March 14th, 2018
It’s Oscar week on the home market with several Oscar nominees and winners. Many of these films, like Call Me by Your Name and I, Tonya, are contenders for Pick of the Week. The actual winner of this title is The Shape of Water on Blu-ray Combo Pack or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack. It’s not the biggest release on this week’s list, as that honor goes to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but that’s only coming out on Video on Demand.
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March 4th, 2018
It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. We will announce the winners and have our reactions as they happen, while keeping track of how our readers did in predicting the outcomes.
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March 4th, 2018
It’s Oscar night and we will be live blogging the show. Before that, let’s take a last look at the nominations with a few annotations. Nominees in Italics are those that have received the most votes from our readers so far in our Oscar contest (which is open to new entries until noon, Pacific, today—enter now!). Bold films are those films I think will win. Meanwhile, those that are Underlined are those I want to win. Not all categories have underlined nominees, because not all categories have someone I’m cheering for, or because there are two nominees I couldn’t pick between. For example, I will be happy no matter who wins Best Supporting Actress. One last note: The contest is still going and the leading for Best Picture Switched from The Shape of Water to Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to tied over the time I was writing this story. This is the closest I’ve ever seen it. Guessing the best picture correctly will go a long way to winning.
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March 3rd, 2018
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The Independent Spirit Awards were handed out tonight, and Get Out was the big winner, sort of. It earned two Awards, including the two most prestigious, awards. However, it wasn’t the only film to pick up two awards tonight.
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March 1st, 2018
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. We end with the biggest award of the night: Best Picture. It is actually competitive this year with two films in a tight race, while there is a long shot with a shot.
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February 27th, 2018
It is a great week on the home market with several Oscar contenders making their home market debuts. I put in review requests for several of them, but so far none have arrived. Coco is still a contender for Pick of the Week, but I’ve heard some backlash against the other two, so I want to wait to see for myself. In the end, I went with Thor: Ragnarok and Pick of the Week, even though the DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, and 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack don’t come out till next week. The screener arrived early and it is certainly the best Blu-ray on this week’s list.
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February 27th, 2018
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at the two Screenwriting Categories, starting with Best Adapted Screenplay. We haven’t had a single competitive category so far, but that changes today. ... with the Best Original Screenplay. Best Adapted Screenplay is a one-horse race.
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February 22nd, 2018
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With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and who should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we look at the four acting categories, continuing with Best Lead Actor. As with every other acting category, there is an overwhelming favorite.
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February 18th, 2018
The BAFTAs were handed out on Sunday night, with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri winning the most awards at five. This is not too surprising, as it was technically a British film, despite its setting, and that gave it a leg up on the competition.
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February 11th, 2018
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The Writers Guild of America have announced their winners. There are many categories that WGA hand out awards in, but only three of them are theatrical releases. The list of winners include a couple of major Awards Season players and not a lot of surprises.
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January 31st, 2018
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Padmaavat was the only film to hit the $10,000 club earning an average of $13,179 in 324 theaters.
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January 23rd, 2018
The Oscar nominations were announced starting at just after 5 am Pacific time. They do this every year and no one has been able to adequately explain why to me. At least there were some interesting results this year. The Shape of Water led the way with 13 nominations, which is one below the current record and nearly as many as the next two films combined. Overall, there were seventeen films that earned two or more nominations.
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January 11th, 2018
The BAFTA nominations were announced and this time The Shape of Water led the way with 12 nominations. The same films appear on many of the lists of nominees, but so far no one film has come to dominate the list. This makes it interesting, to say the least. There’s a good chance no one film will win the majority of prestige awards and that multiple films will have lots of reason to celebrate on February 18th when the awards are handed out.
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January 10th, 2018
None of the new releases reached the $10,000 club, which is not unexpected. The Post remained in first place earning an average of $47,167 in 36 theaters. This is an amazing omen for its upcoming wide expansion. Phantom Thread slipped to $40,040 in four theaters. There was a large gap to the third place film, Ex Files 3: Return of the Exes, which earned an average of $10,418 in 17 theaters, while I, Tonya was right behind with $10,107 in 242 theaters. The best new release of the week was actually the only wide release of the week, Insidious: The Last Key, with an average of $9,493.
