@scottmendelson
A box office columnist for Puck News, but also head over to The Outside Scoop at Substack for everything else worth reading (box office, reviews, analysis, think pieces, etc.) https://scottmendelson.substack.com/
Maggie Gyllenhaal puts Frankenstein’s mate front-and-center in this cinematically scumptious, thematically rich, yet narratively thin, revamping of the classic tale(s).
(@scottmendelson.bsky.social's early review of #TheBride)
I’m almost impressed that WB/HBO had the restraint not just to say “F** it,” and straight-up score the LANTERNS trailer to “Far from Any Road”.
Not every Pixar flick has risen to the level of ‘Finding Nemo’ or ‘Up,’ but that doesn’t mean the studio hasn’t semi-regularly produced new toons on par with its 2000s-era classics.
@scottmendelson.bsky.social’s review of Pixar’s #Hoppers
Good time to re-post our #Scream (1996) commentary track featuring @scottmendelson.bsky.social, @brandon4kuhd.bsky.social & Yancy Berns from 2022. A simpler time... tinyurl.com/mwyjv3f3
Online discourse and SEO-friendly controversies no more negatively impacted Paramount's slasher sequel in 2026 than did sites like 'Ain't It Cool News' preemptively doom 'Batman & Robin' in 1997.
The likely future of Paramount/WB in a nutshell...
I just think franchises like this were never supposed to be infinitely replenisable resources.
For all the reasons you’d expect, and some you didn’t, #Scream7 is a dull, badly-acted and poorly-written follow-up that exists mostly to arbitrarily reinsert Neve Campbell atop the franchise’s starting line-up while criticizing anyone who dared to enjoy the last two installments.
As long as sequels like 'Zootopia 2' (which just passed 'Minecraft' to become 2025's top domestic grosser) are nabbing sky-high box office, the likes of 'Hoppers' and 'Encanto' can be viewed as long-term investments.
Disney is (correctly) selling #TheMandalorianAndGrogu as an IMAX-friendly, mythology-lite all-ages pulp adventure, even while this summer’s streaming-to-cinema follow-up still must help re-establish #StarWars as a must-see-in-theaters franchise.
John Patton Ford’s adequate but unexceptional black comedy never colors outside the lines, relying on its high concept and Glen Powell’s old-school star turn.
Entirely fair.
Save for one spoiler-y (and unconvincing) image, the second tease for the latest 'Mummy' hopes a tantalizing question will entice audiences for an otherwise cryptic concoction.
I liked the trailer and thought A24 would treat it as a (relatively) big deal!
Sony’s sports comedy isn’t breaking box office records (update — it had the best second-weekend hold for any $20 milion-plus President’s Day opener in 20 years), but GOAT’s grosses are thus far closer to the boom-toon times of the 2010s than the sequel-or-bust toon era of the 2020s.
GOAT held like a champ, as WUTHERING HEIGHTS displayed (like most big-deal erotic thrillers over the decades) disproportionate overseas muscle. Meanwhile, ZOOTOPIA 2 sits days away from passing A MINECRAFT MOVIE as the biggest domestic earner of 2025.
-Weekend #boxoffice for 02/22/26 - The Holdovers
China’s Lunar New Year releases (especially ‘Pegasus 3’) ruled globally amid a series of (mostly) soft, domestic-skewing new wide/semi-wide releases, as an Elvis documentary, a faith-based sequel, and a once-promising Glen Powell star vehicle took their swings at domestic box office glory.
And for those following the ongoing “mythology” B-plot, Max Deering finally saw Return to Silent Hill!
Among other elements, absolutely. The finale (no spoilers) also plays straight out of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, with (as with 90s Disney toons) an action finale where the supporting cast engages in comical battle while the leads do comparatively serious combat.
Not sure I follow. $40 million domestic and $82 million global are the opening, not the final gross. It earned half of its budget (theaters get 50% of a ticket and the studio gets the other 50%) on its global debut, with plenty of potential for legs and post-debut buzz.
Optimistic projections aside, a $40 million Fri-Mon domestic opening weekend is pretty damn terrific for Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s $85 million, R-rated, adult-skewing romantic melodrama.
Well, FIFTY SHADES cleared $550M in 2015 while HOUSEMAID topped $350M in 2025, so... in most cases, sure.
Sony’s GOAT scored a solid (especially for a non-Disney original toon) $7 million on Friday, as Amazon’s Crime 101 continued the curse of the Chris Hemsworth movie, and Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die opened pretty well by Briarcliff standards.
(The non-Wuthering Heights Friday box office punditry)
A softer-than-hoped $11M Friday gross (for a likely $35-$40M Fri-Mon domestic debut weekend) will hopefully be of less consequence for #WutheringHeights if overseas audiences, who often embrace big erotic thrillers and dramas, pick up the #boxoffice slack in the coming weeks.
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi don’t wanna be friends in Emerald Fennell’s cinematically opulent, subtext-made-text adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel.
Bad Bunny did a variation of the Spike Lee double dolly shot live so you’re now legally required to give this a five star on Letterboxd!!!!
Along with the more... important elements, I rather dug the skewed "life-sized Mario Party" asthetic. I will presume it was unintentional, but since I don't speak Spanish, I cannot say for sure.
