OPENINGS:  THE EQUALIZER 3 (Escape Artists/Columbia/Sony) performed both within expectations and at around the same level as its predecessors, with $34.5M for the 3-day weekend compared to $36M for Equalizer 2 and $34M for the first in the franchise.  (The Monday holiday is projected to bring the total to $42M.)  Also like the previous […]

  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 […]

> Green Lantern debuts on the Worldwide Ranking at #15, while Mr Popper’s Penguins appears outside the Top 20.  Pirates of the Caribbean closes in on $1 billion worldwide. Green Lantern debuts at #15 on the Top 20 Worldwide list with a very limited overseas release so far, while Mr Popper’s Penguins finds itself way […]

Overseas box office for The Dark Knight Rises has risen to $248 million to date, up from $88 million at this time last week.  The ultimate overseas number could hit $490 million, up somewhat from $469 million for The Dark Knight.  If our projected domestic total for Rises is correct, the worldwide total will be around $930 million, somewhat behind […]

  The Rock’s second-worst opening is second-best at the boxoffice this slow Oscar weekend. OPENINGS:  Boosted by a 36% Saturday rise, SNITCH (Summit/Lionsgate) is projecting a $13M weekend, although like all round numbers, that one will likely come down, beginning with a “12” when final figures are released tomorrow.  The best that can be said […]

  OPENINGS:  DESPICABLE ME 2 (Universal) had an even better weekend overseas than it did in the US, with $88.8M (in 45 markets, with plenty more major ones to come) vs $82.5M.  (Of course, in the US it also had the benefit of a holiday week, giving it a huge $142.1M here so far.)  The […]

Updated international box office chart:

  Warner Bros and Peter Jackson are very, very lucky that THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG is a significantly better movie than last year’s An Unexpected Journey, which will give it strong word of mouth, because early box office indications are that audiences, burned by Journey, are initially dubious about spending 3 more hours […]