Box Office: My "Secretary" Diana and My Cousin Rachel

By Nathaniel R

Universal's attempted monster movie franchise launch didn't go so well. The Mummy met scathing reviews and a disappointing opening weekend. Now, a $32 million launch would be major news for many films but not for a $125 million budgeted feature starring Tom Cruise that is intending to launch a whole "universe". Not everything can be Marvel's Cinematic Universe, Hollywood!

In the absence of a strong competitor and on terrific word of mouth (no small thing), Wonder Woman continued her reign at the box office. Given a relatively small second week drop (43% while DC's usual superhero sophomore frame drop is 67%) the Amazon princess is looking to join the $300 million club stateside which will put her right up there with Supes and Batman. DC's "Big Three" indeed.

Charts and further comments after the jump...

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Mid-Year Report: Blockbuster Bombs - Why Did They Flop?

by Séan McGovern

If 2017 is showing any consistency in audience tastes over the last few years it's that no amount of star power, budget or marketing gimmicks can force audiences to buy tickets, with news that the US Memorial Weekend was the lowest grossing since 1999. I've been told variances of the rule that for every production budget on a bockbuster, you can expect the marketing budget to be half if not equal to that - meaning that managing to break even is still a loss.

The year is noticeable once again for some high profile box office casualties - King Arthur, Ghost in the Shell, Power Rangers, Baywatch, possibly Alien: Covenant and the latest Pirates of the Caribbean, which regardless of its #1 spot at the Box Office has a budget of $230m (!) to recoup and turn into profit.

There is plenty of speculation that the way we watch films is contributing to the losses, but how to explain Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy and the Marvel Universe - huge financial successes that tick many of the same boxes as the recent failures? If we like to believe that audiences are more selective or that we truly consider the reviews, then why do the Transformers films keep getting made? (seriously please someone explain)

Full figures (and reader speculation welcome) after the jump...

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What are you up to this weekend?

This Memorial Day Weekend isn't on fire at the movies. Nobody much cares about Baywatch (which is neither exciting like an action movie or funny like a comedy, but can still be amply defined as an "action comedy") and a new Pirates of the Caribbean is getting only the usual flock of lemming moviegoers for an established franchise and no one else. This is, by a very wide margin, the worst opening for a Pirates sequels. Elsewhere in sequel land the news isn't much better. Alien Covenant is the least popular Alien film yet if you adjust for inflation (and dont count those Predator crossovers because why would you?). Will Wonder Woman turn things around next week for audience interest or is counterprogramming that Big Hollywood rarely does anymore what they actually needed to do this very summer?

In limited release, slightly better news. Two unconventional romcoms are performing pretty well: Israel's 'wedding without a groom' film The Wedding Plan and the unfaithful ole marrieds of The Lovers are still expanding to decent business.

Weekend Box Office (May 26-28)
W I D E	L I M I T E D
1.🔺 PIRATES (5) $62.1  NEW	1. 🔺 THE LOVERS $665K (cum. $1.3) (443 screens)  REVIEW
2. GUARDIANS (2) $19.8  (cum. $333.2) REVIEW	2. LOWRIDERS $539K (cum. $5.1) (334 screens)
3.🔺 BAYWATCH $18.1 NEW (cum. $22.7)	3. NORMAN $503k (cum. $3.0) (324 screens)
4. ALIEN (6)  $10.5 (cum. $57.3)  REVIEW | FRANCHISE	4.🔺 PARIS CAN WAIT $456k (cum. $860k) (70 screens)
5. EVERYTHING EVERYTHING $6.1 (cum. $21.5) REVIEW	5.🔺 THE WEDDING PLAN $311k (cum. $595K | 91 screens)
🔺 = new or added screens numbers from box office mojo

What did you see this weekend? 

Box Office: The face huggers still got it!

By Nathaniel R

It was a battle for box office dominance in outer space as Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 and Aliens Volume 6 (shut up) faced off. The champion was those nasty acid-blooded face huggers rather than the comic bro huggers. Not that Drax and Starlord have anything to worry about having just crossed the $300 million mark domestically.

It's also worth noting that Demian Bichir has both #1 movies -- he has a small role in Alien Covenant and a big one in Lowriders, which logs a second week on top of the limited release chart. Charts and a few more comments are after the jump... 

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Today's 4: Auntie Mame, The Breakfast Club, In the Realm of the Senses, and Laika

Another day, another chance to boost your spirits by celebrating showbiz history whilst you go about your here and now. Only four today since we decided the fifth would be better off in a beauty break style post later today. 

May 18th Showbiz History

2018 Okay this is future history but Laika has claimed this date for their next movie. We don't know what it is yet but who cares, it's Laika!

In their honor today: Rank Laika's releases thus far in the comments. They are in chronological order Coraline (2009), Paranorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Blockbusters of 1985, Auntie Mame and more after the jump...

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