Batman Succeeds: 'Lego Batman' Wins the Weekend Again

No shock, really.

The Lego Batman Movie wasn't facing any tentpole-esque competition this week. Not even the big budget epic The Great Wall, which might make its money back because of the Chinese and overseas grosses. Universal pretty much dumped that one here, so the mini figures had the weekend all to themselves.

Falling a good 35%, The Lego Batman Movie collected $20 million and is sitting at $98 million domestically. Not as strong as The Lego Movie's second weekend drop, but it doesn't matter. The thing is doing damn fine for a spin-off. Worldwide, it is currently at $170 million, more than double the budget. We're off to a good start!

Moana surged a few spaces ahead, going from 17 to 13, and rising 37%. No theater expansion or special promotion or anything, it just... Jumped a bit. There's still some oil in this tank. $244 million domestically, $573 million. Japan will do the rest in a matter of weeks.

What's impressive is the weekend performance puts it ahead of Sing, a leggy smash that opened nearly a month after it. Sing tumbled 58%. $266 million here, it should top out between $270-275 million here, making it Illumination's second biggest non-Despicable Me film behind The Secret Life of Pets. Worldwide, the film is up to $528 million. China just got the film, Russia and Japan get it next. Let's see how high it goes from here...

Monster Trucks is down 70%, not much has changed. $60 million worldwide. No update on Trolls, whether it has ended its run or not. I wonder how the home media sales are...

UPDATE: Four-days are in...

The only major change here is The Lego Batman Movie, which looks to make $107 million by the end of today. Worldwide, this puts its a few clicks higher, $179 million.

Brickbuster: 'Lego Batman' Wins the Weekend Box Office

The bricks sold the tickets...

Projections for The Lego Batman Movie were all over the map, some suggested it could open as high as $85 million. It didn't quite do that, in fact it made around the same amount I thought it would make all along. $53 million, not too bad!

The Lego Batman Movie cost a bit more than its surprisingly lower budget predecessor, but it's no matter. By weekend deux, it'll probably make it all back. Worldwide, the film sits at $90 million. A handful of countries, including China, Australia (where it was made, no less!), and Japan, haven't gotten it yet. It's sure to do fine in those territories.

What's more impressive is that it staved off Fifty Shades Darker. That film was #1 on Friday, but because Fifty Shades is one of those frontloaded films that a base audience flocks to on the first day of release, it slipped, letting Lego Batman take the trophy home. Since the first movie was sort of a one-and-done thing, Fifty Shades Darker unsurprisingly opened with nearly half of the first movie's opening weekend take.

Sing took a tumble, land right outside of the Top 10. Dropping 59%, the film is now at $265 million here and $501 million everywhere. Perhaps the sky is $275 million domestically (making it their biggest non-sequel yet), and $570 million worldwide, if it breaks out in France and Japan.

At #17 is Moana, up to $243 million stateside and $565 million worldwide. Japan is getting it soon, $600 million worldwide is pretty much a given at this point.

Monster Trucks is a goner. Dropped 70%, is at $32 million here and $58 million everywhere. Perhaps the film can find a following on TV/video, it's supposedly not all that bad. I saw bits and pieces of it, wasn't terrible or anything.

Trolls is on Blu-ray, but was still playing in some areas. It's pretty much done now. Looks like the final worldwide tally will be $339-340 million.

Weekend Box Office Report: Steady Drops

The calm before the storm... The Lego Batman Movie - currently garnering rave reviews - is out in a matter of days...

Sing still sits in the Top 10, staying at #7. It dipped 36%, made $4 million, and now sits at $262 million. Worldwide, it has jumped up to $487 million. France and the UK recently got it, China, Russia, and Japan are next. I expect it to do very well in the first two of those three territories.

Good ol' Monster Trucks slipped 49%, $31 million here, $57 million everywhere. Like I said on another post, I expected it to do way worse. The more I think about it, the more I think it should've been like Paramount's own Super 8. A town-set monster flick made for roughly $50 million, why in the world did Monster Trucks have to cost $75 million *more* than that? Oh right, something about confidence in it possibly kickstarting a Transformers/Ninja Turtles-esque franchise.

