New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Tim Briody: While reviews have never really meant all that much to box office, this is the second weekend in a row when a movie got very strong positive reviews and came in with a mediocre weekend. Yes, this was an awful weekend to release a movie given the calendar configuration, but you had to figure Nightcrawler was at least worth a few million more.

Kim Hollis: I think it's a fine performance for a movie that seemed like it ought to have started as a limited release before platforming out to a wider audience. With the rapturous reviews from critics, it would have built some decent buzz ahead of its release to more theaters. Instead, it barely clears $10 million and winds up in second place when actual box office receipts are tallied. I don't think Open Road has any reason to be unhappy here, but I do think they might have left some money on the table.

David Mumpower: I am with Reagen in that I realize it's a low budget investment that has opened to double digits, it barely did so. This is one of those weekends where nothing deserves to finish in first place, which is why the announced tie amused me. Gyllenhaal is developing a reputation as a go-to guy for off-kilter roles wherein he plays good guys and villains in basically the same style. I feel like describing this particular opening as good is akin to grading on a curve, and I'm not interested in doing that. It's a well reviewed title with a distasteful subject that most of North America wasn't interested in watching. Open Road did a good job in finding a few that did, but it's still no big deal as an opening weekend.

Kim Hollis: Before I Go to Sleep, the Nicole Kidman/Colin Firth film, earned just $1.8 million this weekend. What do you think about this performance?

Brett Ballard-Beach: before everyone went to sleep they set their clocks back an hour and used the extra hour to not see this movie. Between this, Legends of Oz, and And So it Goes, Clarius Entertainment won't even crack $30 million in domestic gross this year.

Max Braden: I saw one ad for this movie, and halfway through it I was wondering if this direct-to-video movie was released on Tuesday last week or coming this Tuesday. That question was quickly followed by "Nicole Kidman is still acting?" $2 million is a windfall for this movie.

Edwin Davies: Considering that I hadn't heard about this movie prior to the weekend, this is better than I would have expected, but only because I expected literally nothing from it. Considering that it had a fairly wide release of 1,902 theaters, that is a pretty horrible opening, and not the sort that will convince other theaters to pick the film up later in its run. The only positive about the situation is that it might top the $4.4 million that The Railway Man, 2014's other Colin Firth/Nicole Kidman film that no one cares about, managed back in April. But that's a pretty low bar.

Kim Hollis: I wonder why Clarius Entertainment even bothered with releasing this movie in theaters. I think they would have been better off putting all their releases this year straight-to-video. At least they wouldn't have had to pay for the prints.

David Mumpower: I admire Clarius Entertainment for trying. I denounce them for failing.

Continued:       1       2