Even bigger than Gaston after five dozen eggs, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Disney) is coming in at the highest level of projections, and may be poised for the largest pre-May weekend in history.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have opening day at $65.3M (including $16.3M from Thursday night), and while that’s below the $81.6M first day […]

>The weekend studio estimates (based on Friday and Saturday actuals and projections for Sunday) are coming in slightly stronger than the weekend numbers posted yesterday (based on Friday actuals only).  The box office volume for the top 12 films is now looking like a very good $145 million for the weekend, up 11% from last […]

  OPENINGS:  None, really, although you could stretch and include THE PYRAMID (20th), an ultra-low budget, barely-marketed “found-footage” horror item that opened at just 589 theatres.  It made $458K on Friday, and probably won’t get much past $1M for the weekend, not enough to pay even for its very limited costs. HOLDOVERS:  Instead, for the […]

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 still +3% above the average for this point the past four years ($9.143 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $24.0 billion worldwide when we […]

  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, ZERO DARK THIRTY (Sony) didn’t have a tremendous Saturday bump at the boxoffice, just about 5%, but it was still far and away the biggest picture of the weekend, with an estimated $24.5M that should propel it through the next several weeks of Oscar season. The weekend’s shocker […]

This weekend is looking like it will be about 12% below the comparable weekend the last few years (about $106 million for the top 12 films).  Wreck-It-Ralph should play well to the family crowd, while Flight will be a moderate success at best, and Man with the Iron Fists is destined for an early exit […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  The release of Neighbors has pushed Universal out of the Paramount and Lionsgate/Summit pack to 5th place among Hollywood studios year to date in worldwide box office (with just under $800 million).  Sony sits at #1 with close to $1.3 billion worldwide in 2014 to date, with Amazing Spider-Man 2 still producing significant overseas revenue. […]

  OPENINGS:  While not an outright flop like The Lone Ranger, Pacific Rim, RIPD, et. al (particularly since it cost less to produce than any of those), THE WOLVERINE (20th) is underperforming in a big way.  Its estimated $21M Thursday night/Friday is the lowest start for any X-Men branded movie since the original 13 years […]