February 7th, 2018
There are not a lot of big titles on this week’s list of home market releases and there won’t be for at least a couple more weeks. That’s not to say there is nothing worth picking up. Both Blame (DVD) and Only the Brave (Blu-ray) are Pick of the Week contenders. In the end, Duckman: The Compete Series is the Pick of the Week winner and worth picking up, unless you own the previous DVD releases.
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February 4th, 2018
Making sequels to comedies rarely works out. If the sequel is too close to the original, then it is not fresh enough to be funny. If it is too much of a departure, then why call it a sequel? There are some films, like Anchorman, that succeeded, because there’s a natural progression for the characters that opens up new comedic possibilities. Is this also true of Bad Moms? Does A Bad Moms Christmas stand out? Or is it just more of the same?
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January 22nd, 2018
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It’s a really slow week on the home market. There are only a few releases that went anywhere at the box office, led by Jigsaw, which is a bad movie. Meanwhile, Geostorm is so bad it’s good. It’s fun, if you are into B movies, but it’s not Pick of the Week material. The only real contenders are Jane, which is only coming out on Video on Demand, and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, which is getting a Two-Disc Special Edition. In the end, I went with Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, mainly because Jane doesn’t come out on DVD / Blu-ray until next month.
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November 15th, 2017
For the third weekend in a row, Thor: Ragnarok dominated the international chart, earning $75.9 million in 56 markets for totals of $438.5 internationally and $650.6 million worldwide. The film fell 59% during its second weekend in China, but this is actually much better than average for the market. It added $21.71 million this past weekend, pushing its running tally to $95.51 million after just two weeks of release in that market. The film held up even better in the U.K., where it dipped just 33% to $4.05 million in 569 theaters for a three-week total of $34.07 million. Its next biggest international market was South Korea, where it has earned $31.07 million, including $3.53 million on 856 screens this past weekend. The film already has more worldwide than either of the previous Thor films earned in total. It has entered the top ten in the MCU and it is on pace to enter the top five on that chart before its done.
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November 14th, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok led the weekend chart and actually beat our prediction by a small degree with $57.08 million. The two new releases, Daddy’s Home 2 and Murder on the Orient Express, also beat expectations. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to help the overall box office, as it fell 16% from last weekend to $151 million over the weekend. This is 4.9% lower than the same weekend last year. 2017 has fallen further behind 2016 at $8.98 billion to $9.46 billion. 2017 is 5.1% or $480 million behind last year’s pace and I’ll be happy if we can cut that deficit in half by the end of the year.
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November 12th, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok maintains a firm hold on top spot at the domestic and international box office this weekend, with a respectable decline of 54% at home taking it to $56.6 million for the weekend and $211.6 million to date. With another $75.9 million internationally, for a total of $438.5 million overseas,
Ragnarok will pass $650 million worldwide today. That makes it the most successful Thor film already, and it seems like it should retain decent traction into the holidays, even with Justice League coming out next weekend.
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November 11th, 2017
As predicted, Thor: Ragnarok easily won on Friday with $18.28 million. This is 61% lower than its opening Friday, which is better than most blockbusters manage. It also puts it on pace for $56 million during its sophomore stint, which is exactly on track with my prediction. Meanwhile, Disney’s share of the film’s worldwide box office is already above the film’s $180 million production budget, so profitability is all but guaranteed.
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November 9th, 2017
After last week’s debut, Thor: Ragnarok should have no trouble repeating in first place, but we do have two new releases that should be in a battle for second. Murder on the Orient Express had a strong opening in the U.K. and that bodes well for its opening this weekend. On the other hand, Daddy’s Home 2’s box office potential is moving in the other direction. As I started writing this, there were still no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. This weekend last year, Doctor Strange led the way with $42.97 million. Thor: Ragnarok should top that by around $10 million. Likewise, this week’s new releases should top last year’s new releases. However, last year had a lot better depth. Last year, every film in the top ten earned more than $3 million. This year, I’m not sure the fifth place film will earn more than $3 million. I fear 2017 will lose yet again in the year-over-year comparison.
