vafrow

I did a quick check on Abigail this morning. It's not looking great, with 14 tickets sold across my 5 theatre radius. Imaginary did 19 around the same time. That would give around a $500K comp.

The Fall Guy, Western GTA (Southern Ontario), T-15, Thursday previews and Wednesday EA Total Sales: 11 New Sales since T-20: 0 Growth: 0% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 12 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.9 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Early Evening: 10/6 Late Evening: 3/6 Sales by format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 10/6 IMAX: 0/4 4DX: 3/2 EA sales Total: 42 Showtimes: 6 Theatres: 5 Comps (Previews only, no EA) 0.765x Wonka for $2.7M 0.371x GB:FE for $1.7M Comps (includes EA) 3.235x Wonka for $11.3M 1.571x GB:FE for $7.4M It moved a bit, but we do need to start seeing something soon if it's going to happen. I'll adjust comps on the weekend, as more will come online. But it will still be hard yo compare this to existing franchises.

I'm not too thrilled with the tracking on Fall Guy, I'm not willing to write off the box office just yet for original films. This slot was always a big ask for this film. The summer kick off needs something familiar to get people excited. Something original plays better when you've had a string of franchise fare, and need something to counter it. We've also seen that just when the box office looks darkest is when you get a Barbenheimmer level surprise. We've learned not to get too low, not to get too high. We know things are different. We know the new normal isn't as good as the old times. Let's see how it plays out.

The Fall Guy, Western GTA (Southern Ontario), T-16, Thursday previews and Wednesday EA Total Sales: 11 New Sales since T-20: 0 Growth: 0% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 12 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.9 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Early Evening: 10/6 Late Evening: 1/6 Sales by format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 8/6 IMAX: 0/4 4DX: 3/2 EA sales Total: 38 Showtimes: 6 Theatres: 5 Comps (Previews only, no EA) 1.000x Wonka for $3.5M 0.314x GB:FE for $1.5M Comps (includes EA) 4.454x Wonka for $15.6M 1.400x GB:FE for $6.6M A zero sales day after sales spiked a bit a few days ago. I think it lends support to the idea that the SNL appearance did it's job. But with reviews out and now a big public relations win, they're also running out of trigger events to jump sales. I expect a full court press over these next few weeks though.

The Fall Guy, Western GTA (Southern Ontario), T-17, Thursday previews and Wednesday EA Total Sales: 11 New Sales since T-20: 0 Growth: 0% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 12 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.9 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Early Evening: 10/6 Late Evening: 1/6 Sales by format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 8/6 IMAX: 0/4 4DX: 3/2 EA sales Total: 38 Showtimes: 6 Theatres: 5 Comps (Previews only, no EA) 1.222x Wonka for $4.3M 0.333x GB:FE for $1.6M Comps (includes EA) 5.444x Wonka for $19.1M 1.485x GB:FE for $7.0M After some progress the day before, fairly quiet today. Zero sales for previews, slight bump on EA.

The Fall Guy, Western GTA (Southern Ontario), T-17, Thursday previews and Wednesday EA Total Sales: 11 New Sales since T-20: 0 Growth: 0% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 12 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.9 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Early Evening: 10/6 Late Evening: 1/6 Sales by format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 8/6 IMAX: 0/4 4DX: 3/2 EA sales Total: 38 Showtimes: 6 Theatres: 5 Comps (Previews only, no EA) 1.222x Wonka for $4.3M 0.333x GB:FE for $1.6M Comps (includes EA) 5.444x Wonka for $19.1M 1.485x GB:FE for $7.0M After some progress the day before, fairly quiet today. Zero sales for previews, slight bump on EA.

