The Box Office Podcast
Episodes
Proud 'Mary' Eats 'Forbidden Fruits'
03 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Luke Y. Thompson returns for his… uh… fourth guest spot since February 2025, giving the likes of Aaron Neuwirth and Chrissi Michaels a run for the...
All Hail 'Mary'
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Aaron Neuwirth (of 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla and OutNow With Aaron and Abe) pops in yet again to chat alongside Scott Mendelson, Lisa Laman and Jerem...
The Original Core Four Talks Oscars (and More)
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In a show that’s half box office punditry and half Oscar telecast discourse, original co-host Ryan Scott returns for what’s a comparatively old-sc...
Beavers and Bridezillas!
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Charlie Jane Anders, long-time sci-fi author and sci-fi entertainment journalist (whose work has won — among others — the Crawford Award, Hugo Awa...
Make You Wanna Scream?!
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Semi-regular guests Aaron Neuwirth (of 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla and OutNow With Aaron and Abe) and Brandon Peters (The Brandon Peters Show) reprise ...
A Failure of Soft Powell
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Longtime film writer, movie reviewer, entertainment journalist, and author Marya E. Gates is this week’s extra-special guest. Considering this relat...
Wuthering Fights!
20 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Longtime journalist and podcaster Jordan Crucchiola guests on this week’s episode as the gang discusses the reception and commercial performance of ...
The Little Movies That Could
13 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In what was a needlessly barren weekend in terms of new releases from major studios, the newbies and the smaller distribution outlets picked up some o...
Inherent Vyce
06 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In his long-awaited debut in the revolving (or fifth?) fourth chair of The Box Office Podcast, long-time film pundit and action film expert Vyce Victu...
An Hour With... Paul Feig
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
I’m not thrilled that Lionsgate has already dropped The Housemaid onto PVOD, even if I’ll note that A) it got a now (kinda-sorta) standard 47-day ...
2 Mendelson 2 Hertz: Another Hour with Barry Hertz, Talking 'Hobbs & Shaw' and (Eventually) 'Fast Forever'
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The listeners demanded it, the author agreed to it, and so the podcaster (oh-so-reluctantly) allowed it. For those who came in late, Barry Hertz poppe...
Are We Not 'Mercy'-ful?!
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Comscore Sr. Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian returned to talk shop with the usual gang. He was only able to stick around for the first third before m...
'28 Years Later' Pull a (Box Office) Boner
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Aaron Neuwirth returns for… what is this, the sixth or seventh time (?) since March 2025, to pontificate about what went right (artistically) but wr...
Monkeying Around After the End of the World
16 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
While you’d think that the terrific trio, alongside producer Max Deering and special guest Rendy Jones (another superb fourth-chair occupant who’s...
New Year, Old(er) Movies
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The new-to-the-show guest for the first episode of 2026 is Tre’vell Anderson, prolific author, podcaster and journalist (who was recently named co-d...
Sure Plays a Mean Ping Pong...
01 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This may be the very first weekend since I started this podcast, nearly two years ago, when we literally ran out of time to appropriately discuss the ...
Does Payakan Know It’s Christmastime at All?
25 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sure, you’ll probably be a bit today, celebrating either Christmas or National Jews Get Chinese Food and Go to the Movies Day. The plan is for our “...
Garbage Day for 'Ella McCay'
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since neither Ella McCay nor Silent Night Deadly Night caught fire (and ash) this past weekend, we invited Greenlight Analytics Director of Insights ...
A Labyrinth with No Exit, A Maze with No Prize
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The good news is that the theatrical ecosystem is exactly as alive as the main distribution studios allow it to be, as Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Fr...
A Fast (But Not Furious) Hour With... Barry Hertz
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As we wait and see if and how Universal chooses to embark on a presumably final film in the $7.3 billion-grossing Fast & Furious saga, Barry Hertz’...
Ep. 97 - (Disney's) Got a Million Problems, But 'Woke' Ain't One
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Somehow (an invitation, natch), Aaron Neuwirth returned. In a lengthy but dense Thanksgiving weekend wrap-up episode, the subject is, of course, Walt ...
