The DVD Wrapup: American Honey, Snowden, Man Called Ove, Orphan Killer and more

Even though American Honey was filmed on location in smallish towns throughout the Midwest – Walmart country, if you will — Arnold brought to the Cannes favorite a familiarity one might not have expected. That’s because, apart from hiring Shia LeBeouf and Riley Keogh for key roles, she committed herself to casting actors who she discovered on the street or virtual unknowns.

The Weekend Report (4-Day Christmas Edition)

Christmas got crowded but Rogue One led weekend movie charts with an estimated four-day gross of $93.3 million. As expected, the best of the new entries was animated Sing in second spot with a $56 million bow.

Trailing behind with fair results were the sci-fi Passengers that grossed $23 million, the videogame adaption Assassin’s Creed with $15.1 million and the dating comedy Why Him? with $16.8 million.

The Weekend Report

Rogue One continues to dominate seasonal moviegoing with an estimated $68.5 million for the three-day portion (four-day estimates arrive tomorrow) of the Christmas holidays.

The annual flood of new releases amounted to a lot of coal in stockings. One notable exception was animated Sing, which grossed $33.1 million and appears to be the year-end family option. Otherwise Yule openers struggled to find audiences including sci-fi Passengers, which grossed $13.9 million. Videogame adaptation Assassin’s Creed battled to $10.5 million and the dating comedy Why Him? made out with a $9.9 million.

Friday Box Office Estimates

Seven studio Christmas weekend releases, four going wide, with three in exclusive runs. There is no comparative title for Sing, but the closest seems to be Alvin & The Chipmunks, which ended up with over $200m domestic. Passengers is looking to be Jennifer Lawrence’s worst wide opening, though not disastrously so, as international is anticipated as a big part of the box office total. Why Him? is soft, though not far off Sisters last December. And Assassin’s Creed seems to be Fox betting that the title will be the next Warcraft, which did only 10% of its business domestically. Silence will be the per-screen winner for the weekend by far, with Patriots Day poised to eventually do better wide than in exclusive release.

The DVD Gift Guide 2: Da Cubs, Hellraiser, Downton Abbey, Bill & Ted; Bob Hope, Klown and more

.The nation’s longest-running soap opera ended this fall, after many generations of drama, romance, comedy, misplaced expectations, broken hearts, dismally small audiences and finally over-the-top ratings. It ran for more than a century, spanning the first isolated radio broadcast, in 1921, and the era of Internet streaming. Millions of fans lived and died without closure. It would come on a rainy early-November night in Cleveland, itself no stranger to heartbreaking losses, in an extra-inning baseball game fraught with tension and mixed emotions. Anyone who hasn’t already guessed that the subject of this review is the Chicago Cubs’ World Series championship – ending a 108-year drought — need never consider auditioning for “Jeopardy!” or any sports game show.

The Weekend Report

Rogue One was the kind of rebel the movie industry adores as it hurtled into cinemas with an estimated $155.4 million, accounting for about 70% of all weekend movie sales. That didn’t leave much for the competition including the session’s other wide freshman opener, Collateral Beauty, which ranked fourth with a grim $6.9 million.

Friday Box Office Estimates

What more is there to say than, “Star Wars: Rogue One?” It is impossible to say exactly what the $70m Friday-plus opening will lead to this weekend, but using The Force Awakens as a comp, it should do about $150m over the 3-day-plus opening. Nothing to sneeze at, but not Top 10 all-time either. Also opening, Collateral Beauty, for which there is more than enough room in the marketplace as a counterprogrammer, meaning that it is not collateral damage, just a flop in its own right Also, expansions of La La Land and Manchester by the Sea go well, if not shockingly so.

The DVD Wrapup: Streep Sings, Obama’s Date, Seagal Kills, Noir Classics, Roma, Driller Killer and more

Florence Foster Jenkins: Blu-ray Anyone who watches Florence Foster Jenkins and opines, “That’s a role only Meryl Strep could play,” would only be half right. As terrific as Streep is, playing the most innocently delusional opera diva of the twentieth century, her characterization was equaled months earlier by perennial César Award candidate Catherine Frot, in Marguerite,…

The Weekend Report

Moana remained atop the marketplace for the third week with an estimated $18.9 million, ahead of incoming Office Christmas Party, at $17.4 million. The session’s only other wide opener (following two weeks exclusive), Miss Sloane, lobbied only $1.9 million. Also sputtering was romantic comedy The Bounce Back with a $229,000 tally from 608 dates.

Friday Box Office Estimates

The top grosser of the weekend will be Office Christmas Party. But the lead story will be La La Land, which, on five screens, will be behind only 1995’s Pocahontas and 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel in per-screen opening average on more than two screens.

The DVD Wrapup: Secret Life of Pets, JT Leroy, Just Eat It, Howard’s End, Quiet Earth, Henry, Phantasm and more

Somehow, it took almost a quarter-century for an animation studio – in this case, Universal’s ambitious Illumination Entertainment division — to merge the core elements of “America’s Funniest Pets” and Pixar’s Toy Story franchise into a spanking-new entertainment franchise. Emboldened by the success of Despicable Me and Minions, IE wisely invested its financial resources in The Secret Life of Pets, a 3D computer-animated buddy/adventure/comedy about what happens when our pets are left to their own devices. The A-list cast of voice actors probably had something to do with the stunning box-office appeal as well.

DVD Geek: Hail, Caesar!; House Of Cards; It Came From Outer Space; Independence Day: Resurgence

With Hail, Caesar!, Joel and Ethan Coen again prove that the Bros. do not make normal movies.

The Weekend Report

Moana continued to hold top spot among moviegoers with an estimated weekend gross of $28 million. The seasonal tradition of audiences giving priority for holiday preparation has translated into low box office in early December for as long as anyone can remember. This year was no exception and the sole national release for the frame – the bargain-budget Exorcist-inspired Incarnate – struggling for a top 10 spot with a $2.6 million box office.

Friday Box Office Estimates

It’s one of Hollywood’s least favorite weekends, the first weekend of December. The only new wide release is from a little-known independent. The bright light is Fox Searchlight’s Jackie, which is on five screens, averaging $18k on Friday alone, suggesting a weekend per-screen of over $50,000 per.