It’s shaping up to be a close race at the box office this weekend, and with the result likely to come down to performance on Sunday, we may not know the winner for sure until final numbers are issued on Monday.  HIDDEN FIGURES (20th) was the clear winner on Friday, with preliminary numbers at […]

  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 […]

  JUSTICE LEAGUE (RatPac/DC/Warners) was supposed to be the jewel in the DC crown, the Avengers that would push its megafranchise to the next box office level.  That’s what justified spending a reported $450M on production (and then more production) and marketing, making it one of the most expensive movies in history.  But tonight it’s […]

  The bulk of the week’s openings arrived on Wednesday, and as usual for this weekend they were led by a Disney family attraction.  This year it was COCO (Pixar/Disney), which was more or less on target at $13.2M, down 15% from last year’s Moana and its $15.5M opening day.  That suggests the 5-day weekend […]

> Maybe JOHN CARTER should have starred Jonah Hill. OPENINGS:  21 JUMP STREET (Sony) got off to a great start, with a $13.1M Friday that should get it to around $35M for the weekend.  Expect a quick announcement that a sequel script is in development.  Although the movie’s success is of course great for Hill, […]

  OPENINGS:  FURY (Columbia/Sony) should reach $25M for the weekend after a $8.8M Friday.  Sony is claiming total costs (including worldwide marketing) of $150M, and that’s probably low by at least $25M.  With a box office total of $75M probable in the US, the movie will need overseas strength to hit profit, and luckily Brad […]

  THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (Universal) will win its third consecutive box office weekend, but in the US it continues to run with considerably less than vroom-vroom momentum.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it fell 54% from last Friday to $5.1M, and is heading for a $18M weekend.  It’s now clear that Fate […]

  Franchises and a former President may carry the weekend to record heights, but the newcomers stumbled. OPENINGS:  RISE OF THE GUARDIANS (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount) has the advantage of no new animated competition through the entire holiday season (Disney/Pixar is re-releasing a 3D conversion of Monsters Inc in mid-December), and it’s going to need that long […]