OPENINGS: The male 18-34 demo was again at the center of the box office, largely fueling the $23.5M start for JACKASS FOREVER (Paramount), not quite at the level of the last product of the franchise, 2013’s Bad Grandpa, and its $32.1M start, but more than enough to ensure profitability at its low cost point. […]
OPENINGS: HALLOWEEN ENDS (Universal, also on Peacock) underperformed badly with $41.3M, about 25% below pre-release expectations, and 17% under the $49.4M start for last year’s Halloween Kills, despite a stronger Thursday night start than Kills ($5.4M vs $4.9M). The excuse de jour is the Peacock release, which would be dubious in any case considering […]
> Captain America and the final Harry Potter film’s second weekend will battle for #1, with each around $60 million. Friends with Benefits should open at a decent level for an R-rated comedy. The weekend should be up well over 20% from this weekend last year when Salt and Ramona & Beezus opened (remember those?). Opening at […]
OPENINGS: NO HARD FEELINGS (Columbia/Sony) slightly exceeded tracking expectations with $15.1M, but those expectations were themselves quite low. With production and worldwide marketing costs in the neighborhood of $100M, the film will need to hold strongly for the next several weeks to reach any profit, and while it has the hard-R comedy field to […]
>The seventh weekend of the year should generate about $142 million for the top 12 films — up 9% from last year’s comparable weekend and up over 20% from the four-year average for this weekend. Nicolas Cage should lead a crowded field, although the second Ghost Rider should be down significantly from 2007’s original. The […]
OPENINGS: MONKEY MAN (Universal) walked an odd path to theaters, originally being targeted for a Netflix release. While the result earned strong reviews (87% on Rotten Tomatoes), there was no storybook ending at the box office, as Dev Patel’s film was below expectations at $10.1M. Nor did Monkey Man stir much excitement overseas, with […]
The 20th weekend of 2012 is looking like a disturbing $132 million for the Top 12 films, down 17% from both this weekend last year and the four-year average for the same weekend. Marvel’s The Avengers continues to do well, but the three films opening this weekend generated very little excitement, to say the least. […]
> Real Steel is opening at forecast — at a very decent level, but will it be enough to cover the big visual effects costs and all the above-the-line talent expenses? More on that in Box Office Footnotes. In second place, The Ides of March missed its rather moderate forecast. It will need a shelf’s […]