Box Office: Super-sized Thor and little films that could.

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office (Nov 3-5)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
1.🔺 Thor Ragnarok  $121 REVIEW, YOUR QUEEN	1.🔺 Let There Be Light $1.6 on 642 screens (cum. $4)
2.🔺 A Bad Mom's Christmas $17	2.🔺 LBJ $1.1 on 659 screens
3. Jigsaw  $6.7 (cum. $28.8) .	3.🔺 Florida Project $663k on 189 screens (cum. $3) REVIEW
4. Boo 2! A Madea Halloween  $4.6 (cum. $42.9)	4.🔺 Loving Vincent $590k on 205 screens (cum. $3)
5. Geostorm $3 (cum. $28.7) .	5.🔺 Killing of a Sacred Deer $401k (cum. $908k)  REVIEW

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It's Halloween-time at the Box Office

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office (October 27th-29th)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
1. 🔺 JIGSAW  $16.5 new	1. 🔺 LET THERE BE LIGHT $1.8 on 378 screens new
2.  BOO 2! A MADEA HALLOWEEN $10 (cum. $35.5)	2. 🔺 THE FLORIDA PROJECT $539k on 145 screens (cum. $2.1) REVIEW 1, REVIEW 2
3. GEOSTORM  $5.6 (cum. $23.5)	3.🔺 LOVING VINCENT $449k on 114 screens (cum. $2.1)
4. HAPPY DEATH DAY  $5.0 (cum. $48.3)	4. 🔺  GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN $330k on 213 screens (cum. $633k)
5. BLADE RUNNER 2049 $3.9 (cum. $81.3) REVIEW | SHORTS | "BESTS"	5. 🔺 THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER $221k on 33 screens (cum. $392k)  REVIEW

Moviegoers were in a horror mood -- what else is new? -- which is appropriate for Halloween time. Three of the top five were specifically seasonal while It logged what is probably it's last week in the top ten with another 2 million for its historical box office winnings. It's the highest grossing horror film ever now but only #4 of all time (not adjusted for inflation) in terms of R-rated films. It won't be able to overtake any of the top three: The Passion of the Christ, Deadpool, and American Sniper since it will surely lose a huge swath of theaters next weekend when everything at the multiplexes has to make room for Thor: Ragnarok...

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Box Office Weekend: Madea Rules, Snowman Drools

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office (October 20th-22nd)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
1. 🔺 BOO 2! A MADEA HALLOWEEN  $21.6 new	1.🔺 GOLMAAL AGAIN $1.0 on 265 screens new
2. 🔺 GEOSTORM $13.3 new	2. THE FLORIDA PROJECT $636k on 112 screens (cum. $1.3) REVIEW 1, REVIEW 2
3. HAPPY DEATH DAY  $9.3 (cum. $40.6)	3.🔺 LOVING VINCENT $391k on 114 screens (cum. $1.3)
4. BLADE RUNNER 2049  $7.1 (cum. $74) REVIEW | SHORTS | "BESTS"	4. MARK FELT $192k on 332 screens (cum. $491k)
5. 🔺  ONLY THE BRAVE $6 new	5. 🔺 BREATHE $155k on 311 screens (cum. $187k)
6. THE FOREIGNER  $5.4 (cum. $22.8)	6. GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN  $153k on 61 screens (cum. $232k)
7. IT  $3.5 (cum. $320.2) REVIEW | 5 TAKEAWAYS	7.THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER $114k on 4 screens new REVIEW

Another weekend that few studios will be celebrating, partially because there was so much competition with five new wide releases and five new platform releases...

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What did you see this weekend?

