OPENINGS:  CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (Sony) had an even softer Friday than the early numbers claimed with $9.3M.  That’s barely ahead of the first Cloudy‘s $8.1M, and sequels tend to be more frontloaded than originals, which means the $35M weekend estimates being thrown around this morning, which assume exactly the same […]

  OPENINGS:  MALEFICENT (Disney) didn’t come cheap–with worldwide marketing, its price-tag will top $300M.  But it seems to be money well spent, as its $24.2M Friday should propel it into a $70M+ weekend.  It’s also launching well overseas, with $20M on Friday from 35 markets (plus $21M from some of those markets in the 2 […]

  From the start, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (DreamWorks/Reliance/Universal) was perceived as a lower-intensity version of the Gone Girl phenomenon, and that’s holding with the opening of its film version.  Where Gone Girl had a $13.2M Friday start on its way to a $37.5M weekend, preliminary numbers at Deadline give Train $9.3M on Friday, […]

  Following on the heels of La La Land and A Star Is Born, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (Regency/20th) is underscoring the vitality of the adult-oriented musical genre.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it had a $19.2M Friday (including $3.9M from Thursday night), and although some Queen-fan frontloading is possible, it could have a $52M weekend, […]

> Hop will be–by far–Russell Brand’s biggest opening as a featured performer:  both Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Me To the Greek opened to around $17M.  All of which makes this week’s opening of Arthur, his first bona fide shot as a leading man, that much more interesting.  Be sure to read Mitch Metcalf’s Arthur […]

> The holiday movie season is not off to a roaring start. BREAKING DAWN PART 1:  The giant franchise will of course win Thanksgiving weekend.  But its $12.5M Wednesday gross was down 12% from what New Moon did on the day before Thanksgiving in 2009, which suggests a 5-day weekend that might be at $58M […]

  In terms of percentage, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Warners) should have about the same Weekend 3 drop that The Dark Knight did, but since it’s already below Dark Knight, the actual weekend number will be around 15% lower ($36M compared to $42M).  It’s now clear that Rises will–despite being a blockbuster hit to the […]

  OPENINGS:  PAIN & GAIN (Paramount) is a “relationship” movie, not in the sense of the relationships between the movie’s characters (oh God, no), but the relationship between the studio and its director, Michael Bay.  This was a passion project for Bay, and Paramount agreed to let him make it–and oh, by the way, also […]