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November 7th, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok beat predictions by a substantial margin earning the fourth biggest opening weekend of the year. Its opening weekend haul of $122.74 million helped this weekend rise 135% compared to last weekend hitting $179 million. Unfortunately, while Thor: Ragnarok was a monster hit, the rest of the box office wasn’t able to make much of an impact, leaving the overall box office down 6.6% from this weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2017 has pulled in $8.77 billion, putting it behind 2016's pace at 4.9% or $450 million.
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November 5th, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok continues a remarkable record for the Marvel Cinematic Universe this weekend by posting a $121 million opening weekend, according to Disney’s Sunday morning estimate. That’s a significant increase from the $85.7 million of Thor: Dark World, and means that each sub-franchise based on an individual character has had increasing open box office from film to film: Iron Man’s openings went from $102 million, to $128 million, to $174 million; Captain America went $65 million, $95 million, $179 million; and now Thor has gone $65 million, $86 million, and $121 million.
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November 4th, 2017
It looks like Thor: Ragnarok will top predictions and our increased predictions based on its Thursday previews. The film earned $46.82 million on Friday, which is the fifth-biggest opening day in 2017. Additionally, while its reviews are off their peak, its Tomatometer Score is still 93% positive, and it earned an A from CinemaScore. Both of these results suggest long legs, meaning it should hit $115 million during its opening weekend, more or less. If it can reach that over the weekend, then it will only need average legs to get to $300 million domestically. Granted, Justice League does open in just two weeks and that will hurt this film’s legs, but this is still a start worth celebrating.
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November 3rd, 2017
Thor: Ragnarok was expected to earn more than $100 million over the weekend. In order to do that, the film needed about $12 million during previews. It earned $14.5 million. If it has the same multiplier people were expecting, then this puts it on track for a $120 million opening weekend. I think we should be a little more conservative. Granted, its reviews remain over 90% positive, so it should have positive word-of-mouth, but the hype could also result in a front-loaded weekend. That said, I think $110 million is a rather safe bet at this point, while if it is leggier than the average blockbuster, then $125 million isn’t out of the question.
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November 2nd, 2017
November begins with Thor: Ragnarok and A Bad Moms Christmas. Thor: Ragnarok is widely expected to be the sixth film of 2017 to open with $100 million. On the other hand, A Bad Moms Christmas opened yesterday and when I started writing this in the early hours of Thursday morning, there were still no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Oh boy. That’s not a good sign. Worse still, no other new release it going to come close to $10 million over the weekend. This weekend last year, there were three wide releases that earned more than $10 million, led by Doctor Strange with $85 million. Thor: Ragnarok will top that, but this year's depth is terrible compared to last year and we will very likely see yet another loss in the year-over-year comparison.
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November 1st, 2017
October wasn’t a good month; then again, outside of a few bright spots, the overall box office has been a disaster since early summer. I would love to say November will turn things around, but, while it should be better, in this case “better” is a relative term. There are two films on this list with a chance at $300 million, Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League, while Coco is nearly a guarantee for $200 million. By comparison, last November had a similar result with three films earning between $200 million and $300 million, but none topping that figure. This means, if Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League both get to that milestone, then 2017 could cut into 2016’s lead during the month. It will still take a minor miracle for 2017 to catch up in the end, but just cutting the lead in half by the end of December would be a reason to celebrate at this point.
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October 27th, 2017
Next weekend is the beginning of November and the beginning of the last Christmas contests. There are only two wide releases coming out next week, including A Bad Moms Christmas. However, it’s a Wednesday release and that’s bad for the contest. Fortunately, we have a back up movie to pick, Thor: Ragnarok. I’m joking about it being a back up film, as it is going to crush the competition during the opening weekend. In fact, early tracking has it becoming the biggest opener of the month with over $100 million. Because of this, Thor: Ragnarok is the clear 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 Thor: Ragnarok.
This is our first Christmas contest of the year, which means each winner will get a Frankenprize that is either present or a lump of coal. The present will include a couple of movies, TV shows, maybe some kids DVDs, etc., while the lump of coal will be the last of my HD-DVD titles, while they last, as well as something from the prize pool.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film’s opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Frankenprize, as described above.
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 win a Frankenprize, as described above.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don’t delay!
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October 23rd, 2017
Comedy starring Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, and Mila Kunis opens November 3 ... Full Movie Details.
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