An Hour With... The Numbers' Bruce Nash
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a kind of half-and-half in terms of The Box Office Podcast. It’s technically an hour-long conversation with Bruce Nash, owner of The Numbers...
Ep. 95 - Everyone Sees The Wicked
28 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Before we see to what extent Zootopia 2 ($39 million on Wednesday and $81 million worldwide thus far, or $100 million if you’re counting its $34 mil...
Ep. 94 -- Now You See 'NYSM3,' Now You Don't See 'Running Man'
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The original permanent fourth chair returns, as Ryan Scott stops by for the first time since early August. Actually, since Jeremy Fuster couldn’t ma...
An Hour With... Screen Engine CEO Kevin Goetz
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to another irregular spin-off episode of The Box Office Podcast, during which I (Scott Mendelson) sit down with Kevin Goetz. Mr. Goetz is the ...
Ep. 93 - Predator 9, People 0
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Max Deering, of Fangoria and the Action For Everyone podcast, returns to discuss the rousing reception (artistically and commercially) for Dan Trachte...
Ep. 92 - The Lame Halloween
04 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Forgive the lack of a “the top ten movies are” portion; I was on a time crunch and wanted to make sure we had time for “discourse.” It’s jus...
Ep. 91 - Gory Days
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chainsaw Man: The Movie proved that anime is no longer necessarily specialized theatrical programming. Meanwhile, Deliver Me from Nowhere failed to be...
Ep. 90 - Grabber, No Grabbing!
21 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Black Phone 2 was the hit Blumhouse needed, but the brand still has work to do to get folks excited about its not-sequel, non-IP horror offerings....
Ep. 89 - 'Tron's Legacy of Failure
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Was the failure of Tron: Ares inevitable by virtue of Tron never being an A-level franchise? Or is the box office decimation of Disney’s $180 millio...
Ep. 88 - Swift Smashes Rock
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s just the terrific trio this time around, as Scott, Lisa and Jeremy dig into what went (mostly) right with Taylor Swift’s second glorified fea...
Ep. 87 - One Battle After Gabby's Dollhouse
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The host of The Brandon Peters Show (the only pod with a less creative title than “The Box Office Podcast”) returns to discuss One Battle After An...
Ep. 86 - Big Bold *and* Beautiful? Couldn't Be 'Him'
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Terence Johnson, he of 2 Black Guys Talk Godzilla and Le Noir Auteur, joins to chime in on Justin Trippin’s Him, including how director Justin Tripp...
Ep. 85 - Slay, Demons, Slay!
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
TheWrap’s Managing Editor for Pro and business, Roger Cheng, joins TheWrap’s Jeremy Fuster (and Scott Mendelson, formerly of TheWrap and Lisa Lama...
Ep. 84 - We Ain't 'Fraid of No Demons!
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Lisa Laman was busy participating in a conference in Atlanta, so Jeremy Fuster and Scott Mendelson welcome back Kenny Miles to this week’s episode t...
Ep. 83 - Generational Troma
06 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yes, it’s a little odd to spend the majority of our conversation discussing a movie that barely topped $2 million over the Fri-Mon Labor Day box off...
An Hour With... Seth Worley, The Writer and Director of 'Sketch'
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The picture, for reasons that are 99% related to the theatrical marketplace, came and went in theaters last month. But the early days of August brough...
Ep. 82 - 'KPop' Shows Netflix How It's Done
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was mostly all about KPop Demon Hunters — which earned around $19.2 million via Saturday and Sunday showings — as summer otherwise ended with a...
Ep. 81 - 'Nobody 2' Could. 'Nobody 2' Would!
21 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Action For Everyone podcast host Mike Scott returns to A) plug this weekend’s Big Bad Film Fest and B) discuss Timo Tjahjanto’s first foray into H...
Ep. 80 - Hooray For Hollywood?
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this distinctly old-school episode of The Box Office Podcast, former co-host turned semi-regular special guest Ryan Scott returned to discuss the b...
Ep. 79 - Marvel: Ragnarök
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A longer and more digression-packed episode than usual, because now semi-regular special guest Aaron Neuwirth kept talking and talking and talking. Sa...
