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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Hobbit” Leaps; “Annie” and “Museum” OK; “Inherent Vice” Stalls

Posted December 20, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  After a sub-par Thursday, preliminary numbers at Deadline have THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (New Line/MGM/Warners) surging to $16.1M on Friday.  If that number holds, it will be a tremendous 62% jump from Thursday, which would be a better percentage result than any of the Lord of the Rings movies (which […]

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Wednesday Box Office: “Hobbit” Opens Big, But…

Posted December 18, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  THE HOBBIT:  THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (New Line/MGM/Warners) opened on Wednesday to $24.5M, which is both the 12th-highest opening Wednesday ever (and 3rd-highest in December) and the lowest opening day for a Peter Jackson Tolkien adaptation since The Fellowship of the Ring ($18.2M) back in 2001.  The Armies start was below the Wednesday […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Exodus” Doesn’t Reach the Promised Land

Posted December 13, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  The holiday movie season is getting off to a very slow start this weekend–and since this is the same time last year when the 2d Hobbit opened to $73.6M, the early December date can’t be blamed for it.  (This year’s Hobbit has opted to open next Wednesday.)  Preliminary numbers at Deadline give Ridley Scott’s […]

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UPDATED: FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Mockingjay” Flies High On Black Friday

Posted November 29, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  NOTE:  UPDATED THROUGHOUT WITH STUDIO ESTIMATES Black Friday was, as always, a very bright day for movies.  The holiday weekend continues to belong to THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART I (Lionsgate), which soared 118% from Thursday to a terrific $24.1M.  Even though Mockingjay continues to lag behind the previous Hunger Games installments, that’s a […]

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EARLY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: “Dumb and Dumber To” Outsmarts “Big Hero 6″”

Posted November 15, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  Belying its title, DUMB AND DUMBER TO (Red Granite/Universal) picked a strategically smart weekend to debut, facing very little fresh competition (because of last weekend’s Big Hero 6/Interstellar double bill and next week’s The Hunger Games installment) and even less comedy.  The result was a strong $13.9M Friday (including $1.6M from Thursday night) according […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Interstellar” Takes Friday, Battles “Big Hero 6″” For Weekend

Posted November 8, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  Hollywood bounced back swiftly from last weekend’s Halloween doldrums, thanks to a pair of A-level openings.  INTERSTELLAR (Par/Warners) is in line for a win on Friday, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, with up to $18M.  The Interstellar numbers are a bit tangled, because for the first part of Thursday, it showed in 249 […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Nightcrawler” Says Boo!

Posted November 1, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  Halloween is a terrifying holiday for studios and theatre owners, because the young adult audience that both count on have better things to do that night–and it’s particularly bad when the holiday falls on a Friday, interfering with new openings.  As a result, hardly anyone dared premiere a new movie this weekend.  That turned […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Ouija” Frightening Enough For the Win

Posted October 25, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  With Halloween, a traditionally slow moviegoing day, falling on Friday next week, this is the de facto Halloween movie weekend, which left a clear path for the low-budget OUIJA (Universal).  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it pulled in $8M on Friday (including over $900K from Thursday night), which should take it to a […]

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