OPENINGS:  INSURGENT (Summit/Lionsgate) had a stronger Saturday hold than Divergent (down 7% instead of 13%), and based on that, Liosgate is also claiming a stronger Sunday hold (down 35% instead of 40%).  That gives Insurgent a $54.1M weekend studio estimate, just a breath away from Divergent‘s $54.6M, although even if those numbers hold up […]

  Melissa McCarthy is a movie star. OPENINGS:  She co-stars with Jason Bateman (who is also a producer of the movie), but there’s no doubt that IDENTITY THIEF (Universal) is being sold on McCarthy’s back, and the movie is off to a great $11.2M opening day.  Frontloading and East Coast weather may hold it back […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is a first look at the 2018 film slates by studio. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is now +9% above last year and now +14% above the average for this point the past four years ($1.330 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed […]

  Friday night numbers for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (Sony) should be considered more preliminary than usual, because the $34-35M figures for the day at Deadline and elsewhere are based on the idea that while Amazing 2 had been tracking for around $30M for most of Friday, it suddenly upticked with Friday night’s shows–but on […]

  OPENINGS:  LONGLEGS (Neon) captured the zeitgeist, successfully delivering the marketing message that it was the scariest horror movie in recent memory.  The result was  a$22.6M weekend, which set a new Neon record by a wide margin, and also marked the year’s highest non-franchise start for the genre.  Production and marketing costs for Longlegs reportedly […]

  OPENINGS:  HAPPY DEATH DAY (Blumhouse/Universal) opened so well at $26.5M that inevitably, despite the fact that it appears to tell a completely closed-end story, talk of a franchise has started.  You can’t blame them:  Death Day isn’t quite at the blockbuster level of Blumhouse’s Split ($40M) or Get Out ($33.4M), but it’s starting better […]

> The past week (seven days ending Sunday) is up 17% versus last year’s comparable week, thanks to a solid second-weekend hold for the 3D resissue of The Lion King and good openings for Moneyball and Dolphin Tale.  Year-to-date box office is now down 3.5% versus last year, the smallest year-to-year margin we’ve seen so far this year.  The Lion […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #47 of 2013 looks like $211 million for the top 12 films — not quite up to the standard of the weekend before Thanksgiving but not an embarrassment.   Opening at 4,163 theaters Friday, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire from Lionsgate/Summit grossed $68.9 million Friday and is on track for a $150.4 million […]