Weekend Box Office: Chris Pratt Makes Money

By Ben Miller

It was a Chris Pratt-dominated weekend as the Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 easily won the weekend box office with around $114 million.  It's certainly below the norm for other MCU films, but largely positive critical reviews (81% on Rotten Tomatoes) and an "A" CinemaScore should give the film legs compared to other recent Marvel films.  The Super Mario Bros. Movie continues it's box office reign as the highest grossing film of 2023.  The Nintendo adaptation is now sitting at 17th all-time in the domestic rankings and at $1.1 billion worldwide, sits at 25th all-time.  By the way, fifty-one films have made over $1 billion and Pratt has been in six of them...

Weekend Box Office (actuals) May 5th-7th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 800 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
GUARDIANS VOL. 3	JOYLAND
1 🔺  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3 $118.4 *NEW* 4450 screens	1 SOMEWHERE IN QUEENS (US) $78k (cum. $1.5) 122 screens

Click to read more ...

Weekend Box Office: Mario Closes in on a Billion

By Ben Miller

For the third straight week, The Super Mario Bros. Movie ran away with the weekend box office, this time to the tune of $59.9 million.  That's good for the 7th-best third weekend in history.  The domestic total currently sits at $436 million with a matching number overseas.  At $870 million and climbing, expect it to become a billion dollar film (and probably franchise) in the upcoming weeks.  Couterprogramming did pretty good for the horror sequel Evil Dead Rise with a solid $24.5 million haul.  That's equivalent to its 2013 predecessor, which ended at around $54 million.  With a $19 million budget, it once again shows that horror is the most profitable of genres...

Weekend Box Office (actuals) April 21st-23rd 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 800 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE	SOMEWHERE IN QUEENS
1 THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE $59.9 (cum. $436) 4,350 screens	1 🔺 SOMEWHERE IN QUEENS $671k *NEW* 602 screens

Click to read more ...

Weekend Box Office: (Studio) Movies are Back!

By Ben Miller

For the seventh straight week, a new film at the box office is the new number one.  There was little doubt The Super Mario Bros. Movie would dominate, but I don't think anyone saw how much it would make.  The Nintendo/Illumination film make a whopping $166 million over the long Easter weekend.  That's good for the third-best Easter weekend opening ever behind Furious 7 and Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Elsewhere, the numbers two, three, and four film were all real close with John Wick: Chapter 4, Ben Affleck's Air, and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves around $15-16 million.  Those are some pretty solid numbers for counterprogramming to the kid-centric Mario.  (Big-budget, studio) Movies are back, baby!

Weekend Box Office (actuals) April 7th-10th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 800 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE	HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE
1 🔺 THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE $166.4 (cum. $224.7) 4,343 screens	1 🔺 LA USURPADORA: THE MUSICAL $128k *NEW* 313 screens

Click to read more ...

Weekend Box Office: Shyamalan and the Brady Ladies Dethrone Avatar

By Ben Miller

It only took eight weeks, but Avatar: The Way of Water is no longer the top film at the box office.  M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin and the award-winning ladies of 80 for Brady both managed to top James Cameron's sequel, though not with any overwhelming numbers.  Both films managed just north of $14 and $12 million, respectively.  More than anything else, it's just nice to have some competition and new things to watch in theaters.  Studios are releasing less and less these days...

Weekend Box Office (actuals) Feb 3rd-5th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended /  = Oscar Nominated
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
KNOCK AT THE CABIN	PATHAAN
1 🔺 KNOCK AT THE CABIN $14.1 *NEW* 3,646 screens	1  PATHAAN $2.6 (cum. $14.2) 683 screens
2 🔺 80 FOR BRADY $12.7 *NEW* 3,912 screens	2 THE WANDERING EARTH II $624k (cum. $4.1) 172 screens

Click to read more ...

Weekend Box Office: The Oscar Bump

By Ben Miller

Yes, Avatar: The Way of Water won the box office battle for the seventh straight week.  Yes, it's now one of four highest-grossing films in history (the third James Cameron-directed film to achieve that).  Yes, it will end up being one of the biggest domestic hits in history.  But, I'm much more interested in the rest of the box office.  Following Tuesday's Oscar nods, several of the big contenders received a much needed expansion and a little financial boost...  

Weekend Box Office (actuals) Jan 27th-29th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
THE WAY OF WATER	PATHAAN
1 ★ AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER $15.9 (cum. $620.8) 3,600 screens	1 🔺 PATHAAN $6.8 *NEW* 695 screens
2 ★ PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH  $10.4 (cum. $140.7) 3,452 screens	2 THE WANDERING EARTH II $1.4 (cum. $3.0) 142 screens

Click to read more ...