Despite some of the best reviews of the year for any movie, big studio or indie, WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (TSG/20th) is off to a merely OK start.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it had a $21.1M opening day (including $5M from Thursday night), putting it 24% behind the $27.6M […]

  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 14th weekend of 2012 is looking like $119 million for the Top 12 films, up 15% from this weekend last year and up 11% from the four-year average for the same weekend.  The Hunger Games is heading for a very decent 45% drop this weekend (much better than the 62% drop in its […]

> As Hurricane Irene marches up the East Coast from North Carolina to Boston this weekend, the full impact on the weekend box office remains unclear, but there will be a significant impact.  News reports say that 65 million Americans will be touched by the storm (about 20% of the population), and many theaters will […]

The 37th weekend of 2012 is looking like $71 million for the Top 12 films Friday-Sunday, a rebound from last week’s near record low but still around 17% below comparable weekends in the past.  Resident Evil: Retribution opened about how we forecast Wednesday, but Finding Nemo 3D is opening well below our forecast in second […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #15 of 2013 is looking like $104 million for the top 12 films, down just a few percentage points from the same weekend in prior years.  Two films opened this weekend.  A sports drama period piece (not a guaranteed success) exceeded expectations and will be a strong #1, while a […]

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 […]

  The long holiday movie weekend began without much interest from audiences. OPENINGS:  TAMMY (Warners) got underway with a so-so $6.2M, which includes $1.3M from Tuesday night shows.  That suggests $32-35M for the 5-day weekend, around $20M of it during the Friday-Sunday period.  Considering that both reviews and exit poll responses have been dismal, a […]