For anyone who ever said sequels are tired, old, and only a matter of diminishing returns, there is the Fast and the Furious franchise. Only getting more and more critically acclaimed as each new entry comes out, the latest, Furious 7, not only did well with critics, but at an absolutely bang-up estimated weekend of $143.6 million broke numerous April box office records and is already poised to be...[Read More]
Critics considered it decidedly average at best, but that did not stop DreamWorks’ latest effort Home from being the big box office winner of the weekend with an estimated $54 million. It, however, has a long way to go to make back its $135 million costs (and that includes foreign box office), while the similarly excoriated Get Hard, with Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart, got an estimated $34.6 million...[Read More]
With Young Adult fiction making good bank at the box office, it should be no surprise that the dystopian Divergent movies are moving along well with a first-place finish for The Divergent Series: Insurgent and an estimated $54 million to start the weekend right, even if critics are lambasting it. It is not getting as much flak as The Gunman; debuting in fourth with an estimated $5 million, the Sea...[Read More]
Director Neill Blomkamp took the weekend box office with his latest science fiction epic Chappie, though it is not as impressive a debut as it might seem. With the box office even down from last week, Chappie and its estimated $13.3 million is a weak start for a $49 million budgeted film…and it has not seen much better in overseas earnings. Focus, on the other hand, is seeing some pick up th...[Read More]
It is a slow week for new releases. After the smash opening weekend of Fifty Shades of Grey, the box office took a nose dive as Will Smith and his con artist comedy/drama Focus opened in first place with a fairly tepid estimated $19.1 million, a rough start to the $50 million budgeted film. In second, Kingsman: The Secret Service finds it has settled comfortably in second place for the third week ...[Read More]
Critics and audiences do not always agree, and little more is this evidence than with Fifty Shades of Grey. With an estimated domestic weekend of $23.2 million, the film has become a worldwide sensation, costing $40 million to make and grossing $410.6 million in total box office around the world, despite lackluster reviews. Second-place place finisher, Kingsman: The Secret Service, with an estimat...[Read More]
Controversy can lead to the demise or the rise of many films, good and bad alike. For the highly anticipated (but critically panned) Fifty Shades of Grey, the controversy was enough to make Presidents’ Day Weekend a profitable one, earning an estimated $81.7 million here and nearly $240 million worldwide, making the $40 million production a runaway success. It won out over the much better reviewed...[Read More]
While it spent three weeks in limited release, American Sniper benefited greatly from an increase in the number of theaters over the weekend, as well as Oscar buzz and good reviews. Its estimated $90.2 million weekend is a box office record for January, and nothing else even came close. Not to say the competition fared poorly in comparison to their own goals…The Wedding Ringer was not well r...[Read More]
Critics may have been very much unimpressed with the Liam Neeson-helmed Taken 3, but audiences made the latest in the action-thriller franchise a box office hit over the weekend. With an estimated $40.4 million, nothing else came close, even the acclaimed Selma, which entered wide release this week and earned an estimated $11.2 million. Still, both films made strong bids against their production c...[Read More]