The Weekend Report

The Split held sway at the box office with a second weekend estimate of $26.2 million. Nipping at its heels was newcomer A Dog’s Purpose that wow bowed at $18.4 million. Also debuting were a fond farewell for Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, slotting fourth with $13.5 million and pure pyrite for Gold that opened to $3.4 million.

Friday Estimates

Split becomes a monster for Universal, likely to hold off the family film, A Dog’s Purpose, also from a happy Universal, scoring early in 2017 with 2 non-franchise films, reminding the industry that IP is not the only way. Resident Evil 6 doesn’t care much about the soft US opening. Their grosses have been 80% international the last 2 films, both over $195 million. La La Land and Hidden Figures both pass $100m domestic this weekend, buoyed by Oscar noms. Even with a nice expansion bump, Team La may be a little disappointed that the bump isn’t bigger. They’ll live. And the weekend bump may well be bigger than the Friday. Gold fools.

The DVD Wrapup: Inferno, Handmaiden, Light Between Oceans, Black Girl, Man Who Fell to Earth, Monster, Takashi Miike, Korean War … More

On the plus side, the action carries us, along with Langdon and Brooks, from Florence to Vienna, Budapest and Istanbul’s magnificent Hagia Sophia and Basilica Cistern. If Nostradamus had compared notes with Dante, viewers are led to believe, we might have been able to avoid 9/11, the 2008 Depression and the Trump presidency.

The Weekend Report

The Split decision was a knockout as M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller doubled the box office of any weekend contender with an estimated debut of $40.1 million. xXx: Return of Xander Cage was in a distant second with $20.1 million. The Founder had a disappointing national franchise of $3.5 million, while comic faith tale The Resurrection of Gavin Stone sputtered to $1.3 million.

Friday Estimates

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The DVD Wrapup: Girl on the Train, Whole Truth, Dancer, Death Race 2050, Train to Busan, Fox and his Friends, Something Wild,and more

My biggest problem with the movie derives from an early confusion of blond actresses and a subsequent lack of interest on my part in the plight of their characters and their marriages. Eliminating their points of view from the narrative made Anna and Megan seem more distant to me. (Or, am I prejudiced against pretty blonds living in nice homes?)

The 4-Day Weekend Report

Not a lot changed from the 3-day estimates to the 4-days. Hidden Figures stays out front, cracking $60m cume. The 2 family films, Sing and Monster Trucks (first and last time you will see them mentioned in the same sentence) both are estimating stronger days today than the adult fare. And La La Land stays bullish, breaking past $75m domestic 8 days before Oscar nomination morning.

(No Klady column today)

The Weekend Report

Hidden Figures seemed an all-too-appropriate chart topper for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend with an estimated three-day $20.4 million box office. The first holiday of 2017 offered three new national releases and two limited releases going wide, to grim or bland response. The chief exception was horror The Bye Bye Man , slashing to a $13.4 million debut. The ticking clock Sleepless grossed a passable $8.2 million while the widening of Patriots Day was nearly a flag-waver with $11.9 million. The media has already had a field day with commercial pileup Monster Trucks, which revved up to $10.5 million. But the abject rejection of Ben Affleck’s Live By Night prohibition era gangster costumer hasn’t received its fair share of ink. It bowed nationally to $5.2 million.

Friday Box Office Estimates

A big weekend for expansions and newcomers with one—Hidden Figures, Patriots Day, La La (which also adds IMAX screens), or the other, Bye Bye Man, taking up the top four slots plus another two openers (Sleepless, Monster Trucks) and an expansion (Live by Night) in the top 10. Sitting pat are the two big Christmas hits, Rogue One and Sing, and last week’s disappointing launch for Underworld 5. In limited/exclusive, if your film is in English, it’s not opening to 10k per or better this week.

The DVD Wrapup: Deepwater Horizon, My King, Hickey, Fritz Bauer, Murderlust, Brad Paisley, Since MLK, Broad City … More

Typically, I don’t enjoy reliving disasters on film, whether they’re of the natural variety or manmade. By the time a movie gets released, we’ve absorbed enough actual reporting on the event to make most dramatizations superfluous, if not downright exploitative. Judging from largely unimpressive box-office numbers for recent movies based on such tragedies, I’m pretty sure that the public has grown weary of the instant-replay approach, as well. The producers of Deepwater Horizon had their work cut out for them, because the manmade catastrophe played out in three distinct stages, all well-covered in visual and print media.

The Weekend Report

A definite horse race, but Rogue One edged out the national expansion of Hidden Figures with respective estimated weekends of $21.8 million and $21.7 million. The session’s sole new national release was the latest installment of the Underworld franchise, Blood Wars, with $12.9 million.

Friday Box Office Estimates

Christmas limited Hidden Figures goes right to the top of New Year’s hangover weekend with a solid $20m+ opening weekend. The return of Underworld arrives in the U.S. with a thud, but the hope for big returns on this are around the world, where the franchise broke through with its most recent episode (2012), doubling its previous best effort and giving hope that this will be a $100m+ grosser internationally. La La Land doubles its screen count weeks before Oscar nominations (and hours before winning Best Musical/Comedy at The Globes, which don’t drive business) and stays even… which might be disappointing for Lionsgate. But it will pass $50 million this weekend and will keep chugging towards $100m domestic, so cheer up!

The DVD Wrapup: Middle School, Operation Avalanche, Blair Witch, Red Skelton and more

The title, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, pretty much sums up the feeling most kids have about the period when they’re forced to come into direct contact with boys and girls their age, but not necessarily from the same neighborhoods or social, ethnic and financial conditions. In John Hughes’ movies, it’s possible for characters from disparate backgrounds to conclude – occasionally under duress – that opposites not only can attract, but reveal an entirely new world of possibilities. Then, when high school beckons, the cycle begins anew. If nothing else, it’s good practice for, college, the military, work and in-laws.

The Weekend Report (3-Day)

Rogue One made it three in a row with an estimated $49.2 million (all numbers reflect 3-day portion of holiday with updates tomorrow) at the top of the box office charts as 2017 rang in. Sing closed the gap with $41.4 million. Award season favorites, including La La Land, Fences, Manchester By the Sea, Lion and Hidden Figures saw potent spikes.