This graph shows Elizabeth Olsen’s score on our annual analysis of leading stars at the box office. The Star Score represents points assigned to each of the leading stars of the top 100 movies (based on box office) in the current year and two preceding years. For appearing in the number one movie in a year a star gets 100 points, the number two movie 99 points and so on..
Latest Ranking on Selected Box Office Record Lists
The wait is finally over for fans of Dr. Stephen Strange as the sequel to Doctor Strange is finally at the doorstep of North American theaters. Doctor-Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will open in an outstanding 4,534 locations (including IMAX) this weekend, which places it seventh on the all-time widest openings list, nestled between two animated sequels, 2017’s Despicable Me 3 (4,529 theaters) and 2019’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 (4,561 theaters). It’s over 100 more locations than The Batman, which arrived in 4,417 locations just over two months ago, giving Multiverse of Madness the widest opening of the post-pandemic era.
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Avengers: Infinity War and its still unnamed sequel are the culmination of ten years of the MCU. This is a massive undertaking, even more so than the first Avengers movie, and with the MCU’s outstanding track record with critics and moviegoers alike, expectations couldn’t be higher. Can the movie possibly live up to expectations? Or was it destined to disappoint?
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Like we did with The Force Awakens, we are going to do a spoiler-free, detail-free review for Avengers: Infinity War. In other words, we are going to rate all of the movies in the MCU to see where Infinity War and the rest fit into place.
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It is not a particularly good week for limited releases, as there are a number of them with reviews that are good, but not good enough for limited release. There are some that I’m interested in seeing, Ghost Stories, Little Pink House, and Imitation Girl among them.
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Well, March has ended and it was a very disappointing month. Black Panther made more than any of the new releases did. The only potential big hit that didn’t miss expectations was Ready Player One. Because of this, 2018 lost its lead over 2017 and is now over $100 million behind last year’s pace. April is usually a terrible month, because it is a dumping ground, especially late in the month. No studio wants to compete with the first monster hit of the Summer. This year, the first monster hit of the summer, Avengers: Infinity War, opens in April. It will make more during its opening weekend than any other April release will make in total. It might make more opening day than any other April release will make in total. The only film that has a real chance to earn more than $100 million is Rampage, a video game adaptation. Last April, The Fate of the Furious earned more than $1.2 billion worldwide, but “only” earned $225.76 million of that domestically. Infinity War should earn more than that opening weekend. The second biggest hit of last April was Smurfs: The Lost Village and Going in Style, both of which earned $45.02 million. If 2018 doesn’t retake the lead by the end of the month, then 2018 is in trouble at the box office.
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Both the first installment First-run Releases and the second installment, TV on DVD releases, were shorter than I would have liked, as this hasn’t been a great year for either wide releases or TV on DVD releases. That said, the third installment of our Holiday Gift Guide deals with limited releases, classics, and foreign imports and this list can get out of hand rather quickly. There will more releases on this list than the previous two, starting with...
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There are a number of limited releases coming out this week that are earning good reviews and / or strong buzz. Of these, The Trip to Spain is the one I want to see the most. It also has a good chance to earn more than $2 million in theaters, as its two predecessors did the same.
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It’s not a good week for limited releases. There are too many earning weak reviews or are playing on VOD, both of which will hurt their box office chances. Step could do well for a documentary, while Columbus and Wind River both have a shot at some mainstream success.
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Captain America: Civil War is the 13th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s 13 films in just 8 years. The film pulled in more than $1 billion worldwide, so the market isn’t tired of these movies. However, has the brisk pace resulted in a substandard film? Or is it yet another critical smash?
