Entertainment Journals PH

Gru and his Minions takes the lead this week amid lower returns. Despicable Me 3  opens to PHP 93.6 million (est. $ 1.9M). That's far cry from PHP 188 million ($ 4.2M) opening of Minions (2015)  and $ 2.9M  of Despicable Me 2 (2013) . 

In a summer season lead by blockbusters  Wonder Woman  (PHP 400M+) , The Mummy (PHP 85M+), and Pirates 5 (PHP 150M+) and upcoming movies such as Despicable Me 3  and Transformers 5 , Star Cinema managed to get a space in the current crowded marketplace with Can We Still Be Friends?

Wonder Woman It's a wonderful week for Warner Bros. Coming off from the disappointing King Arthur: Legend of the Sword , the studio is back on top again with Wonder Woman .

Americans maybe tired of Johnny Depp's work but overseas seems not. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (named as Salazar's Revenge  in the country) opened to a strong PHP 90.1 million here in the Philippines. The fifth installment improved over the previous film On Stranger Tides which opened to PHP 63.1 million (it was also the first film to be in 3D). This is impressive for a decade old franchise. Ticket inflation and the rise of number of theaters can also be factored. With Wonder Woman already setting records on its opening, expect a drop from here. A final gross around PHP 150-160 million seems likely.  Guardians of the Galaxy Vol .2 dropped 72 percent this week with PHP 2.79 million. In five weeks, the Marvel superhero ensemble has already collected PHP 313 million. The Wall  opened this week with PHP 2.09 million. Updated box office for The Fate of the Furious  has now it at PHP 382 million. Philippines Box Office May 24-31, 2017...

Her time has come.

If Hollywood has Kevin Hart and Melissa Mccarthy as bankable artists in comedy, Philippines has none other than Vice Ganda. Last Friday, he dropped the news of having a new movie with Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach. It's very safe to say that it's going to be a huge hit form Star Cinema.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 It's the time of the year when everyone is anticipating a new Marvel movie. This time its the sequel to the surprise breakout hit of 2014. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opened to a strong PHP 159.32 million. See more of the breakdown below:

It's a calm in the box office before the storm comes (the trio consisting of  The Fate of the Furious, Can't Help Falling in Love, & Boss Baby ). Beauty and the Beast  easily remained on the top position earning PHP 24.99 million this week.

It's two straight weeks of strong box office ( Logan  and Kong ) and this week's no different with the debut of Disney's Beauty and the Beast (2017) . The tale as old as time starring Emma Watson in the titular role opened to a magical $5.9 million in the country. This is the fourth biggest opening in the country, according to Disney. The opening also beats the total numbers of The Jungle Book, Cinderella and Alice in the Wonderland  in the country. It wouldn't be surprising if it holds next week and $ 10 million is very likely for this film. Thriller Get Out opened decently with $80K across 50 screens. Philippines Box Office, March 15-19, 2017 Source: Deadline

Assassin's Creed. Source: IGN The MMFF season has ended (early) and the box office is back to normal. Fox's  Assassin's Creed  took up the first place followed by Sony's Passengers . Meanwhile, Mang Kepweng Returns  was up to a solid start.

 Everything they've built will fall! And from the ashes of their world, we'll build a better one! Everything fall! And from the ashes,  X-Men: Apocalypse  risen to top spot. According to Deadline , the mutants amassed PHP 230 million in its opening week. That's above 2014's Days of Future Past  which collected est. $ 4 million (est. PHP 176 million) on its first week. This is a very good number considering three weeks ago we just had a tentpole superhero movie (namely Civil War ).

Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan in Captain America: Civil War Captain America: Civil War  continues to dominate the country (and the whole world). Deadline.com  is reporting a $ 11.9 million total gross for the superhero pic here in the country. In peso that would be around PHP 560 million (using $1 = 46 PHP). Removing last week's PHP 362 million opening, this would give us a est. PHP 198 million gross for Civil War for this week (May 2-8, 2016). That should put it above Just the 3 of Us  and This Time .  This week, it will face The Angry Birds Movie  which is expected to do okay business and it looks like Civil War  will still rule the country for atleast another week. Photo Source: CosmicBookNews

The Divergent Series: Allegiant opened last Wednesday (March 9) in the country. According to  Deadline , the sci-fi chalked up $ 140k in 160 screens (PHP 6.58 million). That's a fine opening. Meanwhile, in overseas total, the industry is projecting a $ 30-40 million opening in 45 markets. Allegiant stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller & Ansel Elgort. It is now showing in PH theaters nationwide!

The Michael Bay drama 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi opened good in the country. It has collected $ 250 k (est PHP 11.7 million). That was way higher than the openings of recent related pics Zero Dark Thirty (up 178%) and Argo (up 135%). In the United States, the film has already collected a decent $ 42.57 million in three weeks of release there. Meanwhile, Star Cinema's Everything About Her starring Vilma Santos, Angel Locsion and Xian Lim has grossed

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Star Wars: The Force Awakens debuts strong in the Philippines. It opened to around PHP 188-190 million in its first week. That's way above the previous Star Wars debuts in the country. It might (I think it already is) already be the highest grossing Star Wars movie in the country. But the opening was not as high as the debuts of Marvel movies here although its unfair to compare with Marvel because Marvel is way more popular than Star Wars here in the country. The Force Awakens has 4 days remaining before the 2015 MMFF arrives (where only local movies are allowed to be screened except for IMAX) so audiences who wants to see Star Wars will be forced to pay higher or wait for it to return in 2016. If this plays like the previous three Hobbit movies (which were all released the week before MMFF), Episode VII will end up earning around PHP 440-450 million which will put in level with the country's highest grossing films which is good conside...

Late Posted Before the Force  awakens, the box office became a calm one. A Second Chance  continues its lead while In the Heart of the Sea holds well and Creed debuts low. The sequel to the hit One More Chance grossed  ₱ 26.04 million this weekend. Through 4 Weeks, the mega-blockbluster hit has already raked  ₱ 445 million making it the highest grossing film of all time (If Box Office Mojo 's numbers will be followed) beating last year's MMFF hit The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin ( est. 440 million ). In second place,  In the Heart of the Mountain added  ₱ 13.71 million making its total in 2 weeks at  ₱ 37.55 million. The  Rocky sequel Creed  debuted at number three with  ₱ 6.82 million. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2  earned   ₱ 2.18 million. In four weeks, the finale to the Hunger Games franchise has collected  ₱ 218 million which is below the previous two entries. The fall is similar to what Mockingjay Part 2 i...