Despite losing over 1,000 screens, Moana eased 46%. $242 million here, $554 million worldwide. Still hanging in there, looks like it'll settle for a sub-$255 million domestic gross. $600 million worldwide is in sight!

No update on Trolls' gross. With the Blu-ray out tomorrow, I reckon its run will end pretty soon. There wouldn't be any major change anyways. We still await the verdict from DreamWorks on whether it was a success or a loss...

Weekend Box Office: 'Moana' Sing-Along Does Well, 'Sing' Stays

Sing remains a force to be reckoned with...

At work today, both screenings of it were PACKED. Like the first two Despicable Me films and The Secret Life of Pets, the legs for the thing are ridiculous...

Slipping a wee bit, the picture fell 31% and made $6 million for the weekend. It's now at $257 million domestically and $463 million worldwide. Sing 2 is probably going to make double that amount four years from now.

Monster Trucks continues to hold on well, though the drop was a bit harder than Sing's. It sits at $28 million here and $47 million everywhere, it probably could've done much worse.

Moana's limited Sing-Along re-release didn't quite send the picture to the top of the wave, but it did give it a nice little drop of 10%. Moana has collected $240 million to date, closing in on $250 million domestically. Worldwide, it continues to grow, as it now sits at $530 million. I think Japan's going to rocket this one into the six-oh-oh territory.

No major change or jump for Trolls, the movie is on its last leg.

In a couple weeks, The Lego Batman Movie should shake up the snowglobe.

Weekend Box Office: 'Sing' Still Carrying a Tune

Hey look, a January weekend that wasn't all that dry!

On the live-action end, M. Night Shyamalan's newest posted a great $40 million opening, putting it up there in the top January openings. Makes up for the relatively shoddy last few weeks. (Though Hidden Figures' success is quite something!)

Anyways, onto the real news... Sing is still in the Top 5, now at #4. It collected $9 million this weekend, down 36%. Grossing $249 million domestically to date, it's a few days away from surpassing the domestic gross of the first Despicable Me. Worldwide, it is now at $427 million. This one should be at over $500 million when all is said and done, I think.

Monster Trucks is somewhat beating the snark and bad buzz, for it held on quite well. Dipping 36% and collecting $7 million, it now sits at $22 million here and $41 million everywhere. It's still a crushing flop, but the decent-sized drop (and the fact that it's still getting good-sized crowds at my theater) tells me that audiences are kinda digging it. Perhaps Paramount should've had a wee bit more faith in this one?

Moana didn't move, staying in 12th place. Falling a solid 41%, it took in $2 million for the weekend, and is now at $236 million domestically. Should still reach $250 million at the end of the line, worldwide it has finally cracked five-oh-oh, now sitting at $509 million. If it's a breakout hit in Japan, $600 million is doable.

No major changes for Trolls: $152 million domestically and $337 million worldwide.

Weekend Box Office Report: Paramount Finally Rips Band-Aid, Others Hold Well

In an alternate universe, maybe Paramount's misguided mishap would've been the next Avatar...

Anyways, we all saw it coming. Monster Trucks' tires deflated. Opening at #7, behind several holdovers, the film took in $10 million for the three-day. It's also doing nothing in the few territories it's out in. With a 3x multiplier, the thing won't make more than $30 million, so yes. Big loss, but again, we knew it was going to happen. Paramount knew it back in August, the spillover from the previous guard is finally here and off their chests. Cult favorite in a few years? Or something that'll be locked in the bad box?

Paramount Animation will be fine. A few days ago, it seemed like a few heads were optimistic about their more animated future. By that, I mean we'll be seeing more caricature animation films from them, less live-action movies with hyper-real VFX elements.

