Updated international box office chart:

  OPENINGS:  At $21.4M, PRISONERS (Warners) is exactly where the studio hoped it would be, at the sweet spot that propelled The Town to a $92M total (and Argo, with its Oscar help, to $136M).  The question now is whether it can hold on to its momentum against newcomers like Gravity, Captain Phillips, The Fifth Estate […]

The 43rd weekend of the year is looking like $104 million for the top 12 films, 22% from the multi-year average for this weekend.  And on its fourth weekend, Gravity will be knocked out of the top spot by…..Johnny Knoxville?  That’s what it looks like. Opening at over 3,000 theaters Friday (slightly above the 2,886 […]

The 48th weekend of the year is looking like $164 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well below the normal pace for a normal Thanksgiving weekend. Opening at 3,742 theaters Wednesday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Frozen (3D) from Disney should average $12,200 per theater for the weekend […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #51 of 2013 now looks like $137 million for the top 12 films from Friday-Sunday, up substantially from the same weekend last year (see comparisons to previous years at the bottom).   Opening at 3,507 theaters Wednesday, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues from Paramount grossed $13.2 million before Friday ($8.1 Wednesday […]

  So much for tracking.  Defying all expectations, LONE SURVIVOR (Universal) is romping with what might be called the Duck Dynasty audience that goes underreported in pre-opening surveys, and according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its Friday may be as high as $14M, which could give it a $35M+ weekend.  Peter Berg’s film only cost […]

  No one expected 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE (Warners/Legendary) to equal the giant start of its predecessor, after 7 years and with most of the cast gone–and it won’t.  But based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, the spin-off is launching well, with a $17M Friday (which includes $3.3M from Thursday night) that should mean […]

  CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (Disney) is as big as expected, and maybe even a little bigger.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have it at up to $38M on Friday (that includes $10.2M from Thursday night), putting it close to 20% higher than the $31.9M opening day for Thor: The Dark World, which wound up […]