March is Booming!

Within the next couple weeks big budget blockbusters such as Logan, Kong: Skull Island, Ghost in the Shell, Beauty and the Beast, Power Rangers, Life, The Belko Experiment, and the Boss Baby all come out across the country in major motion picture cinemas. When did March become so packed? With a cinematic line up like this, March sticks its neck into the summer blockbuster season, and it seems more and more studios are taking notice. How and why did March become such a packed movie month, is this good thing, and can we expect this trend to continue in years to come? Here are my thoughts.

Summer movie Blockbusters dipping into March isn't as "new" as you may think. In 2007 300 debuted to 70million$ when it open in march,  three years later Burton's Alice in Wonderland made 115million$ on its opening weekend. The Hunger Games broke Alice's record in 2012 with 150million$, one of the largest opening of the year, holding its record for another 4 years before being dethroned by Batman v Superman at 166million$. From 2007 to 2016 there has been a steady increase in opening box office for the month of March that parallels the summer season. While it is true much of this increase is as a result of general inflation, specifically in the hollywood production model, its still worth noting the overall sucess many studios have had by opening in March.

As of right now, Logan is tracking to open at 70million$ this weekend. Beauty and the Beast is tracking even greater at an estimated 120million$ with many analysts suggesting it could go higher. Kong: Skull Island and Power Rangers both have the potential to open over 50million$, if that is the case and both Logan and Beauty and the Beast meet there predictions, this could be the largest domestic gross for the month of March thus far. With such sucess, this could encourage studio to invest more into March, the beginning of their financial year, leading to more and more blockbusters releasing beyond the summer months.

On the flip side the opposite is also true. If Logan and Beauty and the Beast fail to meet expectations, or Power Rangers or Kong end up as huge financial bombs, this could discourage studios away from opening their films in March. Nothing is guaranteed of course, and a movies box office isn't indicative of its quality, but profits are the net line in Hollywood. When a movie doesn't meet its projection and ends up losing the studio money, the month it was released in becomes a good scapegoat for its failures. While this may not be the first March with gigantic box office potential, it is one of the first in a while that with so many movies positioned to strike it big.

Last year at this time we got 10 Cloverfield Lane and Allegiant, both movies with their own expectations for sucess but not expected to break beyond 50million$. This year we may see a 50$+ million dollar movie every week, each earning great critical praise and on track to meet their projections. Like all things box office, time will tell the significance of this trend moving forward, but for now we can relish in the fun to be had at the cinema's for the weeks to come.