Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #34 of 2015 looks like $93 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, somewhat above the norm for this weekend (thanks mostly to Straight Outta Compton and definitely not the three openers) but below the same weekend last year (see track below). Opening at 2,766 theaters Friday, Sinister 2 from Focus/Universal is on track […]

  OPENINGS:  David Cronenberg is a venerated filmmaker, but not a source of many box office hits:  in a career that spans more than 4 decades, his highest-grossing film in the US is still 1986’s The Fly at $40.5M (a little over $100M adjusted for inflation).  That won’t change with his brooding and frequently grotesque […]

  The tricks arrived early and the treats were nonexistent on a bleak pre-Halloween weekend. Let the second-guessing begin on STEVE JOBS (Legendary/Universal).  Last week’s limited expansion suggested softness as the awards hopeful widened beyond NY/LA, and national release has crumbled its box office hopes entirely.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have Steve Jobs at $2.5M […]

  OPENINGS:  GODZILLA VS KONG (Warners, also on HBO Max) had the biggest US theatrical debut since the onset of pandemic closings with $48.5M over 5 days ($32.2M for the 3-day weekend).  It will clearly roar past Tenet‘s $57.9M to become the highest-grossing title in over a year, and could pass $100M in the US.  […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #7 of 2015 looks like a terrific $196 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well above the norms for this weekend and even better than it looked yesterday ($188 million estimate based on Friday’s grosses).   Opening at 3,646 theaters Friday, Fifty Shades of Grey from Focus/ Universal is on […]

>The weekend studio estimates (based on Friday and Saturday actuals and projections for Sunday) are coming in about the same as the weekend numbers posted yesterday (based on Friday actuals only).  The box office volume for the top 12 films is now looking like $146 million for the weekend, up 28% from last year’s weekend […]

  Although still down steeply from Fifty Shades of Grey, FIFTY SHADES FREED (Perfect World/Universal) is opening on par with the initial sequel Fifty Shades Darker.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Freed earned $18.4M on its first day (including $5.6M from Thursday night), down 14% from Darker, which could translate into a $40M weekend, […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #47 of 2014 now looks like $187 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down from yesterday’s estimate ($194 million) and now basically even with the norm for this weekend ($186 million) and down a sizable -14% from the same weekend last year. Opening at 4,151 theaters, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay […]