OPENINGS:  The major studios abandoned this normally prime summer-season weekend, and a flood of indies rushed in to grab the available theaters.  None were able to capitalize to a particularly notable extent, with the anime HAIKYUU: THE DUMPSTER BATTLE (Crunchyroll/Sony) faring best at $3.5M.  The genre is typically very frontloaded, so Haikyuu may not […]

Updated international box office chart:  

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is our first look at the 2017 film slates by studio. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is now +1% above last year and now +10% above the average for this point the past four years ($1.257 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed […]

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 -9% below last year’s comparable span (same as the -9% last week) and still -1% below the average at this point the past four years ($5.168 billion).  Over the […]

  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 […]

Big movers overseas this week include Django Unchained (now with $48 million overseas to date), Life of Pi (another $36 million overseas this past week to an astounding $393 million overseas and projected worldwide just under $500 million), and Les Miserables (up $35 million overseas this week to $151 million and a projected $301 million worldwide). The Hobbit and The Impossible follow close behind […]

  OPENINGS:  BOO! A MADEA HALLOWEEN (Lionsgate) took the weekend with $27.6M, Tyler Perry’s biggest start since the $29.3M for 2010’s Why Did I Get Married Too.  Perry’s movies tend to run out of steam quickly, but Boo had an encouraging 24% Saturday bump, and even if Boo only reaches $60M in the US (and […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is a first look at the studio scorecard for the 2016 slates.  We have updated the summary categories somewhat this year with the top category now reserved for films over $500 million worldwide and the lower category for films under $150 million worldwide.       YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. […]