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 +10% above last year and still +11% above the average for this point […]

  OPENINGS:  There were no new wide releases for New Year’s weekend, but a pair of lackluster films arrived for Christmas Day.  VICE (Annapurna) has $17.7M to date, $7.8M of it from this weekend, but it’s been quite frontloaded, dropping 40% on December 26 and staying at that general level ever since.  It should reach […]

  OPENINGS:  GOOD BOYS (Good Universe/Universal) easily led the weekend with $21M, a solid start for a comedy that probably had production/marketing costs under $75M.  It was somewhat frontloaded with a 12% Saturday drop, but summer Sundays have been running strong this year, so it should still have a fair weekend multiple.  Good Boys has […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2019 film slates by studio. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2019 is still -4% below last year’s comparable span and still +1% above this point the past four years ($10.234 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost $27.1 billion […]

  OPENINGS:  The only wide launch this week (2027 theatres) was the horror movie THE EMPTY MAN (20th/Disney), which despite its big-studio credentials had a nearly invisible level of marketing behind it, and started with a $1.3M weekend that was low even by pandemic standards. AFTER WE COLLIDED (Open Road) had a limited arrival at […]

  OPENINGS:  The blockbusters are delivering even if other box office segments still aren’t, and that’s good news for pandemic-weary theater owners and studios.  In the US, VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE (Columbia/Marvel/Sony) set a new Covid-era record with a remarkable $90.1M opening, larger than the $75.4M earned by Shang-Chi a month ago, the $80.4M […]

  OPENINGS:  David Cronenberg is a venerated filmmaker, but not a source of many box office hits:  in a career that spans more than 4 decades, his highest-grossing film in the US is still 1986’s The Fly at $40.5M (a little over $100M adjusted for inflation).  That won’t change with his brooding and frequently grotesque […]

  OPENINGS:  CREED III (UA/MGM/Amazon) launched with an impressive $58.7M, higher than the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend starts for the previous entries in the series ($42.1M/$56M), and also higher than any of the Rocky movies (not adjusted for inflation).  As is typical for this franchise, overseas was somewhat softer, with $41.8M from 75 markets.  Nevertheless, the […]