hello and welcome to this week's movie math where over the weekend Hollywood
pushed Thanksgiving leftovers hard and they use the age-old trick of not making
anything new for moviegoers to consume you've heard it in your kitchen and now
you heard it from Hollywood we gotta get rid of the stuff in the fridge first but
well you do have to eat you don't have to go to the movies so a lot of people
off opted simply not to go but still the quiet weekend did offer up some
interesting headlines the first being the animation rules because as families
headed to the mall for Christmas shopping and more it seems they also
stopped by the multiplex it's not just the top movie but the top two movies of
the weekend were both animated how often does that happen pretty much never but
making it even more extraordinary I mean animation is really on fire as a genre
it's like horror although not this weekend we'll talk about that but anyway
what was even more extraordinary was at the month old Grinch leapfrogged over
Creed - in just his second weekend we'll talk about Creed - don't feel too bad
for Creed - because also the Grinch as we all suspected was set for a boost
once the Christmas season became legit it opened ridiculously early and we
wondered if it would be able to hold on to its screens as more more and more
movies came out but two things happened what the Grinch continued to be a solid
performer throughout you know from week to week but then also secondly a lot of
its competition fizzled so the Grinch remained profitable lucrative for
theaters to keep on their screens whereas other movies did not this is an
important distinction it's gonna come into play with our crazy rich Asians
discussion in China because if a movie isn't doing well on screens but the
theater that just not the distributor that's the studio but the exhibitor has
the right to drop it from from the screen fascinating so the Grinch was
able to hold on to those screens and also while it might seem that the Grinch
is overseas stalking is a bit light let's not forget that he still has a
number of countries to visit outside the US in fact he still has some of the
biggest ones yet go still on his Christmas list now while
the Grinch no matter what happens isn't going to be one of illuminations biggest
hits it's still a respectable hit for the for the animation brand but it's
certainly a major hit for Universal as a company and not just universal but
Comcast NBC Universal because they can exploit it
beyond the silver screen as I said in my review I suspect that's the whole reason
they even made this thing because now it's a holiday movie that will be
available to stream annually when people are looking for stuff it's a new holiday
movie right it'll be able to be something that they can play on their
networks annually and also they can put it in their theme parks and whatever
else ways again the Comcast NBC Universal team can think up sometimes
marketing teams are more creative than the ones that actually tell the story
although sometimes not by the way side note spider-verse over talk about
spider-verse in just a moment but they're doing a fantastic job getting
that brand out there with brand deals to really up its profile and they did a
good job universe its own at Sony Universal did a good job getting the
Grinch out there as well and although so somewhat you know someone's scary for
spider-verse which we're all hoping will do very well
again Grinch is just a respectable hit anyway quickly before we get to
spider-verse as for Ralph you know he's still the
number one guy but he's smack in between frozen and Coco's second weekend's so I
think he's so far not something to get too excited about like I wouldn't make a
Ralph's 3 I'd send rich more back over to Zootopia you know Ralph to being of
course is reward for that billion dollar picture but the real question is what
kind of damage into the spider-verse will do December 14th
now let's not even really try and talk about this because I don't want to jinx
spider-verse but there's always the danger that
people might be animated out Ono's but the buzz is building friend of the
spider verse so it looks like Ralph and the Grinch have just one more weekend to
grab as much cash as they can before the spiders swing into the multiplex and web
up all the cash hopefully that's what I'm hoping happens please buy your
tickets go see it I really want into the spider verse to do well as it deserves
to again it's the buzz is building but you never know until you know then ask
for creed to the rock Flake is pacing slightly ahead of its
predecessor but it had a slightly bigger second weekend drop still it should out
earn the last Creed you know it's it's it's a solid this is also a solid
performer and it too has a number of rounds to go in the ring overseas
including Russia or maybe it'll do well even though they're kailu psa's and they
don't make Russia look very good now this is where things get interesting
because Florian Montano is is German Romanian and while he's very convincing
in the movie in today's global movie market maybe
Stallone should have cast a Russian a legit Russian in the role and given that
