OPENINGS:  Hiyao Miyazaki’s THE BOY AND THE HERON (GKids) exceeded expectations and set a high-water mark for its filmmaker and for non-franchise Japanese animation with a $12.8M launch.  The film will lose its Imax screens next week and faces challenges from other family-oriented films, but if word of mouth is strong and it can […]

    So much for front-loading. The preliminary Saturday number for THE AVENGERS (Disney), as reported by Deadline, is genuinely extraordinary.  If it holds up, Avengers will have one of the best 2d day holds of a mega-opening film in history, and be well on its way to the best opening weekend ever.  The current […]

  OPENINGS:  TRANSFORMERS ONE (Hasbro/Paramount) underdelivered vs projections by about 20%, and its dim $25M start didn’t even give it the weekend’s #1 ranking at the box office.  Paramount was taking a calculated risk by rebooting the franchise via PG-rated animation, and it doesn’t seem to have worked out.  It faces direct competition next weekend […]

> Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol remains at the top of the box office, and the other sequels (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked) are just behind.  After that, the non-sequels are finding it tough to break out.  Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has the best chance of breaking […]

>The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean opens just below forecast, although not quite at the higher end of expectations that Disney was rooting for.  Bridesmaids has a very good second weekend Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides should open with $92 million this weekend and is on a pace to finish with $260 million […]

>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), the box office slump continues.  Only $70 million in volume for the top 12 films, down from the $82-87 million range the last three years for the comparable weekend.  The #1 movie, New Year’s Eve, collected less than $14 million in its opening weekend, […]

>Fast Five is even stronger after a strong Saturday.  Biggest April opening ever pushes the weekend to 55% above last year’s comparable weekend. The ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Final estimates now show that Fast Five should finish its run with $183 million, ahead of Rio, which is headed for $149 million.  The other openers are DOA, with […]

>The past week (seven days ending Sunday) is up 5% versus last year’s comparable week.  Year-to-date box office is now down 3.2% versus last year, the smallest year-to-year margin we’ve seen so far this year.        The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between October 3 and October 9 grossed an okay $116 million, up 5% versus the same week in 2010 but […]