WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +5% above last year and still +3% above the average for this point the past four years ($7.878 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost $21.1 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]

  OPENINGS:  No one, including its studio, expected much from the remake of FIRESTARTER (Blumhouse/Universal, also on Peacock), and it delivered a weak $3.8M that suggests an eventual $10M US total.  Economics become murky when films also premiere on streaming, but that certainly isn’t good.  Things were no better overseas, where Firestarter limped to $2.1M […]

The big gainers overseas this week were The Expendables 2 (up $36 million to $102 million), The Dark Knight Rises (up another $29 million to $603 million overseas to date), Brave (up $17 million) and Step Up Revolution (up $11 million).  Not reporting yet are Bourne Legacy and Ice Age: Continental Drift. The Words will not be a player overseas, but the other opener this weekend, The Cold […]

> Marvel spent a great deal of time and effort setting the stage for its full-house-of-heroes extravaganza THE AVENGERS, and it’s all paying off.  The movie opened in 39 international territories this past week (some on Wednesday, some on Friday), covering 70% of the globe other than the US, and has already grossed a gigantic […]

  OPENINGS:  The only new arrival this weekend certain of profitability is THE CONJURING 2 (New Line/RatPac/Warners).  It’s already earned $40.4M in the US (just lightly behind the first Conjuring‘s $41.9M opening) and $50M in 44 overseas markets, and although horror movies and sequels are usually frontloaded, even in a worst cast scenario it will […]

As we continue to tally the films released wide in 2013, Disney has pulled away from Warner Brothers in worldwide box office as Frozen refuses to slow down.  For a complete ranking of 2013 films individually by worldwide performance click here. We will begin tracking the 2014 Studio Scorecard next week. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at […]

  OPENINGS:  The release strategy for 1917 (Universal) has gone just about perfectly, culminating in a $36.5M wide opening weekend that was significantly ahead of industry expectations.  Universal screened the film to critics and guild groups at the end of November, unveiled it in limited release on Christmas Day with the benefit of strong reviews, […]

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 +8% above last year and now +12% above the average for this point the past four years ($0.858 billion). […]