Having missed the weekend in which G.I. Joe: Retaliation took charge of the box office thanks to a horrific flu (though to be fair, no movie was responsible for that condition), Box Office Weekend returns only to report that the sequel has been upended, both critically and financially, by the remake of Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror classic Evil Dead. Scoring a strong estimated $26 million in revenue, th...[Read More]
Oz the Great and Powerful finally met its match in not one, but two films released this weekend. The Croods got off to a rousing start with an estimated $44 million, proving itself a winner among audiences and critics. Olympus Has Fallen got mixed critical response, but with an estimated $30.5 million the so-called “Die Hard in the White House” had a better reception than the fifth Die Hard film, ...[Read More]
Oz the Great and Powerful did it again; though it has yet to make up its costs domestically (the film cost $215 million), it is well on its way there, with a second week performance of an estimated $42.2 million. So far, the film has been a strong contender here and overseas, its $281.1 million in worldwide totals making it a solid blockbuster success. The Call cannot claim that level of success, ...[Read More]
If there was to be any film to slay the mediocre Jack the Giant Slayer, it would be Oz the Great and Powerful, and the Sam Raimi-directed prequel did not disappoint; while it still has a long ways to go to make up its $215 million budget, it made a much better head start than the Bryan Singer-directed megaflop. Oz the Great and Powerful made an estimated $80.3 million, well ahead of any contender,...[Read More]
Originally slated for release last year, Jack the Giant Slayer opened in first place with (for any other film) a strong $28 million estimate…but whether it is due to the delays or other factors, it faces a serious uphill battle, with middling reviews and a budget bigger than its CG giants at a whopping $195 million. However, it has yet to see overseas release, where special-effects laden films hav...[Read More]
On a night all about the movies, it may be ironic that overall profits are down to early February levels…with the red carpet bringing out the stars and awards for the films of 2012, the current fare at the theaters are not bringing out the dollars, especially with only three of the top ten being critically acclaimed. Identity Thief, which fell to A Good Day to Die Hard last week, came back to the ...[Read More]
While the overall revenue at the box office has increased over the last two weeks, the latest installment in the Die Hard franchise, A Good Day to Die Hard, has first place standing at the box office with a mixed blessing. While it was the strongest performer of the weekend with an estimated $25 million (and $33.2 million counting its Valentine’s Day opening), the $92 million action flick has to h...[Read More]
As Valentine’s Day nears, you would expect to see more romantic movies hitting the cinema. Instead, the big winners of the weekend turned out to be an off-kilter comedy and a decidedly unconventional love story. Identity Thief debuted as the top spot taker, the Jason Bateman/Melissa McCarthy comedy earning back its entire budget in a single weekend with an estimated $36.6 million, though critics a...[Read More]
Box office totals continue to recede through the cold months of 2013, with very few new names to cheer things up. Of the two new releases to make any waves, only one was able to claim a top three victory: Warm Bodies, the $30 million budgeted horror-comedy-romance of a zombie whose love for a human slowly brings him back to life, made a strong first weekend showing with an estimated $19.5 million ...[Read More]
With Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first starring role on the big screen since his political career ended (not including his ensemble role in The Expendables 2) and a noir thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe, the top draw was…a PG-13 rated ghost story? Yes, with a cast and crew whose biggest name is Gullermo del Toro as an executive producer, Mama led the box office, with an estimated $28....[Read More]
While returns for the year are down from the end of 2012 and the new year’s debuts have failed to impress thus far, Django Unchained nevertheless failed to stay on top against one critically acclaimed film and two…well, not-so-acclaimed ones. Zero Dark Thirty, entering its fourth week of release with an expansion of nearly 3,000 new theaters, drew in the most crowds with an estimated $24 million. ...[Read More]
Be it chopping off limbs or…threatening to chop off certain limbs, there is no shortage of moviegoers starting 2013 by seeing plenty of blood and gore, whether it was that this week’s big winner (but critical loser) Texas Chainsaw 3D with an estimated $23 million or critical winner Django Unchained with an estimated $20.1 million. Django Unchained is still not director Quentin Tarantino’s most suc...[Read More]