THE LATEST ARTICLES
NEWSLETTERS
venom: the last dance movie
Scott Mendelson November 5, 2024
As it turns out, avoiding monstrous budgets and not always swinging for the fences can be a solid way to make money on a mid-sized global hit like ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ or ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’—with or without China’s occasionally significant (but far less reliable) returns.
Chris Hemsworth
Scott Mendelson October 29, 2024
Why is Disney considering the Thor actor for ‘Prince Charming’ despite prodigious evidence that he has failed to lure audiences to theaters outside of his Marvel movies?
anora movie
Scott Mendelson October 22, 2024
Sean Baker’s Cannes-winning dramedy wowed in six theaters this weekend, but in a world of fractured and fatigued audiences, can word of mouth still sustain a movie from a few screens to a few hundred?
terrifier 3
Scott Mendelson October 15, 2024
The success of ‘Terrifier 3’ further proves that a mainstream theatrical release still trumps nontheatrical distribution—at least in terms of cash-in-hand revenue and pop culture impact.


Joker: Folie à Deux
Scott Mendelson October 8, 2024
At one point, a big-budget follow-up movie that grossed less than the original was an anomaly. But with The Marvels and now Joker: Folie à Deux, it’s becoming a trend.
Megalopolis
Scott Mendelson October 1, 2024
With six bombs in a row, the ‘Megalopolis’ distributor has leaned on foreign presales to paper over an astoundingly bad slate of 2024 movies. Thankfully, at least, the next year is looking up.
transformers one movie
Scott Mendelson September 24, 2024
Despite some incredible prerelease buzz around ‘Transformers One,’ the latest entry in the toy franchise proved to be another cautionary tale about what happens when a studio keeps exploiting franchises past their sell-by date.
beetlejuice beetlejuice
Scott Mendelson September 10, 2024
Not all legacy sequels work out, but ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ had a number of factors guiding its success—multigenerational appeal, the return of Tim Burton, and a pair of stars who are nearly as relevant now as they were more than 30 years ago.


Mike De Luca Pam Abdy
Scott Mendelson August 27, 2024
From August 2022, when Amazon officially acquired MGM, through to this past weekend’s flop Blink Twice, the studio released copious features greenlit by predecessors Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. So, how’d they do? Not great… but not awful considering the grim new normal.
franchise summer movies
Scott Mendelson August 21, 2024
Overseas matters more than online controversies, younger moviegoers already want to relive their youth, audiences are hungry for old-school movie stars, and other revelations from this year’s better-than-expected blockbuster season.
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