Sing still crows, dropping a great 33% and reeling in $18 million for the weekend. At this point, somewhere between $250-270 million seems to be the sky. The picture's now at $397 million worldwide, still has to open in some key markets, as noted before. How long before Universal and Illumination officially ink Sing 2's 2019 release date?

Moana is now out of the Top 10, but it's still hanging ten. (My theater lost it this weekend.) It fell 38%, the gross to date is $231 million domestically. Worldwide, it's now at cruising its way towards $500 million, as it's now at $482 million. Finally past the 3x mark, Disney must be happy. Does it break out in Japan? Could it get to $600 million? We shall see...

Trolls is still around, dropping 12% and making 385k. $151 million domestically, $338 million worldwide. Still waiting on the verdict from DreamWorks themselves, whether this thing's a profit-maker or not.

Storks officially ended its run this past Thursday. $72 million here, $182 million worldwide. Non c'è male!

What are saying for The Lego Batman Movie's opening numbers?

UPDATE: MLK weekend totals...

Four-days are in...

Monster Trucks has made $15 million now, an $29 million worldwide.

Sing is now up to $238 million domestically, and $402 million worldwide.

Moana is still at $233 million, as it's pretty late into its run. $484 million worldwide.

Trolls stayed the same.

Weekend Box Office Report: Everyone Slips

Well, now that the holiday season has pretty much ended, things took dips...

Sing still leads the pack, sitting at #3. Falling 54%, it collected $19 million and the film sits at $213 million domestically. Is a $300 million final gross in play for this thing? I wouldn't be shocked if it got that high, as it is yet another leggy Illumination monster. Worldwide, it's at $356 million. It has yet to open in the UK, China, Russia, Japan, and ironically the country it was produced in... France. The film has already made over 4 1/2x its budget.

Moana had a milder dip, easing 41% and collecting $6 million for the weekend. The film is now at $225 million domestically, keeping Walt Disney Animation Studios' winning streak going, and passing the studio's Big Hero 6. If the film keeps it up, we could be looking at a $250 million domestic haul. Still yet to open in some key territories, Moana is up to $450 million worldwide. That's very good for now, as that is exactly 3x the picture's budget. I see some sites are writing Moana off as an underperformer. It is anything but... Not every animated feature is destined to magically pull Frozen/Zootopia/Inside Out/Secret Life of Pets numbers out of a hat. It's just the way it goes. Besides, the movie has already made 4x its opening weekend gross... Underperformance alright.

Down 35% this weekend was Trolls, still shining. It's now in the sub-500k zone, taking in 430k for the weekend. The picture looks to stop somewhere below $155 million domestically, and worldwide it's pretty much done. $340 million or below for the final global tally. That would be 2.7x the budget. DreamWorks seemed happy with Home, which made 2.9x the budget. Penguins of Madagascar made 2.8x its budget, but they deemed that a flop. I'm not sure what the verdict will be for Trolls, but I think all's well because of Trolls' very good domestic performance (something Home had, but Penguins didn't) and the consumer product sales I think were strong. I haven't seen so much merchandise for a DreamWorks movie in years.

Storks is surprisingly still playing in some theaters out there, but nothing has really changed: $72 million domestic / $180 million worldwide.

I'll of course cover Monster Trucks, as that is a Paramount Animation-branded flick and I'm curious to see how it does despite the fact that the distributor took a huge writedown on the picture many months ago. $115 million to be exact. The real box office fun will begin again with The Lego Batman Movie next month...

New Year Box Office Bash: 'Sing' Sings Loud, 'Moana' Rides the Wave

Illumination's newest, big shock, is an unstoppable beast.

Sing had excellent three and four-day grosses. The four-day on this one was a fantastic $56 million, up 60%. The picture now stands at $180 million domestically and $277 million worldwide. Already 3 1/2x the $75 million budget, the usual for Illumination's films. Just you watch, in a few weeks, that untitled Illumination film set for summer 2019? That's probably going to be Sing 2.

