OPENINGS:  Jordan Peele’s NOPE (Universal) premiered on the lower end of expectations at $44M.  That’s a significant number for a project that isn’t based on preexisting IP, but down 38% from Peele’s US, and Nope reportedly cost about $40-50M more than US to produce.  Add the fact that Peele’s films haven’t performed particularly well […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #5 of 2013 is another weak one: only $69 million for the top 12 films (over 30% behind the pace for the same weekend the last few years).   Opening at 3,009 theaters Friday, Warm Bodies from Summit grossed $7.6 million Friday and is on track for a $20 million opening weekend […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 films by studio.  We will begin tracking the 2017 slate in a few weeks.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is now +8% above last year and now +12% above the average for this point the past four years ($0.858 billion). […]

Weekend #45 is on pace to exceed the multi-year average for this weekend by well over 20%.  Skyfall matched our bullish ShowbuzzDaily forecast and is on track to be the best-opening and best-grossing Bond film ever.   Wreck-It Ralph, Flight and even Argo continue to do solid business, rounding out the current slate of films […]

  OPENINGS:  As we forecast on Friday night, X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (TSG/20th) isn’t just running lower than 2014’s Days of Future Past, it’s also been more frontloaded.  20th is projecting a $65M 3-day weekend and $80M over 4 days, but Apocalypse dropped 23% from Friday to Saturday, compared to 18% for Future Past, and Apocalypse‘s Saturday […]

  Most films will rise this weekend compared to last week, simply because New Year’s Eve is a bigger moviegoing occasion than Christmas Eve.  Generally, box office should rise 20% or so on Saturday, drop around 30% on Sunday, then jump 30-40% on New Year’s Day.  The first two weekends of 2018 should feature relatively […]

> Deadline has early Saturday and weekend estimates, but they don’t clarify much.  As of right now, the claim is that COWBOYS AND ALIENS is at $26.2M for Friday/Saturday, with THE SMURFS at $25.9M.  If those numbers hold, logic would say that Smurfs should have the upper hand with its family Sunday matinee audience, but […]

Pixar’s Brave has a modest $13.5 million overseas to date, obviously with a big international potential as it rolls out around the world.  Pixar films generally have a healthy multiple over the domestic gross, which we are projecting to be $219 million based on the opening weekend.  An overseas target of $320 million seems reasonable […]