SUICIDE SQUAD (RatPac/DC/Warners) was expected to explode past all August box office records, and so far, that’s what it’s doing.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, opening day was as high as $65M (including $20.5M from Thursday night), obliterating the $37.8M for Guardians of the Galaxy, and the weekend will gallop beyond Guardians‘s $94.3M, […]

> Channing Tatum has his second big hit in just over a month.  According to Deadline’s preliminary numbers, 21 JUMP STREET (Sony) had a very solid $13M Friday, which should mean a weekend around $32-35M.  That puts the moderately-budgeted R-rated comedy well on the way to profit, and the positive reviews suggest word-of-mouth should be […]

  GET OUT (Blumhouse/Universal) is the latest hit from the prolific low-budget horror production company that still has Split in the market, off to a fast start according to preliminary numbers at Deadline with $10.5M on Friday (including $1.8M from Thursday night).  Unlike most titles in the genre, Get Out also boasts terrific reviews (an […]

  A WRINKLE IN TIME (Disney) has likely taken the only box office title it will ever have.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Wrinkle had a narrow victory on Friday with $11.3M ($1.2M of that from Thursday night).  But the general front-loadedness of new openings, combined with the likely dim word of mouth here […]

> The absence of last weekend’s Good Friday holiday is sending week vs. week comparisons downward, but according to Deadline, even with no holiday this time around, THE HUNGER GAMES (Lionsgate/Summit) is headed for its 4th straight weekend win, with a $6.5M Friday that should lead to a $20M weekend.  This ties The Dark Knight […]

  Early numbers at Deadline and elsewhere make DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (20th) the runaway winner at the Friday box office with $26-27M.  That could give it a weekend as high as $70M, at the high end of expectations and breezing past Rise of the Planet of the Apes and its $54.6M […]

  Is OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL (Disney) more like Alice in Wonderland or like The Lorax?  We won’t know for another 24 hours or so, and that’s going to be the difference between Oz living up to its potential or not.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Oz had a $23.5M Friday (including Thursday […]

  On a weekend prizing quantity of newcomers over box office quality, HOBBS & SHAW (Universal) will easily retain the crown, despite a 70% Friday-to-Friday drop to $7.1M, per preliminary numbers at Deadline.  The Fast & The Furious franchise tends to be frontloaded, and that 70% drop is actually better than the 76% for Fate […]