The 20th weekend of the year is looking like $158 million for the top 12 films, a little better than average for this weekend over the past few years but much better than the same weekend last year, which featured the opening of the one of the greatest clunkers/ punchlines/ punching bags ever: Battleship from […]

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 […]

Updated international box office chart.

  Mothers Day made for a happy holiday at the multiplex. OPENINGS:  The Marketing department did its job extremely well, and THE GREAT GATSBY (Warners) overperformed to the tune of $51.1M for the weekend.  However, the 9% Saturday drop suggests the film may not hold up so well in the long-term.  The first sign will […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #19 of 2013 looks like $152 million for the top 12 films, about the same as the $151 million estimate yesterday.  Iron Man 3 picked up the pace with a very strong second Saturday (moving from an estimated $67.4 million second weekend yesterday to $72.5 million today), while […]

    OPENINGS:  THE GREAT GATSBY (Warners) opened about as well as Warners could have hoped with a $19.8M Friday (including Thursday night).  Mothers Day is traditionally a big ticketselling day, especially for female-skewing films, and that should cushion the weekend to perhaps $55M despite bad reviews and unimpressive exit poll results, although there’s still […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #19 of 2013 looks like $151 million for the top 12 films, below the same weekend last year but above the four-year average for the weekend.  Iron Man 3 remains #1 in its second weekend, but it is on pace for a 61% decline from its opening (compared to a […]

  THE GREAT GATSBY (Warners) kicked off its run with a strong $3.3M from Thursday night shows.  That’s nowhere near superhero- or teen-vampire-movie levels, but it’s better than the $3M for Sex and the City 2, the last big opening skewed toward an older female audience (with pre-screening parties scheduled for many theaters here as […]