The Fall Guy, Western GTA (Southern Ontario), T-18, Thursday previews and Wednesday EA Total Sales: 11 New Sales since T-20: 5 Growth: 83% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 12 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 1.1 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Early Evening: 10/6 Late Evening: 1/6 Sales by format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 8/6 IMAX: 0/4 4DX: 3/2 EA sales Total: 33 Showtimes: 6 Theatres: 5 Comps (Previews only, no EA) 1.222x Wonka for $4.3M 0.379x GB:FE for $1.8M Comps (includes EA) 4.888x Wonka for $17.1M 1.517x GB:FE for $7.1M It's been so slow that I wasn't going to bother posting daily updates until this weekend, but we're starting to see some movement. It's stil pretty quiet, but it is moving. I wonder if the SNL appearance helped put some spotlight on this. I'm still keeping the separate comps for EA vs non EA. But the gap in sales between the two is closing at least.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, T-27 Thursday previews and Wednesday EA shows, western GTA (southern Ontario) Total Sales: 14 New Sales: 0 Growth: 0% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 16 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.9 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Late Afternoon: 1/3 Early Evening: 13/7 Late Evening: 0/6 Sales by Format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 1/7 IMAX: 8/6 VIP: 5/3 EA shows Sales: 14 Theatres: 4 Showtimes: 4 New Sales: 0 Comps 1.120x Fall Guy (both with EA and preview) 0.058x Dune 2 (previews only) for $0.6M I don't have a lot of comp options for this far out. For an established brand though, it's not doing tremendously.

The Fall Guy, Western GTA (Southern Ontario), T-20, Thursday previews and Wednesday EA Total Sales: 6 New Sales since T-26: 2 Growth: 50% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 12 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.6 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Early Evening: 5/6 Late Evening: 1/6 Sales by format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 6/6 IMAX: 0/4 4DX: 0/2 EA sales Total: 29 Showtimes: 6 Theatres: 5 Comps (Previews only, no EA) 0.857x Wonka for $3.0M 0.316x GB:FE for $1.5M Comps (includes EA) 5.00x Wonka for $17.5M 1.842x GB:FE for $8.7M I'm really unsure how to handle the EA sales at this point. It's outpacing the previews by quite a bit. With pretty much every theatre offering EA, I think it's just functioning as opening day. I've set comps both ways, including EAs and not, and it gives widely different numbers. I'm open to advice on how to handle this. I'm also limited on comps still. By next week, I'll have more options.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, T-28 Thursday previews and Wednesday EA shows, western GTA (southern Ontario) Total Sales: 14 New Sales: 0 Growth: 0% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 16 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.9 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Late Afternoon: 1/3 Early Evening: 13/7 Late Evening: 0/6 Sales by Format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 1/7 IMAX: 8/6 VIP: 5/3 EA shows Sales: 12 Theatres: 4 Showtimes: 4 New Sales: 0 Zero sales day. What's interesting that's probably been in effect for a few weeks now, is that MTC4 has increased the premium for Dolby theatres. I'm pretty sure it was $3 not that long ago. It's now $5. There's been a baseline price increase not that long ago as well. They also added a service fee for booking online tickets about a year ago that's been controversial, and being challenged by Canada's Competition Bureau as a form of drip pricing. This has been interesting, as it's been a pretty transparent way for the chain to increase revenues, but not adding it to the box office and sharing with studios. I'm not sure if the various price increases has to do with anticipation of having to drop the service fee if they lose the lawsuit. Regardless, this adds a twist to comps. Most big new releases still skew heavily to premium formats, and probably helps push up sales.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, T-29 Thursday previews and Wednesday EA shows, western GTA (southern Ontario) Total Sales: 14 New Sales: 1 Growth: 8% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 16 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.9 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Late Afternoon: 1/3 Early Evening: 13/7 Late Evening: 0/6 Sales by Format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 1/7 IMAX: 8/6 VIP: 5/3 EA shows Sales: 12 Theatres: 4 Showtimes: 4 New Sales: 0 The initial rush seems to be over. Not the greatest baseline, but we're still really far out.