Ep. 78 - Galactus Demands a Doggy Bag
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As of this writing, Fantastic Four: First Steps has earned $142.25 million after five days in North American theaters, jumping an “impressive as Sup...
Ep. 77 - Superman Knows What You Smurfed Last Summer!
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest, longtime film journalist and current Fangoria Managing Editor Meredith Borders, joins us all the way from Germany to discuss how Superman i...
Ep. 76 - Reign of the 'Superman'
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Gunn’s acclaimed and buzzy Superman opened in North America with $125 million toward a $95 million overseas launch. The domestic grosses are g...
Ep. 75 - Dinos in a Fern Field
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Longtime Jurassic super-fan (and more recent Clown in a Cornfield mega-fan) Ryan Scott returns to the fourth chair to talk about dinosaurs and movies ...
An Hour With... Joshua Moore, Author of 'Morphenomenal: How the Power Rangers Conquered the World'
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
I’ve often said that I was exactly the right age to initially think that Power Rangers was idiotic when it debuted in 1993, only to come to apprecia...
Ep. 74 - ‘F1’ Blue-Shells Blumhouse as Pixar Slips on Its Own Banana Peel
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The good news is that F1 just nabbed a big win for Apple’s bumpy theatrical ambitions. The bad news is that M3GAN 2.0 continued Blumhouse’s less-t...
Ep. 73 - How Low Can Pixar's 'Elio' Go?
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s topic, obviously, is what happened to Elio, whether Pixar is finished as a butts-in-seats brand for original animated films, and (with...
Ep. 72 - For ‘Materialists’ Girls, When the ‘Dragon’ Is Enuf
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Due to a false alarm about potentially malfunctioning Wi-Fi, we ended up with two special guests for the price of one. Kirsten Acuna, having recently ...
Ep. 71 - 'Ballerina,' You've Barely Seen Her... Slaying On The Screen
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ballerina is that most frustrating of things for we box office pundits, as it’s a relative disappointment even though it’s not remotely an all-ar...
Ep. 70 - 'Karate Kid' Gets 'Suits LA'-ed
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sony’s Karate Kid: Legends continues to make Jumanji the exception to the rule. At the same time, Bring Her Back shows that, in ways mostly po...
Ep. 69 - You either Die a ‘Skyfall’ or Live Long Enough to Become a ‘Spectre'
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jeremy rages against bad-faith online discourse concerning the ending of Lilo & Stitch. Lisa cowers in terror at Plinky’s moist eyeballs. Scott whin...
An Hour With Ryan Reynolds...
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the headline indicates, this is an extended conversation—not quite an interview—between me and the star of R.I.P.D. and The Hitman’s Wife’...
Ep. 68 - Death Kills At Box Office
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brandon Peters stops by to discuss what went right with a legacy sequel that didn’t sell itself as one. Topics covered included how WBD marketed a f...
Ep. 67 - 'Thunderbolts' Are... So?
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s just the three of us (Scott Mendelson, Jeremy Fuster and Lisa Laman) discussing the extent to which revealing the “actual” title of Thunder...
Ep. 66 - Marvel-Less!
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The good news is that Thunderbolts* (or… uh… are we using the new title now?) kicked off the summer movie season with $74 million in North America...
Ep. 65 - 'Sinners' Weekend II: 'Revenge' of the 'Accountant'
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This was supposed to be just a summer movie preview episode. The bonkers-bananas hold for Sinners, along with aspirational openings for Revenge of the...
Ep. 64: Users Are Losers, but ‘Sinners’ Are Winners!
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Longtime film critic, podcaster, and friend of Scott Mendelson (but don’t hold that against him), Aaron Neuwirth, returns to help us celebrate the s...
Ep. 63 - ♫ Jesus Christ... Movie Star! ♫
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A Minecraft Movie held firm atop both the domestic and global box office with a hold on par with Beauty and the Beast. Meanwhile, two faith-specific...
Ep. 62 - Mine Crafts and Cinema Cons
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cinema United and friends spent the entire week listening to studios pledge their loyalty to theatrical exhibition, while theater owners implicitly re...
Ep. 61 - Jason Statham Killed 'A Unicorn'!
