OPENINGS:  The stated $101M weekend start for THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 (Lionsgate) means that we won’t really know whether it went over $100M until final numbers are released tomorrow.  But even if that number holds, it will be down 17% from last year’s Mockingjay 1.  More seriously, the international opening was $146M, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is still +4% above last year and now +1% above the average for this point the past four years ($8.615 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $23.1 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s still +6% […]

  As with Spectre 2 weeks ago, THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 (Lionsgate) is making a tremendous amount of money in its opening weekend–but not as much as had been expected in light of what its franchise predecessor had earned.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Mockingjay 2 will have a $47M launch, including […]

Weekend #47 of 2015 is looking like a decent $202 million for the top 12 films this weekend, up moderately from the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 from Lionsgate should open with a $126.0 million weekend. The film is on track for around $360 million domestic in its run. Overseas the film could bring […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +4% above last year and still +2% above the average for this point the past four years ($8.361 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $22.6 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s still +6% […]

  OPENINGS:  LOVE THE COOPERS (CBS/Lionsgate) was the best of a bad bunch, launching with $8.4M.  That’s 30% less than the $12.5M start of 2005’s The Family Stone, but the studio can take some solace from the fact that Stone (which opened closer to Christmas) earned a 5x multiple from its opening weekend.  If Coopers […]

  No one expected this weekend’s soft new arrivals to come near last week’s holdovers, and they’re not.  LOVE THE COOPERS (CBS/Lionsgate) is at least creditable, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, with a $2.7M Friday that should give it $7-8M for the weekend.  Coopers is intended as a long-term play that will hang around […]

Weekend #46 of 2015 is looking like a tepid $102 million for the top 12 films this weekend, well below the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). The 33 from Warner Brothers should open with a $8.0 million weekend. The film is on track for around $23 million domestic in its run. Overseas the film could bring in $27 million, giving it […]