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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Hail, Caesar!” Mild, Jane Austen “Zombies” and “Choice” Crash On Un-Super Weekend

Posted February 6, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  The occasional piece of youth-oriented counterprogramming aside, the studios don’t bring out their big guns for Super Bowl Weekend, since Sunday is destined to be deflated.  Even by those standards, though, this is looking like a dim few days. The decision to hold the Coen Brothers’ star-studded HAIL, CAESAR! (Universal) out of 2015 awards […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “A Quiet Place” Thunderous, “Blockers” OK, “Chappaquiddick” & “Miracle Season” Weak

Posted April 7, 2018 by Mitch Salem

  The combined box office for John Krasinski’s first two films as director, Brief Interviews With Hideous Men and The Hollars, was barely over $1M.  But overnight, Krasinski is a bankable Hollywood director thanks to A QUIET PLACE (Par), which according to preliminary numbers at Deadline took in $19M on opening day ($4.3M from Thursday […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Sully” Flies Over “Blair Witch,” “Bridget Jones,” “Snowden”

Posted September 16, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  It was Bombs Away! for the weekend’s new openings, and even though SULLY (Village Roadshow/RatPac/Warners) will easily win the stanza, it’s not performing thrillingly either.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its second Friday was $6.3M, down 48% from last week’s opening day.  By comparison, the 2d Friday for Bridge of Spies was down […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Purge” Swings Past “Tarzan” & Shrinks “BFG,” But “Dory” Outswims All

Posted July 2, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  Expectations were low for the holiday weekend’s expensive new openings, and that’s proving to be accurate.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it was the low-budget THE PURGE:  ELECTION YEAR (Blumhouse/Universal) that led the group on Friday with $13.4M (including $3.6M from Thursday night), better than the $13M opening day for Anarchy, the last […]

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FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “The Dark Tower” Short, “Kidnap” OK, “Detroit” Low

Posted August 5, 2017 by Mitch Salem

  THE DARK TOWER (MRC/Columbia/Sony) will probably win the weekend, but in unimpressive fashion.  It had a $7.7M opening day (including $1.8M from Thursday night), putting it on track for a $19M weekend.  The production budget was reportedly kept reasonable in the $60Ms, but Sony gave it an A-level marketing campaign, which will put total […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Secret Life of Pets” Makes “Mike & Dave” Roll Over & Play Dead

Posted July 9, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  For the fourth consecutive weekend, an animated movie will lead the box office, as Finding Dory‘s mantle is taken by THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (Illumination/Universal).  With a $38M Friday (including $5.3M from Thursday night) reported in preliminary numbers at Deadline, Pets is on track for a $95M weekend, which would make it the […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Ghostbusters” No Scare For “Pets”

Posted July 16, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  The $17.1M opening day (including $3.4M from Thursday night) for GHOSTBUSTERS (Columbia/Sony) reported in preliminary numbers at Deadline would be fine if the movie were at the same budget level as previous Paul Feig/Melissa McCarthy collaborations The Heat or Spy.  But Ghostbusters cost 2-3x as much, $275M+ including production and global marketing, and a […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “San Andreas” Moves the Richter Scale; “Aloha” Says Goodbye

Posted May 30, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  SAN ANDREAS (Village Roadshow/Warners) is off to a mid-range start, with preliminary Friday numbers at Deadline giving it a $17.5M opening day (including $3.1M from Thursday night), which is slightly ahead of the $16.6M opening day of Mad Max: Fury Road.  No one really cares that its likely $45M weekend will be Dwayne Johnson’s […]

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