The three weeks around Christmas (December 16-January 5) and especially the nine days including both the Christmas and New Year’s Day holiday (December 25-January 2) represent an enormous box office opportunity each year.  Over the last eight years, the December 16-January 5 period has averaged $717 million for the top 10 films, while the heart […]

  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, ZERO DARK THIRTY (Sony) didn’t have a tremendous Saturday bump at the boxoffice, just about 5%, but it was still far and away the biggest picture of the weekend, with an estimated $24.5M that should propel it through the next several weeks of Oscar season. The weekend’s shocker […]

Based on Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #7 of 2013 is looking a touch better than yesterday: now $126 million for the top 12 films during the traditional Friday-Sunday period of this holiday weekend (only 2% behind the pace for the same weekend the last few years).         A Good Day to Die Hard from […]

Oz the Great and Powerful had a very good week overseas, up $67 million to $137 million foreign to date and almost $400 million total projected worldwide.  It should approach $600 million worldwide, ending up at around #5 on our chart. The other significant gainer this past week was A Good Day to Die Hard, up $23 […]

  OPENINGS:  42 (Warners) had no trouble taking the weekend with an estimated $27.3M.  With very limited overseas appeal, the picture isn’t likely to be a huge moneymaker (production and marketing costs will reach at least $100M worldwide, and it probably won’t make that much in US theatres alone), but even a small amount of […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #19 of 2013 looks like $151 million for the top 12 films, below the same weekend last year but above the four-year average for the weekend.  Iron Man 3 remains #1 in its second weekend, but it is on pace for a 61% decline from its opening (compared to a […]

  OPENINGS:  NOW YOU SEE ME (Summit/Lionsgate) had a fine $28.1M opening weekend considering its moderate cost ($75M plus marketing, but with 2/3 of that covered by foreign pre-sales), and with little competition coming next week, it could have a solid hold–plus it’s exactly the kind of light entertainment that thrives on home viewing platforms.  […]

STUDIO SCORECARD. No change in the year-to-date studio rankings this week, the midpoint of the year. 20th Century Fox was up $133 million from last week mainly thanks to the domestic release of The Heat. Warner Brothers had a similar $129 million weekly gain, mostly because of international gains by Man of Steel.  Disney and Paramount were […]