Update: The guy who did a little digging about Box-Office Mojo‘s mysterious Ray Subers has “just heard from someone who has heard from Ray, and and he is still at Box-Office Mojo as Editor,” he says. “I’m not quite sure why Subers didn’t just say what the deal was instead of being all enigmatic and not just making a clear statement.”

Previously posted: A friend who’s done a little digging has offered a working theory about the recent vanishing of Box-Office Mojo and Ray Subers‘ mysterious refusal to explain what happened. With no explanations from Suber, IMDB or Amazon it’s all guesswork but here’s the leadoff: “Look at these screenshots I got from last Wednesday, 10.8 [i.e., the second image] and compare it to the site now [i.e., the top image]. What’s missing in the most recent capture? The entire ‘Top Stories’ section written by…Ray Subers.

“The next day [i.e, Thursday, 10.9] Ray tweeted a bunch of things about Dracula Untold and then this very enigmatic tweet:

Ray Subers @raysubers · Oct 9
“Raymond and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”

“I first noticed Box Office Mojo seemed to be having issues when I got home Thursday night (10.9). I was going to [update a report] and noticed I couldn’t access them. I wasn’t being redirected. Alll I saw was a simple message about the site being down, which you can also find in the internet archive as noted below:

“BOX OFFICE MOJO
We’re sorry but BoxOfficeMojo is unavailable at this time. Rest assured we are working behind the scenes to bring it back as soon as possible. Our thanks for your patronage and your patience. The BoxOfficeMojo Team / www.boxofficemojo.com”

“I got the same message Friday morning (10.10) when I tried to get those theater counts, and then a couple hours later, BOM started redirecting to IMDB.com for no particular reason. That was Friday, October 10, and that’s when people started posting/tweeting about.

“On Saturday, October 11, with no statement from anyone at BOM, IMDB or Amazon, Ray Subers tweeted a link to Box-Office Mojo:

“Ray Subers @raysubers · Oct 11
http://www.boxofficemojo.com”

“I don’t know what time this was nor do I know if that link was to the site when it was back up or if that was some sort of comment about BOM being gone and redirecting.

“And then [Sunday] afternoon around 3pm Eastern, we got the tweets you’ve already seen

“Ray Subers @raysubers · 15h15 hours ago
I think it’s about time to resume normal programming here…”

“Ray Subers @raysubers · 15h15 hours ago
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.”

“And then…

“Ray Subers @raysubers · 15h15 hours ago
Now, for that normal programming…

“Ray Subers @raysubers · 15h15 hours ago
Saw WHIPLASH the other day. Remarkable filmmaking. Jaw was on the floor from start to finish. Hands down my #1 movie of the year so far.

“At the time Ray made those tweets, Box-Office Mojo had already returned only without any of his ‘Top Stories’ and when he said that it was “time to resume normal programming” he may have meant in his TWITTER FEED, not at BOM. Or else why would he have made the other comment? If he did have a falling out with management at Amazon and got let go, he probably negotiated some sort of severance and if that’s the case it was probably with a clause that he couldn’t talk about what happened, especially to the press. In other words, that was a glorified ‘no comment.’

“So what about the whole redirect, etc? This is where conjecture comes into play because Ray’s not talking and I doubt anyone at Amazon/IMDB will either.

“Obviously there were some server/site issues on Thursday night (which happens all the time) but what if those site/server issues came about after they let Ray go as someone tried to futz around with the site, either to remove the Top Stories section or for some other reason?

“Maybe whomever was working on changing the front page decided it best to redirect to IMDB while they fixed the site and got it back up and running. As many have pointed out, just completely getting rid of the site would be idiotic since I’m sure one of the reasons Amazon bought it was for its extensive box office database. I don’t think it was ever ‘absorbed into IMDB’ as some people thought.

“What happened between Amazon/IMDB and Ray Subers? Who knows? But there are clear indications what happened to the site and why it came back with no explanation.”