Moana was no slouch, either. Moving from #6 to #4 on the charts, rising while other new competitors fell, it took in $14 million for the 4-day. That's up 85%, and the film has made $213 million stateside. It's a few millions away from passing the studio's own Big Hero 6, the original 1992 gross Aladdin collected, and should be past Team Emeryville's Brave ($237 million) in a couple of weeks. We saw an uptick in the foreign box office too, for Moana is now at $402 million worldwide.

While not Frozen 2.0 at the box office, it is doing very respectable business. To be disappointed, I think, is silly. Frozen's success was a once-in-a-blue-moon all-the-planets-align kind of thing, Moana looks to at least outgross Tangled at the worldwide box office once it hits a few more key markets in the coming months.

Even Trolls jumped up. $900k for the 4-day, up 133%! It has finally crossed $150 million domestically and sits at $332 million worldwide. It's out everywhere, so there are no more markets for it to open in. The current gross is still only 2.6x the budget, not sure what DreamWorks wants. Are they okay with 2 1/2x the $125 million cost? Or do they expect it to make around 3x the budget? Or is the merchandise doing the rest of the work?

There haven't been any updates on Storks since December 22nd, so I'll safely assume it ended its run. $72 million domestically, $179 million worldwide. Not bad for a film that got slipshod marketing, as it only cost $70 million to make. Warner Bros. ought to be happy with how it did.

Carrying a Tune: 'Sing' Opens Well

Now that the Christmas week and weekend are over, what are the results?

Illumination's Sing lead the animated pack, which isn't surprising given that it's the new film from the reliably hit-making Despicable Me creators. That being said, the opening wasn't as spectacular as I thought it would be. It's still very good, because Illumination is smart with budgets. For those who don't know, they send the work to a French studio they own called Mac Guff. This is why their animated films cost less than $80 million to make.

Sing also debuted at #2, because of a strong hold-over for Rogue One. It pulled in $35 million for the three-day, and $55 million for the five-day. With Monday estimates already in, the film is currently at $76 million. Worldwide? $93 million. Key markets like the UK and Japan haven't gotten the film yet, it doesn't open in the country it was made in until next month. Russia and Japan have to wait until March. I'm sure it'll do fine over in those territories. Look for a leggy run with this one...

With a bevy of new releases, Moana slipped from second place to sixth. Only dropping 41%, the weekend total was $7 million, bringing the picture up to $180 million domestically. Monday estimates take it to $183 million. Worldwide, it's at $327 million. Like Sing, it has yet to open in a few major markets as well. At this point in its run back in 2010, Tangled was at $146 million. This means $237 million might be the ceiling for Moana, which is pretty darn good. That would be a stellar 4.3x the three-day opening weekend gross, 2.8x the five-day. Tangled made 4.1x its three-day, and 2.9x its five-day. If Moana performs more like that, then we'll be looking at a possible $240 million+ gross.

Trolls lost over 1,000 theaters and dipped 71% for the three-day, with a $390k take, $575k for the four-day. Worldwide, it is at $329 million. The picture looks to finish somewhere below $155 million in North America, a solid number that puts it between Kung Fu Panda 3 ($141 million) and Home ($177 million). Here's hoping the last two Fox-DreamWorks pictures do well.

No numbers for Storks just yet...

To be updated...

Sphere O' Gold '16: Golden Globe Nominees Out

The appetizer to the Oscars, the Golden Globes... Every December, every late winter...

The best animated feature line-up is surprisingly a little diverse this time around, considering that in the past, the animated category had mostly left out foreign entries. Here, we have the Swiss-French film My Life as a Zucchini, a stop-motion film that GKIDS locked up. Supposedly weighty and not afraid to go down some dark avenues, I see this film easily getting into the race for the gold man now. In the past, I thought it had a good chance at getting in. Now, it could very well be up for an Oscar nomination despite some pretty rough indie competition.

The next three were expected. Kubo and the Two Strings is up, as well as Zootopia and Moana. What I didn't expect was Sing...

