OPENINGS:  INSIDIOUS CHAPTER 2 (FilmDistrict) had the year’s biggest horror start with $20.1M (including $1.5M from Thursday night).  That compares to $17M for The Conjuring, the year’s biggest hit in the genre (and also from director James Wan).  Insidious 2, though, is likely to be much more front-loaded, given its fairly lousy reviews and Friday the […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #37 of 2013 looks like a very good $97 million for the top 12 films, up 18% from the average for the same weekend the past few years. Opening at 3,049 theaters Friday, Insidious Chapter 2 from FilmDistrict grossed $20.1 million Friday and is on track for a $42.3 million opening weekend (above the […]

The 37th weekend of the year is looking like $81 million for the top 12 films, very close to the multi-year average for this weekend. Opening at around 2,900 theaters Friday (just above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Insidious Chapter 2 from FilmDistrict and director James Wan should average $11,300 per theater for […]

STUDIO SCORECARD. In the worldwide studio rankings for 2013 to date, Warner Brothers has moved back ahead of Universal in a very tight race for second place. Reminder: the chart below has been reformatted and expanded to include a look at all releases from each studio, divided into three buckets: worldwide grosses of over $300 […]

Updated international box office chart:  

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #36 of 2013 now looks like $67 million for the top 12 films, a few million dollars better than yesterday’s estimate and now up slightly from the average post-Labor Day weekends the past few years. Opening at 3,107 theaters Friday, Riddick from Universal grossed $7.3 million Friday and a […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #36 of 2013 looks like a very average $62 million for the top 12 films, down 5% from the average post-Labor Day weekends the past few years. Riddick and The Butler did not hit our more aggressive forecasts, although the other films were close to our projections. Opening at 3,107 […]

The 36th weekend of the year (usually the lowest-grossing weekend of the year) is looking like $73 million for the top 12 films, actually above the four-year average for this weekend ($65 million) and way above last year’s stuning bad $52 million on this weekend.  Nothing to get excited about, but not the black hole it could be.  A […]