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The big news about this weekend's lackluster box office isn't what you think. Story by Matt Cummings August 2015 broke all kinds of box office records, none of which to hang your hat on. September is off to just as bad a start, with a collection of new releases that just aren't bringing in the crowds. Suffering might be good for the soul, but this is ridiculous. Coming in at No. 1 was the faith-based War Room with $12.55m, which represents a slight 18% drop in its second week. The Sony film benefited from strong word of mouth and an expansion of theaters (391). Its 27.86m total haul over 11 days is guaranteed to further unleash more of the low-budget God films, but look for smart placement in the schedule to be a deciding factor of each success. Falling to No. 2 was Straight Outta Compton with an estimated four-day haul of $11.06m. Having owned the past three weekends, the F. Gary Gray N.W.A biopic fell only 16% and actually trailed War Room by a s

The worst August in 21 years is fortunately put out of its misery. Story by Matt Cummings 2015 might become the biggest box office draw ever, but August will go down as one of the all-time worst. Theater owners saw empty lines for popcorn and even more depressing receipts last month, as the industry experienced a perfect storm of unprecedented flops, poorly-timed releases, and a lackluster set of films that kept audiences away in droves. The problem actually began in July, which included the under-appreciated ( Southpaw and Self/Less ), the dull ( Paper Towns ), and the just plain awful ( Vacation ). This set the stage for three nearly-instant August duds, The Fantastic Four , Ricki and the Flash , and The Man from UNCLE , before delving into two of the worst weekends of the year. In fact, August 2015 has achieved a set of records that theater owners and Hollywood fat cats would just as soon forget. Here are just a few: August 2015 was the worst since August 1994

The NWA biopic registers the fourth largest August bow while Man From U.N.C.L.E. gets taken out. Story by Matt Cummings Straight Outta Compton delivered solid box office numbers over the weekend, crushing its competition with $60.2m. Led by strong word of mouth and solid reviews, the biopic about rap group NWA including a very strong $24.12m Friday on its way to the fourth largest opening for an August film. These numbers are all the more impressive when you consider it did not play either in 3D or at any IMAX - that privilege went to The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Although its 'A' rating from CinemaScore and impressive 96% audience score from Flixster should bode well for its immediate future, the film will most likely endure for another reason: the lack of strong candidates remaining for the month. Under those conditions, we think this and at least one other film on our list should do well as the summer winds down. With a modest drop of 40%, the Tom Cruise spy

The Fantastic Four utterly fails as Ethan Hunt triumphs again. Story by Matt Cummings In a devastating blow to one of 20th Century Fox's tentpoles, The Fantastic Four drew one of the lowest opening box office tallies for a super hero film, bringing in just $26.2 million from 3,995 US theaters. That's after receiving a crushing 8% from Rotten Tomatoes critics and a tidal wave of poor audience feedback including a 'C-' from CinemaScore. Perhaps what's more surprising is that the Tom Cruise spy action/thriller Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation easily won the weekend box office with an estimated $29.4 million from 3,988 theaters. That down just 48% from its opening, bringing its 10-day total to $109.5m. We were estimating a much closer race, and perhaps even a defeat for Ethan Hunt and his IMF team. There's little doubt that Josh Trank's film was torpedoed both internally and externally, capping off with a Tweet on Thursday by the directo

The star is back on top as Vacation 's road was bumpy. Story by Matt Cummings Paramount's Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation easily won the weekend box office with an estimated $56 million, ranking it as second all-time for a M:I movie - that honor goes to MI:II at just above $57m. The well received Tom Cruise follow up has been gaining traction among critics for weeks, although tracking numbers were actually painting it for a much softer opening of around $40m. Rogue Nation 's final numbers represent the higher end of expectations, and could actually rise once all the numbers are in. A 9:50am screening on Sunday at a local theater actually saw several people waiting in line to buy a morning ticket. With support like that, it's possible we could see it become the No. 1 M:I film ever. With a strong No.1 return, Actor Tom Cruise is definitely back as a bankable action star, perhaps the only one next to Dwayne Johnson. Rogue Nation opened with a s

Adam Sandler continues to disappoint in a very weak weekend Story by Matt Cummings In one of the closest Box Office races this year, Marvel Studios' Ant-Man held on to the number 1 spot, narrowly beating the competition, with an estimated $24.65 million. The Adam Sandler comedy Pixels arrived in second with $24m. But even as the battle raged all weekend - with Pixels beating Ant-Man on Friday, then the positions flip-flopping at least one more time between the days - it became clear box office hauls across the board were lower than expected. But the sting behind Sandler's latest disappointment is particularly pronounced. Stilted by a juvenile script and sadly familiar characterizations of hot women needing ugly, stupid men, Pixels has been lambasted by both critics (earning only 19% on Rotten Tomatoes) and receiving only a 'B' on Cinemascore. Its $24m haul is among the lowest Sandler-led films and perhaps a warning that his stature has finally

