How to Play

What is Popcorn Wars?

Popcorn Wars is a social prediction game where you and your friends go head-to-head guessing opening weekend box office numbers. Think fantasy football meets movie night.

A commissioner sets up a league, picks the movies, and invites the crew. You predict how much each movie will make, then watch the results roll in every week — matchups, standings, trash talk, and a playoff bracket to crown a champion.

No movie expertise required. Some of the best guesses come from people who've never read a box office report in their life.

How predictions work

Before the season starts, you predict the domestic opening weekend gross for every movie on the slate. One shot — predict them all, lock them in, and live with the consequences.

The app shows comparable movies to help you calibrate, but gut feelings are just as welcome as research.

• One decimal place max. Guess in millions — $85.0M, not $85.4372M.
• Blind, then reveal. You can't see anyone else's prediction until you've submitted yours. After everyone commits, you'll see where your friends landed.
• One revision window per season. The commissioner can open a 48-hour window to adjust remaining predictions. It happens once, if at all.

How matchups work

Each week, you're paired against one opponent. The movies open, the real numbers come in, and whoever was closer across all that week's movies wins. Lower total error wins.

• Round-robin schedule. You'll face every player over the course of the season. The full schedule is visible from day one.
• Multiple movies, one score. If three movies open the same week, all three prediction errors are added together. Nail two but whiff the third? That could cost you.
• Ties split the win. Same combined error? You each get half a win. No drama.

Bonus tiers

Getting close earns bonus points — and these can be the difference between making the playoffs and watching from the sideline. Bonuses are percentage-based, so they're equally hard to earn whether the movie opens at $8M or $180M.

• "Nailed it" — within 5% of actual → +0.5 points. About 1 in 20 predictions hit this. When you do, you'll want everyone to know.
• "Close call" — within 15% of actual → +0.1 points. Not flashy, but it adds up over a full season.
• They stack. A prediction within 5% earns both bonuses (0.6 total).

Standings and playoffs

Your stat is (Wins + Bonus Points) / Matches Played — one number that captures your matchup record and prediction accuracy. It determines who makes the postseason.

• Playoffs scale to your league. Four to seven players? Top 4, two-round bracket. Eight to fifteen? Top 8, three rounds. The app handles the math.
• Tiebreaker: total season error. If two players have the same stat, the one with less total error across the whole season gets the edge. Every prediction matters, even from week one.