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THURSDAY NIGHT BOX OFFICE: “Dawn” Breaks Solidly for “Apes”

Posted July 11, 2014 by Mitch Salem

  DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (20th) had a good but not overwhelming Thursday night showing with $4.1M.  That’s more than triple the $1.25M for 2011″s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it’s far from the level for this summer’s tentpole blockbusters, which ranged from $8.1M for X-Men: Days of Future […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Don’t Breathe” Inhales Audiences, “Mechanic” Breaks Down

Posted August 27, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  DON’T BREATHE (Screen Gems/Sony) is the 2d horror movie of the late summer, after Lights Out, to benefit from an effectively marketed premise (monsters in the dark and the quiet) and strong reviews.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Breathe is starting even faster than Lights, with a $10.2M opening day (including $1.9M from […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Guardians 2″” Kicks Off Summer Movie Season

Posted May 6, 2017 by Mitch Salem

  With a franchise like GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2 (Marvel/Disney), profitability isn’t at issue.  Guardians 2 carries around $350M in worldwide production/marketing costs, and it will be in hailing distance of financial success by Sunday.  The question is how the given installment ranks in terms of similar mega-competition and expectations.  Preliminary numbers at […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “The Last Jedi” Conquers The Cosmos, “Ferdinand” Meek, “Shape of Water” Expands

Posted December 16, 2017 by Mitch Salem

  STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Lucasfilm/Disney) was expected to be gigantic, but not quite as huge as 2015’s The Force Awakens, which benefited from a decade of pent-up expectations.  That’s exactly where it’s heading, as preliminary numbers at Deadline have Friday at $100.4M, of which $45M is from Thursday night.  That opening day is […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Venom” Drops, “A Star Is Born” Holds, “First Man” Sluggish

Posted October 13, 2018 by Mitch Salem

  There may be a pair of tight races at the box office this weekend.  Based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, VENOM (Tencent/Columbia/Sony) has the early lead with $9.5M on Friday, down 71% from last week’s opening day.  That’s much worse than the 54% Friday-to-Friday drop for Doctor Strange and the 57% for Justice League, […]

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WEDNESDAY BOX OFFICE: “Anchorman 2″” Stays Classy

Posted December 19, 2013 by Mitch Salem

  Early numbers for the opening day of ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (Paramount) give it $8.1M (including $2.3M from Tuesday night shows).  It continues to run ahead of Wednesday openers This Is The End ($7.8M) and We’re The Millers ($6.8M), and is hoping to have a bigger weekend multiple than those two, since midweek […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Minions” In Control

Posted July 11, 2015 by Mitch Salem

  MINIONS (Illumination/Universal) was expected to enfold the weekend box office in its little yellow fingers, and so it is.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline give it a $45M opening day, which appears to be the largest opening in the history of movie animation (the asterisk is because we now consider “Friday” to include Thursday night, […]

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EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Allegiant” Falls Off the Wall, “Zootopia” Wins Again

Posted March 19, 2016 by Mitch Salem

  The failure of ALLEGIANT (Summit/Lionsgate) puts its studio in an unusually awkward position.  Even though Lionsgate may be able to put the 3rd Divergent movie on its books as a profit (most of the international rights were pre-sold, providing revenues that can off-set the oncoming US losses), the economics are going to get much […]

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