As is traditional, the box office for all movies aimed at young people or families slumped on Thanksgiving Day.  That kept THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART I (Lionsgate) easily on top, down 24% from Wednesday to $11.1M.  That represented a better hold than the 28% Thanksgiving drop for Catching Fire, although in actual numbers […]

  In its time of need, Hollywood looked to Pixar for salvation, and FINDING DORY (Pixar/Disney) is delivering.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its opening day was $53M (including $9.2M from Thursday evening), more than any animated film has ever made in a single day, ahead of the $47.1M that Shrek The Third earned […]

  BLACK PANTHER (Marvel/Disney) is now in competition only with the loftiest movie hits.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its 2nd Friday was $28.4M (down 63% from last week), behind just The Avengers‘ $29.2M in the Marvel universe (down 64% from its own opening day), as well as The Force Awakens ($49.3M, down 58%) […]

  The holiday box office has turned out to be AQUAMAN (DC/Warners), and then everything else.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have its 3rd Friday at $16.8M, up 15% from Thursday and down 40% from last Friday, for a likely $51M weekend, and $215M by New Year’s Day.  Comparisons to other DC releases at the same […]

  None of the weekend’s openings were expected to come near last week’s blockbuster opening, and none will.  The target Christian audience is turning out for RISEN (Affirm/Columbia/Sony), with preliminary numbers at Deadline putting it at $4.25M for Friday.  Given its demographics, Risen should hold well through the weekend, particularly on Sunday, which could give […]

  After a summer of fizzled franchise movies, audiences were–pardon the expression–hungry for something new, and the unquestionably unique, hard-R existential talking food cartoon SAUSAGE PARTY (Annapurna/Columbia/Sony) is satisfying that appetite.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Sausage is going to win Friday with $13.3M ($3.3M from Thursday night shows), although it’s likely to be […]

  A weak slate of newcomers is almost always good news for the holdovers in the market, and that will be the case this holiday weekend.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (Warners Animation) declined a mild 45% from last week’s opening day to $8M, and should take in at least […]

  BLADE RUNNER 2049 (Alcon/Sony/Warners) was a high-risk bet, with roughly $300M in production and worldwide marketing wagered on an extremely serious 164-minute sequel to a 35-year old film that only became legendary after it was itself a sizable flop in theatres.  Reportedly, the bulk of that investment rested with Alcon, while Sony (international) and […]