Another day, another record or two for STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Lucasfilm/Disney).  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its Saturday was no less than $55M, which tidily dispatched the biggest 2d Saturday of all time ($42.9M for The Avengers).  Sunday should close out the biggest 2d weekend of all time at $155M or […]

The 2015 holiday box office continues to shatter records, thanks to Star Wars: The Force Awakens as it plays like a holiday word of mouth hit after opening like a summer blockbuster. For the ten days December 16-25, top 10 films in North America have totaled $600 million, almost double the same period the last few years and more […]

  For Hollywood, Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year, because it doesn’t come but once:  with the exception of a New Year’s Eve dip, every day between December 25 and January 2 will perform like a Friday.  That’s great for the box office, but it makes any analysis of “comps” and […]

  OPENINGS:  Here’s the crazy thing about the official record-busting $238M weekend estimate for STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Lucasfilm/Disney), which smashed the previous weekend record by more than 12%, and nearly tripled the prior December record:  it’s on the conservative side.  Flying in the face of most studio behavior in reporting opening weekends, Disney […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +6% above last year and now +3% above the average for this point the past four years ($9.312 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed over $25.0 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]

  After its history-making $120.5M opening day, there were two pre-existing Saturday models that STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Lucasfilm/Disney) could have followed.  The final Harry Potter was so front-loaded that it crashed by 53% from Friday to Saturday.  On the other hand, Jurassic World gently declined by 15%, similar to the 14% drop for […]

Weekend #51 of 2015 is looking like an amazing $281 million for the top 12 films this weekend, reminiscent of another historic weekend six years ago (see comparisons below). Star Wars: The Force Awakens from Disney should open with $225 million Friday-Sunday. The film is on track for around $720 million domestic in its run. Overseas the film could bring in $1.2 billion, […]

  OPENINGS:  Let’s be clear:  the decision to greenlight a $100M production budget for IN THE HEART OF THE SEA (Village Roadshow/Warners)–a period whaling adventure that features about 10 minutes of a CG whale and is otherwise mostly (spoiler alert) about the cast starving and suffering–was fundamentally insane.  Even if the film had been good, […]