OPENINGS:  The combination of the typically low early-December box office and the approach of Avatar 2 dissuaded the studios from introducing any new product this week.  The closest thing to a wide release in the US was the expansion of SPOILER ALERT (Focus/Universal) to 783 theaters, where it fared badly with $700K, averaging $900 […]

  OPENINGS:  Although BLUE BEETLE (DC/Warners) won the weekend over a tiring Barbie, it landed at the low end of expectations with $25.4M–and given the heavy 15% Friday-to-Saturday drop (much steeper than the 4%/6% drops for the Shazam movies), not to mention the Sunday West Coast weather, that studio estimate may be optimistic.  The international […]

  OPENINGS:  THE BIKERIDERS (Regency/Focus/Universal) seized the opportunity to open on a prime summer weekend without any new tentpole releases, and the studio estimate (which assumed the strongest Sunday hold in the Top 10) was $10M, in line with expectations.  The question is how well the indie will hold up next week against new action […]

>Four new movies join the worldwide box office chart this weekend, with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island being the early standout.  Released overseas a week before this weekend’s North American opening, Journey 2 already has an overseas total of $75 million to date, nearly matching our total domestic projection of $79 million.  The first in […]

> Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides hits an even $1 billion worldwide, while Kung Fu Panda skips past Rio right on the heels of Hangover Part II.  Cars 2 debuts at #10 with a lot of upside. Read more and see the updated Top 20 chart by clicking below. Super 8 is starting […]

The Dark Knight Rises opened with $88 million overseas in a modest 17 territories.  We’ll give Rises a preliminary overseas target of $490 million, slightly higher than 2008’s The Dark Knight, which grossed $469 million overseas.  If our overseas target is correct, that put puts the worldwide target for Dark Knight Rises at $980 million, just behind The Dark Knight‘s […]

Django Unchained leads the way this week (up $22 million overseas since last week), followed closely by Les Miserables (up $18 million overseas) and Wreck-It Ralph (also up $18 million from some late-playing territories). The only other North American films up double-digits since last week are Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (up $17 million), Silver Linings Playbook (up $11 million) and Flight (up $10 million). […]

Updated international box office chart: