Even though it’s just mid-July, Guardians of the Galaxy is the only likely blockbuster opening left this summer.  Barring some surprises, the seasonal picture is ugly. OPENINGS:  THE PURGE: ANARCHY (Universal) took Friday with $13M, but that was $3.8M below the opening day of the first Purge.  The sequel is likely to be at least […]

>The fifth weekend of the year should generate about $84 million for the top 12 films — up 15% from last year’s comparable weekend but down a similar percentage from a “normal” weekend this time of year.  Three new films open this weekend to positive reviews, but none of the three should gross more than […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Fox rolls on, running away with 2014 worldwide with another $144 million this week (mostly from continued strong overseas grosses from Maze Runner and Gone Girl).  Fox is a huge #1 with almost $4.2 billion for the year to date worldwide.  The next best week came from lowly Universal ($134 million worldwide the past week), […]

  OPENINGS:  For both 3 DAYS TO KILL (Relativity) and POMPEII (TriStar/Sony/FilmDistrict), the only hope of salvation lies overseas.  3 Days, at least, has a relatively low production cost, but even if the reported $28M figure is accurate, its $12.3M US weekend won’t get it anywhere near recoupment of its worldwide marketing expenses.  Things are […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  We will continue tracking 2015 for several more weeks as the holiday films finish their runs.  We will begin tracking the 2016 slates soon.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2016 to date is now even with last year and now +9% above the average for this […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #38 of 2014 now looks like $93 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, 8% above the norm for this weekend ($86 million) and up a bit from yesterday’s estimate ($91 million). Opening at 3,604 theaters, The Maze Runner from 20th Century Fox grossed $11.3 million Friday and […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #6 of 2014 looks like $132 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well ahead of last year’s disaster of a weekend but still 20% behind the usual pace for this weekend.  The Lego Movie is a huge hit, but the rest of the box office is providing little support. […]

  OPENINGS:  FORD VS. FERRARI (20th/Disney) had a strong start with $31M, and will hope to extend its run through the holidays and into Oscar season based on its initially older-skewing audience and excellent reviews and exit polls.  The only caution is that FvF was pricey for a non-IP project, with around $200M in production/marketing […]