After languishing through a couple of dull weekends, the box office is about to explode with the kick-off of the holiday movie season. Daniel Craig [DCRAI] is back for his fourth outing as James Bond in Spectre [JB24], which is the name of the criminal enterprise from the Sean Connery years as 007. Christoph Waltz [CWALT] stars as the villain who may or may not be the infamous leader of Spectre, Blofeld. After the mega-success of Skyfall, director Sam Mendes [SMEND] was brought back and given a production budget over $250 million. With a less than rosy 2015 so far and the future distribution rights to 007 on the line, Sony has put all their marketing might behind Spectre. The PG-13 rated film looks to deliver all the signature Bond must-haves. Spectre has already opened in the U.K. and surpassed Skyfall. Stateside, however, may fall short of Skyfall’s franchise best $88.4 million. Advance ticket sales are only roughly even, when more should be expected for a sequel. Skyfall opened as the lone wide release,while Spectre goes up against another well-known brand in The Peanuts Movie. Reviews have been also been mixed, while could affect the older fans. Turning into 3929 theaters, Spectre may fire up $82 million.
Charlie Brown and Snoopy make their CG-feature film debut in The Peanuts Movie [PENUT]. The characters have been beloved by generations since the comic strip debuted in 1950 and the first TV special “A Charlie Brown Christmas” aired in 1965. More TV specials followed and are now in perpetual rerun during the holidays. Advance ticket sales are pacing ahead of Hotel Transylvania 2, which just opened to $48.5 million. The G-rating will appeal to parents with young children, but could turn off older teenagers looking for edgier humor. The Peanuts Movie could pick up $46 million from 3897 locations.
With most of the holdovers already forgotten, The Martian [MARTN.BW] should lead the rest of the field at around $6 million.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): DCRAI, JB24, CWALT, SMEND, PENUT