the Drago's storyline a bit more attention and respect you got to think
about the box office now when you're writing the movie now on
that note overseas drama is our next headline and it was crazy how much of a
bomb crazy rich Asians was in China such a flop that it was being pulled from
screens throughout its opening weekend we just talked about the Grinch which
was doing which was posting solid numbers but crazy rich nations was doing
so poorly in China the exhibitors were like I could make more money off of this
literal theater this screen if I played a different movie on the screen so they
you know venom continues to be a huge hit their second biggest hit of the year
after an infinity war so they're like I'm nothing to put crazy rotations on
this screen if I throw up another showing of venom I can make more money
so it was losing screens throughout the weekend that's how poorly it was doing
now Warner Brothers is planning to smarten up their own business strategy
for the sequel China rich girlfriend and as China in the title by maybe they're
discussing this making the film a co-production with China and I don't
know maybe toning down the insulting stereotypes as well that's what I would
do if I wanted it to do better in China now granted crazy rich Asians is still a
huge hit and an important moment in Hollywood history but China's stamp of
approval would have been a nice and important feather in its cap but they
can maybe do it in round 2 and in fact China has become such an important movie
market that Aquaman is set to open in that country first before anyone
anywhere else in the world this coming weekend December 7 so next weekend even
though nothing's really happening here at the box office we'll
certainly be talking about how Aquaman debuts I'm sure that Warner Brothers did
that because they want a big number to encourage everybody else to go and we'll
see if we get that big box office headline that there again so clearly
looking for then the next headline of this weekend is indecency ssin because
in a year where the big studio movies are getting all the awards attention
only one nd has been able to represent the group and stand its ground and
that's the favorite you know usually it's all about the Indies you're like
well I don't wanna nominate all these movies that nobody's seen well this year
it's all about the movies that everyone has seen although the favorite people
are seeing this one as well it added just another 30 theaters this weekend
and it continues to impress with its per theater average as Fox searchlights
release strategy is textbook perfect they're expanding at just the right rate
and it'll certainly add additional theaters this weekend hoping to
capitalize on those Golden Globe nominations announced Thursday morning
where the favorite is expected to be a favorite and as for the overall top 10
the only new wide release this weekend the possession of Hannah grace was just
further evidence that horror movies have become a prestige Shana
we're named talent in front of and especially behind the camera is crucial
and the biggest drop for this weekend was the crimes of Grindelwald which at
this rate won't even make it to 200 million domestic oh it's so bad I don't
know I mean you would think that so well I think that solo I think the Disney has
heard the the huge you know waves from solos box office or felt them and I
can't imagine that Warner Brothers isn't feeling this because while the trades
are quick to point to its strong overseas or stronger overseas numbers it
has hit all the big countries already unlike Creed 2 in the Grinch
so therefore cry of Grindelwald is pretty much guaranteed at this point to
be the lowest grossing Wizard Wizarding World movie to date by far it's not even
close then the best hole this weekend was Green Book but it's right at number
10 so the only thing that's gonna keep it in the top 10 especially as the
favorite expands is if it gets if it to gets some big Golden Globe nominations
on Thursday I'm talking like a best sure in some acting noms that would be
really really important for it but Remy Malick is considered a shoo-in for a
nomination and with Bohemian Rhapsody up to a stunning 540 million worldwide so
far he'll also be helping with ratings for the telecast as well that could also
help him get that Oscar nomination but the Golden Globes are particularly
interested in making sure people tune in and don't worry a star is born fans it's
the frontrunner for sure we'll talk about it on Thursday morning when the
nominations are announced now I'm speaking of the nominations that's what
this coming weekend is all about with Hollywood not releasing again anything
else with the hopes at the Golden Globe nominations give a boost to some of the
smaller movies right before that holiday onslaught so do you plan to double back
and catch any of these smaller films especially if they do get Golden Globe
nominations that's this week's movie math as always thanks for going over the
box office with me share your thoughts down below and of course as always you
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