A touch of new blood (so to speak) hit multiplexes with the Thursday night arrival of THE WOMAN IN BLACK 2: ANGEL OF DEATH (Relativity).  Its $1.5M result was fairly high for such a low-budget horror item, but then again few if any movies have had their Thursday night screenings as the only new […]

> The absence of last weekend’s Good Friday holiday is sending week vs. week comparisons downward, but according to Deadline, even with no holiday this time around, THE HUNGER GAMES (Lionsgate/Summit) is headed for its 4th straight weekend win, with a $6.5M Friday that should lead to a $20M weekend.  This ties The Dark Knight […]

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 -2% below last year and now +2% above the average for this point the past four years ($4.838 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $12.9 billion worldwide when we […]

  We’re in the 2-week void between Thanksgiving and the Awakening of the Force, and the low-budget KRAMPUS (Legendary/Universal) is the weekend’s only major studio arrival.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it’s performing a tad beyond expectations with $6.25M on Friday.  Given the quick burn-out for horror movies, that should mean a $13-15M weekend, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio.  Note: We have amended the summary categories somewhat this year with the top category now reserved for films over $500 million worldwide and the lower category for films under $150 million worldwide.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2016 to date […]

  Once again, Gone Girl was vanquished for a day by a horror movie, but will almost certainly rebound to take the weekend. OPENINGS:  DRACULA UNTOLD (Legendary/Universal) gets the partnership between Universal and its new co-producer/financier Legendary (which for years was parked at Warners) off to a solid start.  Dracula‘s Friday results were underreported in […]

  OPENINGS:  According to published reports, Emma Watson’s deal on BEAUTY & THE BEAST (Disney) starts at a $3M base, but rises to $15M if the film reaches around $750M worldwide.  It seems like Watson can safely buy any Lamborghini that’s caught her eye, because Beauty is a global blockbuster.  In the US, Disney’s $170M […]

> X-Men: First Class opens in first place but below expectations.  Weekend on pace to be up 24% over last year’s comparable weekend.X-Men: First Class opened with $20 million on Friday, and it looks like the prequel will gross about $53 million from Friday-Sunday.  The film is headed for $160 million in North America when […]