OPENINGS:  HUNTER KILLER (Millenium/Summit Premiere/Lionsgate) had a weak $6.7M start, and probably won’t reach $20M in the US, not even enough to pay for the costs of its US release, and a low for a Gerard Butler action movie.  Its international campaign has a sluggish $4M so far, with $3.2M this weekend in 16 […]

  OPENINGS:  The weekend multiple for HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (DreamWorks Animation/Universal) was 3.2x, about mid-way between the first Dragon‘s 3.6x and Dragon 2‘s 2.6x.  (Note that the studio isn’t including $2.5M in paid preview income in its weekend number–if that were added to Friday the way Thursday night revenue is, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2019 film slates by studio. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2019 is now -9% below last year’s comparable span (2 points worse than last week) and now -1% below the average at this point the past four years ($4.888 billion).  Over the […]

  WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2019 film slates by studio. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2019 is still -5% below last year’s comparable span and still +1% above this point the past four years ($8.338 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost $22.3 […]

  OPENINGS:  THE CALL OF THE WILD (20th/Disney) did a bit better than expected at $24.8M, but in the long run that’s not likely to make much difference.  Similarly to Dolittle (although much more quietly), Call of the Wild was extremely expensive, with $200M+ in production/marketing costs, so a $75M US total won’t get it […]

  OPENINGS:  Even in healthy times, Super Bowl weekend isn’t a fertile time for movie openings, the exceptions being counterprogramming like 2008’s Hannah Montana concert movie.  In that vein, this weekend featured the limited release of the animated EARWIG AND THE WITCH (GKids) at 430 theatres, for a $100K total that translated into a $230 […]

  OPENINGS:  Pedro Almodovar’s PARALLEL MOTHERS (Sony Classics) expanded to wide release at 684 theaters in anticipation of the Oscar nominations that are little more than a week away, but its $300K weekend translated into a per-theater average under $500. HOLDOVERS:  The lack of any new Hollywood competition was as usual good for the films […]

  OPENINGS:  HALLOWEEN ENDS (Universal, also on Peacock) underperformed badly with $41.3M, about 25% below pre-release expectations, and 17% under the $49.4M start for last year’s Halloween Kills, despite a stronger Thursday night start than Kills ($5.4M vs $4.9M).  The excuse de jour is the Peacock release, which would be dubious in any case considering […]