JCM Cinema
Capital

Man beats Machine. There's hope for us yet...

1. Never doubt my mother. When a senior citizen is as excited about a movie as her son and those a generation after him (I heard the teenagers coming out of my Friday morning viewing of THE KARATE KID exclaim "I'm going to China tomorrow!"), don't trust machine based estimates that are some 50% off your own - go with your gut. 


2. Don't mess with Will Smith. Once he found his stride in the '00s, Will Smith is ridiculously bankable. KARATE KID was his baby, with production company Overbrook Entertainment shepherding the remake as a vehicle for Smith's martial arts-loving kid Jaden. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com's analysis of producer James Lassiter, Smith's longtime friend and full-time producing partner - albeit missing a few films from his portfolio, but whatever - Overbrook has averaged $113 million a picture for a $1.13 billion total domestic. Trust me when I tell you that worldwide, it's more like $2.5 billion total. True, most of Overbrook's work are Will Smith-acted vehicles. However, they are still responsible for critically acclaimed movies like THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, ATL, and two seasons of not-so-critically acclaimed TV show "All of Us." Look for TAKERS, which JCC is currently long on at $27, to do sleeper hit late August business as well.


3. MACGRUBER is invisible. How low-grossing was the SNL overstretched sketch this weekend? It's gross has been so infinitesimal, I cannot even find posted estimates of its weekend gross. My only regret is that the Hollywood Stock Exchange won't let me buy more shares to short before it delists tomorrow afternoon. Look for almost 30% profits at delist tomorrow at our average price paid.