At a cost of $175M (meaning $300M+ with global marketing), SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN (Universal) is a long way from profit.  But credit the studio with making “Snow White” seem cool enough to garner a solid opening (and credit the studio as well with cannily minimizing expectations, so a solid opening passes for […]

> Deadline has preliminary weekend boxoffice numbers, and if they hold, PUSS IN BOOTS will have had a remarkable second weekend.  DreamWorks Animation is reportedly claiming a Saturday number doubling its Friday, which would mean a $34M weekend, virtually even with its opening.  We’ll see if this claim survives till Sunday morning, let alone Monday […]

> On its first Wednesday in release, THE HUNGER GAMES fell 22% to $8.1M, but just as Tuesday’s hold wasn’t quite as good as it looked, Wednesday’s wasn’t as bad.  For whatever reason, Wednesdays tend to be a down day in the dynamic of a typical week, particularly for the previous weekend’s new opening.  Last […]

  Preliminary numbers at Deadline show a tightly-bunched, none too impressive weekend underway at the boxoffice.  ARGO (Warners), SILENT HILL:  REVELATION (Open Road), CLOUD ATLAS (Warners) and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (Paramount) are all clustered around $3.5-4M for the day, which means it will be a question of dueling estimates on Saturday morning.  When the dust […]

  Preliminary box office numbers at Deadline have THE HEAT (20th) overperforming with a $15M Friday, which could give it a $40M opening weekend, almost as much as the movie cost to produce.  That means the first 3 days for the Sandra Bullock/Melissa McCarthy pairing may nearly match the first 4 days of The Hangover […]

  Although it also stars (and is produced by) Ice Cube, RIDE ALONG (Universal) goes down in the books as a big win for Kevin Hart, the focus of the movie’s marketing campaign.  Based on preliminary numbers at The Hollywood Reporter, the action comedy is on its way to a $40M+ 4-day Martin Luther King […]

  At the beginning of the month, the success of Guardians of the Galaxy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was prompting some to excitedly conclude that the box office year was now truly 52 weeks long.  But the second half of August remains a lousy time to launch a movie, a fact that’s being borne […]

  Word of mouth was great for ZOOTOPIA (Disney), which according to preliminary numbers at Deadline fell a soft 36% from last week’s opening day to $12.5M, setting up a $50M weekend that will put the smash over $140M by Sunday.  That compares to a 45% drop for the 2d Friday of The Lorax, the […]