Tag: We Are Your Friends

Box Office Predictions: September 4-7

Unlike most holiday weekend frames, Labor Day isn’t exactly known for studios bringing out heavy hitters and that remains unchanged in 2015. There are two new releases finding their way to theaters over the long weekend: franchise reboot The Transporter: Refueled and Robert Redford led A Walk in the Woods (which opens Wednesday). You can peruse my detailed prediction posts on each here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/08/28/the-transporter-refueled-box-office-prediction/

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/08/29/a-walk-in-the-woods-box-office-prediction/

I don’t expect much from either. While Transporter has a reasonable shot at debuting #1, a lot of summer holdovers end up doing more Labor Day weekend than they did the previous weekend. If that holds true for Straight Outta Compton, as I believe it will, that means it will be #1 for the fourth straight weekend. As I see it, Transporter could be second or third depending on how well Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation increases its gross. The Christian themed War Room got off to a much better than anticipated start, but I actually see it losing close to a third of its opening weekend audience while No Escape (which also debuted above expectations) may lose about a fourth. That would leave Mr. Redford and his Woods in sixth place.

And with that, my predictions for the four day Labor Day weekend top six:

  1. Straight Outta Compton

Predicted Gross: $14.3 million (representing an increase of 9%)

2. The Transporter: Refueled

Predicted Gross: $10.2 million

3. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Predicted Gross: $9.9 million (representing an increase of 23%)

4. War Room

Predicted Gross: $7.7 million (representing a drop of 31%)

5. No Escape

Predicted Gross: $6 million

6. A Walk in the Woods

Predicted Gross: $4.3 million (Friday to Monday), $5.8 million (Wednesday to Monday)

Box Office Results (August 28-30)

The NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton made it a three peat this weekend with $13.1 million (just above my $12.5M estimate) to bring its impressive total to $134 million. While I pretty much got that right, I stumbled when it came to predicting the weekend’s newcomers.

The aforementioned War Room easily beat expectations with a terrific $11.3 million for second place (surging above my $5.7M prediction). Considering its reported $3M budget, this is a wonderful beginning for it.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation took third with $8.1 million, just beyond my $7.4M projection for a total of $170M.

Just behind Mission was the Owen Wilson/Pierce Brosnan thriller No Escape which also made $8.1 million over the traditional weekend and $10.1 million since its Wednesday debut. This outshines my respective predictions of $4.7M and $6.3M and is a better start than most anticipated.

Rounding out the top five was Sinister 2 in its sophomore frame with $4.6 million. I incorrectly had it outside the top five and its two week total is an unimpressive $18M.

Where I really went wrong was with the Zac Efron flick We Are Your Friends, which had an absolutely putrid $1.7 million start for only 13th place. I had it second with $10.9M… oops! Clearly audiences had zero interest in Friends and it managed only an embarrassing $770 per screen average.

And that’s all for now, friends! Until next time…

Box Office Predictions: August 28-30

BLOGGER’S NOTE (Thursday, August 27) – I am revising my top five predictions and accounting for the Christian themed drama War Room (opening on approximately 1100 screens). I believe it will manage to snag the #4 spot.

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/08/27/war-room-box-office-prediction/

The last weekend of August should bring forth some serious box office doldrums as it usually does this time of year. There are two new entries out: the Zac Efron DJ drama We Are Your Friends and Owen Wilson action thriller No Escape. You can read my detailed prediction posts on each here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/08/20/we-are-your-friends-box-office-prediction/

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/08/21/no-escape-box-office-prediction/

I frankly don’t expect much from either, but Friends stands the better chance of over performing and possibly even nabbing the #1 spot. I don’t think it’ll quite get there though and that means Straight Outta Compton should manage to stay #1 for the third weekend in a row. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation should drop from 2nd to 3rd.

And with that, my predictions for the weekend’s top five:

  1. Straight Outta Compton

Predicted Gross: $12.5 million (representing a drop of 52%)

2. We Are Your Friends

Predicted Gross: $10.9 million

3. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation

Predicted Gross: $7.4 million (representing a drop of 37%)

4. War Room

Predicted Gross: $5.7 million

5. No Escape

Predicted Gross: $4.7 million (Friday to Sunday), $6.3 million (Wednesday to Sunday prediction)

Box Office Results (August 21-23)

The N.W.A. biopic continued to rule the charts as Straight Outta Compton took in $26.3 million in its sophomore frame, just above my $24.6M estimate. The acclaimed pic has amassed an impressive $111 million in ten days.

Staying in the runner-up spot was Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation which added $11.4 million to its coffers, just ahead of my $10.4M projection. Its total stands at $157M.

Horror sequel Sinister 2 sputtered with just $10.5 million, well below my $16.2M prediction and well under the $18 million earned by the original for its start. Hitman: Agent 47 debuted in fourth with an unremarkable $8.3 million, though it did top my $6M estimate.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. dropped to fifth in weekend #2 with $7.3 million, in line with my $7.1M prediction. Its sleepy two week total is at $26M. Finally, the Jesse Eisenberg/Kristen Stewart action comedy American Ultra tanked in sixth place with just $5.4 million, falling below my $9.8M estimate.

And that’s all for now, folks! Until next time…

We Are Your Friends Box Office Prediction

In his first major role since last summer’s hit Neighbors, Zac Efron is back in theaters with the musical drama We Are Your Friends next Friday. As you will recall, it was music that first made Efron a star with the High School Musical series. The pic finds its lead as a DJ struggling to enter the popular EDM scene. Emily Ratajkowski, Wes Bentley and Jon Bernthal costar.

For those thinking this is a return to Efron’s high school crooning days, the R rating would indicate otherwise. Friends stands no chance of reaching the heights of Neighbors, which rode a wave of positive buzz to blockbuster status. I believe this is more likely to perform similar to Efron’s pic before that one – That Awkward Moment, which earned $8.7 million for its start in spring 2014.

For Warner Bros, this is a rather low risk venture as it comes with a reported budget of only $10 million. I’ll predict it just manages to outdo that budget in weekend one.

We Are Your Friends opening weekend prediction: $10.9 million

For my No Escape prediction, click here:

No Escape Box Office Prediction

For my War Room prediction, click here:

War Room Box Office Prediction