James

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE Doctor Strange and Trolls top enormous weekend. - Doctor Strange surpassed all expectations, opening to a mighty $493k. Since the movie is distributed by Forum Film Romania and they no longer provide admission figures (only lc and USD), we don't have exact ticket figures, but a comparison with Captain America: Civil War, which opened earlier this year and was also exclusively distributed in 3D and IMAX 3D, leads me to believe Doctor Strange sold about 84.000 admissions for the weekend (the error range should be less than +/- 1.000). Either way, that is the second best Marvel start ever, in both admissions and USD, only after Civil War (87.146 adm and $511k). It is also the 5th biggest CBM opening ever, behind Batman v Superman (128.687 adm and $691k), Deadpool (118.389 adm and $759k), Suicide Squad (94.698 adm and $523k) and Civil War. Now, Civil War had awful legs and topped at $1.18m, leaving Thor: The Dark World as the highest grossing Marvel movie in USD still ($1.47m) and Avengers: Age of Ultron as the most attended one (233.409 adm). If Strange develops decent legs it could become the new MCU champion in both adm and USD. At the very least is should beat Civil War though. - Trolls might've had to settle for second, but it's 69.677 admissions and $332k debut is absolutely incredible! It is actually the 4th biggest OW for an animation ever, behind Minions (101.889 adm), Frozen (73.854 adm) and Hotel Transylvania 2 (73.103 adm). It is as such the 2nd biggest OW for an original animation, after only Frozen. Trolls came out of nowhere and even with the competition up ahead it should be able to at least top $1m. Actually, I see it closer to $1.5m! - In face of huge competition, The Accountant dropped 51%, but it's weekdays were nothing short of exceptional and it now reached $329k. It is still headed for around $600k. - Hacksaw Ridge debuted in fourth, with 16.190 adm and $78k. That is actually decent, considering how crowded this fall adult season was. WOM is also good so it should be able to reach a nice multiplier. - Inferno held well once again, easing 37% for $768k to date. That being said, it now appears that it will fall short of $1m. Even so, it became the highest grossing and most attended movie in the Robert Langdon franchise. - Jack Reacher: Never Go Back had another ugly drop (-56%), but the total is still good: $495k. - Ouija: Origin of Evil was down 58%, which is pretty standard for horror movies, especially after Halloween. It now stands at $143k. - Local sensation Doua Lozuri registered the best hold in Top 10 (-35%) and passed the $500k border ($506k), only the second local flick to do so after #Selfie69. - The Disappointments Room was down 55% after it's OW and now stands at $92k. - And Storks closes the top, after a phenomenal 35% hold against Trolls' massive opening. Week to week though, it basically stayed flat, for $565k to date. Top 10 Next week's openers: - Arrival - Florence Foster Jenkins - Shut In After this crazy weekend, things are cooling down a bit, which should allow for some good drops from the holdovers. The strongest of the newcomers will likely be Arrival. SF movies this time of year have always done good business. In 2015 - The Martian opened to 52.989 admissions, in 2014 - Interstellar debuted with 58.492 admissions, and in 2013 - Gravity opened to 32.042 adm. All of those movies had excellent legs and ended up making over $1m. The presales for Arrival look weaker though. Also, unlike those other movies, it doesn't benefit from 3D or IMAX (that still goes to Doctor Strange until Fantastic Beasts arrives). So I'm guessing an opening in the 20.000-25.000 adm area, followed by great legs. I hope it will surprise me an make more. Florence Foster Jenkins looks pretty weak, so a debut in the 15.000 adm zone should be considered a win. Shut In goes under 10.000 adm for sure. TOP 20 movies of 2016 so far: ***The bolded titles are still playing.

Oh, and MCU ranking: 1. AoU: 8.5 2. Thor: 8.5 3. Civil War: 8.5 3. IM3: 8 4. WS: 7.5 5. TA: 7.5 6. IM: 7 7. IM2: 7 8. TDW: 6.5 9. AM: 6 10. CA: 5 11. GotG: 4 Haven't seen Hulk or Strange yet.

Hmm... in terms of CBM anticipation, I will watch JL in theaters for sure. I think I will go to cinema for Thor 3 as well, because I'm a sucker for mythology (even though Thor 2 sucked). WW is a maybe, idk, I'm not really excited for it. Logan is a so-so. Looks like something I would watch at home, which is surprising considering how much I love X-Men. I didn't like the first GotG so I won't see the second. Maybe I will watch Lego Batman at home. Maybe. And I absolutely hate the new Spidey so that also goes at home... maybe.

