After a string of disappointments at the box office, this weekend’s franchise centerpiece looks like it will deliver.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have the opening day for HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (DreamWorks Animation/Universal) at $17.3M (including $3M from Thursday night and $2.5M from earlier paid previews), better than the $12.1M […]

> The 10% drop for CARS 2 on Saturday is unusual, but by no means unheard of, for a big animated film (Toy Story 3 and Wall-E had similar drops, and they worked out OK).  Any additional slippage on Sunday beyond the 19% Disney is projecting, though, could be cause for concern.  The similar Saturday […]

> A surprisingly strong start for 2 low-budget arrivals, although the upside is limited by tomorrow’s Super Bowl. OPENINGS:  CHRONICLE (20th) had a slight $350K edge over THE WOMAN IN BLACK (CBS Films) on Friday, and both are in frontloaded genres, appealing to young men and young women, respectively.  Young men are more likely to […]

  OPENINGS:  Was it the cash grab of splitting the final novel into 2 movies?  The tabloid antics of its stars?  In any case, “close but no cigar” seems to be the result for THE TWILIGHT SAGA:  BREAKING DAWN PART 2 (Summit/Lionsgate).  Its $71.2M opening day (including Thursday 10PM and midnight screenings) is $400K below […]

  What kind of summer movie season has it been, really?  For the past several weeks, business has been consistently up, erasing the losses from a soft spring, and even with 3D, Imax and inflation taken into account, more tickets are being sold.  But this marks the fourth consecutive weekend that an expensive, high-profile summer […]

  OPENINGS:  300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (Warners/Legendary) did well in late-night shows, raising its Friday estimate to $17.7M, which may bring its opening weekend to $43M or more.  That’s still not in a league with the original 300 and its $28.9M/70.1M start (especially since the 2007 movie didn’t have 3D ticket prices or Thursday […]

  Hollywood continued to have box office gifts to unwrap on the day after Christmas. WIDE RELEASE:  THE HOBBIT:  THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (New Line/MGM/Warners) gained 19% from Christmas Day on Friday to $15.7M, putting it back in first place, which it will probably hold for the 3-day weekend.  That 19% increase is […]

  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 […]