Early numbers at Deadline have ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (Paramount) and THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (Warners/MGM) just about neck-and-neck at the Friday box office, both in the $8.5-9M neighborhood.  However, as a new arrival, Anchorman is likely to do softer business on Saturday, which should give Hobbit the weekend win. For […]

  The remarkably nutty LUCY (Universal)–more Transcendence than La Femme Nikita–connected with audiences in a big way on Friday, with $16-17M (including $2.75M from Thursday night) according to preliminary numbers at Deadline and elsewhere.  That makes it one of the biggest non-franchise action movies of the summer.  Although word of mouth is uncertain once ticket […]

  TOMORROWLAND (Disney) appears to be heading for the low end of expectations, earning around $10M on Friday (including less than $1M from Thursday night shows) according to preliminary numbers at Deadline.  Although exit polls are far from infallible, family movies usually score well, and its B grade is a sign that word-of-mouth may be […]

  From the start, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (DreamWorks/Reliance/Universal) was perceived as a lower-intensity version of the Gone Girl phenomenon, and that’s holding with the opening of its film version.  Where Gone Girl had a $13.2M Friday start on its way to a $37.5M weekend, preliminary numbers at Deadline give Train $9.3M on Friday, […]

  It’s beginning to look like a long, dark summer for Hollywood, which is adding two more box office disappointments to a growing list over this Memorial Day weekend.  PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES (Disney) had a $23M Friday (including $5.3M from Thursday night) according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, and […]

  Following on the heels of La La Land and A Star Is Born, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (Regency/20th) is underscoring the vitality of the adult-oriented musical genre.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it had a $19.2M Friday (including $3.9M from Thursday night), and although some Queen-fan frontloading is possible, it could have a $52M weekend, […]

> The Hollywood Reporter has the early numbers on Wednesday’s international opening days for HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (PART 2), and they’re even more sensational than expected.  In only 26 markets (more will open today, and by tomorrow the film will be everywhere except China, where it opens August 4), the movie has […]

> Deadline has preliminary numbers for Friday, and they suggest BREAKING DAWN PART 1 will continue to narrowly edge out the opening weekend of New Moon in 2009, with a $73.5M Friday (compared to $72.7M for New Moon).  If the number holds, and if Breaking Dawn 1 doesn’t turn out to be more front-loaded than […]