THE MUMMY (Perfect World/Universal) is a disaster, although the studio and its minions will try to spin otherwise through the course of the weekend. According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it earned $12M on opening day ($2.7M of it from Thursday night), which puts it in line for a $30M weekend and a US […]
Everything has broken right for JOKER (BRON/Village Roadshow/DC/Warners). Its combination of gold-standard IP with a gritty, violent, R-rated aesthetic has been largely accepted critically and earned it film festival kudos, and it’s had the benefit of controversy about its potential to stir up real-life trouble without (so far) any actual incidents that could drive […]
> Behold Liam Neeson, King of January. OPENINGS: THE GREY (Open Road) will easily take the weekend, albeit at a lower level than prior Neeson early-year thrillers. Given that this one features killer wolves and hypothermia rather than gunfights and car chases, that’s not unexpected, and the picture should hit a decent profit. ONE FOR […]
This is a well-designed weekend for Hollywood, with a trio of sensibly-budgeted franchise titles all drawing audiences from their mostly separate target demos. The Friday winner, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, was FIFTY SHADES DARKER (Universal), with $20M ($5.7M of it from Thursday night). That’s about 2/3 of the $30.3M opening day for Fifty […]
The latest underperforming franchise entry is TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (Nickelodeon/Movie Media Group/Alibaba/Paramount). Preliminary numbers at Deadline have opening day at $11.6M, down 55% from the $25.6M start for the rebooted TMNT 2 years ago. That suggests a weekend that may not hit $30M, and a US total under $100M. […]
OPENINGS: THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (Paramount/Red Granite) fell behind American Hustle on Friday, dropping 6% to $6.3M, but considering that it’s a polarizing, 3-hour, hard-R saga that people aren’t even sure whether to call a black comedy or a drama, that’s still a fine result, and the film is likely to earn $50M+ […]
Although it’s possible for a horror or action movie to make some money over Labor Day weekend, no studio opens a movie it cares about for the holiday that repels moviegoers. This weekend’s openings won’t change that rule. THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS (DreamWorks/Reliant/Participant/Touchstone/Disney) was probably envisioned as an awards-worthy project when it was originally […]
OPENINGS: There was more loose change behind the Friday cushions for OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL (Disney) than the early estimate had found, and at $24.1M, it seems likely to reach at least $70M for the weekend, sparing Disney some embarrassment. But opening at the same level as last year’s The Lorax–down 40% from […]