WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Universal remains #1 by far and the only studio to show significant growth thanks to the Furious 7 juggernaut overseas.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +3% above last year and +7% above the average for this point the past four years ($2.639 billion). […]

Weekend #23 of 2012 looks like it will total about $174 million for the top 12 films, up 32% from last year’s comparable weekend and up 19% from the four-year average for the weekend.  A pair of decently-reviewed openers aimed at very different audiences should both put some life back in the box office after […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #10 of 2014 now looks like $131 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, slightly ahead of the the average for this weekend the past few years. Opening at 3,470 theaters Friday, 300: Rise of an Empire from Warner Brothers grossed $17.6 million Friday and $16.2 million Saturday, putting the film […]

  MALEFICENT (Disney) performed as well as its Thursday night start suggested it might, at the high-end of expectations according to preliminary Friday numbers at Deadline and elsewhere.  The revisionist fairy tale surged to $24-25M on Friday (that includes the $4.1M from Thursday night), and should be headed for a weekend well north of $70M, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is still down -1% from last year and now +2% above the average for this point the past four years ($9.518 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed […]

  OPENINGS:  Although unquestionably huge, and sure to be enormously profitable against roughly $250M in production/marketing costs, DEADPOOL 2 (20th) opened on the low end of expectations, about 5% below the first Deadpool at $125M.  The sequel has the very reasonable explanation that its forebear had the advantage of a Sunday that was part of […]

Looking at wide-release films in North America (those that play on at least 400 screens at some point), 2013 now totals just over $2.9 billion, down 13% from 2012 and down 6% from the prior four-year average 2009-2012.  Each year-to-date period below is defined as the first Monday after New Year’s Day through the most […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #1 of 2015 looks like $140 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up from the norm for this weekend and up somewhat from the same weekend last year.   Opening at 2,602 theaters Friday, The Woman in Black 2 from Relativity is on track for a $16.0 million opening three-day weekend (above […]