Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #31 of 2014 looks like $173 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well above our forecast ($150 million) and 34% above the norm for this weekend ($129 million). Opening at 4,080 theaters, Guardians of the Galaxy from Disney and Marvel grossed $37.7 million through Friday and is on track for a […]

  This weekend was expected to belong to LOGAN (TSG/20th), and the R-rated, critically acclaimed superhero drama is delivering in a big way.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have opening day at $32M (including $8.5M from Thursday night), about 2/3 of Deadpool‘s first day, which was itself boosted by a 4-day holiday weekend.  Among R-rated action […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #19 of 2015 looks like a wobbly $117 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well below the norm for this weekend. Opening at 3,003 theaters Friday, Hot Pursuit from Warner Brothers is on track for a $12.9 million opening three-day weekend (below our $17.5 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast earlier this week). The film is pacing toward […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #47 of 2013 looks like $211 million for the top 12 films — not quite up to the standard of the weekend before Thanksgiving but not an embarrassment.   Opening at 4,163 theaters Friday, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire from Lionsgate/Summit grossed $68.9 million Friday and is on track for a $150.4 million […]

  DON’T BREATHE (Screen Gems/Sony) is the 2d horror movie of the late summer, after Lights Out, to benefit from an effectively marketed premise (monsters in the dark and the quiet) and strong reviews.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Breathe is starting even faster than Lights, with a $10.2M opening day (including $1.9M from […]

> DreamWorks’ Puss In Boots is opening at a solid #1 but below its forecast.  Paranormal Activity 3 is sporting a 65% decline in its second weekend (just under $20 million for the weekend), but it has nonetheless been upgraded to a $119 million final domestic estimate thanks to solid midweek business.  In Time and […]

  No one expected this weekend’s soft new arrivals to come near last week’s holdovers, and they’re not.  LOVE THE COOPERS (CBS/Lionsgate) is at least creditable, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, with a $2.7M Friday that should give it $7-8M for the weekend.  Coopers is intended as a long-term play that will hang around […]

  MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (20th) had a surprising amount of marketing muscle behind it, and at least in the short term it seems to be paying off.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, opening day was $10.6M (including $1.6M from Thursday night), and considering that Murder is aimed at an older audience that […]