OPENINGS:  Even in a normal box office marketplace, a mild rom-com with no big-name stars like THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY (TriStar/Sony) probably wouldn’t have made much money, and it has both a low production budget and limited marketing costs going for it.  All that being said, though, there’s nothing about a $1.1M weekend at […]

  OPENINGS:  MALEFICENT (Disney) is claiming a $70M weekend, and like all round-number estimates, that should be viewed with some skepticism.  But even if it dips slightly in final numbers tomorrow, it’s a fine start.  It’s not, however, the equal of Disney’s other revisionist fairy tales Alice In Wonderland ($116.1M) or Oz: The Great and […]

>Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 debuts on the international box office chart with a very solid $400+ million worldwide mark.  The latest Twilight has an overseas total to date of $144 million already with an expected domestic final of $292 million. Adventures of Tintin is now up to almost $190 million overseas, while Real […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 films by studio.  We will begin tracking the 2017 slate in a few weeks.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is now +5% above last year and now +13% above the average for this point the past four years ($0.714 billion). […]

  OPENINGS:  INSURGENT (Summit/Lionsgate) had a stronger Saturday hold than Divergent (down 7% instead of 13%), and based on that, Liosgate is also claiming a stronger Sunday hold (down 35% instead of 40%).  That gives Insurgent a $54.1M weekend studio estimate, just a breath away from Divergent‘s $54.6M, although even if those numbers hold up […]

  OPENINGS:  SMILE 2 (Paramount) opened on par with its predecessor, at $23M compared to $22.6M.  A small dip had been projected, so that was slightly above expectations.  The sequel, unlike the first Smile, will face major competition in its 2nd weekend, so it remains to be seen whether it can have that film’s stellar […]

  OPENINGS:  MONKEY MAN (Universal) walked an odd path to theaters, originally being targeted for a Netflix release.  While the result earned strong reviews (87% on Rotten Tomatoes), there was no storybook ending at the box office, as Dev Patel’s film was below expectations at $10.1M.  Nor did Monkey Man stir much excitement overseas, with […]

OPENINGS:  Fill in the ball/glass slipper/fairy tale reference of choice, because CINDERELLA (Disney) performed beautifully, with $70.1M in the US.  That puts it ahead of the $69.4M opening of Maleficent (unless adjusted numbers change things tomorrow), and below the $116.1M for Alice in Wonderland and the $79.1M for Oz the Great and Powerful.  Cinderella‘s 18% […]