It appears as though Hollywood is going to have some good news at the boxoffice this weekend, for the first time since mid-summer.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, the surprisingly sprightly HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (Sony) is off to a big start with a $11M Friday that should mean around a $38M weekend.  That number […]

  This weekend, Denzel Washington is proving himself yet again one of the last truly reliable movie stars.  Just a week after Liam Neeson flopped with A Walk Among the Tombstones, preliminary numbers at Deadline have THE EQUALIZER (Columbia/Sony) at $12.5-13M on Friday (including $1.5M from Thursday night)–roughly the same amount ($12.7M) Tombstones made in […]

  It was a surprisingly lopsided win on Friday for NO GOOD DEED (Screen Gems/Sony), although things may tighten up a bit over the course of the weekend.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, No Good Deed earned $8.5M on Friday, which should get it to at least $21M for the weekend, and possibly more.  […]

  2014 has its first smash hit, as preliminary numbers at Deadline give THE LEGO MOVIE (Warners) a huge $18M Friday.  Since Saturday matinees should only boost the family-oriented animated comedy-adventure, that should bring it over $60M for the weekend, and with the Presidents Day holiday dead ahead and no other family movie on the […]

  CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (Disney) is as big as expected, and maybe even a little bigger.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have it at up to $38M on Friday (that includes $10.2M from Thursday night), putting it close to 20% higher than the $31.9M opening day for Thor: The Dark World, which wound up […]

  The latest underperforming franchise entry is TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (Nickelodeon/Movie Media Group/Alibaba/Paramount).  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have opening day at $11.6M, down 55% from the $25.6M start for the rebooted TMNT 2 years ago.  That suggests a weekend that may not hit $30M, and a US total under $100M.  […]

  The failure of ALLEGIANT (Summit/Lionsgate) puts its studio in an unusually awkward position.  Even though Lionsgate may be able to put the 3rd Divergent movie on its books as a profit (most of the international rights were pre-sold, providing revenues that can off-set the oncoming US losses), the economics are going to get much […]

  The negligible horror cheapie INCARNATE (High Top/Blumhouse/Universal) is the only new wide opening of the post-Thanksgiving weekend, and with just $800K on Friday according to preliminary numbers at Deadline and a weekend that may not break $2M, even the ultra-low budget Blumhouse division may not be able to find any shred of profit from […]