Hello, boils and ghouls! Enjoy our very special Halloween episode, a special treat for all of our devoted listeners. In this episode, we discuss some of our favorite Halloween movies and television specials, dive into a couple of new horror releases, and challenge ourselves with a Halloween-themed box office game. But this is no trick – we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming on Sunday, November 2nd!

Edited and produced by Aaron Bartuska.

"Spooky" Theme Music by Will DiNola.

Artwork by Mackenzie McCarron.

'Tron: Ares?' More like Tron: AIRBALL. 'The Smashing Machine?' More like The FLOPPING Machine. 'Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party Of A Showgirl?' More like Taylor Swift: The Official Cash Grab Of A Con-Artist! Our only two success stories this weekend are 'Good Boy' and 'Roofman,' which also happen to be very good films! Who woulda thought? Zach and Aaron discuss all of these titles and more on this week's episode of Box Office Bets. Stay tuned at the end for an analysis of this year's overall box office using the metric of how many movies have crossed the $100 million domestic mark.

This episode's schedule:

'Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl (5:08)

'Good Boy (15:40)

'The Smashing Machine' (23:24)

'Tron: Ares' (32:18)

'Roofman' (37:47)

Zach's Pick: 'As Above So Below' by John Erick Dowdle (45:25)

Box Office Analysis (53:04)

Bets (59:06)

Artwork by Mackenzie McCarron.

Theme Song by Will DiNola.

Edited and produced by Aaron Bartuska.

If you see one movie this year, make it Paul Thomas Anderson's new masterwork. In this week's episode, we talk about the best movie of the year and four others. Is 'Him' Jordan Peele's first fumble as a film producer? Does 'A Big Bold Beautiful Journey' earn its name? Who is Gabby and why do we care about her dollhouse? Who are The Strangers and why do they need a Chapter 2? All this and more in our newest episode where we presented ourselves with an interesting challenge: starting a one-hour timer at the top of the episode and releasing that hour of conversation unedited. Hopefully it's just as entertaining!

This episode's schedule:

'Him' (4:20)

'A Big Bold Beautiful Journey' (16:21)

World Series Side-bet (23:58)

'One Battle After Another' (25:33)

'The Strangers: Chapter 2' (43:02)

'Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie' (47:38)

Zach's Picks: 'Rush Hour 2' by Br*tt R*tner, 'The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special' by James Gunn and 'Werewolf by Night' by Michael Giacchino (49:17)

Bets (57:25)

Artwork by Mackenzie McCarron.

Theme Song by Will DiNola.

Edited and produced by Aaron Bartuska.

(Original Recording Date: September 20th, 2025)

If there were ever any doubts that the horror genre is more dominant than ever, the first week of September has put those to bed. This is only the second time horror has crossed a domestic total of one billion dollars in one calendar year -- and the earliest that milestone has been reached by nearly two months. On this episode, we discuss two of 2025's most significant horror offerings as well as three surprising movie-adjacent theatrical experiences that have garnered a collective $750 million at the worldwide box office.

We also forgot to talk about what we ate. Zach had Chick-Fil-A and Aaron had a Saquon Barkley hoagie from Wawa.

This episode's schedule:

'The Conjuring: Last Rites' (3:40)

'Hamilton,' 'Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Infinity Castle,' and 'Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale' (20:36)

'The Long Walk' (34:24)

Aaron's Picks: 'Signs/The Happening' by M. Night Shyamalan and 'War of the Worlds' by Rich Lee (48:49)

Bets (53:44)

Artwork by Mackenzie McCarron.

Theme Song by Will DiNola.

Edited and produced by Aaron Bartuska.

Despite technical difficulties and sleep deprivation, Zach and Aaron are back with the last episode of the summer movie season. We should have stopped and smelled The Roses earlier in the summer, because these late August options are Toxic and there are no Avengers-level releases to be found. The studios have been Caught Stealing our money and we Don't appreciate it, Honey. But, we Ne Zha II talk about all of our bets, so here we are! That last one was a bit of stretch. Maybe we should drop this whole "trying to fit the movie titles into the episode description" thing. We couldn't think of anything for Kpop Demon Hunters.

Next week, tune in for our end of summer recap and a very special episode!

This episode's schedule:

'Honey, Don't' (11:38)

'Kpop Demon Hunters' (15:37)

'Caught Stealing' (24:00)

'The Toxic Avenger Unrated' (28:02)

Aaron's Pick: 'Hillbilly Elegy' by Ron Howard (33:39)

Zach's Pick: 'Blade' by Stephen Norrington (36:35)

Aaron's Pick: 'Barbarian' by Zach Cregger (39:01)

Bets (41:30)

Artwork by Mackenzie McCarron.

Theme Song by Will DiNola.

Edited and produced by Aaron Bartuska.

B.O.B. is back! And we've got plenty to cover. Eight movies, three weekends, and a whole lot more in what many our calling our sexiest episode to date. Summer is coming to a close, but 'Box Office Bets with Zach and Aaron' is here to stay.

This episode's schedule:

'Together' (13:16)

'Together' - SPOILERS (19:42)

'The Bad Guys 2' (20:52)

'The Naked Gun' (26:28)

'Sketch' and Angel Studios (33:41)

'Freakier Friday' (39:41)

'Weapons' (44:31)

'Nobody 2' (50:52)

'Highest 2 Lowest' (54:54)

'Americana' (59:51)

Aaron's Pick: 'Good Morning' by Yasujirō Ozu (1:02:28)

Bets (1:06:31)

Artwork by Mackenzie McCarron.

Theme Song by Will DiNola.

Edited and produced by Aaron Bartuska.

This week, the boys discuss one of the most anticipated movies of the summer, 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps.'

Finally! A Marvel movie without any tie-ins or crossover characters! A focus on inventive visuals and a colorful palette! An honest attempt at portraying these beloved characters in a way that respects the original source material! It must be a home run, right? Right??

Tune in while Zach and Aaron debate whether this fourth go-around at the 'Fantastic Four' franchise was a fantastic success or a galactic failure.

This episode's schedule:

'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' (5:00)

'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' - SPOILERS (14:04)

Josh Trank's 'Fant4stic' (33:54)

Zach's Pick: 'Cocaine Bear' (39:58)

Bets (47:22)

Artwork by Mackenzie McCarron.

Theme Song by Will DiNola.

Edited and produced by Aaron Bartuska.

Our only multi-movie weekend of July resulted in underwhelming box office returns. But did it also result in underwhelming movies? First, we take a look at lega-sequel 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' our first theatrical visit to Southport, NC since the 90s. Then, we discuss Rihanna's triumphant return to the silver screen as Smurfette in 'Smurfs.' Finally, we analyze Ari Aster's polarizing 2020 western 'Eddington.'

Movies covered in this week's episode:

'I Know What You Did Last Summer' (1:40)

'I Know What You Did Last Summer' - SPOILERS (14:43)

'Smurfs' (19:10)

'Eddington' (30:24)

'Eddington' - SPOILERS (36:27)