The Box Office Podcast

We all try to distract ourselves by discussing the long-game value of Christmas movies and the coming triple-whammy of Gladiator II, Wicked Part One, and Moana II, which will help bring the overall year-end closer to 2023 than any of us dared hope back in January. You can also enjoy our wildly off-topic discussions about what Hollywood tried to make in the 2010s. From here on out, Timothée Chalamet shall be known (in a superlative, complimentary sense) as “The Dune Twink.”

Ryan had to skip out on this episode, so it’s just Scott, Lisa and Jeremy talking shop. We spend half the episode discussing the good news (Venom 3, Anora, Conclave, etc.) and the bad news (Here, Juror #2, Absolution). The second half is a listener mailbag episode, including some very macabre conversations about potential Pixar sequels and why The Good Dinosaur 2 should be a cross-over/combo sequel to Ice Age and Dinosaur.

Venom: The Last Dance is more evidence that the late-2010s Marvel/DC superhero boom has ended, with the sub-genre now as execution-dependant as any other franchise film. Still, a $120 million threequel that will probably clear $400 million worldwide allows Sony a graceful off-ramp for their decade-long efforts to make Spider-Man’s rogues gallery into their own cinematic universe.

Smile 2 showed that you don’t have to be a breakout sequel to be a successful follow-up, while Terrifier 3 was no one-weekend wonder. Joker 2 plunged again while Wild Robot and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice shrugged off PVOD availability and Anora notched the second-biggest per-theater average in five years. Meanwhile, a dive into the listener feedback bag led to some spirited debates about the decline of the theatrical comedy, inexplicably incorrect opinions and hints of simmering conflict waiting just below the surface. Exciting!

A deep dive into the genuinely unprecedented box office success that was Terrifier 3, as well as a look at A) just how badly Joker Folie a Deux performed on its second weekend and B) why nobody gave a damn about “origin story” flicks about Donald Trump and Saturday Night Live (which Jeremy righteously tears to shreds). Also on tap are a few listener emails, leading to a spirited discussion on the commercial fortunes for next summer’s Jurassic World: Rebirth.

Joker: Folie à Deux lost its wheels and laid an egg, but we four cranky box office pundits aren’t going to let him get away. All four of us agree that, hey, at least this means Terrifier 3 might top the domestic box office this weekend, so… huzzah?

What went right for The Wild Robot? What went wrong for Megalopolis? What does the success of the former mean for the vitality of original or “new to you” animation and a possible comeback for DreamWorks Animation? Does the commercial failure of the latter mean anything beyond the apparent lack of modern-day appeal of an original sci-fi drama with mixed reviews from a legendary director whose last outright hit opened a month before Titanic? All that and much more...!

Rank doesn’t matter. It’s the raw dollars earned that counts. It’s still gotta sting that the opening weekend of Paramount and Hasbro’s well-reviewed Transformers One earned less than the third weekend of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. That’s the crux of our latest weekly box office chat, along with Never Let Go being the latest Lionsgate theatrical whiff, a (friendly) critical debate about The Substance and a response to a listener email about our most anticipated films for the remainder of the year.

As always, if you like what you hear, like, share, comment, and smash (using a cartoon mallet) that subscribe button with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you want to bother us and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or offer ideas for bonus episodes, ping us at [email protected].

After a super quick recap of the mid-September that was (Beetlejuice 2 tops again, Speak No Evil opens to entirely “fine, whatever” opening grosses, two aggressively niche MAGA-friendly flicks make the spectacularly idiotic choice to open on the same weekend, etc.), we devote the rest of the show to answering questions sent to [email protected].

The gang is back to talk Beetlejuice (WB’s success with offseason tentpole scheduling), Beetlejuice (how copious IP and actor-specific fandoms for multiple generations created an all-quadrant event movie), Beetlejuice (How does Tim Burton capitalize on this late-era success?). We also talk Showbiz Direct’s next steps after a halfway decent theatrical showing for Reagan, a box office update for the year’s best movie (#BeaverPilled).