The gang is back to discuss what continues to go right for Deadpool & Wolverine, what only went kinda-sorta okay for M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap and what went 104% wrong for Harold and the Purple Crayon. There are fewer digressions than usual, although we do note Warner Bros. Discovery’s very bummer summer and Longlegs being Nicolas Cage’s biggest live-action hit in nearly 17 years while imploring Imax to give the people what they crave: Hundreds of Beavers: The Imax Experience . We also answer ou...
Aug 07, 2024•58 min
50 minutes of (almost) nothing but Deadpool & Wolverine , both in terms of its box office bonanza and what the four of us thought of the picture. Spoiler: I was not the crankiest critic this weekend. Plenty of thoughts about what went right (adding Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine negated a possible decline in interest), what didn’t go wrong (the kids showed up, R-rating be damned) and why a success specifically like this (using two established marquee characters from the Fox library) doesn’t really sol...
Aug 01, 2024•51 min
There were only two really big pieces of news, namely the $81 million domestic opening weekend (along with the softer-than-hoped overseas earnings) for Twisters and the ridiculously solid hold for Neon’s Longlegs . Meanwhile, Inside Out 2 is about to become the biggest animated movie ever if you don’t count The Lion King ( which I don’t even if my co-hosts think I’m full of s**t). Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe...
Jul 23, 2024•54 min
Despicable Me 4 ’s spectacularly consistent (for his franchise) holds and raw grosses... As Longlegs surprises, keep Osgood Perkins away from Netflix... The complicated financial variables behind a $10 million opening for Fly Me to the Moon... Why A24 started the Oscar race a little early with 'Sing Sing'... What the hell is going to happen to Kevin Costner's 'Horizon'? Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe...
Jul 18, 2024•1 hr
Was Despicable Me 3 ’s domestic downturn a fluke or did the extended wait and pre-COVID nostalgia for the brand prevent a continual box office downward trajectory for Hollywood's top-grossing animated franchise? How bad is a $3 million Fri-Sun/$6 million Thurs-Sun debut for The Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot , which was supposed to be Angel Studios’ big summer season event? Were we wrong to expect more from A24’s MaXXXine ? All that and more, in episode 23 of The Outside Scoop: The Box ...
Jul 09, 2024•45 min
The gang is back to dissect what went very right with A Quiet Place: Day One and almost inevitably wrong with Horizon: An American Saga. Lisa laments the ongoing emphasis on movies for older audiences. Jeremy explains how Kevin Costner’s passion project was a relative hit in certain parts of the country. Ryan anoints Lupita Nyong’o as a genuine movie star (or at least an A-level added value element). Scott asks if we are already in the midst of the long-promised permanent COVID-era theatrical re...
Jul 01, 2024•55 min
Ryan Scott and Lisa Laman do it "solo" to discuss the $101 million second weekend for Inside Out 2 along with better-than-expected openings for 'The Bikeriders,' 'Thelma' and 'Kinds of Kindness'. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe
Jun 25, 2024•1 hr 2 min
‘Inside Out 2’ soared to infinity and beyond, nabbing $154 million domestic and $294 million worldwide in its global theatrical launch. That’s good, right? We’re all in agreement that it’s great news for the box office and the multiplexes. However, if Bob Iger and friends are to capitalize on this, they have to -- to quote my favorite Disney animated film -- make the right choices and (say it with me now) keep moving forward! Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/su...
Jun 18, 2024•50 min
A well-liked sequel to a successful sequel in a popular franchise opened at the high end of realistic expectations… what a shock...! What a $107 million global debut for Bad Boys: Ride or Die does (and doesn’t) say about Will Smith’s current drawing power... After The Watchers stumbles, is horror in trouble or are the movies underwhelming? Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe...
Jun 11, 2024•1 hr
Since Hollywood didn’t bother to release any new wide openers last weekend, I gave the box office folks the weekend off. In the meantime, and this may be a backdoor pilot of sorts for a second semi-regular podcast, I spoke last week with Business Insider entertainment correspondent Jason Guerrasio . His as-it-happened reporting was essential in exposing the less-than-glittery gold that was the year of MoviePass. He’s an executive producer on the new documentary Movie Pass Movie Crash . Get full ...
Jun 04, 2024•40 min
Whether or not Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga should have performed better or was an inevitable “online fandom doesn’t equal audience interest” misfire, such a film shouldn’t have been expected to hold up theatrical — alongside The Garfield Movie — almost by itself. That’s the crux of the chat amid a historically grim Memorial Day weekend box office session. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe...
May 29, 2024•59 min
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). Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe...
May 21, 2024•57 min
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. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe
May 15, 2024•1 hr 3 min
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' Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe
May 07, 2024•1 hr
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 pr...
Apr 30, 2024•1 hr 5 min
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). Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe...
Apr 24, 2024•1 hr 9 min
* 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!! Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe...