I did a quick count for Civil War in my area (western GTA). T-1 count of 133. I usually do my T-1 count first thing in the morning, so it might be understating a bit. 0.898x GBFE for $4.2M 0.760x Wonka for $2.7 0.316x HG: BoSS for $1.8M 0.751x Monkey Man for $1.1M Average: $2.5M I think the American centric aspect of this film means that this market isn't the best indicator. And I don't have the best comps. But, that's a range that doesn't look far off from what we're seeing elsewhere.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, D2, T-30 Thursday previews and Wednesday EA shows, western GTA (southern Ontario) Total Sales: 13 New Sales: 9 Growth: 225% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 16 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.8 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Late Afternoon: 1/3 Early Evening: 12/7 Late Evening: 0/6 Sales by Format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 1/7 IMAX: 7/6 VIP: 5/3 EA shows Sales: 12 Theatres: 4 Showtimes: 4 New Sales: 1 It seemed to do a lot better on day 2, but still nothing huge. I'll probably take some time on the weekend to try and figure out a comp strategy.

The issues have resolved for me. They were isolated to Early Access shows or cases where there's a separate listing for a film based on the format (usually IMAX) It's been a weird thing where Cineplex takes an inconsistent approach. Sometimes they create separate listings, sometimes they don't. I can't imagine it's a helpful strategy. If I look up a film to see upcoming showtimes, and don't see IMAX screenings, I'll assume it's not in IMAX.

I remember right after Sonic 2 came out that someone from the studio was teasing a big name for Shadow for the third movie that they were working on. They were really making it seem like a big deal. My impression at the time was that they talked about it like it was an A list celebrity type of thing. But it's been radio silence since that point. It was especially weird since voice roles barely move the needle for audience interest these days. Almost every big name has taken a random animated role. The only person that I could see Paramount land that would legitimately be someone that makes headlines is Tom Cruise, and I don't think he'd take it on.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, D1, T-31 Thursday previews and Wednesday EA shows, western GTA (southern Ontario) Total Sales: 4 New Sales: NA Growth: NA Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 16 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.3 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Late Afternoon: 1/3 Early Evening: 3/7 Late Evening: 0/6 Sales by Format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 1/7 IMAX: 3/6 VIP: 0/3 EA shows Sales: 11 Theatres: 4 Showtimes: 4 New Sales: NA The preview sales went up yesterday, but EA has been open for a week, but I haven't been tracking because of site errors. It's hard to really compare this to anything. Especially since it continues the trend of Fall Guy with EA shows the day before that's almost as wide as the preview showings. They might as well just open this on the Wednesday. In terms of Fall Guy, it's opened stronger, but it's also an established brand vs something original, and also only opening a month before instead of two. Also, everyone was busy with the eclipse in the region. In terms of other comps, only thing I have is Wonka that opened this early, and that was a little slower, but we're talking such low numbers, it's not worthwhile to really apply a formal comp to it.

I saw Monkey Man last night. I really enjoyed it a lot. It feels like it was a movie made for me in a lot of ways. Dev Patel did a phenomenal job. I really hope he keeps on directing. It's a shame it's not doing well. But, you can easily see all the reasons why it wouldn't resonate with general audiences. Still, Dev Patel managed to get a major studio to release a film with a largely unknown Indian cast. He's got to show off his chops as an action star and a director. The only real loser in this deal is probably Netflix who sold this film at a loss (unless they managed to keep the streaming rights). I'll take it for those positives.

The Fall Guy, Western GTA (Southern Ontario), T-26, Thursday previews and Wednesday EA Total Sales: 4 New Sales since T-40: 0 Growth: 100% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 12 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 0.4 Ticket premium in effect: Yes Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Early Evening: 3/6 Late Evening: 1/6 Sales by format (sales/showtimes) Dolby: 4/6 IMAX: 0/4 4DX: 0/2 EA sales Total: 21 Showtimes: 6 Theatres: 5 Nothing is happening on sales this far out. I'm still reluctant to even comp it. The EA show is difficult to track due to site glitches.

