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:  GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (Columbia/Sony) opened with $44M, which was $2M below the launch of the 2016 Ghostbusters, a result treated as such a disaster that the franchise had to be re-rebooted.  Afterlife, though, is considered a success, thanks to a lower production budget ($75M, moderate for a tentpole), pandemic box office standards, and the […]

  OPENINGS:  Jordan Peele’s NOPE (Universal) premiered on the lower end of expectations at $44M.  That’s a significant number for a project that isn’t based on preexisting IP, but down 38% from Peele’s US, and Nope reportedly cost about $40-50M more than US to produce.  Add the fact that Peele’s films haven’t performed particularly well […]

  OPENINGS:  History seems to be repeating itself for filmmaker Kelly Fremon Craig, whose extremely well-reviewed ARE YOU THERE GOD?  IT’S ME, MARGARET (Lionsgate) opened with a soft $6.8M (and that studio estimate assumes an unusually strong Sunday).  That’s very similar to Craig’s also critically-praised 2016 The Edge of Seventeen, which had a $4.9M opening […]

  OPENINGS:  The calendar did Hollywood a favor by placing Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, affording films a 6-day window with Presidents Day on Monday.  The chief beneficiary was BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE (Paramount), which surpassed expectations with $51.1M through Monday ($27.7M over the traditional 3-day weekend).  With little new competition in the wings next week, […]

>The Smurfs movie continues to inch closer to Cars 2 in worldwide box office (now $9 million away).  Real Steel is the only recent movie with any overseas box office pull.  Its overseas to date tally of $57 million has moved up to 31st place on the worldwide chart and has upside to around 21st […]

> As we discussed yesterday, first a couple of bar bets.  Which film grossed more worldwide: Megamind or The King’s Speech?  The answer is King’s Speech.  Although Megamind grossed more domestically ($148 million to $132 million), the international audience preferred King’s Speech ($226 million to $171 million), giving the Best Picture winner a $40 million […]

Wreck-It-Ralph enters the worldwide chart with a modest $12 million overseas to date, but that will grow to match and probably exceed the $171 million we expect for the film domestically.  The film could end up with $350-375 million worldwide ultimately. Skyfall, which opens Friday in North America, is already up to $287 million overseas in […]