This graph shows Will Smith’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
Last weekend was another sluggish one at the domestic box office, with two films in their sophomore weekend vying for bragging rights. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and The Garfield Movie went head to head, with the latter taking the top prize. Fortunately, we should see a substantial uptick this weekend with the debut of Bad Boys: Ride or Die, as well as the horror feature, The Watchers.
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The Memorial Day weekend box office turned out to be a disappointment in what should have been a healthy four-day stretch to kick off the Summer movie season. Topping the domestic charts were two of the three newcomers, with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga narrowly edging out The Garfield Movie, with $32.34 million to $31.26 million from Friday through Monday. This weekend will undoubtedly see the two reigning leaders remain on top, although there’s a good chance the roles will be reversed.
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Ghostbusters: Afterlife should easily win at the box office this weekend, becoming the first film in the franchise to do so since Ghostbusters II way back in 1989. It’s outperforming our model’s prediction going into the weekend, and could yet do better than Friday morning’s $30.5-million prediction. Here’s how things stand right now…
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Compton, California is not the typical training ground for tennis champions, but Richard Williams has a plan. Sweeping drug needles off the rundown local tennis court and bravely standing up to the gangs that claimed it as their turf, he tirelessly drills his daughters Venus and Serena on the finer points of a game that he himself has never played. Smashing through age-old barriers of race and class, Richard relentlessly strives to prove that his girls are worthy of a shot, knowing they are destined for greatness.
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It’s the year 2020, the year where we find out how many times you can say, “Well, hindsight is 20/20.” before you get punched. On the positive side, while December wasn’t a great month, it was good enough to help 2019 end on a positive note, a positive note that should continue into January. There are no real potential monster hits coming out this month, but there are three films that have a real shot at $100 million domestically. These are, in alphabetical order, 1917, which will rely on Awards Season to get to the century mark. Bad Boys for Life will have a much, much easier time getting to $100 million, assuming people still care about the franchise 17 years later. Finally, Dolittle is looking like a disaster with a really troubled production; however, a $100 million run isn’t out of the question and if it can get there, it will at least save face. As for last January, Glass was the biggest hit of the month in terms of raw dollars, but The Upside was more impressive, as it is one the biggest hits in STX Entertainment’s history. We need two of the three potential $100 million hits to reach that mark to keep pace with last year, but we also have one more weekend to get there.
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Frozen II wasn’t the only box office hit to debut in November, but it was by far the largest. It helped save November and kept 2019 from turning completely sour at the last minute. As for December, we have several potential $100 million hits, plus a couple of monster hits. There are some who think Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be the biggest domestic hit released in 2019, but most think it will have to settle for second place. Jumanji: The Next Level should also be a monster hit, even if it doesn’t come really close to its predecessor. As for last December, Aquaman was the undisputed champion, earning almost as much as the next twofilms combined. Jumanji could top Aquaman at the box office, while we could also have more $100 million films than we had last year. Add in Star Wars and the year should end on a really positive note, making up for the extended slumps we had to deal with through a lot of the year. 2019 won’t be able to close the gap entirely, but it will do enough that we will be able to celebrate.
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As expected, Gemini Man, got off to the fastest start of any of the three films opening this weekend. After all, it is an action film with a bankable star. Unfortunately, it didn’t open as fast as expected, earning $1.6 million. Because it is an action film with weak reviews that will likely turn into poor word-of-mouth, it will very likely have short legs. It needed about $2 million to match our $24 million prediction, so with this opening, I’m not convinced it will get to $20 million during its opening weekend.
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This week, the live action Aladdin comes out on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD for the first time, while the original animated Aladdin gets a Blu-ray re-release and debuts on 4K Ultra HD. I’ve previously reviewed the 1992 animated film and I consider it a classic. How does the new remake live up to the original? And is the re-release of the original worth picking up?
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Henry Brogan is an elite assassin who is suddenly targeted and pursued by a mysterious young operative that seemingly can predict his every move.
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Super spy Lance Sterling and scientist Walter Beckett are almost exact opposites. Lance is smooth, suave and debonair. Walter is… not. Walter is a great mind but perhaps not a great socializer. What he lacks in social skills though, he makes up for in smarts and invention: Walter is the scientific genius who invents the gadgets Lance uses on his missions. But when events take an unexpected turn, Walter and Lance suddenly have to rely on each other in a whole new way. And if this odd couple can’t learn to work as a team, the whole world is in peril.
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Super spy Lance Sterling and scientist Walter Beckett are almost exact opposites. Lance is smooth, suave and debonair. Walter is… not. Walter is a great mind but perhaps not a great socializer. What he lacks in social skills though, he makes up for in smarts and invention: Walter is the scientific genius who invents the gadgets Lance uses on his missions. But when events take an unexpected turn, Walter and Lance suddenly have to rely on each other in a whole new way. And if this odd couple can’t learn to work as a team, the whole world is in peril.