06 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Pardon the tardiness for this one, I made a losing bet with myself that I’d have time to put this one out amid the week spent in Las Vegas at Cinema...
Ep. 60 - 'White' Flight and 'Alto' Nopes
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kristen Acuna, formerly of Business Insider, a longtime entertainment/business journalist and a comparative Disney expert, drops by to discuss what we...
Ep. 59 - Everybody Hurts
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Everything is terrible, and everyone is hurting. That’s the general sentiment as longtime film critic, podcaster and friend-of-Scott Mendelson (don’...
Ep. 58 - 'Mickey' Is Not So Fine (x17)
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There wasn’t all that much to discuss this weekend beyond the circumstances of Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17 opening with just $19 million in North Ame...
Ep. 57 - That's Anora!
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since there really isn’t much box office news to discuss, we spent the entire show discussing the Oscar season that just ended.Lisa Laman explained ...
Ep. 56: James Bond Faces 'Monkey' Trouble in The Amazon
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brandon Katz of The Observer and Parrot Analytics serves as our special “fourth participant” with whom we discuss how badly Marvel has messed up (...
Ep. 55 - America, F*** No!
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Mendelson, Jeremy Fuster and Lisa Laman pontificate on why a $101 million Friday-Monday debut isn’t great news for Captain America: Brave New...
Ep. 54: Yee Haw for 'Ne Zha'!
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend, we will discuss a disappointing Super Bowl weekend in North America (RIP Heart Eyes and Love Hurts), why Companion struggled to fin...
Ep. 53 - 'Companion' Box Office Goes To The Dog(s), Man!
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This weekend’s episode goes to the Dog(s), Man. Jeremy Fuster couldn’t make it, but Lisa Laman and Scott Mendelson welcome Kenny Miles to this wee...
Ep. 52 - Flight Risks, 'Brutalist' Chatter and Oscar Snubs With Chrissi Michael
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The actual box office news is comparatively light, so this somewhat became an accidental three-part episode.In the first act, Scott Mendelson, Lisa La...
Ep. 51 - Somehow, Ryan Scott Returned
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the sad Poe image implies, former co-host Ryan Scott is back, at least for one episode. They never found the body; he fixed the autopilot six month...
Ep. 50 - The Butler Did It, With Brandon Streussnig
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In what was the first “new” weekend of 2025, Den of Thieves 2 opened seven years after its predecessor with an almost identical amount of money in...
Ep. 49: Missing That Insidious White Noise
07 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since there were no newbies of note this weekend, all due respect to Vertical’s The Damned, Scott Mendelson, Lisa Laman and Jeremy Fuster just talke...
Ep. 48: Audiences Say 'Yesferatu'!
31 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In what will be the last episode of 2024, the three proverbial box office musketeers/amigos/etc. are joined by Daniel Loria for a deep dive into what ...
Ep. 47: Sonic's Holiday Heist vs. Mufasa's Christmas Coal with Paul Dergarabdian
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After appearing on all 46 of the first episodes of The Box Office Podcast (even the late June episode where it was just her and Ryan holding down the ...
Ep. 46 - Everything That's Wrong With Everything That's Wrong
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
* It’s basically the “all Kraven and all The War of the Ro…hru…ru… how the f**k do I pronounce that again?” as the Box Office Podcast podc...
Ep. 45 - This is the Saddest Movie, and I Love Crying At It!
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Weirdly enough, there were well over a dozen new releases this weekend, even if it a few of them made anything resembling “money” in terms of dome...
Ep. 44 - "Wait, He Fixed The Autopilot System Six Months Ago!"
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Moana 2 shattered Thanksgiving weekend records with a sky-high $225 million Wed-Sun debut, right alongside Wicked Part One’s equally impressive $118...
Ep. 43 - #SawPatrol Lives Again!
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The conventional wisdom that Wicked Part One’s $112 million opening destroyed (audiences don’t mind musicals, and they don’t mind the whole “p...
Ep. 42 - 'Gladiator II' Crushes 'Red One'
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is a tale of two franchise-friendly $250 million tentpoles and to what extent the streamer deserves nuance and mercy for a domestic and global open...
