OPENINGS:  When studios trot out “bad weather” as their excuse for an underwhelming opening, it’s the industry equivalent of citing a homework-eating dog–and this week, it’s particularly clear that the inclement conditions that supposedly affected FOCUS (RatPac Dune/Warners) didn’t interfere at all with the holdovers that performed very strongly over the past 3 days.  […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Warner Brothers moved back into first place for the year with the release of Focus, although it really is a virtual tie with Universal. Note: the Scorecard has been updated below, flipping The DUFF and McFarland, USA to their correct studios. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is the updated 2015 Scorecard, with Universal pulling past Warner Brothers by a nose.  Each studio has a nearly identical profile of its slate: one successful blockbuster, an expensive sci-fi/ fantasy movie that tanked domestically but it is somewhat bailed out by some overseas business, and one or two outright bombs. […]

  OPENINGS:  None of the newcomers made much of an impression.  At the moment, MCFARLAND USA (Disney) is claiming a slim victory over THE DUFF (CBS/Lionsgate), $11.3M vs. $11M, but that’s based on a far more aggressive Sunday estimate by Disney (predicting a 30% Sunday drop vs 42%), and when the numbers are so close, […]

  OPENINGS:  This year’s Saturday night Valentine’s Day worked out well for everyone this weekend, but especially for FIFTY SHADES OF GREY (Universal/Focus).  The prospect of some kink refreshed the movie’s audience from Friday’s fan-girls to a horde of couples, and the result was that despite the huge $30.3M opening day, the box office went […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is the updated 2015 Scorecard, with Universal pulling into a very close second place (just behind Warner Brothers) thanks to Fifty Shades of Grey.  This performance from Focus and Universal is the first bit of good news in a long time for the hapless Comcast corporation, as its proposed acquisition of […]

  Note:  due to last week’s low-grossing Super Bowl Sunday, all weekend-to-weekend comparisons appear unusually strong this week. OPENINGS:  THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE:  SPONGE OUT OF WATER (Nickelodeon/Paramount) notched the #5 February opening ever with $56M (although not quite in a league with last year’s The LEGO Movie, which was #2 with $69.1M).  The studios seem […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is the updated 2015 Scorecard  If you are interested in the 2014 Scorecard, scroll down to the bottom of the post (as the remnants of overseas box office for late 2014 films continue to trickle in). YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now […]