> FOOTLOOSE has the advantage of facing no new direct competition on Friday.  That, along with what should be fairly good word of mouth, could give it some legs in the marketplace.  THE THING, on the other hand, had a make-or-break weekend this week with PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 about to hit, and it’s not going […]

> HUGO: The boxoffice story of the holiday was undoubtedly Martin Scorsese’s quasi-family film.  While almost every other film of the day fell steeply or at best held around even, Hugo zoomed an astonishing 40%  This probably reflects to some extent the older audience for the picture, but The Descendants, which has a similar appeal, […]

  A great start for the weekend, if you overlook the fact that 2 of the 3 new arrivals flopped. OPENINGS:  THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Sony) has successfully rebooted the franchise, no question about it.  (Unless it tanks overseas, which is hugely unlikely.)  But Spidey hasn’t come back quite at full strength:  even with a 6-day […]

  OPENINGS:  THINK LIKE A MAN TOO (Screen Gems/Sony) had almost exactly the same start as the first Think, up $75K from that movie’s opening day at $12.2M.  Being a sequel, though, it will likely fail to reach Think‘s $33.6M opening weekend or $91.5M US total.  Despite a somewhat larger production cost this time around ($40M compared to […]

  After last weekend’s misfired The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, THE GRINCH (Illumination/Universal) is kicking off the family holiday movie season in a bigger way.  Early numbers at Deadline have opening day at $18.3M (including $2.2M from Thursday night), which should mean a $64M weekend, plus more on Monday, since many schools are closed […]

  2018, as is often the case, is kicking off at the box office, with low-budget horror, and according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY (Blumhouse/Universal) easily took Friday with $12.5M (including $2M from Thursday night).  That’s a very solid number, not up to the $16.8M for January 2012’s The Devil Inside, […]

  CARS 3 (Pixar/Disney) will have a strong Fathers Day, which in turn will make its weekend multiple look good, but it’s off to a disappointing start.  In preliminary numbers at Deadline, its opening day is pegged at $19.1M (including $2.8M from Thursday night), down 25% from the first day of 2011’s Cars 2 ($25.7M), […]

  OPENINGS:  WRECK IT FALPH (Disney) is proving itself to be a canny mix of kid-friendly action with a video game millieu that can appeal to adults.  It’s Walt Disney Animation’s most Pixar-ish production to date (although the divisions are separate within Disney, John Lasseter supervises both), and headed for a $50M+ opening.  What Ralph […]