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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “War Dogs” Leads Weak Openings, “Ben-Hur” Crashes

Posted August 20, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  The stretch of box-office beginning in mid-August is one of the weakest of the year, and this weekend’s arrivals did nothing to change that tradition.  WAR DOGS (RatPac/Warners) had the best of the low starts, with $5.4M on Friday (including $1.3M from Thursday night) according to preliminary numbers at Deadline.  That may give it […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Sausage Party” Feasts, “Suicide Squad” Dives, “Pete’s Dragon” OK

Posted August 13, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  After a summer of fizzled franchise movies, audiences were–pardon the expression–hungry for something new, and the unquestionably unique, hard-R existential talking food cartoon SAUSAGE PARTY (Annapurna/Columbia/Sony) is satisfying that appetite.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Sausage is going to win Friday with $13.3M ($3.3M from Thursday night shows), although it’s likely to be […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Suicide Squad” Starts Huge, But Will It Hold Or Flame Out?

Posted August 6, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  SUICIDE SQUAD (RatPac/DC/Warners) was expected to explode past all August box office records, and so far, that’s what it’s doing.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, opening day was as high as $65M (including $20.5M from Thursday night), obliterating the $37.8M for Guardians of the Galaxy, and the weekend will gallop beyond Guardians‘s $94.3M, […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Bourne” Solid, “Bad Moms” Fair, “Nerve” Slowing

Posted July 30, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  JASON BOURNE (Universal) is performing in line with expectations.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have its opening day at $22M (including $4.3M from Thursday night), down just 10% from the $24.7M start (with no Thursday screenings) for 2007’s Bourne Ultimatum, the last Matt Damon/Paul Greenglass title in the franchise.  Great word of mouth gave Ultimatum […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Star Trek Beyond” Less Than Bold, “Lights Out” Bright, “Ice Age” Frozen Stiff

Posted July 23, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  STAR TREK BEYOND (Skydance/Alibaba/Huahua/Paramount) is showing a fair franchise hold by the standards of this summer.  Based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, it had a $23M opening day (including $5.5M from Thursday), down about 26% from the start of 2009’s Star Trek reboot.  (2013’s Into Darkness opened on a Thursday, changing its weekend dynamic.)  That suggests a $57M […]

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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: “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: “Independence Day” Doesn’t Surge, “Shallows” Deeper Than Expected

Posted June 25, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  The underperforming spectacle of the week is INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE (20th), which found out that not all that many people cared to see a sequel to a two-decade old hit without its original star.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, opening day was $17.5M (including $4M from Thursday evening), 33% below the already not-great […]

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