Preliminary numbers at Deadline give PRISONERS (Warners) an easy win on Friday and almost certainly for the weekend, with a $7.5M opening day that should mean $20-22M by Sunday.  Warners is following the Argo playbook with Prisoners, with acclaimed Telluride and Toronto Film Festival screenings followed by a quick wide release, and so far […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2018 film slates by studio. The studio totals also include 2018 dollars for films released in late 2017. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is now +10% above last year and now +21% above the average for this point the […]

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 […]

  OPENINGS:  BULLET TRAIN (Columbia/Sony) opened in line with general predictions at $30.1M, but that’s not the same as a good result.  The film carries around $175M in production/marketing costs, and faces a long track to profitability.  Nor does it appear to be showing particular strength internationally, despite Brad Pitt’s star power and the international […]

  OPENINGS:  There were no new wide openings on this pre-holiday season weekend in the US, but things were busier overseas.  AQUAMAN (DC/Warners), which won’t arrive in the US until December 21, launched in China with a huge $93.6M, the best start for any Warner Bros film in that country, and almost as much as […]

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 […]

  OPENINGS:  As we had forecast on Friday night, the margin of victory for the weekend box office was razor-thin, and we won’t really know who won until final numbers are released tomorrow.  For now, HIDDEN FIGURES (20th) is $172K below Rogue One at $21.8M, but Disney’s Rogue One projection relies on a speculatively strong […]

  Are Americans tired of superhero movies?  There were whispers to that effect after The Avengers: Age of Ultron underperformed a bit and Fantastic Four outright flopped last year, but clearly the answer is Hell, No.  DEADPOOL (Marvel/20th) puts a new R-rated satiric spin on the genre (very carefully:  its jokes are aimed at Fox’s […]