The Wakeup

Godzilla Minus Zero's opening weekend encompasses many of 2026's favorite box office trends all in one movie -- join host Sean McNulty and The Ankler's Christopher Rosen to dive into how this movie went above and beyond expectations at the box office. Plus, why Cat In the Hat came up short of IP expectations for WB, and what is has going for it in the month ahead. Read my full weekend Box Office Analysis over at The Ankler here: https://theankler.com/fox-roku-c-suite-shuffle-collier-sud-out/  

Lotta mixed reaction out there to the Clayface opening weekend -- The Ankler's Christopher Rosen joins host Sean McNulty to break down the key comps to understand this movie's box office results, and if it shows a financially viable path forward for comic book movies that aren't Batman, Avengers or Spider-Man. Then, it's one thing to succeed in 850 specifically selected US theaters -- it's another to play everywhere from coast to coast. How did You Can See Everything fare as it expanded wide across America? Plus, WTF happened to the Ali G movie?! Read The Wakeup at The Ankler: https://theankler.com/the-wakeup/  

It's great to have another organic phenomenon at the box office, with A24 once again delivering the goods in the Elizabeth Holmes doc You Can See Everything. Dive into the audience demos that drove the big weekend, and The Ankler's Chris Rosen and host Sean McNulty debate the corollaries to it being a Borat for a different generation. Then, Street Fighter and Whalefall competed for the action demos to ... middling results -- plus Sean's mea culpa to Brad Pitt. Read The Wakeup at https://theankler.com/the-wakeup/  

The only reckoning at the box office for social media this weekend was for the folks who made a movie about it -- dive into why The Social Reckoning missed the mark with audiences alongside host Sean McNulty and The Ankler's Christopher Rosen, and why Artificial may be the tech movie of 2026 instead. Plus, an award for 'Other Mommy' and a look at the lackluster quality of fall movie season so far as we hit the mid-point. Read The Wakeup at https://theankler.com/the-wakeup/  

'Digger' was unfortunately as bad as feared at the box office. The Ankler's Managing Editor Christopher Rosen joins host Sean McNulty to break down where the decisions went awry and the big losses involved for WB. Plus, what older Gen X / younger Boomer movie stars still have pull at the box office? And a look at Colleen Hoover's latest successful outing at the box office via AMAZON MGM. Read The Wakeup at The Ankler at: https://theankler.com/the-wakeup/    

September had 2 movies going into the month that were made for $75M and both looking to dominate the box office conversation. One of them opened to twice as much as the other one. The Ankler's Christopher Rosen joins host Sean McNulty for a Monday Morning Quarterbacks box office conversation to dive inside the numbers driving the huge 'Resident Evil' opening weekend at SONY, and what the week 2 numbers for WB's 'Practical Magic 2' indicate about the strategy behind that effort. Read The Wakeup over at The Ankler at https://theankler.com/the-wakeup/  

DISNEYFOX took a pretty big swing with an on the rise star this weekend in 'The Dog Stars' to underwhelming results. The Ankler's Christopher Rosen joins The Wakeup's Sean McNulty to dive into where the project went wrong, and if there were ways the results could have been better. Plus, 'Coyote vs. Acme' finally got its due in movie theaters from KETCHUP after being previously unceremoniously dumped by WB. We breakdown why the results kinda worked for both parties even though this was absolutely not the way to handle a movie. Then, we have one week left to chase the Summer Box Office record -- we dive into why this summer is a big win even if it doesn't catch it. Read The Wakeup's full Box Office analysis here: https://theankler.com/dis-dog-stars-in-dog-house-as-coyote-delivers/

PARAMOUNT got dealt another setback to start off the week, with initial trial settlement talks with the state AGs called off on the morning they were supposed to start. Dive into the dueling tactics afoot, and PAR's tall order in finding solutions to avoid a trial. Then, dive into how SONY is ruling the Q3 box office, as 'Insidious' tops August openers and it's looking like SONY has the big movie for September as well. PLUS: 'The Odyssey' keeps shifting IMAX distribution decisions as another pic seemingly suffers in the wake of Nolan's epic actually increasing its revenue in its 6th weekend. AND: The latest box office demo datapoint showing that moviegoing activity is dominated by people under 40 ... although you wouldn't know that from the September release schedule -- why is Hollywood not making more movies with specific appeal for the audiences that engage most with its product? Christoper Rosen from The Ankler joins WAKEUP host Sean McNulty to dive into all of above and more. Read THE WAKEUP here at The Ankler: https://theankler.com/the-wakeup/

The Ankler's Christopher Rosen joins to look at the achievements and records that the consistently written-off theatrical movie business is hitting in summer 2026 ... before a questionable fall box office season begins. Plus, a debate over whether Hollywood's Gen X executives are dipping back into their 1980s nostalgia well too often for moviegoers in the mid 2020s -- a time period where the average moviegoer wasn't even alive -- as the latest entry from WB, "The End of Oak Street" seemingly does not enthrall moviegoers to a notable degree. Also, fall film festival season is now on the horizon -- take a look at what's ahead in the current calm before the storm. Read PRESTIGE JUNKIE here: https://theankler.com/prestige-junkie/ Read THE WAKEUP here: https://theankler.com/the-wakeup/  

The Bulwark's Culture Editor Sonny Bunch joins to dive into the massive 'Spider-Man' revenue at the box office and just how big it could get, as well as a look at what Hollywood has ahead for moviegoing this fall after this huge 1-2 summer Spidey / Odyssey punch -- will momentum continue? Plus, an intriguing idea for Nolan's next movie, sex purges and the prospects for the theatrical rom-com, David Ellison's latest 30-movie deal with theater owners and much more.  Check out Sonny's column and podcast here: https://www.thebulwark.com/s/screentime Read The Wakeup column here: https://theankler.com/the-wakeup/