Mr Burton's Box Office For CGI Whimsy

If you were a peculiar orphan with supernatural powers could you imagine anyone more perfect than Eva Green to be your guardian? Tim Burton may not be the director he used to be in quality or bankablity but he was smart to latch on to Eva Green as his latest pale skinned raven haired muse. She ran so many circles around everything else that was happening in Dark Shadows (2012) it's a miracle that it was her character and not the film that cracked apart and crumbled. Her reviews are strong again for this new fantasy film.

TOP TEN WIDE
01 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children $28.5 NEW 
02 Deepwater Horizon $20.6 NEW 
03 The Magnificent Seven $15.7 (cum. $61.6)  Review
04 Storks $13.8 (cum. $38.8) 
05 Sully $8.4 (cum. $105.3) Review
06 Masterminds $6.6 NEW
07 Queen of Katwe $2.6 (cum. $3) Review
08 Don't Breathe $2.3 (cum. $84.7)
09 Bridget Jones's Baby $2.3 (cum. $20.9)  Review
10 Snowden $2 (cum $18.7) 

TOP TEN LIMITED
(Excluding Previously Wide)
01 M.S. Dhoni The Untold Story $1.2 NEW
02 No Manches Frida $380K (cum. $10.9)
03 The Dressmaker $357K (cum. $622K) 
04 The Beatles: Eight Days a Week $355K (cum. $2)
05 I Belonged To You $325K NEW
06 Denial $102K NEW
07 Don't Think Twice $99K (cum. $4.1) Review
08 The Hollars $98K (cum. $910K)
09 American Honey $75K NEW 
10 A Man Called Ove $61K NEW Sweden's Oscar Submission

In limited release it's clear by now that niche distributors need to study whatever it is companies like FIP and China Lion are doing because they keep managing strong opening weekend grosses for Bollywood films and Chinese films without so much as a sliver of traditional US media promotion.

What did you see this weekend?

I got a cold (boo) so I missed a screening or two (no one needs someone sneezing through a whole movie while they're watching it) but did manage to catch up with the Molly Shannon cancer dramedy Other People (and the review and interview right here) which were all quite enjoyable.

The Magnificent...Two

Movie Stars still matter. As long as they're real movie stars and not just "leads". Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks both became famous in the 1980s and they continue to be two of the most reliable leading men thirty-ish years after their first hits. So nothing about the success of The Magnificent Seven and Sully is complicated or surprising. Congrats to those perennials. Here are the weekend box office charts:

TOP TEN WIDE
01 The Magnificent Seven $35 NEW Review
02 Storks $21.8 NEW 
03 Sully $13.8 (cum. $92.3)  Review
04 Bridget Jones's Baby $4.5 (cum. $16.4) Review
05 Snowden $4.1 (cum. $15.1)
06 Blair Witch $3.9 (cum $16.1) Review & Remembering Blair Witch (1999)
07 Don't Breathe $3.8 (cum. $81.1)
08 Suicide Squad $3.1 (cum. $318.1) Review & Worst of Year
09 When the Bough Breaks $2.5 (cum. $26.6)
10 Kubo and the Two Strings $1.1 (cum $45.9) Review

TOP TEN LIMITED
(Excluding Previously Wide)
01 No Manches Frida $740K (cum. $10.3)
02 The Beatles: Eight Days a Week... $397K (cum. $1.4)
03 The Queen of Katwe $305K NEW 
04 The Hollars $273K (cum. $729K)
05 The Dressmaker $180K NEW
06 Don't Think Twice $132K (cum $4) Review 
07 Hunt for the Wilderpeople $78K (cum. $5) Review
08 Cafe Society $57K (cum. $10.9) Review 
09 Greater $55K (cum. $1.8)
10 Indignation $25K (cum $3.3) Review

While the inspirational drama Queen of Katwe didn't exactly sell out its shows this weekend at 52 locations, word of mouth has been so strong on that picture that we can expect it will expand well once that word of mouth has a chance to be heard. The Dressmaker wasn't quite as big a draw in select cities but Kate Winslet and the movie's wackiness (anyone longing for the days of hit Australian comedy imports of the 1990s should run to the theater) should help keep that one afloat for a bit.

What did you see this weekend?

Box Office: John, Paul, Ringo, George... and Sully

What did you see at the movies this weekend? Or were you too busy bingewatching Emmy nominees before the ceremony tonight? Here's what was hottest at the box office. Other than Sully and the new Beatles Documentary Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years (which won the highest per screen average of the weekend on its 85 screens), "lukewarm" might be a better description for the new releases, none of which cracked 8 figures. Sorry Bridget! You've been gone too long.

TOP TEN
01 Sully $22 (cum. $70.5) Review
02 Blair Witch $9.6 NEW Review & Remembering Blair Witch (1999)
03 Bridget Jones's Baby $8.2 NEW Review
04 Snowden $8 NEW 
05 Don't Breathe $5.6 (cum. $75.3)
06 When the Bough Breaks $5.5 (cum $22.6)
07 Suicide Squad $4.7 (cum. $313.7) Review & Worst of Year
08 The Wild Life $2.6 (cum. $6.6)
09 Kubo and the Two Strings $2.5 (cum. $44.2) Review
10 Pete's Dragon $2 (cum $72.8)  Review

Next week Sully will surely be overthrown when Denzel and six other magnificents arrive in that shoot-em-up western.

Box Office

The box office numbers are too dire to report for the holiday weekend. Suicide Squad crossed the $300 million mark (who is still seeing this and why? It is utterly awful.) It's huge haul will ensure that Hollywood need not worry about the execution of their movies, only the brand names surrounding the movies. Depressing. The Light Between Oceans performed about half as well as expected (ouch) even though it's quite touching and reportedly faithful to the popular novel -- which ensures that Hollywood will continue to be afraid to release adult dramas outside of October-December. Depressing. A huge second week for Don't Breathe will ensure that the easiest money bet in movies (budget to potential gross) continues to be in the gore/horror genre -- just don't get too arty because then you don't cross over! (Depressing but also true for I think as long as I've been alive so whatever). And the intensely pleasurable Love & Friendship (on DVD this week) is losing its crown as the #1 platform release of the summer to Hell or High Water.

Can you tell I'm depressed? Cheer me up by telling me about your favorite screening this weeked, movie, streaming, tv, whatever. What's good?

Box Office Special: 1984 Hits

Rather than talk about this weekend's boring box office results (nothing new to see here beyond a big weekend for that new kill-the-trespassing-teenagers flick Don't Breathe) let's travel back to 1984 which was a hugely influential year for franchises of many kinds. What can the biggest hits tell us about the then and the now? 

TOP TWENTY OF 1984
numbers adjusted for today's dollars via box office mojo

01 Ghostbusters $589.6  
Two Oscar nods. Spawned 1 terrible sequel, two animated TV shows, and this year's reboot

02 Beverly Hills Cop $581.5
Led to two sequels, a TV remake, and a TV pilot that wasn't picked up. Beverly Hills Cop 4 has been in some stage of development for 20+ years and is still supposedly being made. We'll believe it when we see it.

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