The Box Office Podcast

No special guests this week, just a meat-and-potatoes episode about what turned out to be a surprisingly crowded and relatively “better for theaters than for studios” end-of-quarter three weekend. Avengers: Endgame was #1 with $26 million as it prepares to knock Avatar out of the all-time global top spot for the second time, which of course led to plenty of chatter about to what extent the MCU is “back” and/or the extent to which the Infinity Saga finale might also remind audiences that Marvel Studios used to have a far better artistic batting average. Among the other topics of discourse…* Which other 2019 movies deserve a theatrical rerelease* A comparatively solid second-weekend hold for Resident Evil* Is a $50 million worldwide launch good enough for Paramount’s $82 million Brad Pitt-starring Heart of the Beast?* Whether Universal could have done anything differently in promoting DreamWorks' well-reviewed Forgotten Island* What a robust “opening weekend” for Avengers: Endgame Encore means for the current health of the MCU brand* Primetime’s excellent debut -- bolstered by younger viewers -- alongside (slightly) divisive consumer reception* And much more!Recommended Reading* Scott Mendelson notes that Resident Evil is just the latest successful video game adaptation that, unlike most such offerings from the 2010s, isn’t mostly dependent upon overseas box office.* Jeremy Fuster discusses what the big Avengers Endgame Encore opening means for Disney’s InfinityVision PLF branding.* Lisa Laman digs into how A24 is following in the footsteps of Fox, UPN, and Netflix in becoming less inclusive as it grows into a bigger player.* Ryan Scott’s latest unofficial “Tales from the Box Office” discusses the 12-year anniversary of Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer.If you like what you hearPlease like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected].* Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News* Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap* Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Autostraddle* Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm, Fangoria and Inverse* Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

Apocalypse, Extinction, The Final Chapter… all potential outcomes as the proposed merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. seems on the cusp of fruition. What was supposed to be an upbeat episode, about a studio taking the right lessons from successful IP revivals and scoring a best-case-scenario debut for reasons only partially related to the brand itself, became something of a downer. Spoiler: We got word right as we started recording that, yes, Skydance was indeed going to go from owning zero legacy studios in late 2024 to now owning two as of late 2026. Good lord, can we not be allowed to be happy for more than a few days? Anyway, after a $60.2 million domestic debut and $107 million worldwide opening weekend, Sony and friends’ Resident Evil has earned $77 million after six days in North American theaters amid a (roughly) $136 million global cume. Zach Cregger and Shay Hatten’s Austin Abrams-starring video game-based horror adventure is (between crying fits and wall-punching) the main subject of this week’s episode of The Box Office Podcast. And for the occasion, producer Max Deering gets upped to “fourth chair guest” on account of his Resident Evil video game knowledge and fandom. To be fair, as he explains, he hasn’t been on air as much due to his own life responsibilities. Speaking of which, with the Umbrella Corporation scoring an existential victory, Jeremy Fuster’s appearance on the episode was confined to the first third amid his as-it-happens reporting for TheWrap. Nonetheless, before he is whisked away, Jeremy discusses what went right and why the film might leg out over the course of the spooky season.Max discusses the conundrum of… certain fans wanting a replica of something they can already get in the video game.Lisa notes the irony of the last few Resident Evil movies and shows bombing, creating a kind of “Well, we haven’t actually seen or watched one of these in a while” mentality among general moviegoers.Scott emphasizes the extent to which the film has succeeded for reasons beyond just Resident Evil being a recognizable and (for gamers, obviously) popular franchise, and how making adaptations that work on their own terms and garner new fans for the brand is a far better strategy than attempting to placate a vocal minority online fandom.Everyone, of course, agrees that mergers are bad and that this specific kind of “buy a company mostly with debt and then foist that debt onto the company you just bought” (which is how private equity killed the likes of Borders and Toys R Us) should be very, very illegal.Recommended Reading/Listening…* Scott Mendelson argues that since almost all of Skydance’s theatrical success (and even more of its reputation as a Hollywood power player) was courtesy of Tom Cruise movies, at least some of the blame (moral or otherwise) for this potentially industry-killing merger falls on “Mr. Savior of the Movie Theater.”* Jeremy Fuster discusses what the looming “Warnermount” means for creatives.* Lisa Laman lays into Disney for turning Searchlight into an IP factory. I shared it last week, but sadly it’s become even more topical as we see a slew of release dates for cheap horror sequels like Longlegs 2, Crawl 2, Heart Eyes 2 and Freaks 2.* Ryan Scott’s latest unofficial Tales from the Box Office notes the 15th anniversary of Drive, while his look at five ‘far cheaper than they look’ sci-fi flicks reminds me that A) I quite enjoyed The Vast of Night and B) I need to catch up with the recent Deathstalker remake.* Max Deering’s latest Action For Everyone episode discusses Resident Evil and features an extended interview with Lady Jill to talk about the art of ‘trans action’ and her short Wakashu.If you like what you hear…Please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected].* Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News* Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap* Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Autostraddle* Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm, Fangoria and Inverse* Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