That good, huh? From everything I'm hearing, it's a well-rounded, well-made comedy musical that seems to be leagues ahead of Illumination's post-Despicable Me output. The film is not even out here in the states, and it's already making some waves. I'm actually pretty excited for it, the newest trailer really makes it look like it could be fun and toe-tapping. But among the best of the year? I'll have to see about that!

Finding Dory, unsurprisingly, is out of the race. Not the first time a Pixar film - sequel or not - didn't make it at the Globes.

I think this time, it has more to do with the amount of truly high quality features that came out this year. Finding Dory, being very good, perhaps had small chances at getting into the final five. I have a feeling the same will go for the Oscars, as they - in 2013 - didn't hesitate to squeeze out Monsters University, and nominate middling fare like The Croods and Despicable Me 2. I know it's not chic to think Monsters University is anything above mediocre, but I felt it was very good, and actually better than the three mainstreamers of 2013 that were nominated for Best Animated Feature Oscar. Yes, that includes Frozen.

Finding Dory's miss is a bit disappointing, but at the same time there's so much good stuff this year that I'm not distraught over it. While Finding Dory was a personal film for me, I can handle it being out of the race. If I feel it's better than Sing, then I'll have questions for the Globe nominators.

Anyways, this has little bearing on my overall predictions for the Oscars. Since they're nominating more and more foreign works, I have a feeling that Sing won't get in, instead we'll get two indies. For a while, I was thinking April and the Extraordinary World and The Red Turtle would be the ones to get in, but now I think Zucchini has a lot of potential. Phantom Boy and Your Name still aren't out of the question. The three mainstreamers are obvious at this point: Zootopia, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Moana...

I'll eat crow if one of them doesn't make it.

If you check out what the critics' circles are saying, you'll find a bunch of different results. So far...

Zootopia has three wins: Critics' Choice, NY Film Critics, and the AFI. The latter has the film on a Top 10 best of the year list... Yes, an animated movie on a best of the year in general list. That's awesome.

Kubo and the Two Strings has a whopping four: National Board of Review, Atlanta Critics, Washington D.C. Critics, and Boston Online Critics. Wow!

The LA Film Critics chose Your Name, while the European Film Awards went for My Life as a Zucchini.

This means nothing, though. Remember back in 2012, none of the critics circles named Brave the best animated film of the year. The film won the Oscar and the Golden Globe, despite not being one of the year's stronger contenders. Now, you can argue that times have changed and that the Academy probably has new rules that require them to actually watch the movies before picking, but who knows. The Oscars, despite the supposedly new rules, still gave Inside Out the gold man at the last ceremony. Not a dig on Inside Out, it's a fantastic film, but I still get the sense that they didn't watch the others, or decided to just give it to the safe option - a mainstream, not to mention Disney-released film. The same applies for Big Hero 6's win for Best Animated Feature 2014.

Anyways, right now, it seems like Zootopia and Kubo are the darlings. One's from Disney, the other is from LAIKA, who has yet to win an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Or a Golden Globe for that matter. ParaNorman was completely snubbed by the Globes in 2012, they gave the nom to Hotel Transylvania instead.

So I have a feeling the Globes are going to be predictable. Either Zootopia or Moana takes it home.

As for the Oscars, Zootopia is probably still locked to win.

Now because Moana's a musical, we're hearing some things here and there. Only 'How Far I'll Go' is in the running, alongside Trolls' 'Can't Stop the Feeling'. A pleasant pop song at best, I would've removed it to make room for another Moana song. If you were to ask me what Moana song I would give the award to, it would be 'I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors)'... That's just my personal pick, though.

As for best animated feature, if I had to choose between the two Walt Disney Animation Studios films, I'd easily pick Zootopia. Moana's great, but it's comfort food. Zootopia does bold new things and its script is a little more consistent. Disney Animation should be rewarded for that, should they take anything home - be it spheres or statues.

Now throw in Kubo and the Two Strings, I would be okay with either Zootopia or Kubo and the Two Strings winning. Both are high points for modern mainstream feature animation.

Let the games begin!