Dune

Friday, September 15, 2023 Third weekend of September 2023

In the note A great example of how thin things might get (because of the strike) is the first weekend in November, which is prime release date real estate, and no one has moved there since Dune Part Two moved out.

Friday, February 2, 2024 First weekend of February 2024

In the note But buckle up, we’ll get through it, Dune is just around the corner. As I’ve talked about before here pretty extensively, moviegoing is a social proposition.

Friday, February 9, 2024 Super Bowl weekend 2024

On the chart Dune (2021 re-release): $1.7M

Expected 'Headed for $2 million this weekend' Actual: $1.7M

In the note Right now this looks like $4 million or so for the weekend. Dune - WB plugged this into the market to prime the pump for Dune Part 2’s release in a couple of weeks.

Friday, March 15, 2024 Third weekend of March 2024

In the note Although the new entries this week aren’t going to make much of a splash, combined with the titles that have opened the last couple of weeks, we should be about even with last year’s (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) weekend box-office . Although we’ll have a nice sequel next week (Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire) it’s probably not going to be able to match the series high gross from last year’s John Wick: Chapter 4 at $74 million, so we’ll start digging our year to year hole again next week. This is pretty much going to be the story for a while, but hopefully we’ll have a few surprises that keep us close to last year. But if I had to guess right now, I'd say we’ll be down about 20% from last year. On a brighter note, it looks like SXSW is back as the ’Sundance for Movie goers who are comfortable identifying as normal’. Before the shutdown, SXSW was a terrific launching pad for broad appeal films like A Quiet Place and Ready Player One. But ever since we started getting together in groups again, the reach you would get from a Premier there was pretty light. Last year films like Dungeons & Dragons and Bottoms were good, and played gangbusters there, but the reach of the event was still short of what we would see pre-shutdown. There was talk last year that the main difference was the international press, they hadn’t come back yet (apparently the same issue applied to Sundance until this year) so that’s why we weren't seeing the same butterfly effect from the premiere. But from the data I see during my day job, it’s back. And here’s why it’s important. If you’ve got a film that fits into what SXSW is, in the big scheme of things, it’s a pretty good value. If you’re going to spend mid 6 figures anyway on a premier, why not do it in a place where it’s packed with opinion makers and influencers naturally? You do a big premiere for the publicity you get from the activity on the Carpet, but at something like a SXSW, you get the bonus of what goes on in the theater after the carpet (because it’s packed with influencers and opinion makers). And when you compare SXSW to something with similar reach like Cannes (at least domestically), it’s a bargain. But as we recover from the shutdown (and now the strikes) it’s nice to know we’ve got a few marketing tools getting back to normal. Anyway, with a similar accuracy and efficacy of someone yelling ‘careful!’ exactly .5 seconds after you whack your head, trip on something or slip on something; here are some thoughts on the weekend box-office. Dune Part Two, Kung Fu Panda 4 - This could go either way, and figure they’ll both be in the range of $30 million for the weekend.

Friday, March 29, 2024 Easter weekend 2024

In the note However, ever since Dune shocked the box-office back to life, Saturday’s have been really over performing, so it would be nice to see that happen again this weekend.

Friday, April 26, 2024 Fourth weekend of April 2024

In the note But that’s a topic for a different Friday. Anyway, with the same accuracy of a USC Commencement schedule, here are some thoughts on the weekend box-office. Challengers - MGM smartly moved this Zendaya driven drama out of September because of the strike (as did WB with Dune), and the move is paying off.

Friday, September 13, 2024 Second weekend of September 2024

In the note Dave Bautista has had a really nice career as an actor, and after a breakout role in Blade Runner 2049, he has shown he can hold his own in films with established stars. But his filmography is almost all driven by big IP such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Dune; and even when he wasn’t in a big IP film, he had other IP to prop him up, like Stuber (with Kamail Nanjiani) or Knock at the Cabin (with M.

Where it turns up