The Box Office Podcast Scott Mendelson

We dissect If’s complicated $33.7 million domestic debut (remember G-Force?), whether we should be “happy” that The Strangers: Chapter 1 opened with $12 million (if horror becomes as franchise-dependent as every other theatrical genre…), and whether anyone should be surprised at the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black earning less than $3 million for the weekend (I was there… in early 1992… when The Babe bombed).


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We talk about the solid $131 million debut for 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,' including what went right, why it got a B from CinemaScore and what the math looks like (especially sans China) in terms of justifying follow-up. Oh, and 'Poolman' opened, too, I guess.


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Does the mediocre opening weekend suggest a broader theatrical problem, or was Ryan Gosling in a Hollywood love letter to itself less enticing to regular moviegoers? Plus, how this is all, of course, the fault of our 'Star Wars'


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The complicated new math of films distributed by obscenely wealthy streaming companies where it hardly matters if a $55 million flick like Zendaya’s Challengers makes a rate-of-return profit on theatrical alone. What is the “success” point for these “theatrical as PR for streaming” movies in terms of making the distributors happy with the box office results? How good (or bad) is a $15 million opening for a film like Challengers amid the current status quo compared to the mid-2010s when studio programmers were in a healthier place?


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ComScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian guest-stars (as Ryan Scott takes a breather) amid a look at Civil War’s second-weekend hold (the good) and the debuts for Abigail and Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (the bad) prior to a deep dive into the upcoming summer movie season (barring a miracle, the ugly).


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* What does Civil War’s chart-topping $26 million debut mean for A24?
* Scott and Lisa think a new Blair Witch is a horseman of the apocalypse situation.
* Ryan thinks we should all stop worrying and love the Blair Witch.
* Jeremy and Ryan talk about what they saw at CinemaCon.
And so much more!!


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