OPENINGS:  SPECTRE (MGM/Columbia/Sony) had the #7 opening of the year at $73M… yet there are signs of trouble.  While Skyfall rose 11% on its 2d day of wide release, and Casino Royale gained 5%, Spectre fell by 5%, actually slightly worse than the lightly-regarded Quantum of Solace.  Since Spectre wasn’t more frontloaded than Skyfall, […]

  OPENINGS:  DOCTOR STRANGE (Marvel/Disney) did what a Marvel movie is supposed to do.  In the US, its $85M debut was higher than the starts of Captain America and Thor (both $65-66M), and just a hair away from the November opening of Thor 2 ($85.7M), it not quite in a league with the $94.3M for […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is a final look at the 2019 film slates by studios (films entering wide release in the 2019 calendar year), including worldwide box office for those films during 2020. We will begin the track of the 2020 slate next week. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2020 is now […]

  OPENINGS:  Word of mouth caught up with THE EMOJI MOVIE (Columbia/Sony) on Saturday, with a 14% drop (by comparison, Captain Underpants rose 11% on its 2d day of release, and last year’s Angry Birds Movie jumped 47%), but a $25.7M weekend is still good money for a movie no one seems to like.  (The […]

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 -3% below last year and now +10% above the average for this point the past four […]

  OPENINGS:  Things couldn’t have gone better for M. Night Shyamalan’s SPLIT (Blumhouse/Universal).  It built on its strong Friday with a 13% bump, extremely good for a horror movie, and is estimating $40.2M for its weekend in the US against modest production/marketing costs of about $50M, which means a healthy profit is a sure thing.  […]

  OPENINGS:  ALIEN: COVENANT (TSG/20th) slumped almost as badly on its 2d day of release as the unpopular Prometheus (22% vs 25%), and the result was a lackluster $36M weekend in the US–and even that number includes an aggressive estimate for Sunday.  Worse yet, with Covenant now playing in every major international market except China […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is still down -2% from last year and still +2% above the average for this point the past four years ($7.310 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed […]