Tag: box office predictions

September 12-14 Box Office Predictions

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle seeks to conquer the box office while Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk and mockumentary sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues hope for strong showings. My detailed prediction posts on the quartet of newcomers can be accessed here:

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle Box Office Prediction
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Box Office Prediction
The Long Walk Box Office Prediction
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Box Office Prediction

The influx of material could cause the top 5 to consist of 80% fresh product. Demon Slayer appears primed for a breakout performance that doubles the best in show previous start of the franchise in 2021. My low to mid 50s estimate should easily give it the top spot.

The Conjuring: Last Rites vastly blew past expectations (more on that below). In its sophomore frame, a slippage in the mid to even high 60s could occur and would be perfectly understandable.

Franchise finale Abbey should debut in range with its 2022 predecessor in the mid to higher teens for a likely third place posting.

Despite impressive reviews, The Long Walk could struggle to each double digits (it doesn’t help that Conjuring is still out there).

Finally, Spinal Tap II might see mid single digits and that may be enough for fifth place.

Here’s how I have it shaking out:

1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle

Predicted Gross: $64.6 million

2. The Conjuring: Last Rites

Predicted Gross: $28.5 million

3. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

Predicted Gross: $18.1 million

4. The Long Walk

Predicted Gross: $8.7 million

5. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

Predicted Gross: $3.4 million

Box Office Results (September 5-7)

Even the rosiest of prognoses didn’t match what The Conjuring: Last Rites managed to accomplish. The ninth overall pic in the franchise and fourth with a Conjuring moniker scared up $84 million and ghosted my measly $58.2 million prediction. Rites surpassed the best opening of the series (The Nun at $53 million) with plenty of room to spare. Warner Bros continued its remarkable 2025 in the horror genre (Sinners, Weapons).

Hamilton, a filmed version of the already iconic play, was second with $10.1 million on its 10th anniversary. That’s ahead of my $8.7 million estimate and a commendable gross considering this has been streaming on Disney+ for five years. This is only a one-week engagement which explains why you won’t find it in the top 5 above.

Weapons was third with $5.2 million, in range with my $5.5 million call. In five weeks, it has amassed $142 million.

Freakier Friday, also in week 5, was fourth with $3.8 million (I said $3.9 million) for $87 million total. It should fall just under or place just over $100 million.

Caught Stealing rounded out the top five with a hefty 59% decline at $3.1 million. I went a bit higher at $4 million. The two-week take is an underwhelming $14 million.

And that does it for now, folks! Until next time…

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Box Office Prediction

1984’s This Is Spinal Tap popularized the mockumentary and became an all-time comedy classic. Over four decades later, the clueless rock band consisting of Christoper Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer is back in Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. So is Rob Reiner as their documentarian and the sequel’s actual director. Expect plenty of cameos as evidenced by Sirs Paul McCartney and Elton John in the trailer.

With Bleecker Street handling distribution duties, marketing for the follow-up is a little underwhelming. Many younger viewers simply may not be familiar with the source material while some fans of the original may wait until a streaming start.

The original’s biggest fans should still turn up, but that might only mean a debut in the mid single digits at best.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues opening weekend prediction: $3.4 million

For my Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle prediction, click here:

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle Box Office Prediction

For my Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale prediction, click here:

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Box Office Prediction

For my The Long Walk prediction, click here:

The Long Walk Box Office Prediction

The Long Walk Box Office Prediction

Despite critical acclaim, The Long Walk could face a tough road when it debuts September 12th. The Lionsgate release is based on the first novel that Stephen King ever wrote when he was a teenager (it was eventually released under his pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1979). I Am Legend and Hunger Games series maker Francis Lawrence directs the dystopian horror flick. The cast includes Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Jordan Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill.

Reviews are impressive with 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and 80 on Metacritic. That said, genre fans have had plenty of material to view lately and The Conjuring: Last Rites should still be haunting viewers in its sophomore frame. Solid word-of-mouth could push it over double digits, but I’m skeptical.