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It’s Christmas weekend, and, while there are a large number of wide releases, there are not that many limited ones. Some of them, like The Post, are going for Oscar glory. Others just feel like they are being dumped into theaters to disappear.
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This month we’re introducing a new Bankability Index that estimates how much someone is worth to a film based on analysis of the Hollywood Creative Graph™, a network of over 130,000 people with over 6 million connections that represent all the films they have worked on together. By using an analytical technique called graph analysis, the Bankability Index measures the influence of each person in the Hollywood Creative Graph, which we translate into an estimate of the average value added per movie by everyone. Here on The Numbers, we will now publish each month the top 50 people on a per-movie basis, and subscriptions are available for our full report, which contains information on the top 250 people in the business.
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November was good, but not great. Fortunately, 2016 had a large enough lead going into November that the month only needed to be good. In fact, it could have been mediocre and 2016 would have still had an excellent shot to end the year above 2015. As for December, it’s a race between Star Wars and Star Wars. Almost no one thinks Rogue One is going to match The Force Awakens, but if Rogue One earns just half of what The Force Awakens managed, then 2016 will come out on top in the year-over-year comparison. There are only two other films with a better than 50/50 chance of hitting $100 million, Passengers and Sing. Either one could earn second place for the month, but Passengers will likely start faster. Last December, the only other film to earn more than $100 million was Daddy’s Home, which earned just a hair over $150 million. There’s a chance both Passengers and Sing will earn more than $150 million, which would be a boon to the box office. However, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was just too strong last year and it would take a miracle for 2016 to have a stronger December. That said, it would take a complete collapse for 2016 not to top 2015 in raw dollars. The growth might not be enough to keep pace with ticket price inflation, on the other hand.
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After Superman Returns struggled at the box office and The Dark Knight became a surprise $1 billion hit, the folks at Warner Bros. decided to reboot the D.C. movies as D.C. Extended Universe using the dark and gritty style of the Dark Knight Trilogy. That hasn’t worked out so far. Man of Steel barely broke even and the mixed reviews made a few people worried about the franchise’s future. The dour interpretation of Superman didn’t work and the editing and pacing was a mess, but at least it had an interesting villain. Batman v Superman was terrible and had one of the worst villains of any comic book movie I’ve seen. When that film was eviscerated by the critics, Warner Bros. stepped in and made last minute changes to Suicide Squad. Did it work? Nope. But is it better than BvS?
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July did reasonably well, thanks mostly to The Secret Life of Pets, which will top $300 million shortly and could earn double its nearest competitor when all is said and done. That said, there were also a quartet of $100 million hits as well, so the month had good depth as well. August isn’t as lucky. There is one film that is expected to earn $100 million during its opening weekend, Suicide Squad, and one more that is expected to reach $100 million in total, Pete’s Dragon. There could be a surprise hit among the rest of the releases, (my long shot with a shot is Sausage Party) but for the most part, the rest of the wide releases would be happy with just $50 million at the box office. Last August was a disaster and Straight Outta Compton was the only hit of the month. Unless Suicide Squad bombs compared to expectations, 2016 will come out ahead in the year-over-year comparison.
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The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning and we are already beginning to see a trend for this year's Awards Season. For the most part, the same films are coming up over and over again. Carol led the way with five awards, while there was a three-way tie for second place with The Big Short, The Revenant and Steve Jobs each picking up four.
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November ended on a positive note with a strong Thanksgiving weekend. Even so, the overall numbers were mixed with a lot of misses mixed in with a few hits. It was better than October and we will call that a victory. Meanwhile, December is potentially record-breaking. Actually, given the evidence, it is almost assuredly going to be record-breaking. Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already set a record for the most money taken from ticket pre-sales and the biggest December weekend will fall. The pre-orders alone will guarantee that. On the downside, it is very likely that no film will make as much in total as The Force Awakens will make during its opening weekend. There's a chance no film makes in total as much as The Force Awakens makes during its opening day. There are a few films that have a shot at $100 million. For example, Joy should get there, if it becomes a major player during Awards Season. If not, it will at least come close. Daddy's Home, and to a lesser extent Sisters, could be surprise $100 million hits. However, like the rest of 2015, December is shaping up to be a month of a record-breaking hit and a lot of films that struggle just to get noticed. On the other hand, last December, was a lot more balanced at the top with four films earning more than $100 million, led by The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. There's a chance The Force Awakens earns more than all four $100 million hits from last year earned combined.
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Welcome to the column formerly known as the DVD and Blu-ray release report! In response to the changing home market landscape, we have renamed it the Home Market Release Report, and will now be including Video-on-Demand releases. It was a bad week to try and change the format, as there were a ton of great releases contending for Pick of the Week. Most of these contenders are TV on DVD releases, including Parks & Recreation: Season 7. There is also one limited release, Spring on Blu-ray, and one first-run releases, The SpongeBob Movie: A Sponge Out of Water on 3D Combo Pack. It was a close race, but I choose SpongeBob in the end.
