Ajay Kumar at 08:06, 20 August 2023

2023-08-20T08:06:08Z

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{{short description|Website that tracks box office revenue}}
{{Redirect|Brandon Gray|the domain name registry operator|Brandon Gray Internet Services}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Box Office Mojo
| logo = Box Office Mojo Logo.jpg
| caption = Box Office Mojo homepage
| url = {{official url}}
| commercial = Yes
| type = Film, box office revenue
| language = English
| registration = Optional
| owner = [[IMDb]] ([[Amazon (company)|Amazon]])
| author = Brandon Gray
| launch_date = {{start date and age|1998|08|07}}
| current_status = Active
}}

'''Box Office Mojo''' is an American website that tracks [[box-office]] [[revenue]] in a systematic, [[algorithm]]ic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by [[IMDb]], which itself is owned by [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]].

== History ==
Brandon Gray began the site on August 7, 1998,<ref name=open/> making forecasts of the top-10 highest-grossing films in the United States for the following weekend.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/forecast98.html|title=Forecast Archive 1998|access-date=May 3, 2020|website=Box Office Mojo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816200829/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/forecast98.html|archive-date=August 16, 2000|url-status=dead}}</ref> To compare his forecasts to the actual results, he started posting the weekend grosses and wrote a regular column with box-office analysis. In 1999, he started to post the Friday daily box-office grosses, sourced from Exhibitor Relations, so that they were publicly available online on Saturdays<ref name=open>{{cite book|first1=Dade|last1=Hayes|first2=Jonathan|last2=Bing|title=Open Wide: How Hollywood Box Office Became a National Obsession|publisher=Miramax Books|year=2004|isbn=1401352006|pages=296–7}}</ref> and posted the Sunday weekend estimates on Sundays.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/|title=Brandon Gray's Box Office Mojo|access-date=May 3, 2020|date=October 7, 1999|website=Box Office Mojo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991008185322/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/|archive-date=October 8, 1999|url-status=dead}}</ref> Along with the weekend grosses, he was publishing the daily grosses, release schedules, and other charts, such as all-time charts, international box-office charts, genre charts, and actor and director charts. The site gradually expanded to include weekend charts going back to 1982, grosses for older films, an international section expanded to cover the weekly box office of 50 countries, international release schedules, as well as box office results from up to 107 countries.

