July 25th, 2024
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Twisters blew into theaters last weekend, whisking up a splendid $81 million in its opening frame, and currently enjoys a six-day domestic total of just over $113 million. The disaster film’s reign at the top of the box office, however, will likely be short-lived as two new wide releases make their way into theaters, including the long-awaited arrival of Deadpool & Wolverine.
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August 17th, 2023
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Barbie continues to count up impressive numbers on a daily basis, crossing the $500 million mark domestically last Friday, and now with a 27-day North American total of just under $542 million. The film has fared even better overseas as it has charted $660 million from international markets. As Barbie continues to hit milestones and blaze trails, another Warner Bros movie buzzes into theaters in the way of the latest DC superhero film, Blue Beetle, while the R-rated talking-dog comedy, Strays, also makes its arrival.
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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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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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September 6th, 2016
It is a big week with a ton of home market releases, including several that were contenders for Pick of the Week. There were two limited releases in that group, Love and Friendship and Tale of Tales. Love and Friendship got better reviews, but Tale of Tales’ Blu-ray is more interesting in my mind. Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection is a great Blu-ray box set and would make an amazing gift. As for the Pick of the Week, that was an easy choice: The Iron Giant: Signature Edition on Blu-ray. Although if you are a hardcore fan, then the Ultimate Collector’s Edition might be worth the $75.
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April 22nd, 2016
There are several limited releases on this week's list, including three that have a shot at earning a spot in the top ten. However, the best-reviewed releases are among the smaller releases: Tale of Tales and The Meddler included. However, if you don't want to go out, Holidays is good bet on Video on Demand.
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August 29th, 2014
It's not a great week for limited releases as there are only two films earning overwhelmingly positive reviews: The Congress and Starred Up. Both of those films are playing on Video on Demand as well, so their box office numbers are likely going to be weaker than their Tomatometer Scores. Cantinflas does have an outside shot at tenth place, so at least there's some good news as far as limited releases are concerned. Swearnet: The Movie might turn out to be the biggest hit of the weekend north of the border, but it doesn't open in the States till next month.
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July 1st, 2014
Overall, June was not good. Most films matched expectations, or came close enough that there weren't major disappointments. However, it looks like How to Train Your Dragon 2 will miss expectations by more than $100 million. This was such a massive amount that 2014 lost its lead over 2013 and not even Transformers: Age of Extinction's $100 million opening was able to turn things around. Looking forward to July, there's not a lot of good news. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes might be the only film coming out during July that will reach the $100 million milestone, but on the high end, it might reach the $200 million mark. There are a few others that have a shot, but are not favored to reach the century mark. On the other hand, there are more films that may or may not open / expand wide and even if they do, they will likely have no real impact at the box office. By comparison, last July, Despicable Me 2 was the top draw and finished with more than $350 million. There were also four other films that surpassed $100 million at the box office. It seems practically impossible for 2014 to match those numbers and will likely finish the month behind last year's pace. Overall, 2014 isn't doing poorly, but the summer has been much weaker than the spring was, so we've gone from potential record breaking year to merely average.
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June 9th, 2013
Snitch opened in late February, which is not a great time of year to release a major hit. It is not a complete dumping ground like January or September, but most films released during this month will be lucky just to become a midlevel hit. Snitch topped admittedly low expectations becoming a middling hit. A final box office of $43 million isn't bad for that time of year. Does this also describe its quality. Is it not bad, for a February release? Or is it better than its box office numbers would indicate?
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April 1st, 2013
March is over and while it is a little too soon to tell where a few films will end their box office runs, it is clear Oz The Great and Powerful won the month. Some films beat expectations to become midlevel hits, like The Call, but it wasn't a great month at the box office, especially compared to last year. This month, there are only seven wide releases spread over four weeks. Only one of those films, Oblivion, has a shot at being anything more than a midlevel hit. None of the other six releases look like they will come close to $100 million, but none of them look like obvious bombs either. (Although I do have my worries when it comes to Scary Movie 5.) Last April was even weaker with no film earning $100 million, although Think Like a Man did come relatively close. We might actually see growth on the year-over-year comparison. We'd better, because 2013 is behind 2012's pace by a huge margin at the moment and things will get worse when May arrives.
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February 1st, 2013
For the most part, January was a really good month and 2013 got off to a really good start. I'm not so sure about February, on the other hand. There's only one film that has a statistically significant shot at $100 million, A Good Day to Die Hard, but I'm a little concerned that it won't live up to expectations. The franchise has been around a long time and it is possible that the target audience has either moved on or are too young to remember when these films were huge at the box office. The film I'm most looking forward to seeing is Warm Bodies, which is earning amazing early reviews (the keyword there is "early"), but it is too high-concept to be a major hit. Last February, there were a couple of films that topped $100 million, plus a few other midlevel hits. I would like to think that would also be the case this year, but I have to be more cautious than that. The evidence points to a weak month ahead, for the most part.
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December 15th, 2012
We are getting closer and closer to Christmas and we are getting to the crunch time for gift shopping. After checking out first run releases and franchise box sets in Part I and TV on DVD releases in Part II, this week we look at limited releases, classics, and foreign films. Some are pretty obvious choices, as we had a few limited releases that broke into the mainstream during their theatrical releases, but there are also a few more films that slipped beneath the radar the last time around. The biggest of these is...
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October 1st, 2012
2012 continues its downward path. After a record-breaking spring, thanks to The Hunger Games, and a record-breaking start to the summer, thanks to The Avengers, the box office hasn't been able to maintain any real momentum. For most of the month, September was no better than August and now the year-over-year gains are just a little more than inflation. October will need to improve or 2012 will be in real trouble. Unfortunately, that might be tough. There's not a single film coming out in October that looks like it will be a guaranteed $100 million hit and there are only two films with a realistic chance, Taken 2 and Paranormal Activity 4. (There's also Cloud Atlas, which is a wild card. That movie could bomb or be the biggest hit of the month and I wouldn't be surprised either way.) There is a chance all three will get to the century mark, but there's a better chance none of them will. Last October, two films cracked $100 million: Paranormal Activity 3 and Puss in Boots, with the latter nearly reaching $150 million. I don't see any film coming close to matching that figure. On the other hand, last year there were six films that one could accurately describe as bombs. So while 2012 is weaker at the top, it could have better depth than 2011 did. Let's hope so, because we can't afford more bad news.
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