Category: Looking at the Weekend

With one new wide release and a handful of minor limited releases, we thought we would do something special today. We’ll include our thoughts on Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones in next week’s article. Until then, we’re going to have a Year-End Special with three categories that each of our contributors submitted responses for. Our…

The race for #1 this weekend is going to be tight. While I ultimately think The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will come out on top with The Hobbit‘s third week and the debut of The Wolf of Wall Street chomping at its heels. The big issue is whether any of the films will burn…

It used to be that Peter Jackson films dominated the holiday box office, but Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues changes that with this week’s likely #1 debut. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: I’m interested in the two limited release films this week, but not those going wide. Peter J. Patrick: Christmas comes early to both the…

There is no question about what will top the box office. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug should do so handily. The big question is whether the somewhat poorly received first film will keep many fans away expecting it to be worse. Critics have already chimed in that this one is back on track, if…

There are no new wide releases this weekend; however, Inside Llewyn Davis is as close a potential blockbuster as the indie crowd can get and should easily be the top new release this weekend. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: I had never been a Coens fan until their post-Oscar output and have been fairly fascinated now…

The battle royale this weekend will be between the second week of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire sure to be somewhere in the vicinity of $80 or $90 million and Frozen, the latest Disney animated feature. Since the last two major Disney pictures debuted around $50 million for the weekend, it’s likely Katniss will claim…

How high will The Hunger Games: Catching Fire take this weekend’s box office? The first film debuted to over $150 million at the box office just over one-third of what the film would ultimately collect. It’s been over a year since it premiered, but now finds itself firmly in the “holiday” season, which should enable…

There’s only one new wide release this weekend, but The Best Man Holiday cannot hope to overcome the second weekend of Thor: The Dark World. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: The Best Man Holiday doesn’t look bad, but Nebraska is the only film any film geek should care about this week. Peter J. Patrick: Alexander Payne’s…

No other wide releases this weekend and no hold overs will be able to trump Thor: The Dark World, which will have two weeks to rule the #1 position at the box office before The Hunger Games (spoofed this week in The Starving Games sequel Catching Fire stomps the competition for three weekends until The…

Three very distinct genres with differing viewerbases. Last Vegas has the best potential to climb to the top of the chart. Well known actors in a Las Vegas comedy should attract the broadest support while many geeks will choose Ender’s Game and families will go for Free Birds. Adult audiences have dominated this year’s box…

While Ridley Scott has a decent track record at the box office, the Jackass films have a better one which should push it to first place even against the strong holdover that’s Gravity. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: The Counselor might be interesting, but strangely enough, Bad Grandpa doesn’t look terribly bad. Blue Is the Warmest…

You don’t remake one of the most acclaimed horror films of all time only to expect a flop. Positioned as the only horror film on the horizon for Halloween, Carrie should easily pull in strong dollars for the next couple of weeks as date night and Halloween parties turn to their annual fright-fix. The Fifth…

Tom Hanks starring in Captain Phillips doesn’t guarantee it’s success, but word of mouth and relentless marketing may. Captain Phillips was initially slated to win the weekend easily against the grindhouse niche film Machete Kills. However, after the stellar debut of Gravity, it will need to do exceedingly well to top that. Individual Commentaries Wesley…

Early tracking shows that Alfonso Cuaron’s space thriller is going to open fairly strong, which should easily put it ahead of the weekend’s other new release Runner Runner and the expanding Metallica: Through the Never. Individual Commentaries Wesley Lovell: It’s an easy choice this weekend: Gravity. Peter J. Patrick: Oscar magnet Gravity should dwarf the…

There hasn’t been much in the way of family entertainment the last month, giving Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 to make a large bit of cash. The first film is well liked and the second film could build on that reputation. The problem is critics haven’t started weighing in on the movie, which…