Each week Jacob recaps the weekend box office and the winners and losers in the Midnight Warrior Fantasy Movie League.
WEEK 08 BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN
I might be on record as saying Week 08 would be a total crap shoot with it’s 7 new releases, but you didn’t have to be gifted to see what the perfect cineplex was going to be this week. After theater counts came out on Thursday and the numbers really sank in, it was clear that Captain America was going to take Gifted to an easy Best Performer bonus. Nothing was even close. The next best performer out of the new releases was The Promise, which brought in $4.1 million dollars (which is about 4 million more than I thought it would make).
When you know you’re going to stack 7 screens of the Best Performer, it’s easy to know that you’re going to anchor with the Big Bald Badass Movie of the Week. This week that meant playing 8 Fast 8 Furious. It topped the charts with $38.4 million, but that’s a mere formality after the strong play from the reboot of Disney’s Smart Guy snags you $14 million in bonuses alone.
It’s no wonder 453 users found that perfect cineplex this week. That’s the most since Spring Week 01 when Get Out and The Shack combined for a Perfect Cineplex. Coincidentally, that’s the last time I found the PC. Maybe I’m not the prognosticator of prognosticators, but at least I don’t miss the boat completely.
As for the War Starts at Midnight league, we see a new returning league leader in Billion Dollar Cineplex, who knocks off STEVE: The Conclusion. Three screens of the highly anticipated (by me) Free Fire brought him down below the top 10. That’s a tough fall due to the $22 million dollar gap that lineup had behind the $89 million dollar PC.
Personally, I’m bumped to 21st in our league, which is the highest I’ve been in a long time. Also, to cover our longtime players, I’m only $9 million behind Определенно не русский Синеплекс, which feels like an achievement to me.
WEEK 09 PREDICTIONS
This week has another set of intriguing new releases, this time with an international flair. I don’t want to spoil anything, but you won’t be playing any of these movies this week. Let’s start off by going over the new releases for Week 09:
- The Circle ($261) – Bringing an impressive 31% fresh rating into this week, can the star-power of Tom Hanks and Emma Watson overpower the bad reviews? I say yes! The movie doesn’t look great, but those light up the screen, and even the trailer is watchable. But, at $261 bux, I just don’t see this being the big winner of the week.
- Baahubali 2: The Conclusion ($197) – I know true fans of our show will have already seen Baahubali: The Beginning, so I don’t need to tell you how important it is to find out why Kattappa killed Baahubali. Maybe I do need to tell you that the paltry theater count in the US will keep this film way way out of the PC race. If you haven’t seen the trailer, it’s just a Zack Snyder ripoff, so watch this instead.
- How to Be a Latin Lover ($126) – No. Wait, do I have to say more than that? I guess it’s possible that this Spanglish film could break out and do well… if it were priced at about $39 bux this week. It does have Selma Hayek, Kristen Bell, Rob Lowe, and Rob Riggle. Do not play it.
- Sleight ($68) – Finally, a good looking picture this week. This looks like it could be really good, but 565 screens is just not enough to put it in play when one other horror movie is getting a big unforeseen expansion. Sorry Sleight.
So, Get Out is getting a 60% theater count bump. Play it as many times as you can. Also, go and see the movie again. Help your own cineplex out.
After maxing out on this one, you just fill out the top with the big money flicks. Fate of the Furious and Boss Baby will take you to an obvious Perfect Cineplex. I’m also calling that this week will have the most PCs since…. last week. Mark my word.
Think I’m wrong about this whole expansion thing? Tell me all about it on Twitter @jakerg23.