This is a somewhat overstuffed, super-sized episode, whereby Kenny Miles stops in to discuss the Telurude Film Festival, Aaron Neuwirth and Terence Johnson stop by to discuss the Godzilla Minus One trailer (as 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla premieres its third season), and everyone joins in on discussing what went, well, less right than hoped for Practical Magic 2. And we even found time for another round of Lisa Laman’s “Financial Flashback” game. Among the other subjects of discourse…* The question of the day is “most ill-advised sequel.”* Runner’s halfway decent opening and the apparent existence of a longer, more violent cut available in other non-domestic territories.* Shocker! Trying to sell The Uprising as a Robin Hood movie didn’t help.* What went wrong, in terms of timing, demographics, and artistic quality, with Practical Magic 2, and how it continues a brutal cold streak for Warner Bros.?* A few buzzy documentaries that might break out in the coming months.* And quick thoughts on the positive reception to I Play Rocky, including an, uh, emotional debate over who John Cena should play if we get to I Play Rocky IV.* And more!Recommended Reading or Listening…* Scott Mendelson drops his ridiculously long summer-movie box-office recap.* Jeremy Fuster speaks with LA City Council’s Adrin Nazarian about his new committee to fight job losses in and around Hollywood.* Lisa Laman lays into Disney for turning Searchlight into an IP factory.* Ryan Scott’s unofficial “Tales from the Box Office” notes the five-year anniversary of James Wan’s Malignant, which was obviously too pure for this terrible world.* Max Deering’s latest Action For Everyone discusses Hope and the once-vibrant marketplace for direct-to-video sequels to theatrically successful movies.* Kenny Miles reviews Mary Oliver: Saved By the Beauty of the World.* Aaron Neuwirth offers a commentary for the 40th anniversary of Blue Velvet.* Terence Johnson joins Aaron for the third-season premiere of 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla, which goes long(er) on Roland Emmerich’s infamous 1998 disaster.If you like what you hear…As always, if you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected].* Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News* Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap* Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Autostraddle* Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm, Fangoria and Inverse* Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone* Kenny Miles - We Live Entertainment* Aaron Neuwirth - The Code is Zeek and We Live Entertainment* Terence Johnson - 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla and Le Noir Auteur Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

When you have the biggest-grossing summer in domestic box office history, there’s only one person to call. The Box Office Podcast welcomes back Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak (the company until recently known as Comscore), as we dive into what went right (and what could have gone better still) in what indeed turned out to be an industry-best $4.765 billion between May 1 and September 7 of this year. Alongside at least some chatter about the mostly underwhelming Labor Day newbies, the topics of discourse include…* Each of us picking the happiest surprise from the summer movie season* A surprisingly robust and consistently solid indie/arthouse marketplace* Shocker: Today’s kids do (somewhat) like Looney Tunes!* Also, the kids love Insidious!* The likelihood of continued momentum thanks to seemingly exciting films like Resident Evil, Verity, Whalefall, Wildwood and Godzilla Minus Zero* The still-potent value of a good trailer playing before a well-liked movie* Milestones and trivia related to Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey* Whether or not “Dunesday” can create the first $500 million weekend* Buddy and Coyote Vs. Acme’s sturdy legs show the potential for smaller films to use the pre-Labor Day weekend frame as a glorified sneak-preview weekend.* And more!(Plus, listen for the two moments where jokes or comments from Lisa and Jeremy make Scott laugh so hard that he has to turn off his microphone as he gasps for air) Recommended Reading/Listening… * Scott Mendelson dives deep into why the $2.4 billion-and-counting success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day does not mean that superhero movies are “back.”* Jeremy Fuster digs into how Jon Voight seems to have convinced Donald Trump to support a federal film production tax incentive. * Lisa Laman discusses the extent to which Netflix is promoting La Bola Negra as a theatrical title rather than an SVOD offering that will first have a limited theatrical run.* Ryan Scott discusses the extent to which Practical Magic 2 can be the exception to the rule, namely in being a successful sequel to an outright box office bomb.* Max Deering’s latest Action For Everyone episode offers a deep dive into what was shown and what went down at this year’s Big Bad Film Fest.* Paul Dergarabedian’s debut episode of Rentrak’s Lights, Camera, Box Office interviews Michael O’Leary, President & CEO of Cinema United.If you like what you hear…Please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected].* Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News* Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap* Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Autostraddle* Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm, Fangoria and Inverse* Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone* Paul Dergarabedian - Rentrak Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe

Civilian animation nerd Mickey Dolphin joins The Box Office Podcast as Scott Mendelson, Jeremy Fuster and Lisa Laman break down the not-half-bad near-$16 million domestic debut for the shelved (by Warner Bros.) and rescued (by Ketchup Entertainment) Will Forte and John Cena-starring Looney Tunes movie. Everyone picks their favorite Looney Tunes character and then discusses…* Bountiful box office updates for Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey* Lots and lots of discourse related to Coyote Vs. Acme* Plenty of pointing and laughing at The Dog Stars* Glasses are raised to both Buddy and It Ends* How The Odyssey papered over an otherwise poor summer for IMAX* A box office update for what might be a near-record summer movie season* An update for (Hundreds of)Beavers -watch* And more!If you like what you hear…No recommended reading this week, but if you like what you hear, please share, comment, like, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at [email protected].* Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News* Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap* Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Autostraddle* Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm, Fangoria and Inverse* Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone* Mickey Dolphin - Medium and The Mercury Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe