The 9th weekend of 2013 looks like a problem: $96 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down 37% from the same weekend last year.  One movie should open decently, while all the holdovers are wilting.  The last six weeks are down 21% from the same period last year and down 20% from the average […]

      THE AVENGERS:  Simply spectacular.  The 50% drop in Weekend 2 ripped past the $75M record to an amazing $103M.  The level of the weekly decline isn’t unprecedented (Avatar dropped an insane 2%, Shrek 2 33%, the original Spider-Man 38%, Alice In Wonderland and Toy Story 3 46% each), but it’s better than […]

The softness of MEN IN BLACK 3‘s (Sony) appeal noted in Mitch Metcalf’s predictions for this weekend seems to be very real.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, and contrary to much more bullish forecasts elsewhere, MIB3 is heading for a mediocre $18M at the Friday boxoffice.  (By way of comparison, last year The Hangover […]

  NOTE:  This Post Has Been Updated With Actual Studio Estimates Typically Independence Day itself is a relatively quiet day for moviegoing, because audiences have other things to do, and DESPICABLE ME 2 (Universal) fell 29% from Wednesday to a still-big $24.5M.  That was the 7th-highest Thursday box office ever (and the 2d-highest for movies […]

> Now the only question is when they announce the start of  pre-production on LORAX 2. OPENINGS:  It turned out THE LORAX (Universal) wasn’t frontloaded at all.  Quite the contrary, its 80% Saturday bump put the movie through the roof, a triumph of great marketing over cruddy filmmaking.  Lorax is currently the 3d highest March […]

> Deadline has preliminary numbers for Friday, and they suggest BREAKING DAWN PART 1 will continue to narrowly edge out the opening weekend of New Moon in 2009, with a $73.5M Friday (compared to $72.7M for New Moon).  If the number holds, and if Breaking Dawn 1 doesn’t turn out to be more front-loaded than […]

  OPENINGS:  The $114M launch of WICKED (Universal) (which included “fan event” screenings throughout the previous week) set a new high for Broadway musical adaptations, and indeed for live-action musicals in general, while still being slightly behind sky-high expectations.  For those doing the 2023 vs 2024 comparison, it was also about 30% under the opening […]

  THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (Sony) didn’t succeed in outperforming other recent superhero movies in its Saturday matinees, and probably won’t supplant Captain America 2 as the year’s #1 opening to date, but it’s still rolling in money.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Amazing 2 dropped 4-6% on Saturday (by comparison, Captain 2 fell […]