OPENINGS:  In the US, NO TIME TO DIE (UA/MGM) opened at $56M, at the low end of expectations–and “expectations” are usually already set low so that the press will report that a film has “overperformed”–and below the last three Bond films (Quantum of Solace $67.5M, Skyfall $88.4M, Spectre $70.4M).  Obviously the pandemic is a […]

  OPENINGS:  Although JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION (Universal) is being billed as the “conclusion of the trilogy,” the studio certainly won’t be abandoning the franchise, as Dominion opened to $143.4M, almost identical to the $148M for 2018’s Fallen Kingdom, and with a very similar trajectory, down 22% on Saturday (Fallen Kingdom dropped 15%, but that was […]

  OPENINGS:  Franchises continued to be the lifeblood (so to speak) of Hollywood, and this week it was SCREAM VI (Paramount) breaking its saga’s previous record with $44.5M, almost 50% higher than the $30M for last year’s Scream reboot.  It was also above the $40M for 2000’s Scream 3, although that would change with an […]

  OPENINGS:  Beyonce’s concert documentary RENAISSANCE (Variance/AMC Theaters) led the traditionally slow first weekend of December with $21M, a shadow of the $92.8M for the Eras Tour movie a couple of months ago, but within expectations.  As with Eras Tour, it’s likely that the Renaissance box office will be front-loaded with fans, so the US […]

  OPENINGS:  TRANSFORMERS ONE (Hasbro/Paramount) underdelivered vs projections by about 20%, and its dim $25M start didn’t even give it the weekend’s #1 ranking at the box office.  Paramount was taking a calculated risk by rebooting the franchise via PG-rated animation, and it doesn’t seem to have worked out.  It faces direct competition next weekend […]

>The latest worldwide box office rankings are charted below.  Among the new releases this weekend, Chronicle sits in the middle of the list with $78 million worldwide to date ($65 million estimated final domestic and an early total to date overseas of $13 million).  The movie will probably work its way to just over $100 […]

>Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is now closing in on $275 million overseas to date (close to the expected domestic final tally), as it approaches $600 million worldwide.  One level down, The Adventures of Tintin has broken $200 million overseas and could be a $400 million worldwide picture if it does at least decently […]

> Fast Five enters the worldwide January-April box office chart in the #2 position, with plenty more upside in its overseas numbers.  When the final results are in, Fast Five will probably be the #1 movie worldwide for the first third of the year, followed by Rio and Rango.    The graphic below shows the […]