The Long Walk opening weekend prediction: $8.7 million

For my Demon Slayer: Kametsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle prediction, click here:

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle Box Office Prediction

For my Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale prediction, click here:

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Box Office Prediction

For my Spinal Tap II: The End Continues prediction, click here:

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Box Office Prediction

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Box Office Prediction

Arriving 15 years after the acclaimed TV series that have now spawned three feature films, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale is out September 12th. Simon Curtis, who directed 2022’s Downton Abbey: A New Era, returns with franchise creator Julian Fellowes scripting. Returning cast members from the small and big screen include Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Paul Copley, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Paul Giamatti, Elizabeth McGovern, Dominic West, and Penelope Wilton. Newcomers to the proceedings are Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale, and Arty Froushan.

Fans of the series were anxious to go Downton in 2019 when the first movie premiered four years after the show went off air. The domestic opening was $31 million with a $96 million eventual gross. In 2022, the figures for New Era dwindled to a $16 million start and $44 million overall.

Grand could potentially benefit from its Finale moniker, but I’m not counting on it. I think it’ll open in range with its predecessor and maybe a touch higher.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale opening weekend prediction: $18.1 million

For my Demon Slayer: Kimestu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle prediction, click here:

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle Box Office Prediction

For my The Long Walk prediction, click here:

The Long Walk Box Office Prediction

For my Spinal Tap II: The End Continues prediction, click here:

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Box Office Prediction

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle Box Office Prediction

The generously titled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle seeks to conquer the domestic marketplace starting September 12th. Tracking indicates that it will. Based on the popular Japanese manga series, it the latest installment in a franchise that continues to grow in popularity. A direct sequel to the fourth season of the anime TV series, Haruo Sotozaki directs the Crunchyroll distributed two and a half hour fantasy.

Castle has already dominated the overseas market. In its home country, it stands as the year’s highest grosser and third largest in history. In 2021, Mugen Train started off with $21 million stateside. Two years later, To the Swordsmith Village debuted to just over $10 million which 2024’s To the Hashira Training earned north of $11 million.

Buzz is louder this time around with expectations elevated. At the low end, Castle is anticipated to double the figures of its two predecessors. Some projections have this as high as $70 million plus! That would be an astonishing gross, but this could catch a wave making it possible. I’m going with low to mid 60s for what would be a record shattering beginning for its genre.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle opening weekend prediction: $64.6 million

For my Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale prediction, click here:

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Box Office Prediction

For my The Long Walk prediction, click here:

The Long Walk Box Office Prediction

For my Spinal Tap II: The End Continues prediction, click here:

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues Box Office Prediction

September 5-7 Box Office Predictions

One Warner Bros horror flick looks to transfer the #1 spot to another as The Conjuring: Last Rites haunts multiplexes this weekend. We also have Disney releasing their filmed version of the Broadway play Hamilton. You can peruse my detailed prediction posts on the newcomers here:

The Conjuring: Last Rites Box Office Prediction
Hamilton Box Office Prediction

My mid 50s projection for Last Rites gives it the best opening of the franchise, just outpacing 2018’s The Nun and toppling the $40 million and change starts that the first two proper Conjuring flicks scared up. As mentioned, it will easily replace the WB’s Weapons from its Labor Day weekend perch atop the charts.

Hamilton is a tricky one. It could easily outdo my high single digits forecast, but it’s hard to ignore that audiences have been able to view it on Disney+ for five years. No matter what, it should manage a runner-up debut.

Weapons should place third while 4-5 could be awfully close between Caught Stealing and Freakier Friday.

