>New this week on the Worldwide Box Office Chart: The Smurfs crosses the $500 million worldwide mark (though it is unlikely to catch the next film above it, Cars 2 at $550 million); Rise of the Planet of the Apes continues to slow down overseas and will stay at #11, just behind Thor; The Help […]

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 +12% above last year and still +21% above the average for this point the past four years ($2.624 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed over $8.9 […]

> Overseas, The Smurfs film continues to do solid business and is closing in on two more benchmarks: $400 million overseas (only $7 million to go) and $550 million worldwide ($13 million to go).  $550 million is important because that would match Cars 2, which it now looks like it can pass. DreamWorks and Disney’s […]

  OPENINGS:  RIDE ALONG 2 (Universal) is projecting a $39.5M 4-day weekend, 19% below the $48.6M opening of the first Ride Along exactly 2 years ago.  That would put its US trajectory at $100-110M, enough to make it a fine piece of business for all concerned, but any growth would have to come from overseas, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.       YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is still +8% above last year and now +3% above the average for this point the past four years ($6.066 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost $16.3 billion worldwide when we add […]

  OPENINGS:  A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE (Paramount) handily exceeded expectations with $53M in the US, better than its predecessors ($50.2M and $47.5M respectively, although Part II earned $57.1M over its 4-day holiday launch).  It was particularly impressive because Day One featured a different cast and creative team for the most part, suggesting that A […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is still +4% above last year and +6% above the average for this point the past four years ($1.794 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost $5.3 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]

Scattered overseas results are in for the past week, mostly for the recent openers.Fast & Furious 6 is off to an impressive start outside of North America, as well as domestically.  In contrast, Epic is already slightly outshining The Hangover Part III worldwide (an early lead in overseas box office for Epic more than makes up for a slight estimated domestic advantage […]