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January 5th, 2018
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The Producers Guild of America finally finished announcing their nominations. (They spread out their announcements for reasons I’ve never quite understood.) It is a strange year for the PGAs, as there was a tie resulting in 11 films being nominated for the top prize.
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January 4th, 2018
The Writers Guild of America is the latest group to announce award nominees. There are a lot of categories that WGA hand out awards for, but only three of them are for theatrical releases. The list of nominees include several major Awards Season players, and not a lot of surprises. The Big Sick, Lady Bird, The Disaster Artist, Get Out, The Shape of Water… We've seen almost all of these films appear on lists of nominations before.
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January 3rd, 2018
The Post remained the top film on the theater average chart for the second weekend is a row, earning an average of $62,342 in nine theaters and has earned nearly $2 million at the box office. It wasn’t the only film in the $10,000 club; in fact, there were seven such films. Second place went to Phantom Thread, with an average of $54,124 in four theaters. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was the best of the wide releases earning an average of $13,294. I, Tonya earned an average of $12,461 in 49 theaters during its fourth weekend of release. The overall number one film, The Last Jedi, was right behind with $12,410. Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds earned an average of $11,370 in 17 theaters, while the final film in the $10,000 club was Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, which earned an average of $11,298 in four theaters.
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December 27th, 2017
The Post dominated the Christmas weekend, earning an average of $58,446 in nine theaters, $84,673 if you include Christmas Day. The second best result of the four-day weekend was Phantom Thread, which earned an average of $31,818 in four theaters on Christmas Day alone. Last week’s winner, The Last Jedi, earned an average of $16,911 during its second weekend of release. The final two films in the $10,000 club were I, Tonya and Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds with averages of $11,169 and $10,914 respectively.
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December 19th, 2017
The Last Jedi became the biggest wide release of the year on the theater average chart with $51,987, overtaking the previous leader, Beauty and the Beast, which had an opening weekend average of $41,508. Last week’s number one film, I, Tonya was pushed into second place with an average of $34,256 in five theaters. The film clearly has more room to grow. Call Me by Your Name was well behind with an average of $16,398 in 30 theaters. There were two more holdovers in the $10,000 club: The Shape of Water at $10,828 in 158 threatres and Darkest Hour at $10,090 in 84.
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December 13th, 2017
The Screen Actors Guild were the third group to announce their nominations for this awards season. So far there have been three different films earning the most nominations. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri picked up four nominations, which is extra impressive, as there are only six theatrical categories.
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December 12th, 2017
There was another Oscar contender on top of the theater average chart this weekend, as I, Tonya earned an average of $66,039 in four theaters. Call Me by Your Name was the next best film with an average of $31,761 in nine theaters. The film isn’t expanding as fast as one would expect, given its theater average, but this could be because the studio doesn’t think it has mainstream appeal. The Shape of Water was close behind with an average of $27,843 in 41 theaters and it has already earned some measure of mainstream success. The final film in the $10,000 club was Darkest Hour with an average of $13,989 in 53 theaters.
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December 11th, 2017
The Golden Globes nominations are the second major Awards Season set to come out. Sort of. (WGA announced the nominations for TV, radio, etc., but not their theatrical nods.) It is still very early in the year, so it is hard to say if there are any real snubs, or if there are any real favorites. The Shape of Water led the way with seven nominations, while The Post and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri were right behind with six a piece.
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December 10th, 2017
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Coco remains the number one movie at the box office this weekend by a considerable margin, mainly due to a lack of serious competition from new releases. Disney’s animated adventure will gross about $18.3 million this weekend, for a domestic total of $135.5 million. The film will also pile up another $55.3 million internationally, taking its worldwide cume to $389.5 million. It still has some big openings to come, including Brazil, Korea, the UK, and Japan in January, so it has some way to go, although its progress will be eclipsed by The Last Jedi for the next few weeks.