Here’s how I have it playing out:

1. The Conjuring: Last Rites

Predicted Gross: $58.2 million

2. Hamilton

Predicted Gross: $8.7 million

3. Weapons

Predicted Gross: $5.5 million

4. Caught Stealing

Predicted Gross: $4 million

5. Freakier Friday

Predicted Gross: $3.9 million

Box Office Results (August 29-September 1)

In a rather quiet Labor Day frame, Weapons returned to #1 with KPop Demon Hunters A Sing-Along Event having completed its two-day engagement from the previous frame. Zach Cregger’s missing persons scare fest took in $13 million, falling short of my $15.9 million call over the four-day holiday. The four-week total is $135 million.

Jaws 50th Anniversary swam past my expectations with $11.3 million for second, more than doubling my $5.6 million prediction. Crowds clearly were down for revisiting the shark tale.

Austin Butler crime thriller Caught Stealing nabbed a so-so $9.5 million in third and that was more than my $6.3 million projection.

Freakier Friday was fourth with $8.7 million, in range with my $9.4 million estimate for a four-week tally of $82 million.

Comedic remake The Roses with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman settled for fifth with $7.7 million, in line with my $7.9 million guesstimate.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps was sixth with $6.5 million (I said $6.1 million) for $266 million after six weeks.

Finally, The Toxic Avenger Unrated with Peter Dinklage didn’t crack the top 10 at $2.1 million. I went with $1.8 million.

And that does it now, folks! Until next time…

Hamilton Box Office Prediction

Timed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Broadway phenomenon, Disney is at last releasing Hamilton on the big screen on September 5th. The biographical musical turned Lin-Manuel Miranda into a sensation when it premiered back in 2015 with the play nabbing 11 Tonys and a Pulitzer to boot.

A filmed version of the production with the original cast was slated for theatrical output in October 2021. COVID interrupted those plans and Mouse House execs opted to unveil it on Disney+ in July 2020. That original cast includes Miranda in the title role alongside Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Phillipa Soo, Anthony Ramos, Jonathan Groff, and Jasmine Cephas Jones.

Obviously Hamilton has its legions of fans who have seen it on Broadway, at regional offshoots, and now on streaming for the past five years. That could certainly limit the excitement factor than an October ’21 release would have brought.

I could alter my estimate based on an eventual screen count. In 2021, I might have leaned toward a $20 million plus start. Now I think it’ll be fortunate to achieve half of that figure.

Hamilton opening weekend prediction: $8.7 million

For my The Conjuring: Last Rites prediction, click here:

The Conjuring: Last Rites Box Office Prediction

The Conjuring: Last Rites Box Office Prediction

Warner Bros looks for its fruitful 2025 to keep rolling when The Conjuring: Last Rites hits theaters on September 5th. The studio has had horror hits this year via Sinners and Weapons. Rites marks the fourth proper feature in the series that began in 2013 and ninth overall in the franchise when counting spinoffs Annabelle and The Nun and their sequels. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprise their roles as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Michael Chaves, who made #3 The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and The Nun II, directs. Costars include Mia Tomlinson and Ben Hardy.

2021’s Devil actually had the lowest opening weekend of the entire franchise with $24 million. That comes with an asterisk as it premiered during COVID times and was unveiled simultaneously on HBO Max. 2023’s The Nun II brought the scary universe back to normal debuts at $32 million. The original Nun from 2018 boasts the highest debut of the whole lot at $53 million.

Last Rites is pacing to reach those heights and should exceed the $40 million beginnings like the first two Conjuring pics managed to do at $40 million and $41 million, respectively. I am projecting that it’ll outdo The Nun for a franchise best haul.

The Conjuring: Last Rites opening weekend prediction: $58.2 million

For my Hamilton prediction, click here:

Hamilton Box Office Prediction

August 29-September 1 Box Office Predictions

Three newcomers and one summer classic celebrating a half century in existence will work hard to earn box office dollars this Labor Day weekend. We have comedy remake The Roses with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, Darren Aronofsky’s crime thriller Caught Stealing starring Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz, Peter Dinklage in the splatter reboot The Toxic Avenger Unrated, and the 50th anniversary reissue of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws out. You can peruse my detailed prediction posts on the quartet here:

The Roses Box Office Prediction
Caught Stealing Box Office Prediction
Jaws 50th Anniversary Box Office Prediction
The Toxic Avenger Unrated Box Office Prediction

We’ll discuss Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters A Sing-Along Event in the results section below. We know it won’t be #1 since the streamer put it out only as a two-day multiplex event on Saturday and Sunday this past weekend.

