PAIN & GAIN (Paramount) may take the last weekend before the summer movie season starts, but based on the preliminary numbers at Deadline, it’s not going to win very impressively, with a $7M Thursday night/Friday that should give it a $17-19M weekend, right where Mitch Metcalf’s weekend predictions had put it.  Pain was shot on […]

  IRON MAN 3 (Disney) added some territories to its overseas footprint on Thursday, and had a huge $23.3M day, giving it a total of $36.5M in just 2 weekdays, with many more territories to open today.  It’s been pulling ahead of Iron Man 2 in many markets, and opening not far behind The Avengers, […]

  You might think we’re still a week away from the beginning of the summer movie season, but if you were overseas, you’d be wrong.  IRON MAN 3 (Disney) has already started its run in a dozen foreign territories, and by this weekend will be playing in 80% of the world (with China, as well […]

The two openers this weekend will be forgotten in several days or weeks, while Oblivion has a good chance of staying at #1 in its second weekend and 42 will be the other holdover still above the significant $10 million weekend mark.  But that’s about it for the box office.  The top 12 films this […]

Looking at wide-release films in North America (those that play on at least 400 screens at some point), 2013 now totals $2.37 billion, down 15% from 2012 and down 8% 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 recent Sunday. […]

  In an entertainment universe changing with bewildering speed, two stories today spoke to the difficulties and opportunities of old and new media.  First, let’s take a look at what’s happening to the traditional mode of seeing movies in theaters Big-budget adventure-adventure spectacles have long been the bread and butter of the Hollywood studios, and […]

Updated International Box Office Chart:

  OPENINGS:  OBLIVION (Universal) had a solid $38.2M start (although the studio is estimating the lowest Sunday drop in the Top 10, so that number may come down tomorrow), with a 12% Saturday bump.  The less good news is that overseas, which holds the key to the film’s success, business was down to $33.7M after […]