OPENINGS:  STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Lucasfilm/Disney) had an excellent Saturday for a blockbuster of its size, dropping 39% from Friday, where The Force Awakens had fallen 43%.  That cemented Last Jedi as the 2nd-highest opening in US history at $220M (down 11% from Force Awakens)–and that studio estimate may even be a tad […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio. Warner Brothers moved into second place, pushing Fox into third place.  This is the first change in the studio rankings in weeks, thanks mostly to continued overseas strength from Suicide Squad and the strong first 10 days of Sully.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box […]

  OPENINGS:  FIFTY SHADES FREED (Perfect World/Universal) declined a mild 17% from Fifty Shades Darker to $38.8M, suggesting that Freed will end up around $95M in the US  That wouldn’t be great compared to roughly $150M in production/marketing costs, but the Fifty Shades franchise has always made the bulk of its revenue overseas, and that’s […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2018 film slates by studio. The studio totals also include 2018 dollars for films released in late 2017. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is now +8% above last year and now +15% above the average for this point the […]

  OPENINGS:  We won’t really know the order of the weekend’s closely-bunched Top 3 movies until final numbers are released tomorrow, but since the default position of any studio with a new opening is to claim victory, the fact that AMERICAN MADE (Cross Creek/Universal) is currently in 2nd place with $17M can’t be a good […]

  Sunday numbers will likely be a bit stronger than usual this week due to the Columbus Day holiday tomorrow. OPENINGS:  CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (Sony) didn’t even come close to taking the weekend, but its $26M is quite strong given its older-skewing star and story, not to mention the giant competition from Gravity–it’s better, for example, […]

  OPENINGS:  Despite being the only high-profile arrival of the week, and having a pedigree and visual style that guaranteed it media attention, Robert Zemeckis’s HERE (Miramax/TriStar/Sony) bombed with $5M.  It’s been a tough decade for Zemeckis, once a maker of blockbuster hits, whose most recent moderate success was 2012’s Flight.  Here hasn’t opened overseas, […]

  OPENINGS:  DUMBO (Disney) had a 14% Saturday bump that was merely OK considering its underwhelming first day, and that brought it to a $45M weekend.  Even if it reaches $150M in the US, it would need help to get out of red ink with $300M+ in production/marketing costs, and so far it doesn’t seen […]