That means Weapons should return to the top spot as I don’t see the fresh foursome challenging it. The acclaimed horror flick should remain in the teens as holdovers usually have meager declines or even slight increases over the Friday to Monday of Labor Day weekend compared to the previous weekend.

The Roses could manage the best start of the new titles though I have it slightly behind the fourth weekend of Freakier Friday.

Caught Stealing might be stuck in fourth with The Fantastic Four: First Steps just behind in fifth and the Jaws reissue in sixth.

As for Toxic, my $1.8 million guesstimate puts it far down the charts.

The only placement I’m confident in is Weapons in 1st while the others jockey for position. Keep in mind that these estimates are made for the four-day holiday and here’s how I envision the top six:

1. Weapons

Predicted Gross: $15.9 million

2. Freakier Friday

Predicted Gross: $9.4 million

3. The Roses

Predicted Gross: $7.9 million

4. Caught Stealing

Predicted Gross: $6.3 million

5. The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Predicted Gross: $6.1 million

6. Jaws 50th Anniversary

Predicted Gross: $5.6 million

Box Office Results (August 22-24)

After two months plus on the streaming service, Netflix made an unconventional move by releasing a sing-along version of their massive hit KPop Demon Hunters on Saturday and Sunday. They were conventional in not officially reporting its numbers. However, estimates put it at $19.2 million and that’s ahead of my $13.8 million call and easily strong enough for 1st place. With an over $11k plus per screen average, kids had no trouble getting their folks to bring them out. The specialized engagement is only for the aforementioned two days.

Weapons was second with $15.4 million, just under my $16.1 million projection. Zach Cregger’s disappearance tale has amassed $115 million in three weeks.

Freakier Friday was third with $8.8 million, on pace with my $8.7 million forecast. The Disney sequel has taken in $70 million after three weeks.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps, in week five, was fourth with $6 million (I said $5.8 million) for $257 million thus far.

The Bad Guys 2 rounded out the top five with $5.1 million, in line with my $5.2 million call for $66 million in four weeks.

Action sequel Nobody 2 tumbled 60% in its sophomore outing with $3.7 million. I was a bit more generous at $4.8 million. The tally is a mere $16 million.

Finally, Ethan Coen’s noirish comedy Honey Don’t! opened in 8th with $3 million. That’s nothing to brag about, but it did outshine my $1.8 million prediction.

And that does it for now, folks! Until next time…

The Toxic Avenger Unrated Box Office Prediction

The Toxic Avenger Unrated was first seen nearly two years ago at Fantastic Fest and will finally be released domestically on August 29th. Rebooting the comedically gory franchise that started in the mid 80s, Macon Blair directs with Peter Dinklage as the title character. Costars include Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Julia Davis, Jonny Coyne, Elijah Wood, and Kevin Bacon.

After sitting on the shelf for some time, Cineverse is hoping midnight movie aficionados will turn up over the Labor Day frame. That seems unlikely as this Avenger franchise has a devoted following, but a small one. It’s also been a quarter century since the last Toxic experience and younger viewers likely aren’t familiar with the series. This should all add up to low single digits for the four-day.

The Toxic Avenger Unrated opening weekend prediction: $1.8 million (Friday to Monday estimate)

For my The Roses prediction, click here:

The Roses Box Office Prediction

For my Caught Stealing prediction, click here:

Caught Stealing Box Office Prediction

For my Jaws 50th Anniversary prediction, click here:

Jaws 50th Anniversary Box Office Prediction