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office (October 13th-15th)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
1. 🔺 HAPPY DEATH DAY  $26.5 new	1.🔺 THE FLORIDA PROJECT $401k on 33 screens (cum. $623k) REVIEW 1, REVIEW 2
2. BLADE RUNNER 2049 $15.1 (cum. $60.5) REVIEW | SHORTS | "BESTS"	2. TIL DEATH DO US PART $319k on 400 screens (cum. $3.2)
3. 🔺 THE FOREIGNER  $12.8 new	3. THE STRAY $300k on 430 screens (cum. $1.2)
4. IT  $6 (cum. $314.9) REVIEW | 5 TAKEAWAYS	4. A QUESTION OF FAITH $155k on 228 screens (cum. $2.1)
5. 🔺  THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US $5.6 (cum. $20.5) REVIEW	5. 🔺 AMERICAN SATAN $132k on 55 screens new
6. AMERICAN MADE  $5.4 (cum. $40.1)	6. 🔺 MARK FELT $123k on 89 screens (cum. $257k)
7. KINGSMAN 2  $5.3 (cum. $89.6)	7. STRONGER $115k on 174 screens (cum. $4) REVIEW
8. LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE  $4.3 (cum. $51.5)	8. JUDWAA 2 $110k on 106 screens (cum. $1.4)
9. MY LITTLE PONEY  $4 (cum. $15.5)	9. 🔺 GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN $55k on 9 screens new
10. 🔺 VICTORIA & ABDUL  $3.1 (cum. $11.3) REVIEW	10. HUMAN FLOW $47k on 3 screens new
🔺 = new or significant expansion numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo

It was a rough weekend for awards hopefuls that weren't named Victoria & Abdul. Dame Dench's new vehicle moved into the top ten in its fourth weekend when it finally went wide. Other movies seeking adult audiences had a rougher go of it. The biopics Marshall and Professor Marston & The Wonder Women both opened outside of the top ten despite plentiful screens. (I took in Professor Marston and though it's a niche subject, it's surprisingly good with yet another excellent performance from the ever reliable Rebecca Hall.) More biographical awards hopefuls Goodbye Christopher Robin and Breathe also failed to attract much interest in their platform debuts. It's a tough world out there for non-genre titles that would like adults to go to the movies again!

The weekend's best per screen averages went to the documentary Human Flow and A24's The Florida Project which added 29 screens in its second weekend. WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND?

Dystopias Large (Blade Runner 2049) and Small (The Florida Project) at the Box Office

by Nathaniel R

Weekend Box Office (October 6th-8th)
BLADE RUNNER 2049	BATTLE OF THE SEXES
1.🔺 BLADE RUNNER 2049  $31.5 on 4000+ screens new BEST OF | SHORT FILMS	6. AMERICAN MADE $8 on 3000+ screens (cum. $30.4)
2.🔺 THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US $10.1 on 3000+ screens new	7. LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE $6.7 on 3600+ screens (cum. $43.8)
3. IT $9.6  on 3600+ screens (cum. $304.9) REVIEW | 5 TAKEAWAYS	8.🔺 VICTORIA & ABDUL $4.1 on 732 screens (cum. $5.9) BEST ACTRESS
4. 🔺 MY LITTLE PONY  $8.8 on 2500+ new	9. FLATLINERS  $3.8 on 2500+ screens (cum. $12.3) TRAILER
5.  KINGSMAN: GOLDEN CIRCLE  $8.1 on 3400+ screens (cum. $79.9)  REVIEW OF THE ORIGINAL	10. 🔺 BATTLE OF THE SEXES $2.4 on 1800+ screens  (cum.$7.6) BEST OF... | TRAILER
🔺 = new or significant expansion numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo

T'was a quieter weekend than forecasters predicted at the box office with the Blade Runner sequel having more trouble than expected (which wouldn't be trouble but for that $150 million budget -- hey, at least it's all on the screen!) The Mountain Between Us didn't turn into a towering counter-programming option but with a much much lower budget $35, it should be fine in the long run.

The week's most crowded theaters (albeit only 4 of them) belonged to A24's The Florida Project, which Chris reviewed and Jason shared a personal essay about here already. We highly recommend it. The film is off to a very solid platform start of $153,000. For context that's about 2½ times the first weekend of Sean Baker's previous awards worthy critical darling Tangerine , which also happened to be a supremely empathetic, wickedly funny, moving look at a marginalized community. We love Baker for his consistent great skill with first time actors and that singular but versatile niche. Much less popular but far more of a specialty audience only item was the debut of Agnes Varda's delightful new documentary Faces Places which Murtada reviewed.  

What did you see this weekend? Apart from Blade Runner 2049 (which, more soon) I had a theater weekend taking in "The Play That Goes Wrong" on Broadway and a very wacky very naked modern dance performance inspired by the films of Almodovar. No, really!