BACK IN BLACK

Last month I posted that, thus far, the summer of 2016 was a box office flop but that it would make a comeback - and as predicted, the box office has roared back.

Coming off a $120+ million week, with the opening of  'Jason Bourne', it was followed up with the staggering opening of 'Suicide Squad' at $135 million - which has set the stage for a very good summer box office.

Although 'Suicide Squad' received very bad critical reviews, moviegoers were undaunted.  There was a real disconnect between the critics and audiences - which loved the film and gave it an overall B+ rating.  Those under 18 gave it an A rating.

At a cost of $175 million, Warner Bros. has a big hit but now needs to figure out if the DC Comics sourced film can match-up against Disney/Marvel franchises like Batman or Superman.  With 'Suicide's' gross, Warner Bros. crossed the $1 billion domestic box office mark for 2016 - the only studio to accomplish this 16 years in a row.

The 'Suicide Squad' is a team of super villains which do good for money, and it appears that they have struck the right cord with moviegoers.  54% of the audience were men, with over 50% of these under age 25.  The film was released on 4,255 screens and 381 IMAX locations. 'Jason Bourne' finish 2nd last week at $22 million, with 'Bad Moms' taking 3rd with $14.2 million.

For 2016, the dog days of summer are turning out to be manna from heaven as this weekend's domestic gross topped $230 million. People love going to the movies but they need a reason to visit - this week the reason was 'Suicide Squad'.   For the remainder of the summer the reasons will be: 'Pete's Dragon', 'Sausage Party', 'Ben Hur', 'Kubo and the Two Strings', and 'Don't Breathe' .

See you at the cinema.
Jim