WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2018 film slates by studio. The studio totals also include 2019 dollars for films released in late 2018. We will continue to track the 2018 slates until late February, when we will switch to tracking the 2019 slates. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Universal is the big gainer again this week, primarily because of continued overseas strength for Jurassic World.  Paramount had the second best week, thanks to Terminator: Genisys.  In contrast, Magic Mike XXL made a small contribution to its studio totals, giving Warner Brothers about the same modest week that Disney had with late overseas returns […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #45 of 2013 looks like $161 million for the top 12 films, not the record we had forecast but still 21% above the recent average for this weekend. Opening at 3,841 theaters Friday, Thor: The Dark World from Disney and Marvel grossed $31.6 million Friday and $31.7 million Saturday, now on […]

  OPENINGS:  PAW PATROL:  THE MIGHTY MOVIE (Nickelodeon/Paramount) launched with $23M, above expectations and an impressive rise over the $13.1M start for the 2021 installment of the franchise.  It also has $23.1M overseas from 45 markets (the 2021 film earned 72% of its global total internationally).  This series is produced at relatively low cost by […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #48 of 2014 looks like $156 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down 14% the norm for Thanksgiving weekend ($180 million) and down 20% from the same weekend last year.  Pretty soft. Opening at 3,764 theaters, Penguins of Madagascar from Fox and DreamWorks Animation is on track for a $25.8 million opening […]

OPENINGS:  THE LONGEST RIDE (20th) tried to counterprogram Furious 7 with a Nicholas Sparks romance, but didn’t even muss the blockbuster’s hair with a $13.5M opening.  That’s better than the lousy $10M start for last year’s Sparks adaptation The Best Of Me, and that’s the sum total of the positives in the context of other […]

  OPENINGS:  DOCTOR STRANGE (Marvel/Disney) did what a Marvel movie is supposed to do.  In the US, its $85M debut was higher than the starts of Captain America and Thor (both $65-66M), and just a hair away from the November opening of Thor 2 ($85.7M), it not quite in a league with the $94.3M for […]

> UPDATE:  The Hollywood Reporter has refreshed its numbers, and a surprise appears to be coming from the most unlikely direction.  Cowboys and Aliens seems to be down a tad, to a $13-13.5M Friday and an underperforming weekend that may not reach $40M–but the shocker is that it could face competition for the weekend’s #1 […]