After a dismal most of 2014, Christmas weekend already gave us a hint that better box office performances is back. We had a good weekend even without the $30-$60m that The Interview would've made if it was released in major franchise theater chains.

January 2015 look to have a lot of hits below, are we on the road to recovery? or will they also disappoint?

Paddington
Mortdecai
Selma (expansion)
Taken 3
The Wedding Ringer
Blackhat

Paddington, Selma and American Sniper should do very well this month. Taken 3 will gross the lowest in the franchise but still may manage $100m.

My prospects on Blackhat aren't that high but Selma, American Sniper, and Taken 3 will make January successful. I'll be curious to see if Strange Magic can outperform early modest expectations.

American Sniper, Selma, Taken 3 and Paddington (this will be leggy) are sure to do great. Let's hope there are few more surprises.

This January looks very strong indeed, at least on paper.

That looks like the worst movie ever made. Plus the Wedding Ringer. Even if it doesn't match Ride Along, it should still do very well.

The BIG openers like American Sniper, Selma, Taken 3, and The Wedding Ringer plus the holdovers from December and hopefully a few more decent performers definitely make January a month to watch out for.

Infact, this month should easily be bigger than February.

Even if January breaks the record, expectations for the films are lower and it really won't mean much for the year as a whole. Hopefully Summer won't disappoint like last year. Except Avengers, every tentpole could disappoint like last year.

Wait, expectations are lower when most of us are seeing huge openings from one movie per weekend??? Why will a breakout performance from January not impact the overall year?

A 150 million movie in January will mean nothing if Avengers were to take a huge dive, or if Star Wars did unadjusted prequel numbers, or if Mockingjay 2 decreases from 1.

We had a 250 million movie in February and April last year. It didn't keep the year from sucking.

It doesn't matter. Better a strong month than a weak one. Without Lego and Winter Soldier breaking out - 2014 would have been even worse.

Selma and American Sniper are gonna do really well. If Wedding Ringer and Taken both do around 100 million then it'll be a good month.

But you forget what happens if those blockbusters as well as January underperform. A $150m January movie means more general audience are aware of other movies releasing nearby and in summer.

As for last year without lego and ca2 breakouts we would have seen one of the worst admissions decline which could be hard to recover. Every small movie counts it's not only about blockbusters when we talk about the year in general.

I'm just saying that if January grosses 1.5 billion somehow, that the box office still hasn't recovered. But it can only help!

The question was clearly about recovery of BO in January 2015 and a huge January helps the year because summer disappointment will still have a cap (of under performing) with the line up. Only Avengers and Star Wars are NOT the films saving BO this year.

Hopefully. Unlike last January, there are movies I actually want to see this month.

I don't see Blackhat going anywhere though.

I don't see it recovering. I don't think that box office fortunes will positively and instantly change just because the number in the year changes. People are not attending as much, and that will continue. VOD is also growing. People are becoming lazier. Sure, the product being offered makes a difference, but I don't see how much more spectacular 2015 is than 2014. They both had blockbuster potential, and in 2013 you guys were JUST as expectant for a huge 2014 year as you are now for 2015.

I don't think anyone expected more than 400 million for a film outside The Hunger Games.

There were some $400m+ predictions for Interstellar and How to Train Your Dragon 2 and tons of $300m+ predictions for other films that didn't reach that mark.

That's true actually. I remember everyone knew it was going to be a poor year. But that didn't stop most of you predicting crazy numbers for the top ten movies.

Yes a lot of people thought that some movies will compensate for lackluster market but no one thought that 2014 was going to be huge. Plus underestimation of breakouts essentially balanced over estimation.

Alex, do you ascribe to the belief that if the stock market and more specifically, stocks like Apple/Google, don't constantly rise then something is wrong?

The numbers.com is predicting Taken and American Sniper to both miss 100 million and Selma to only make 30 million total, and Paddington to make 40 million or less.

His projections are a joke. Wedding Ringer will definitely not gross the 2nd highest of the month. Kevin Hart's last two films performed fine but not excellent like Ride Along.

Taken 3 may miss the $100m mark due to stronger competition than its predecessors. Lone Survivor wasn't even an award-worthy film and still grossed over $120M despite mixed reviews and not getting any major Oscar buzz. Inherent Vice won't even make past $10M DOM.

I saw alot of people predicting 300+ for HTTYD2 but nothing else was really overestimated. I certainly didnt think 2014 was going to be huge. The only film that was underestimated was GOTG, because ppl thought it would be the first "Marvel misfire". Films like Furious 7, and The Good Dinosaur leaving the slate, dampened the expectations.

As for January 2015, it doesnt look like an extraordinarily strong January. Besides the Oscar hopefuls, i dont see many films making that much money. Taken 3 is probably going to do well but The Wedding Ringer doesnt look as good as Ride Along. I dont anticipate Paddington to be much of a factor, its more popular in the UK/Europe. After MLK weekend, the BO will probably drop off considerably. I mean who wants to watch Jennifer Lopez(was she ever a movie star?) or Johnny Depp playing another quirky character.
There will be a momentary respite with Valentine's Day weekend but the BO wont truly start picking up until March.