Scream VI is looking like a surefire winner at the box office this weekend after growing buzz over the past few weeks and strong reviews (for a horror film) built up to $5.7 million in previews on Thursday, considerably more than the $3.5 million earned by Scream (V) last year. Its predecessor earned $30 million on opening weekend, and $50 million looks within reach for Scream VI this weekend.
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Boxing drama Creed III opened last weekend and delivered a knockout at the box office, scoring an impressive $58.37 million, not only making it the franchise’s top opening weekend, but the top opening weekend in history for a sports-themed movie, narrowly topping 2010’s The Karate Kid. Despite having its hands full with three new wide releases making their theatrical debuts, the film keeps its opening theater count of 4,007 cinemas heading into its second week, once again making it the widest release of the week.
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After a series of missteps, a former minor-league basketball coach is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.
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There was some good news and bad news over the weekend. The good news was Dumb and Dumber To, which managed a stronger than expected opening, despite its reviews. The bad news was Beyond the Lights, which couldn't turn its reviews into box office success. That said, the good outweighed the bad and overall the box office was quite strong. It was still down 11% from last weekend to $140 million, but that's still 12% more than the same weekend last year. 2014 remains behind 2013's pace by 3.4% or $310 million at $8.72 billion to $9.03 billion, but every little victory will help soften the blow at the end of the year.
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October was a better than expected month with the overall box office keeping pace with October of 2013, for the most part. (The last weekend will be terrible, but that's because of Halloween.) We were able to close the gap somewhat in the year-over-year comparison, at least by a little bit. So how will November do compared to October. Let's put it this way. There are only seven films opening wide this month. Of those, Beyond the Lights will likely not make an impact at the box office. Every other film has at least a reasonable shot at $100 million. More than half the of the films opening this month could hit $200 million. Leading the way will be The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, which could hit $400 million. The only problem is when book franchises split the final installment into two parts, the first part tends to be weaker at the box office. Interstellar is a big question mark. On the low end, it could make just over $100 million, while on the high end, just over $300 million is within reach. That's a wide range of expectations. On the downside, last November, there were two movies to reach $400 million: Catching Fire and Frozen. On the other hand, there was only one other movie to make more than $100 million, Thor: The Dark World, so perhaps the depth this year will help 2014 come out ahead in the year-over-year comparison.
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In some ways, it is a great week on the home market, as there are several excellent releases worth picking up. In other ways, it is an even better week, because there are so few releases and almost no filler. The only downside is trying to select a release for Pick of the Week, as there are a number of competitors. One of the biggest releases of the week is X-Men: Days of Future Past on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack and it is also one of the best. Other contenders include Mr. Peabody & Sherman on DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, 3D Combo Pack, Fargo: Season One on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack, and Witching and Bitching on DVD. Strangely, I'm still waiting for the screeners for all four films. In the end, I literally rolled a dice to determine the winner and it was X-Men: Days of Future Past.
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Kingpin was not a hit when it was first released nearly 20 years ago. It earned mixed reviews and barely matched its production budget domestically. However, it became a huge cult hit on the home market. This week it comes out on Blu-ray for the first time. It is also the first time I've seen it. Was it worth the wait? Or was I smart skipping it the first time it came out?
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