Apr 16, 2024•1 hr 8 min
On the measured success of 'Monkey Man' and why 'The First Omen' is a classic "IP for the sake of IP" mistake. Thoughts on why the 20th Century Studios IP has mostly been so much of a dud for Disney, how 'Civil War' will play for paying moviegoers and what constitutes success or failure as the streaming bubble bursts and theaters are grateful for each and every major new release. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe...
Apr 09, 2024•51 min
On today’s astonishing episode…! * How the MonsterVerse rose from the ashes of King of the Monsters . * Do "spectacular by pre-Covid standards” results for Bob Marley, Late Night with the Devil and Love Lies Bleeding offer cause for optimism? *Small drops for Dune Part Two rebuts conventional wisdom about PLF-or-bust moviegoing. All that and more! Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe...
Apr 02, 2024•50 min
Is Sony turning Ghostbusters into a viable franchise? Immaculate 's record-high (for Neon) opening implies Sydney Sweeney has some drawing power. IFC Films triples their own personal best with a $2.8 million debut for Late Night with the Devil . Trailers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Furiosa and Alien: Romulus each offer three distinct forms of shareholder-friendly generational nostalgia. Strong pre-release tracking for A24’s Civil War implies that a comeback for non-franchise *movie-movies*. All...
Mar 26, 2024•1 hr
Ryan Scott was recovering from SXSW. He’ll be back next week. Mendelson, Fuster and Laman discussed Mark Wahlberg’s dwindling bankability after years of being a streaming butts-in-couches movie star (can Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart avoid this fate?), Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire being sold less like a sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife and more like a sequel to Ghostbusters II, how Spyglass “own goal”ed Scream VII into a proverbial Rise of Skywalker, if 87North become a Blumhouse-like brand for l...
Mar 19, 2024•1 hr
What does a strong $58 million domestic opening for Kung Fu Panda 4 mean for DreamWorks and feature animation in general? How far can Dune Part Two soar — especially at the domestic box office? And what went mostly pretty well at the 96th Academy Award? All of these mysteries and more will be answered by 3/4 of us in our sixth episode. Ryan Scott is at SXSW this week, so he’ll be back next episode to presumably spoil the s**t out of Monkey Man, Fall Guy and, uh, maybe Late Night with the Devil ?...
Mar 13, 2024•47 min
Most of this week’s episode concerns the $82.5 million domestic (well played, Ryan) and $182.5 million worldwide opening weekend for Dune Part Two. We talk about the massive share for PLF screens, the lower expectations for the first ‘Dune’, how young stars made an adaptation of a 59-year-old novel seem cool and how Denis Villeneuve’s Dune avoided the fate of Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049. Also discussed was the $104 million-plus Oscar season performance of Poor Things and how A24 has bec...
Mar 06, 2024•52 min
Among the topics Bob Marley ’s place near the top of high-grossing musical biopics, how this four-part Beatles movie is going to work, whether the underperformance of Ordinary Angels bodes ill for aspirational Veggie Tales -style faith-based flicks (an actual debate between myself and Lisa… yay friendly conflict?), whether Oppenheimer can reach $1 billion worldwide (they think it’s half-way there, I think they’re merely living on a prayer), and the tragedy that the reissue of Universal’s Les Mis...
Feb 27, 2024•45 min
Episode three is right on time, with all four of us again chatting about the weekend box office that was. Ryan C. Scott (SlashFilm) returns after a brief abscence, joined again by myself along with Lisa Laman (Collider and Looper) and Jeremy Fuster (TheWrap). While we do briefly talk about the Fantastic Four casting, as well as thoughts on Kung Fu Panda 4 ’s eventual release and the $600 million-plus success of Wonka , the majority of the 42-minute chat is about the movie that opened with $52 mi...
Feb 20, 2024•42 min
Episode two is a day late, since we all wanted to chat about the various Super Bowl trailers which of course didn’t air until Sunday evening. Alas, Ryan C. Scott couldn’t make it but it’s still me, Lisa Laman (Collider and Looper) and (popping in at the 9:30 mark) Jeremy Fuster (TheWrap) discussing the miserable Super Bowl box office, the mostly interesting Super Bowl-aired movie trailers and the fallout (or lack thereof) from Warner Bros. apparently shelving Coyote Vs. Acme for the second time....
Feb 14, 2024•55 min
Join legendary box office pontificator Scott Mendelson alongside a handful of younger, cooler but no less knowledgeable box office pundits. Currently, it will be me alongside Jeremy Fuster (TheWrap), Lisa Laman (Collider), and Ryan Scott (Slashfilm). Spoiler: He is what they grow beyond. In this episode, we discuss Argylle's box office failure, Carl Weathers's passing, the perils of a theatrical industry that is light on tentpoles, and why Road House went straight to Prime Video. Get full access...
Feb 06, 2024•1 hr 10 min
