 million hits from last year earned combined.
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July 27th, 2015
It is a terrible week for limited releases. There is only one first-run release, Home, but its reviews were only mixed. The next biggest release, Justice League: Gods and Monsters, is a direct-to-DVD animated movie. That's a huge drop in sales potential. Neither of those releases are contenders for Pick of the Week. The best new releases are Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXXIII and White God on DVD or Blu-ray. It was a close call, but in the end I went with MST3K.
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December 28th, 2014
Tusk is the latest film from Kevin Smith, who has a mixed track record at the box office. He has made some amazing movies, like Clerks and Chasing Amy. However, he has also made some serious misses, like Cop Out. Is this one of his better films? Or is this another recent miss?
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January 19th, 2014
Best Man Down opened in the heart of Awards Season, but it wasn't aiming for Oscars. It's simply an Indie Dramedy that got lost in the crowd, in part due to its release date, but also in part due to its reviews. Does it deserve to find an audience in limited release? Or would this film have faded away no matter when it debuted?
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December 1st, 2013
We had some good news and some bad news in November. The bad news is the overall weakness at the box office continued and 2013 lost its lead over 2012. Strong runs by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen did help it bounce back in the end, but 2013 is still going to have a tough time topping 2012. Looking forward to December, we find about a dozen wide releases, sort of. There are several films that are opening in limited release that are expected to expand wide by the end of the month, but I'm not sure that will be the case for all of them. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug should be the easy winner this month and if it is a little lucky, it might even top its predecessor at the box office. There is a huge amount of hype surrounding Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and it could double the first film's box office numbers. On the other hand, those two films might be the only two December wide releases to reach $100 million. There are a few that have the potential to get to the century mark, if they are big players during Awards Season. Obviously some of the films coming out this month will win awards, but there's already a lot of competition in theaters before the month begins. There were three $100 million movies last December, led by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, so while it could be close, it looks like December will lose in the year-over-year comparison. This is really bad news, as 2013 can't afford to go out on a losing streak if it wants to top 2012.
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November 8th, 2013
There are quite a few limited releases on this week's list, including several that have earned more pre-release buzz that most limited releases earn. However, many of these films' reviews are good, but not great. The Book Thief is one such film, but it could still find an audience in limited release, although its plans to expand wide are very unlikely to happen. How I Live Now and Great Expectations are in similar positions.
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June 17th, 2013
Movie 43 earned some of the worst reviews of the year so far, with many critics calling it the worst movie they've ever seen. When I got the chance to review the movie, I jumped at it. I had to know if it was really as bad as its reviews. It couldn't possible be, right?
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October 5th, 2012
Jeepers Creepers is a low-budget horror film that was released on Labor Day long weekend back in 2001. Most people were not expecting it to be a huge hit. However, it broke the record for big Labor Day long weekend box office. Granted, at the time that record was just $13.11 million / $15.83 million and the film did fall more than 50% the following weekend. It still did well enough to warrant a sequel. (On a side note, this sequel also broke the Labor Day long weekend box office record.) Now it is making its Blu-ray debut more than a decade later, but can it live up to its record-breaking opening? Or was it for for a time merely the best of the worst long weekend of the year? And does it shine on Blu-ray? Or is it hampered by a low budget and a lack of attention by the studio?
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