No one expected 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (Warners/Legendary) to equal the giant start of its predecessor, after 7 years and with most of the cast gone–and it won’t.  But based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, the spin-off is launching well, with a $17M Friday (which includes $3.3M from Thursday night) that should mean […]

  GONE GIRL (20th) should easily retain its title in its 2d weekend of release, based on preliminary numbers at Deadline.  Although the Friday race is tight between Gone Girl at $7.1M and the new DRACULA UNTOLD (Legendary/Universal) at $7M, that’s misleading, because in the odd way openings are reported in the post-Dark Knight Returns […]

  Both of the weekend’s major openings cost too much for the amount they’re currently earning.  MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN (TSG/20th) has production/marketing costs of $225M+, and preliminary numbers at Deadline have its opening day at roughly $9M (including $1.2M from Thursday night).  That suggests a $25-27M weekend, which would be an even […]

  The tragedy in Aurora, Colorado is continuing to cause ripple effects across popular culture.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC and other networks have removed commercials for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES from their air, because of the concern that these ads would be unsuitable to broadcast in the midst of network coverage of the […]

  It’s a busy but not particularly big weekend at the multiplex.  The weekend’s winner will be BOO 2! A MADEA HALLOWEEN (Lionsgate), which did a fairly good job of holding the audience for last year’s original Boo.  Deadline reports a preliminary $7.5M opening day, down 21% from Boo‘s start.  If that percentage holds, the […]

  22 JUMP STREET (Sony/Columbia) is having the start merited by a sequel to a huge hit that’s getting ecstatic reviews in its own right.  Based on preliminary numbers at Dateline and elsewhere, it had a $23-24M opening day (that includes $5.5M from Thursday night).  That’s considerably better than the $19.6M start for Neighbors, which […]

  ELYSIUM (Sony) got off to a very moderate start with $1.7M from 10PM Thursday night shows.  That’s better than the Thursday nights for 2 Guns ($1.2M) and White House Down ($1.35M), but nowhere near the $3.6M for Pacific Rim, suggesting that Elysium may skew older than the usual sci-fi epic–or that there’s limited audience […]

  INSIDE OUT (Pixar/Disney) is in line for the biggest non-sequel opening in the history of animation.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have it winning Friday with $32.8M (that includes $3.7M from Thursday night), on its way to a weekend that should be at least $85M–and could be more, since word of mouth should be sky-high.  […]