I fully agree with you on Animal Farm. But that was, as Wiki says, an adult oriented movie. I should have mentioned that in my comment. I am referring to the 99.9% of Hollywood animations. My post was in response to Disney (and Zootopia), particularly. I know animation can be a medium for tackling serious issues (look at Japan and it's animes), but not kids movies.

The problem with animal animations is that the only thing they can do properly is humor. I find it pretty funny that some flicks are noted for their heart. It's not like they can properly tackle social issues. It's more of a mockery of that, dumbed down so 5-6 yo don't get bored. If you want a movie about social issues, go watch a movie about social issues. The reason Illumination is so incredibly successful is that what you see is what you get: a comedy both adults and kids can laugh at. I don't find anything wrong with that. And it seems to be working very well for them. If Sing meets most prediction around here, they will have two 600m+ animations and two new massive franchises in one year. Also, the reason why Zootopia made more than Pets WW is because Disney is more of a brand in Asia. Illumination has time to grow.

Just watched The Secret Life of Pets and wow. I can understand why it was s huge. As an animal lover, it is IMPOSSIBLE not to love this movie. It is funny and batshit crazy at times. And the cat! Seriously, it's EXACTLY like my cat! I don't even remember the last time I had such a blast watching an animation.

I'm not saying I don't want strong reviews for FB, but you really think the Potter fanbase, one of the most fanatic ones ever, will give a damn about reviews. Even if it is a horrendous movie it will still easily make 600m WW. But early WOM is very positive. So I doubt it endS under 80% on RT.

So Strange only got 5.7m pounds this entire week, despite opening to 9.3m? I know the OW was more than 3 days, but that seems like a pretty big drop. Is that normal?

Nah. Just different strokes for different folks. Generally, if a movie is at least decent, the only thing I'm interested in is how much fun it is. If it is less then decent, then I tend to nitpick at it. CA1 was just boring to me.

Looks good. Side note, but I remember watching X-Men: Evolution growing up. What a great show!

Unpopular opinion, I know. But I had a blast watching it.

So ranking and grades Captain America - 5 (I think it might be the worst Marvel flick for me... haven't seen the Hulk ones) Winter Soldier - 7.5 Civil War - 8.5 First Class - 7.5 Days of Future Past - 9 Apocalypse - 9.5

Wow. LOTR/Hobbit and Potter are dominating Europe. Really curious if Fantastic Beasts will join the list.

Why not? Serious question. I want to understand. Does it have to do with physical sales taking over?

So: Thor 2 Midnight : 7.1 Fri (sans md): 24.8 Sat: 32 (+30%) Sun: 21.7 (-32%) OW: 85.7m Strange Midnight: 9.4m Fri (sans md): 21m Sat: 27.4 (+30%) Sun: 18.6 (-32%) OW: 77.4m Might be nothing, but on MT Strange keeps losing ground to Trolls (went from 51% to 46% in a couple of hours, while Trolls strongly increased). Assuming it follows Thor 2 on the weekend, I don't think 200m is locked. It would need a 2.6x multi, which, considering how CBMs fared this year and the MASSIVE competition up ahead (FB, Moana + SW in a a month) might prove difficult. It has a good shot? OF COURSE. But it is not locked.

I don't know what's more shocking: that Deadline was actually right for once (mostly), or that DS is so frontloaded. It's an 'original' movie ffs. I'm starting to think the next Avengers movie won't hit higher than a 2-2.2x multi. Same for DC.

Seriously, Storks' run makes no freakin sense!

I am torn between wanting DS to do well because it is THE FIRST Marvel movie I actually want to see in theaters (I was dragged to AoU) and wanting it to open on the lower side of estimates because I want Fantastic Beasts to have as less competition as possible. Damn it! But 75-80m is still a great number!