Even an original Avenger can't bring home the ants. Story by Matt Cummings Marvel Studios can breathe a sigh of relief (sort of), as their record of 11 consecutive #1 openings remains intact. But while Ant-Man won the weekend with an estimated $57.23 million, the box office celebration is sure to be short. That's because early hopes of $65m fell as Friday turned to Saturday, led by 'seen that before in Iron Man ' comments. By the time it was done, the Paul Rudd heist comedy had barely beaten 2008's The Incredible Hulk , which holds the lowest opening among the 12 Marvel Studios films at $55.41m. Coming in at number 2 was Minions , which took it on the chin, plunging 57% to $49.27m. And that number was boosted by a ridiculous 4,300 theater count, which means it could have slid even further had it gotten the typical 3,100 treatment. The highly-anticipated Universal/Illumination Entertainment spin-off suffered from both poor reviews and perhaps la

Post-apocalyptic machines and strippers lose out in July 4th Weekend bust. Story by Matt Cummings Early numbers are coming in from this week's domestic box office, and it doesn't look good for two movies with high expectations from their studios. It appears that Pixar's Inside Out will finally take the number 1 slot from three-peater Jurassic World , leaving Terminator Genisys and Magic Mike XXL in the dust. With hgh praise from critics and even talk of whether it deserves an Oscar nod for Best Picture, the movie about a little girl's emotions will take in an estimated $30 million over the three-day weekend. It's already made over $225m and on Friday seemed ready to exert its influence over Mike and Terminator . Coming in at a close number 2 is Jurassic World , which should take in $28-29m. Considering its staying power, there's no reason why a last-minute surge could see the two slip-flop, attesting to the popularity of both. That leaves

How has the 2015 box office performed compared to 2014? Read on to find out. Story by Matt Cummings From late 2014, critics and writers were ready to proclaim the 2015 box office as the most successful in history. We too felt a certain sense of destiny, with so many great films arriving throughout the year. We even wrote about it here , here , and here . Then January arrived, and one dud after another came with it, including Blackhat , Mortdecai , The Boy Next Door , and Project Almanac . February was actually worse, with Jupiter Ascending and Seventh Son dropping stinking loads at our door before running off. But within that mire of disaster, we also saw great films, including Paddington and Kingsman: The Secret Service , both of which kept many theaters from turning into mausoleums. You can read our QUARTER 1 REPORT here . As we pass the half-way mark of 2015, it's time to compare this year's box office to 2014, and to determine if everyone was right ab

Interesting lessons learned as Q1 ends up 3.1%. Story by Matt Cummings When the 2015 box office arrived to much ballyhoo, audiences stood wide-eyed at the possibilities. "Biggest year in film ever" was chanted in theaters and blogs as we stood ready for the quarter 1 wave. And while the box office in general was up, a deeper look suggests an interesting trend. Note: The Winter Season is defined as the first day after New Year's week or weekend through the Thursday before the first Friday in March. According to our friends at BoxOfficeMojo.com, Quarter 1 of 2015 $2.475 billion domestically, as compared to 2014's take of $2.4b's and 2013's $2.274b. Here's the master list, but notice the problem. We'll share it afterwards: 1. American Sniper $344,257,525 2. Fifty Shades of Grey $165,089,610 3. The SpongeBob Movie $160,393,302 4. Cinderella (2015) $153,247,557 5. Kingsman $119,975,617 6. Insurgent $89,693,

Age of Ultron to pass $400 million domestically. Note: this is an update to our Saturday story. Story by Matt Cummings No matter how you slice it, this weekend's box office race was more of a dud than an amazing stratospheric accomplishment, with Tomorrowland winning, Pitch Perfect 2 at #2, and Age of Ultron set to cross $400 million domestically. So, why all then negative feelings? First the numbers: with the three-day weekend officially in the books, Tomorrowland took in paltry $32.9m/$41m while owning most of the IMAX screens, which was slightly higher than its projections. It eeked out a win against Pitch Perfect 2 , which crossed the $100m mark on Saturday, all but guaranteeing a sequel (oh, no please don't) with $38.5m. George Miller's dystopian spectacle Mad Max: Fury Road , took in a higher number as well, gassing up to $32.1m for the weekend. Those numbers are impressive, considering the relatively small potential audience; numbers like that m

Age of Ultron set to pass $400 million domestically. Story by Matt Cummings No matter how you slice it, this weekend's box office race is gearing up to be a close one, with Tomorrowland and Pitch Perfect 2 in a close race for #1. With the three-day weekend officially casting off on Friday, Tomorrowland took in approximately $10.4 million, owning most of the IMAX screens - it should take in an estimated $33-35m for the weekend. However, that might not be enough to win it the top spot: that one might go to Pitch Perfect 2 . On Friday, the comedy-melody mashup took in approximately $10m, which should plpay out to a 3-day tally of $33-34m. It will also pass the $100m mark on Saturday, after only dropping 52% weekend-to-weekend. Coming in at number three is the George Miller dystopian spectacle Mad Max: Fury Road , dropping only 39%, which should see profit between $26-28m for the weekend. Those numbers are impressive, considering the relatively small potential