In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury, and grew the site to nearly two million readers.<ref>[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/about/?ref=ft "About Box Office Mojo"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119145314/http://boxofficemojo.com/about/?ref=ft |date=November 19, 2010 }}. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 17, 2018.</ref> In 2003, a subscription model was introduced (Premier Pass) to limit certain data and features to subscribers.<ref name=sean>{{cite web|website=Seancast|url=https://www.seancast.com/movies/boxofficemojo-redesign-2019/#more-1224|title=Box Office Mojo Redesign by IMDb Pro|last=Saulsbury|first=Sean|date=October 24, 2019|access-date=May 5, 2020|archive-date=November 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113234926/https://www.seancast.com/movies/boxofficemojo-redesign-2019/#more-1224|url-status=live}}</ref> From 2002 to 2011, Box Office Mojo had forums, which had more than 16,500 registered users. On November 2, 2011, the forums were officially closed along with any user accounts, and users were invited to join IMDb's message boards.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://boxofficemojo.com/forums | title = Forums | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110302081840/http://boxofficemojo.com/forums/ |archive-date=March 2, 2011 | website = Box Office Mojo | access-date = June 17, 2018 }}</ref> The IMDb forums were closed on February 20, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pgxeab/how-some-users-are-trying-to-save-imdbs-message-board |title=How some users are trying to save IMDb's message board |website=Vice.com |access-date=September 9, 2017 |archive-date=September 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910040632/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/pgxeab/how-some-users-are-trying-to-save-imdbs-message-board |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Acquisition by IMDb===
In July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through its [[subsidiary]], IMDb<ref name=techflash>{{cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2008/12/Amazons_IMDb_movie_trivia_site_acquires_rival_Box_Office_Mojo36320174.html|title=Amazon's IMDb movie trivia site acquires rival Box Office Mojo|access-date=June 17, 2018|author=Eric Engleman|date=December 17, 2008|publisher=American City Business Journals|work=TechFlash|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701131740/https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2008/12/Amazons_IMDb_movie_trivia_site_acquires_rival_Box_Office_Mojo36320174.html|archive-date=July 1, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=variety>{{cite web|url=https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997423.html?categoryid=18&cs=1|title=IMDB links up with Box Office Mojo|access-date=December 17, 2008|author=Ben Fritz|date=December 15, 2008|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|archive-date=December 19, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219095923/http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117997423.html?categoryid=18&cs=1}}</ref> and the Premier Pass features and content later became free.<ref name=sean/> On October 10, 2014, all traffic to Box Office Mojo was redirected to IMDb's box office page,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/box-office-mojo-absorbed-into-imdb-com/|author=Jeff Sneider|date=October 10, 2014|title=Box Office Mojo Redirecting to IMDb.com|work=[[The Wrap]]|access-date=June 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617193117/https://www.thewrap.com/box-office-mojo-absorbed-into-imdb-com/|archive-date=June 17, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-mojo-fate-uncertain-739999|author=Natalie Jarvey|title=Box Office Mojo Fate Uncertain; IMDb Remains Silent|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=October 10, 2014|access-date=June 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617221423/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-mojo-fate-uncertain-739999|archive-date=June 17, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> before returning the following day.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-mojo-returns-after-absence-1201327623/|title=Box Office Mojo Returns After One-Day Absence|author=Dave McNary|author-link=Dave McNary|work=Variety|date=October 11, 2014|access-date=June 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617193237/https://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-mojo-returns-after-absence-1201327623/|archive-date=June 17, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 23, 2019, Box Office Mojo unveiled a dramatic redesign resembling IMDb, and was rebranded as "Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro". The redesign was heavily criticized for being difficult to navigate and moving much of its content behind a [[paywall]]. Several features previously provided for free, such as box-office data for franchises, genres, actors, filmmakers, distributors, budgets, and inflation-adjusted figures, were moved to [[IMDbPro]], the subscription service of IMDb.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/box-office-mojo-criticized-after-redesign-that-includes-a-paywall-for-some-data/|title=Box Office Mojo Criticized After Redesign That Includes a Paywall for Some Data|last=Fuster|first=Jeremy|date=October 24, 2019|website=TheWrap|language=en-US|access-date=October 24, 2019|archive-date=October 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024044131/https://www.thewrap.com/box-office-mojo-criticized-after-redesign-that-includes-a-paywall-for-some-data/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/box-office-mojo-site-transformed-imdb-1203381584/|title=Box Office Mojo Site Transformed by IMDbPro|last=McNary|first=Dave|date=October 24, 2019|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=October 24, 2019|archive-date=October 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024044132/https://variety.com/2019/film/news/box-office-mojo-site-transformed-imdb-1203381584/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-mojo-undergoes-dramatic-overhaul-1249672|title=Box Office Mojo Undergoes Dramatic Overhaul|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=October 23, 2019|language=en|access-date=October 24, 2019|archive-date=October 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024044138/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-mojo-undergoes-dramatic-overhaul-1249672|url-status=live}}</ref> On March 31, 2020, though, certain features that were locked behind the paywall were freed. These include the brand, franchise, and genre lists, which were put under an "Indices" section.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/brand/?ref_=bo_nb_hm_tab |title=Brands (US & Canada) |website=boxofficemojo.com |access-date=August 27, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403014032/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/brand/?ref_=bo_nb_hm_tab |archive-date=April 3, 2020 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Lumiere (database)|Lumiere]]
* [[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web|last=Saulsbury|first=Sean|date=October 24, 2019|url=https://www.seancast.com/movies/boxofficemojo-redesign-2019/|title=Box Office Mojo Redesign by IMDb Pro|work=SeanCast.com}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|https://www.boxofficemojo.com}}

{{Amazon}}
{{Film box office}}

[[Category:Amazon (company) acquisitions]]
[[Category:2008 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:Film box office]]
[[Category:American film websites]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1998]]
[[Category:Online film databases]]
[[Category:1998 establishments in the United States]]

Box Office Mojo - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 08:06, 20 August 2023