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE I know it's late, but here's how the last weekend went. - The Accountant took first place, with a very strong 35.652 admissions and $172k. Adult titles are on a roll lately, but the legs for most are definitely cut by the competition. That opening for The Accountant should at last guarantee it $600k, seeing how WOM is good. - Jack Reacher: Never Go Back had to settle for second, after big 62% drop. For comparison, the last Mission: Impossible title fell only 53%. Still, with $409k after 10 days, Reacher is still in good shape and should close it's run with over $700k. - Ouija: Origin of Evil had a good start for a horror movie, with 18.159 adm and $79k. - Inferno fell a bit harder (-52%) in face of yet another adult competitor, but it's weekdays were very strong and with $682k so far it still has a shot at $1m if it recovers a bit. - Local title Doua Lozuri posted a good hold again (-32%) and passed the 100.000 admission border. It now stands at a great $447k. - The Disappointments Room disappointed with a $48k start. Because it is distributed by ForumFilmsRomania we have no admissions figure for it, but it should be around 9.000. - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children continues it's nice run with the best hold in Top 10 (-32%). It gathered $577k so far, already hitting a 4x multi from it's OW in admissions. It should end over $700k. - Storks also continued to do well (-35%), hitting the 4x multi and $524k. - Masterminds and The Girl on the Train close the top. This week's releases: - Doctor Strange - Trolls - Hacksaw Ridge That is a VERY CROWDED weekend. Doctor Strange will clearly win the weekend. It's presales appear to be very strong. Marvel's biggest openers are Civil War, with 87.146 adm and Age of Ultron, with 70.118 adm. While I doubt Strange will go that high, a 50.000+ adm debut should happen, which would be great for the generally-leggy Marvel. I honestly have no idea what to expect from Trolls. Storks and Peregrine did a decent job of keeping families entertained, but we haven't had a huge family movie since Pets. Home bombed last year, debuting with 17.171 adm, but theaters give Trolls a hell lot of shows so that must be a good sign. Let's say 30.000 adm. That would be quite good. Hacksaw Ridge is receiving a more limited release than it's competitors and, as I said, the adult market is way overcrowded. Even so, the presales seem quite good for such a title so I'm guessing it has a shot at around 15.000-20.000 admissions OW. Additionally, tickets just went on sale for Arrival and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It's too early to say anything more than that, but what is very clear is how big this month is going to be.

Me to this movie:

I was hoping this will be more in the vein of Fury, but the more I see of it, the less I like it. However, I will see it. I have a soft spot for war movies (even the bad ones).

Well, I'd usually say that americans have sucky tastes (they do), but Sony fucked up the ending of the film so fuck'em. I am not defending this movie. Do I hope they will make other DB movies? Of course. I liked AD and DVC to some extent. But they messed with DB's work so they deserve the shit coming their way.

The FB predictions around here make me sad. Let's hope it will do over 100m.

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE We just had another great weekend in a string of great weekends. October, which is usually a one of the bad months of the year, is on fire! - In first place we have Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, which debuted with a huge 48.686 admissions and $237k. That is completely out of nowhere. The first Jack Reacher opened to 25.652 adm back in 2012 and it's run was far from exceptional. What is even more remarkable is that this is the biggest debut ever for Tom Cruise in the market, ahead of all Mission: Impossible movies. Depending on the WOM, Jack Reacher might actually have a chance at $1m. - After it's superb opening weekend, Inferno had to settle for second, but it had a very nice hold (-44%) and reached $548k. It already beat both The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons in USD and it will soon beat DVC in admissions too, on it's way to the $1m border. That is a testament of the power of Dan Brown's brand in the market. - In third we have another incredible performer: the local title Doua Lozuri. The local movies have been on a roll this year, with this and #Selfie69 achieving records after records. Doua Lozuri eased a light 20% in it's third outing and now stands at a great $364k. It should easily top $500k and $600k is also likely. - Storks continues it's surprising run with another great hold (-14%). It now stands at $478k and by the end of it's run it has a chance of beating Finding Dory's $631k. - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is also holds well (-25%). It's $520k total is great and $700k is not yet out of reach. - Masterminds now stands at a decent $302k. We have no figures for it's admissions though. - The Girl on the Train is also a success. It brought in $330k so far and it should hit the $500k border by the end of it's run. - Kubo and the Two Strings was down only 20% in it's second outing, but the total is a disappointing $95k. But then again, none of the Laika titles were hits so... - Deepwater Horizon was down 41% and reached a so-so $304k. - And the local sensation #Selfie69 closes the top, after a 47% slide. At $555k it is already the highest grossing local title ever by far. It should end it's run somewhere around $650k. Top 10 Next week's openers: - The Accountant - Ouija: Origin of Evil - The Disappointments Room - Phantom Boy - Afacerea Est (local) So an already crowded market becomes even more crowded. The presales for The Accountant look really solid so I think it has a shout at a 30.000+ adm debut. Ouija 2 also has some solid presales. So maybe a 15-20.000 adm opening? The other 3 movies under 10.000 adm. Here is the Top 20 biggest movies of 2016 so far: ***The bolded titles are still playing As for the overall year, 2016 runs 18% ahead of 2015 through the same point when it comes to admissions (the number is not as exact as I would've wanted because ForumFilm Romania, one of the distributors, stopped providing admission figures one month ago; they still provide USD and local currency figures though).