OPENINGS:  There wasn’t any good news for this week’s wide releases, and that began with the weekend’s leader, as THE FLASH (DC/Warners) failed to meet even the lowest expectations with a sluggish $55.1M start.  (The studio’s 4-day estimate, including the Monday Juneteenth holiday, was an optimistic $64M.)  The 3-day total was significantly lower than […]

>The sixth weekend of the year should generate about $142 million for the top 12 films — up 5% from last year’s comparable weekend but down a similar percentage from a “normal” weekend this time of year.  The Vow and Safe House should open very solidly at #1 and #2.            […]

  OPENINGS:  GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE (Columbia/Sony) played as a family movie, with a Saturday afternoon bump, and that enabled it to match projections at $45.2M, slightly higher than the $44M start for 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife.  However, Frozen Empire cost $25M more than Afterlife, so a 3% increase at the box office may not cover the […]

The 21st weekend of 2012 is looking like a stunningly weak $138 million for the Top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down 36% from this weekend last year (one of those rare 2011 bright spots) and down 19% from the more normal four-year average for the same three-day weekend.  Men in Black will be #1 for the […]

  Little effort from the networks. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary live+same day key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2). Ratings analysis follows the […]

> What a catastrophe at the box office this weekend.  No film above $20 million for the weekend, and the top 12 films are down a staggering 37% from the same weekend last year (when Jackass 3-D opened to $50 million).  Footloose, The Thing and especially The Big Year missed their forecasts.  The Big Year […]

The 22nd weekend of 2012 is looking like a soft $130 million for the Top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down 15% from this weekend last year.  Snow White and the Huntsman is opening much stronger than forecast (and the weekend overall is consequently not quite the disaster we expected), but this is still the third weekend […]

> Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), The Lion King is holding on to the #1 spot, but Moneyball and Dolphin Tale are very close behind (both just over $20 million for the weekend).  The weekend overall is now looking like it will be up a strong 20% from this weekend last year.    […]