God, The Devil And Santa Claus
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We all try to distract ourselves by discussing the long-game value of Christmas movies and the coming triple-whammy of Gladiator II, Wicked Part One, ...
Popes, Hitpigs And Love Monkeys!
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan had to skip out on this episode, so it’s just Scott, Lisa and Jeremy talking shop. We spend half the episode discussing the good news (Venom 3,...
Ep. 39 - The 'Last Dance' For SPUMC?
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Venom: The Last Dance is more evidence that the late-2010s Marvel/DC superhero boom has ended, with the sub-genre now as execution-dependant as any ot...
Ep. 38 - Creepy Folks With Scary Grins
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Smile 2 showed that you don’t have to be a breakout sequel to be a successful follow-up, while Terrifier 3 was no one-weekend wonder. Joker 2 plunge...
Ep. 37 - Send in the Clowns
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A deep dive into the genuinely unprecedented box office success that was Terrifier 3, as well as a look at A) just how badly Joker Folie a Deux perfor...
Ep. 36: The Day The Clown Cried
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Joker: Folie à Deux lost its wheels and laid an egg, but we four cranky box office pundits aren’t going to let him get away. All four of us agree t...
Ep. 35 'The Wild Robot' Tops While 'Megalopolis' Flops
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What went right for The Wild Robot? What went wrong for Megalopolis? What does the success of the former mean for the vitality of original or “new t...
Ep. 34: 'Beetlejuice' Tops 'Transformers'
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rank doesn’t matter. It’s the raw dollars earned that counts. It’s still gotta sting that the opening weekend of Paramount and Hasbro’s well-r...
Ep. 33 - The Listener Mailbag!
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After a super quick recap of the mid-September that was (Beetlejuice 2 tops again, Speak No Evil opens to entirely “fine, whatever” opening grosse...
Ep.32: Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice and/or Beetlejuice
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang is back to talk Beetlejuice (WB’s success with offseason tentpole scheduling), Beetlejuice (how copious IP and actor-specific fandoms for m...
Ep. 31: Summer Post-Mortem with BoxOffice Pro's Daniel Loria
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In an episode fit for 1.25x speed, this 95-minute epic offers special guest BoxOffice Pro's Daniel Loria amid the summer wrap-up. Jeremy reaffirms tha...
Ep. 30: 'The Crow' Eats Crow At Box Office
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As summer winds down with a comparative whimper…Scott rambles about how The Crow was never a viable brand or franchise.Jeremy explains what Laika is...
Ep 29: The Summer, It Ends With 'Alien'
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan and Lisa (cordially) debate whether Disney has allowed the more adult-skewing Fox brands to stay true to their R-rated roots. Still, both agree t...
Ep. 28: A Lively Weekend For 'Deadpool 3'
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Both Deadpool & Wolverine and It Ends With Us nabbed $50 million+ weekends, again showing Hollywood there’s more than one way to build a blockbuster...
Ep. 27: Deadpool Traps A Purple Crayon
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang is back to discuss what continues to go right for Deadpool & Wolverine, what only went kinda-sorta okay for M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap and w...
Ep 26: Deadpool & Wolverine - When Everything Goes Right
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
50 minutes of (almost) nothing but Deadpool & Wolverine, both in terms of its box office bonanza and what the four of us thought of the picture. Spoil...
Ep. 25: 'Twisters' Soars High, 'Longlegs' Legs Out
23 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There were only two really big pieces of news, namely the $81 million domestic opening weekend (along with the softer-than-hoped overseas earnings) fo...
Ep. 24: Horror Is Undead Again, For Now!
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Despicable Me 4’s spectacularly consistent (for his franchise) holds and raw grosses... As Longlegs surprises, keep Osgood Perkins away from Netflix...
Ep 23: Angel Studios Suffers From 'Despicable' Holiday Weekend Box Office
09 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Was Despicable Me 3’s domestic downturn a fluke or did the extended wait and pre-COVID nostalgia for the brand prevent a continual box office downwa...
Ep 22: 'Inside Out' Sequel, 'Quiet Place' Prequel Both Box Office Champions
01 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The gang is back to dissect what went very right with A Quiet Place: Day One and almost inevitably wrong with Horizon: An American Saga. Lisa laments ...