Seth MacFarlane’s moment, it seems, has passed.  The three years that followed the triumphant opening of the original Ted included his missteps as Oscars host and as live action star of A Million Ways to Die In the West, and it seems to have taken its toll on TED 2 (MRC/Universal), which according to […]

  MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION (Skydance/China Film Channel/Alibaba/Paramount) set its sights at a $50M opening weekend in the US (you could tell because the studio claimed the target was in the $40Ms), and it seems likely to get there.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline give the 5th entry in the franchise a $20M opening day (incuding […]

Weekend #37 of 2015 is looking like $65 million for the top 12 films this weekend, below the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). The Visit from Universal should open with a $16.5 million opening weekend. Mediocre reviews so far: 53% positive at RottenTomatoes. The Visit is on track for around $44 million domestic. Overseas the film could bring in $50 […]

  After several painful weekends burdened by one high-profile flop after another, Hollywood was bailed out by two of its most venerable franchises. SPECTRE (MGM/Columbia/Sony) will be, based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, the 2d biggest opener of the Bond series.  Its $28.1M first day (which includes $5.25M from Thursday night) puts it behind only […]

For the 13 days December 16-28, top 10 films in North America have totaled $831 million, now +71% ahead of the same period last year, +83% above the average since 2002, and +44% ahead of the previous record for this period (2009, the year of Avatar).  Each of the comparisons are down five to ten percentage […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio, with Fox continuing to the lap the field.  We have amended the summary categories somewhat this year with the top category now reserved for films over $500 million worldwide and the lower category for films under $150 million worldwide.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2016 to date is now -2% below last year and still +1% above the average for this point the past four years ($4.577 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $12.2 billion worldwide when we […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2016 to date is still +3% above last year and now +5% above the average for this point the past four years ($6.592 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $17.3 billion worldwide when we […]