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December 6th, 2017
It was another stellar weekend at the box office, at least as far as the theater average chart was concerned. The Shape of Water earned an average of $83,282 in two theaters. This is the fourth best of the year so far. Call Me by Your Name was right behind with an average of $73,890 in four theaters. This is by far the best result of the year for a holdover, more than doubling Lady Bird’s sophomore stint. However, Lady Bird expanded its theater count during its second weekend of release, while Call Me by Your Name did not. The Disaster Artist was close behind with an average of $63,755 in 19 theaters. You could argue this was the best result of the week, because the film was playing in many more theaters than the two films above it. Wonder Wheel was well back with an average of $28,111 in five theaters. Normally this would be an amazing start, but this week it won’t make an impact and it could fade away by the end of the year. Finally, Darkest Hour was the final film in the $10,000 club earning an average of $27,093 in four theaters during its second weekend of release.
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December 3rd, 2017
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The weekend after Thanksgiving is usually when the studios take a breather before the big Christmas season, and this year is no different, with no new wide releases, and relatively minor shuffles on screen use at the theaters. It’s therefore little surprise that Coco holds on at the top of the chart, and its strong reviews and season-friendly nature help it to extend its lead over Justice League. Coco is headed towards $26.114 million this weekend, according to Disney, for $109 million or so to date. That’s down 49% from last weekend. Justice League, meanwhile, drops a more troubling 60% to $16.58 million, for $197 million after three weekends.
More exciting action lies among the limited and expanding releases, however…
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November 28th, 2017
Call Me by Your Name dominated the theater average chart with an average of $103,233 in four theaters. It is the first film of the year to reach the $100,000 mark on the per theater chart. Lady Bird was the previous yearly champion with an average of $91,109, also in four theaters. The second-best average of the week was earned by Darkest Hour at $43,752 in four theaters. Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story earned $18,742 in one theater; that’s amazing for a documentary. The overall number one film, Coco, earned an average of $12,742. The only holdover in the $10,000 club was Justice League, as it pulled in $10,143.
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November 26th, 2017
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Coco will easily top the box office chart this Thanksgiving weekend, with Disney projecting a $71 million 5-day opening, including $49 million from Friday to Sunday. That’s the fourth-best Thanksgiving opening of all time, behind Frozen ($94 million), Moana ($82 million), and Toy Story 2 ($80 million). In all, Disney lays claim to 10 of the top 11 opening weekend’s over this holiday period, although, to be fair, the Hunger Games and Harry Potter franchises both claim several spots in the higher reaches of the Thanksgiving weekend record chart, but were just playing in their second weekend, rather than opening.
Nit-picking aside, it’s a great weekend for Coco.
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November 25th, 2017
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It’s the Saturday after Black Friday, so things are returning to normal. Coco is leading the way, which no one should be terribly surprised by. It earned $13.24 million on Wednesday, which was about 15% lower than Moana’s opening day. It held on better on Thursday, cutting the gap to about 10% with $8.93 million. However, by Friday, it was behind Moana by 15% again. That said, if is maintains this pace throughout the rest of the weekend it will earn $48 million / $71 million during its opening weekend. This is almost exactly as I predicted and more than enough to make Disney very happy. Furthermore, thanks to 96% positive review and an amazing A plus from CinemaScore, as well as no real competition for the next two weeks, the film should have excellent legs.
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November 24th, 2017
It is Thanksgiving weekend, but while that’s a great week for wide releases, it’s a terrible one for limited releases. Normally, we only mention films that have ten or more reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. However, this week there are only seven films in total, so we might as well talk about them all. To be fair, just because it is a slow week, doesn’t mean there’s nothing worth checking out. In fact, there are several films worth checking out. The Man Who Invented Christmas is the widest release, opening in over 600 theaters. Call Me by Your Name is clearly the best and it is already making waves during Awards Seasons. Finally, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story is the one I’m most interested in seeing.
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November 22nd, 2017
The Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced yesterday and thus the 2017 Awards Season begins. The movie with the most nominations is Call Me by Your Name, which opens on Friday. This is amazingly good timing. It’s not the only film that should get a financial boost.
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August 2nd, 2017
Drama starring Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet opens November 24 ... Full Movie Details.
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