Bad Boys for Life continued to dominate the box office, selling another $34 million over the weekend, upping the flick’s 10-day domestic sales total to just over $120 million. So far the film has sold about $215 million in tickets worldwide.
Also at the Box
Sam Mendes’ 1917 once again took the No. 2 spot at the U.S. box, selling another $15.8 million over the weekend, upping the movie’s five-week total to $103 domestically and just over $200 million worldwide. Not bad for an artsy war film. Look for this one to maybe sweep the Oscars in a few weeks.
One of the worst films of recent history, Doolittle, took the No. 3 spot at the box office, selling another $12.5 million, upping the film’s 10-day domestic sales total to just under $45 million.
Guy Ritchie’s latest, The Gentlemen, had a disappointing first weekend of release, selling just $11 million over its first three days. Ouch. Despite scoring just 51/100 on Metacritic, The Gentlemen is getting some incredible word-of-mouth. This movie might have some legs come home video time. The flick, which features excellent cinematography from Alan Stewart, stars Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Jeremy Strong, Colin Farrell, and Hugh Grant. Lots of men.
Family action flick Jumanji: The Next Level rounded out last weekend’s domestic Top 5, selling just under $8 million, bringing the franchise film’s seven-week worldwide sales total to just over $737 million.
Also of note, newbie horror flick The Turning had a rough opening weekend, selling just $7.3 million over its first three days of release.
New this Week
This weekend will see the wide release of two “dump season” films, Gretel & Hansel and The Rhythm Section. Both look dreadfully dull.
A number of flicks will see limited release, including The Traitor, The Assistant, Gul Makai, and Incitement. Real talk: none of these films look that great to me. Lucky for us the theaters have re-released several of the films nominated for Oscars. I recommend The Lighthouse and Once Upon a Time In Hollywood.
Screen Rant
Excuse me for a moment while I tell you an Old Guy opinion: Physical media is important.
Take me, for example. My apartment is littered with shelves that hold books, CDs, LPs, and movies. If you were to come to my place for the first time, you’d notice several colorful, handmade shelves full of films, organized by director and release date. Nine out of ten new people who come to my place make a joke like this: “You know all this is online now, right?”
The truth is, it’s not all online. Only a very small percentage of the films made in the last 100 years are available. In a lot of cases, the films that are online aren’t high-quality transfers. By relying on streaming services, you are allowing gatekeepers into your life.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I would never suggest that anyone own thousands of movies like me. I’m a crazy person. Rather, I’m suggesting you keep the movies you do have.
Also, we have incredible used movie stores here in town that are worth exploring. I’ll often end up buying a dozen or so movies when I go to places like B&B Loan or Mega Replay, and I usually spend less than $20 per trip.
So, aside from availability and ownership, what do DVDs and Blu-Rays offer? For starters, the picture quality is almost always superior. And, like with books, your collection can work as something of a social expression of your taste and personality. Beyond that, you typically get bonus features that greatly enhance the experience of exploring the work, such as commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and interviews.
I wasn’t able to afford film school, but I was able to buy DVDs and Blu-Rays. The commentary tracks and bonus features educated me in a way no streaming service ever could.
If you’re someone interested enough in film to read this column with any regularity, I recommend you go wander the aisles of a used video store soon. It’s fun! And they’re practically free! Really, if you gotta collect something, what’s better than movies?
