OPENINGS:  TAKEN 3 (Europa/20th) had a very decent 5% Saturday bump (so much for the movie’s quality affecting word of mouth), and is currently claiming a $40.4M weekend, which would make it the #2 January opening ever, right behind last year’s Ride Along at $41.5M.  In addition, Taken 3 earned another $40.1M in just […]

  OPENINGS:  It was only 20 years into their career, with 2007’s No Country For Old Men ($74.3M in the US) that Joel and Ethan Coen began to be considered box office forces, and even after that, only True Grit (their biggest hit at $171.2M) even matched No Country.  All of which is by way […]

  After a moratorium on official boxoffice pronouncements due to the tragic events in Colorado, Warners has officially released the weekend boxoffice figure for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES:  $160.9M.  This is where the unofficial weekend estimates had the picture, although it’s 10-20% below the pre-release expectations for the film.  That was also largely the case […]

  OPENINGS:  History seems to be repeating itself for filmmaker Kelly Fremon Craig, whose extremely well-reviewed ARE YOU THERE GOD?  IT’S ME, MARGARET (Lionsgate) opened with a soft $6.8M (and that studio estimate assumes an unusually strong Sunday).  That’s very similar to Craig’s also critically-praised 2016 The Edge of Seventeen, which had a $4.9M opening […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #47 of 2013 looks like $211 million for the top 12 films — not quite up to the standard of the weekend before Thanksgiving but not an embarrassment.   Opening at 4,163 theaters Friday, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire from Lionsgate/Summit grossed $68.9 million Friday and is on track for a $150.4 million […]

Weekend #2 of 2015 is looking like $118 million for the top 12 films this weekend, very close to the norm for this weekend and down slightly from the same weekend last year. Opening at 3,500 theaters Friday (above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Taken 3 from Fox should average a decent $8,700 per […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2019 film slates by studio. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2019 is now -19% below last year’s comparable span (2 points better than last week) and now -14% below the average for this point the past four years ($2.114 billion).  Over the same […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2018 film slates by studio. The studio totals also include 2018 dollars for films released in late 2017. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is now +7% above last year and still +12% above the average for this point […]