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It's been a few weeks since I did a review. I stopped taking screeners knowing how busy Star Wars: The Force Awakens would keep me, but I figured I should get back in the game. However, there was a question of what late review would be worth checking out? Well, there have been five $1 billion movies to come out this year and I've previously reviewed all of the ones that hit the home market. All of them, but one: The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Of the five $1 billion movies, this one is arguably the one that had the most disappointing run at the box office. Yes, a film that made $1.40 billion worldwide was seen as a box office disappointment by some. This is mostly because its predecessor, The Avengers, broke box office records. The film also earned much weaker reviews than the first movie, but still earned 75% positive reviews, which is very good for a wide release. Is it a real disappointment? Or does it hold up compared to the competition?
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This is both a great week on the home market, as well as an amazing week on the home market. There are by my count, at least a dozen releases that could be considered must haves or perfect Christmas gifts, which is great. What makes it amazing is the lack of filler. There are a couple of weak releases here and there, but the hit to miss ratio is as good as I can remember. The biggest release of the week, according to Amazon.com, is the HalloweenComplete Collection, but it is not the best release. Contenders for Pick of the Week include a couple of limited releases: Ida - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray and We Are the Best! - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray. However, in the end I went with a TV on DVD release, Modern Family: Season Five - Buy from Amazon: DVD.
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In Secret is a film based on the novel Thérèse Raquin, which was written nearly 150 years ago. The novel has been adopted into a few theatrical releases, a few TV movies, a few TV mini-series, etc. over the years, but it never really became something that entered the mainstream awareness like Pride and Prejudice did. For instance, this version opened well below the Mendoza Line before quickly disappearing from theaters. Is this film as bad as its box office numbers would indicate? Or would it have thrived had it opened in just a few theaters and expanded with its word-of-mouth?
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It has been a great year so far and April was again a strong month. The box office was led by Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as it became the second film of the year to reach $200 million, while Rio 2 is on pace to become the seventh $100 million hit of the year. Big picture, 2014 has already hit $3 billion, which isn't a record for this time of the year, but it is $250 million ahead of 2013. That streak ends in May. Don't get me wrong. There are six films opening this month that at least have a shot at $100 million and two of those should earn more than $200 million and there are two others that at least have a shot at that milestone. Leading the way is The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is looking to top The Winter Soldier and become the second biggest hit of the year so far. Its main competition this month is X-men: Days of Future Past, while Godzilla also has a shot at $200 million. Unfortunately, this month last year, Iron Man 3 earned more than $400 million, while two other films took in $200 million and seven films in total reached the century mark. That is going to be really hard to replicate this year and 2014 will likely lose some of its lead over 2013. Fortunately, 2014 has such a big lead that unless the box office really slumps, it will end the month with at least a small lead over 2013.
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It's a busy week on the limited release front, not only in terms of the number of films, but also in terms of the theater counts for some of them. There are several movies opening in more than a dozen theaters. This includes The Wind Rises, which is the highest profile film of the week and its reviews are living up to its buzz. However, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me and Child's Pose are earning even better reviews and could find an audience in limited release.
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October ended on a winning note, but it was the only time the entire month that 2013 topped 2012 in the year-over-year comparison. This is quite shocking, as Gravity crushed expectations with more than $200 million and counting. Even with that surprise monster hit, the month still couldn't keep pace with last year. Compared to October, November looks a lot better with three films that could be monster hits: Frozen, Thor: The Dark World, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. On the other hand, those are the only three movies with a 50/50 chance or better to top $100 million compared, while there were seven films that reached that milestone last November. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire should make more than last year's number one film, Skyfall, but the depth last year could prove too much to deal with. 2013 might dip below last year's pace sometime during the month, but hopefully it won't stay there too long.
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There are a lot of limited releases on this week's list, including a few earning stellar reviews. There are also a few with weak reviews or that are the wrong genre to thrive in limited release. One film fits into both ends of the spectrum, We Are What We Are, which is earning great reviews, but as a horror film, likely won't find an audience till the home market. Hopefully I am wrong. Inequality for All is earning even better reviews, but it is a documentary, so it have very little chance to expand. On the Job has the best reviews of the week, but it is a foreign-language action film, so it will likely not earn breakout success.
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