It's interesting how the MM performance feels disappointing, but by almost all metrics, it should be considered a win. I think there's still a belief that good reviews should translate to better results. I think we're seeing for a film like this, there's limits. The challenge with this film, even with it likely turning a profit for Universal, is that there's probably not a lot of opportunities to pick up a film like this at this price. They bought it cheap from Netflix. At the $30M Netflix paid, this would be a bigger challenge.

To @DAJK @Tinaleraor any other Canadian trackers, is anyone else having issues with seat previews in Cineplex? It's happening for me mainly for early access shows for Fall Guy and POTA. But generally, things have been glitchy. I thought it was just temporary issues that would resolve, but it's been going on for a few days now. I'm not sure if it's my end or not.

As of about 12:30, sales have gone up only 14% from this morning. Last week GxK did about 25%, but had the benefit of being Easter weekend. GB:FE was about 16%, but also had shows starting as early as 2:00 pm. MM only has evening shows. Still, I was hoping for a bit stronger.

Monkey Man, Western GTA (Southern Ontario), T-1, Thursday previews Total Sales: 177 New Sales : 63 Growth: 55% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 10 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 17.7 Ticket premium in effect: No Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Early Evening: 111/5 Late Evening: 66/5 Sales by format (sales/showtimes) Regular: 117/8 Dolby: 60/2 Comps 0.420x HG: BoSS for $2.4M 0.585x Aquaman 2 for $2.5M 0.147x Dune 2 for $1.5M Average: $2.1M A really good day. Big increase leading to a rise against comps. I think it speaks positively about the prospect of good walkups over the course of the day. On the whole dialogue about whether the Indian diaspora will be drawn to this film, I think it's making an impact, but just giving it a slight boost more than anything. Hopefully this ends up closer to $2M than $1.5M (or lower).

As part of the Indian diaspora in Canada, I'm excited for Monkey Man, but I'm not a good proxy. To build on @AJGpoint, things about Indians in Western culture are always intriguing to me. I also do gravitate to south Asians succeeding in Hollywood, and while it's not an overwhelming impact with most people, I do think there's a box office impact. Monkey Man seems to be performing well around me which has a higher South Asian population. Marvels overindexed in my sample back in the fall. It's just not blowing the roof off of comps, the way an Indian film does around here compared to North American totals (my wife saw Crew last Thursday in a packed theatre for example). I too would have loved it if we saw a bigger breakout here. But, revenge actioners like this are inherently limited, and this is being sold exclusively on Dev Patels name recognition, and his following is certainly niche. But outside of the specific reasons I'm excited for the film, if this can scratch out a decent run, it's a win for taking content intended for streaming and getting it to theatres.

I was hoping to check in on Kingdom of the POTA, but MTC4 seems to have really messed up the listings for it. There's separate listings by format, so you have to search both for IMAX showings and other plf showings, so you can't easily see all showtimes for it. It's not a big deal, but, just an extra pain But, the site also seems to be glitching where you can't get into the seat preview for the show without going through the motions of buying a ticket. All that to say that I'm not keen enough to check it out with the extra steps involved.

Monkey Man, Western GTA (Southern Ontario), T-2, Thursday previews Total Sales: 114 New Sales : 21 Growth: 23% Theatres tracked: MTC4 Total theatres: 5 Showtimes: 10 Radius: 19 km Tickets per showtime: 11.4 Ticket premium in effect: No Sales by timing (sales/showtimes) Early Evening: 81/5 Late Evening: 33/5 Sales by format (sales/showtimes) Regular: 73/8 Dolby: 41/2 Comps 0.312x HG: BoSS for $1.8M 0.489x Aquaman 2 for $2.2M 0.107x Dune 2 for $1.1M Average: $1.7M Okay day. It had better jumps on the weekend. I was hoping it would return to that, but it's still stsyig solid. Hopefully it has good walk ups over the next 36 hours or so.