OPENINGS:  There were no new wide openings for New Year’s weekend. HOLDOVERS:  Word of mouth still operates in a pandemic, and it wasn’t at all friendly to WW84 (DC/Warners) which crumpled by 67% to $5.5M from one holiday weekend to the next.  It now seems highly unlikely to reach Tenet‘s $57.9M in the US […]

  OPENINGS:  WW84 (DC/Warners)–that’s the official title per the credits–had the biggest US opening of the pandemic era with $16.7M (a $7800 per-theatre average), much higher than the $9.7M for The Croods: A New Age, and even more impressive considering that millions more stayed home to watch the movie on HBO Max.  The weekend box […]

  OPENINGS:  Sony is one of the last remaining studios to honor the full conventional theatrical distribution window, so MONSTER HUNTER (Screen Gems/Sony) will have roughly 3 months to sell tickets before it’s available at home.  It may need every day of that time after a $2.2M start, weak even by pandemic terms.  It’s also […]

  OPENINGS:  There were no wide openings this weekend.  Limited releases included WILD MOUNTAIN THYME (Bleecker Street, also available digitally) at 450 theatres with a $223 per-theatre weekend average and a $100K total; and ARCHENEMY (RLJE, also available digitally) at 94 theatres with a $592 average and a $55K total. HOLDOVERS:  THE CROODS: A NEW […]

  OPENINGS:  Universal continued to be the main supplier of fresh product to gasping theatres, with both of the weekend’s wide openings.  They will, per the studio’s deals, be available at home in about 3 weeks–an arrangement that looks awfully good for theatres compared to Warners’ new plan to day-and-date releases at home from opening […]

  OPENINGS:  Under the current circumstances, the 5-day $17M opening ($9.7M Friday-Sunday) for THE CROODS: A NEW AGE (DreamWorks Animation/Universal) counts as a win, with comparisons to the original Croods or any other Thanksgiving release fairly pointless.  The film also earned $19.2M in China and $1.6M in 6 smaller international markets.  New Age reportedly had […]

  OPENINGS:  With the pandemic raging throughout the country and about 20% fewer theatres open than last week, box office numbers plunged across the board.  There were no truly wide openings, but the Jackie Chan vehicle VANGUARD (Gravitas) opened at 1375 theatres with a low $400K start, a per-theatre weekend average of just $290. Similarly, […]

  OPENINGS:  FREAKY (Blumhouse/Universal) led the weekend at $3.7M.  It was the third consecutive weekend that a Universal-branded film opened at #1 (aided by the studio’s deal with AMC that allows its films to hit digital 3 weeks after theatrical release) and the fifth new #1 to open in the $3.1-4.1M range.  Like the others, […]