Box Office Mojo Editor Says of Mystery Disappearance: No Questions Please

The site is up and no longer redirecting to IMDb, but there is no analysis of the weekend box office

Box Office Mojo was back online on Sunday, but the site’s editor says he doesn’t want to talk about it.

“I think it’s about time to resume normal programming here…” tweeted Box Office Mojo Editor Ray Subers on Sunday morning, adding:

“Actually, two things. 1) I am 100% OK. No health/family/personal issues whatsoever. 2) I will not be answering any Qs re: the past 3 days,” he tweeted.

Of course that doesn’t really solve the mystery of where the popular site for real-time box office statistics went for three days. On Friday visitors were redirected to the website of its parent, IMDb.com. There was no explanation posted on either site, and TheWrap’s calls to IMDb weren’t returned. By Saturday night however, Box Office Mojo was back up — though not fully.

Also read: Box Office Mojo Absorbed Into IMDb.com (Update)

Ray Subers
Ray Subers

While its vast historical box office data was available, there were minimal live updates. Typically, reports on the domestic and foreign box office are added throughout the day to the site, along with analysis. But the section of the site normally reserved for analysis was removed.

Given that, Subers’ tweets only added to the mystery.

Also read: Disney vs. Amazon Battle: Why the Online Giant Picked Wrong Studio to Bully

IMDb still wasn’t returning calls on Sunday. That left industry observers to speculate that Box Office Mojo was being absorbed by IMDb, which features data on film and TV and industry types, but lacks the detailed box office information that Mojo provides. Another possibility floated was that the site had been hit with some serious technological problems, such as a server failure.

Box Office Mojo was acquired in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. At the time of its sale, Mojo said it would remain a standalone company. It is a critical tool for movie industry executives in Hollywood who look to the site for real-time box office results and historical and comparative data. It was founded in 1999 by Brandon Gray as a three-person company headquartered in Burbank.

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