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As expected, Focus led the way at the box office, but sadly did so with a much lower opening weekend result than predicted. The rest of the top five were a little stronger than predicted each earning between $10 million and $12 million. That said, the overall box office was still weak, down 10% from last week to $107 million. It was also down 13% from last year. This caused 2015's lead over 2014 to drop. Granted, 2015 is still ahead of 2014 by $110 million or 6.8% at $1.74 billion to $1.63 billion, so it would take a while to lose that lead at this pace.
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Will Smith remains a top 20 force on The Numbers Bankability Index, thanks mainly to his leading turns in tentpoles and franchise films. His draw in smaller movies has always been less of a sure thing, even in his heyday. The performance of Focus this weekend is perhaps not as much of a surprise, with Warner Bros. projecting an OK $19.1 million debut for the film—not a terrible number for the time of year, and broadly in line with the openings for Seven Pounds ($14.8m), The Pursuit of Happyness ($26.5m) and Ali ($14.7m).
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The month ends with two wide releases: Focus and The Lazarus Effect. Neither film is expected to be a big hit, but at least Focus is expected to earn first place overtaking Fifty Shades of Grey. Overall, I think the box office will drop when compared to last week. Worse still, the box office looks weak when compared to last year. Last year, the box office was led by Non-Stop, while three films earned more than $20 million over the weekend. This year, there's a chance no film will earn $20 million. 2015 is very likely going to lose in the year-over-year comparison ending 2015's winning streak.
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It was a record-breaking January thanks entirely to American Sniper, which set records, both during its limited release run and especially when it expanded wide. There were a couple of other films that did well, but for the most part, it was a typical January. The question is, will American Sniper boost the overall box office, which would help February, or will its effects fade as it does? There are ten wide releases in February; there are a few films that may or may not open in the top ten. Of these, there are only two that have a real shot at true box office success. The biggest film in terms of buzz is Fifty Shades of Grey, which looks so, so bad. Personally, I would rather watch The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water a hundred times than sit through just the trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey. If Fifty Shades of Grey becomes the biggest hit of the month, it will mrean the end of civilization. Because. I. Will. End. Civilization. Last February was mostly mediocre, except for The LEGO Movie which was a huge early year hit. There's no chance any film opening this month will match The LEGO Movie; the top two films likely won't match The LEGO Movie. Because of this, 2015 will need to rely on depth to come out ahead. I'm not sure how likely that will be.
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Post-holiday weekends tend to feature weak releases and this time is no exception. After Earth is a film that should be a massive summer blockbuster, given its genre and its star, but the buzz is terrible. Now You See Me is the counter-programming release, but it should have a better opening than After Earth, relative to expectations and production budget. That said, Fast and Furious 6 will very likely remain on top of the box office chart. This weekend last year was the weekend Snow White and the Huntsman debuted and it earned $56 million. There's pretty much no chance any film will earn that much during this weekend. In fact, the two wide releases might not make that much combined.
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This movie came out during the height of the Bennifer backlash. Gigli did so poorly with critics and moviegoers that a lot of people were prejudging this film as soon as it was announced. It earned three Razzie nominations; however, Raquel Castro won a Young Artist Award for her performance in the film. Now that the mess surrounding the film is nearly a decade in the past, is it worth checking out? Or would it have failed under the best of circumstances?
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As April ends and summer begins, we see the 2013 box office on a losing streak. There is some good news, as May should be much, much, much better than April was. Much better. During the five weekends in May, there are nine films opening wide. Of those film, there are seven that at least have a shot at $100 million. And of those seven films, four at least have a shot at $200 million, two have a shot at $300 million, and we might even have a $400 million hit this month. Iron Man 3 should turn out to be the biggest hit of the month, while there are some who think Star Trek: Into Darkness could be a close competitor for that honor. There's also some bad news. The Avengers opened last May and earned more than $600 million. No film opening this month will come close to that figure. There's a chance the top two films opening this month won't match that combined. On the other hand, last year there was a huge drop-off from the biggest hit of the month to the second biggest hit of the month. There were so many high-profile failures last year, that 2013 might actually start winning some weekends in the year-over-year comparison.
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Fun Size is a live action kids movie with a female star. These tend to struggle at the box office. This one was no exception. Despite opening right before Halloween and having a Halloween theme, the film bombed really hard. It opened well below the Mendoza Line and is one of the weakest openings for a saturation level release of all time. Is the film as bad as its box office performance? Or does it deserve to find a wider audience on the home market?
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This weekend is Thanksgiving and as always that means Black Friday and Cyber Monday plus 48 hours of shopping in-between. Unlike most years, I'm only halfway done with my Christmas shopping. So what recent, and not so recent releases are prime candidates for the perfect gift this year? Over the next month, we will go over several dozen possibilities with our annual Holiday Gift Guide, which is divided into into four sections. This week we start with Major Movie Releases. These are first run releases, franchise box sets, etc. However, before we get into the individual titles, we will start with an update on...
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