solaris

Leo is basically locked at this point, isn't he. Haven't seen the Revenant yet so can't comment as to whether or not it's his best (for me it's The Departed)

Great article, B! I wasn't aware of that site but I'll be checking it out now!

Loved it. Might be my number 1 of 2015. A perfect collision of stunning mood & visuals (every single frame could be hung on your wall), incredible performances (Del Toro should win an Oscar in a just world) and perfectly paced story telling. Oh, and it's been said before, but the entire Juarez sequence is perfection. Villeneuve is 3 for 3 for me now (need to catch Incendies). I think he may well be our next big auteur a la Fincher/Nolan. I cannot wait to see what he does next. Bladerunner 2 is suddenly a lot more interesting to me. Seriously. I want to frame all of these.

Sad not to see Del Toro in the running for Sicario. That was one of the best performances I've seen in years.

In any other year, maybe (a BIG maybe) the Academy would look to TFA to fill the blockbuster slot that they occasionally like to let in. This year though both Mad Max & The Martian comfortably fill that niche so no look in for TFA. I honestly think Inside Out has more chance of taking a surprise blockbuster slot than TFA.

So $50M or so this weekend... $30m for MLK weekend, $930/940m total looking likely. Slightly gutted $1bn is looking dead but a final domestic number starting with a 9 is dreamy and unreal.

I love this chart. Thanks for doing it

PERFECT 10: Aliens TOTAL MASTERPIECES 9.5: Terminator T2 Titanic AMAZING BY ANY OTHER STANDARD 9: Avatar The Abyss True Lies As irritating as I can find some of the Cameron loonies on here (not naming names), I do have to admit that the man has a pretty unblemished record. Aliens is my personal all time favourite film ever, so I am a little biased, but regardless of the sometimes cheesy dialogue or too-on-the-nose metaphors, the man can craft a thrill ride like no one else. Spielberg is still the master of the individual set piece, but Cameron is like a rollercoaster architect - crafting a perfect ride that leaves you breathless for the duration of the running time. One can pick the aforementioned flaws in the detail after, but it doesn't matter - the ride is so good you just don't care. I can remember watching Aliens for the first time and being genuinely exhilarated. I cant think if any other film maker who does this as well as Cameron. I must admit, I wish he was more prolific, and i'd rather his next film be something outside of the Avatar-verse. But regardless, I'll still watch and probably devour/cherish anything the man does.

Oh wow. That would be amazing. I hope it breaks out. I want to see this nudge $2.5bn!

Current question - can TFA make it to the same OS ballpark as F7 ($1.1bn) without China? Are there any other territories left to open? It seems to be pretty much pacing identically to its NA performance... most of us have it finishing at or just shy of $1bn there, can it do the same or a bit more OS? Also, what is the latest view on China OW and performance? Am I right in thinking that there's not much optimism?

Rewatching it now - one of the things that elevates this above the other prequels is how much more Ian McDiarmid is given to do. He's sooooo good as Palpatine.

Happy Aussie New Year o Lord above

And the tickets are sickeningly expensive too.

2nd viewing thoughts + observations - I loved it a LOT more - I appreciated the more obviously 'iconic' scenes. Rey summoning the sabre and Han's death were much more goosebump inducing on a 2nd viewing knowing that they were coming. - I would happily watch an entire movie of BB8 and Poe interacting. - it still drags a bit through the middle... Starkiller plot is never as exciting as it should be. I can't wait to watch it again. That's rare for me.

I'm still holding out for a $105m weekend. Something like $35m / $40m / $30m. Is my Sunday drop a bit optimistic?

Absolutely loved it. Mitchell does so much with so little - there's loads of shots in this that truly startled me (too many to mention) but a few that stood out: - That wonderful revolving circular shot in the school hall way - When the tall man walks in the bedroom door right behind her friend. - The unbroken opening shot. - Everything in the pool (which, by the way, put me in mind of another unconventional and startling horror movie - Let the Right one in - Jay's escape from the lake (and crash) in the car. A pretty much perfect collision of story, atmosphere, visuals, sound & performances. I know the obvious parallel is that the entity represents STDs, but for me it felt more like a film about the complex relationship we have with our sexuality - we're fearful of it but also need it, and it's ever present in our lives. Many many people suppress their true sexuality & desires in order to conform to societal norms, and yet it's 'stalking' us. Sometimes, it manifests itself in ugly ways (affairs, abuse etc). Other times, we're able to suppress it and get on with our 'normal' lives (this is how I see that final shot). LOVED IT.

These numbers are nuts. Cinemas must be operating at practically peak capacity right now (11 days into its run) $200m here we come! To me, that feels every bit as unprecedented and unbelievable as $1bn in the US. My friends and I will contributing another £100 ($150) tomorrow with our 4 IMAX tickets.

So less than a 20% drop from a humongous record breaking Monday last week. Running out of superlatives for this. What is the normal pattern for this week? Can it average around $30m across the 4 days or will there be steep declines as with the 24th? I'm still crossing everything for $100m+ 3rd weekend.

For some reason I was reminded of this video whilst reading this thread.

Let's not paint this to be disappointing. We all wanted more, yes. We were greedy. This is still an astonishing 2nd weekend, whichever way you cut it.

I absolutely loved this. Definitely a throwback to those 90s psychological thrillers as others have pointed out, although where I kept expecting this to go into big, overblown melodrama, Edgerton keeps it nicely reined in and understated. Very keen to see what else he's got up his sleeve. 9/10

this thread

It should eventually dip to a more OS heavy / DOM lite mix once it's released in China. Even then it's probably going to be something like a 55 OS / 45 DOM mix - still very rare for a mega grosser.

So presuming it's done about £6m today we should be looking at a cume of about £66 - 67m ($98 - $100m). This should be able to earn another £10 - £12 through the week, and the same again next weekend. Meaning it *could* be at £90m by the end of next weekend! Even if it suddenly starts dropping 50% each week thereafter, it would get to £110m ($163m) by the end of Feb. If weekly drops avg 40% then we're looking at £120m ($178m). Either way, we have a new all time in the pipeline folks. I honestly thought Skyfalls record would stand for quite some time (longer than 3 years anyway!).