OPENINGS:  This was the weekend of AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER (20th/Disney), and the epic’s launch was softer than widely expected at $134M in the US and $301M in all major overseas markets including China.  Box office apologists, who at this point resemble political press secretaries, have rushed in to spin that Way of […]

Updated international box office chart:

  OPENINGS:  BOO! A MADEA HALLOWEEN (Lionsgate) took the weekend with $27.6M, Tyler Perry’s biggest start since the $29.3M for 2010’s Why Did I Get Married Too.  Perry’s movies tend to run out of steam quickly, but Boo had an encouraging 24% Saturday bump, and even if Boo only reaches $60M in the US (and […]

Weekend #17 of 2015 is looking like $78 million for the top 12 films this weekend, well below the already low norm for this weekend. Opening at around 2,900 theaters Friday (very close to the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Age of Adaline from Lionsgate/Summit should average $3,600 per theater for the three-day […]

  OPENINGS:  A MADEA FAMILY FUNERAL (Lionsgate) launched at $27.1M, and with the exception of the outliers Madea Goes To Jail ($41M) and A Madea Christmas ($16M), that puts it in the standard $21-30M range of the franchise.  It should be headed for $65M in the US, and that’s the only number that counts, since […]

  OPENINGS:  INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY (Paramount/Lucasfilm/Disney) barely scraped the bottom of weekend expectations with $60M, and that studio estimate assumes an very strong Sunday.  The extremely expensive tentpole–$400M+ in production and worldwide marketing costs–combined an elderly franchise built around an 80-year old star with mediocre reviews following an ill-advised Cannes premiere, […]

  With $345M already in the bank from its giant overseas openings (that includes an all-time opening day record in China), IRON MAN 3 (Disney) turned its metallic gaze to the US last night, and had a huge $15.6M in evening/midnight screenings.  That was a bit below than the $18.7M Thursday night for The Avengers […]

  OPENINGS:  Considering its 17% Saturday drop, GODZILLA (Warners/Legendary) may ease down a bit from its $93.2M weekend estimate when final numbers are released on Monday.  (It’s assuming a 30% Sunday drop, equal to Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s and less than Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘s, even though those 2 movies fell only 6% from their […]