>2012 is underway with one wide release this weekend (and only 2,000 theaters or so at that) and one major expansion.  The Devil Inside should battle Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol for the top spot this weekend.  As a whole, the weekend volume for the top 12 films will be around $102 million, up about […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #4 of 2013 is pretty much a disaster: only $80 million for the top 12 films (20% behind the pace for the same weekend the last few years).   Opening at 3,372 theaters Friday, Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters grossed $6 million Friday and is on track for a $16 million opening […]

  OPENINGS:  THE LOST CITY (Paramount) opened at the high end of expectations at $31M, a particularly solid result these days for a movie that skews both female and older (the latter crowd evident in the 2% Friday-to-Saturday rise).  Lost City faces little challenge in its target demo for the next month, so it could […]

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 -2% below last year and now +12% above the average for this point the past four […]

  The occasional piece of youth-oriented counterprogramming aside, the studios don’t bring out their big guns for Super Bowl Weekend, since Sunday is destined to be deflated.  Even by those standards, though, this is looking like a dim few days. The decision to hold the Coen Brothers’ star-studded HAIL, CAESAR! (Universal) out of 2015 awards […]

> A surprisingly strong start for 2 low-budget arrivals, although the upside is limited by tomorrow’s Super Bowl. OPENINGS:  CHRONICLE (20th) had a slight $350K edge over THE WOMAN IN BLACK (CBS Films) on Friday, and both are in frontloaded genres, appealing to young men and young women, respectively.  Young men are more likely to […]

  GONE GIRL (20th) should easily retain its title in its 2d weekend of release, based on preliminary numbers at Deadline.  Although the Friday race is tight between Gone Girl at $7.1M and the new DRACULA UNTOLD (Legendary/Universal) at $7M, that’s misleading, because in the odd way openings are reported in the post-Dark Knight Returns […]

Team Salem’s slate in the second annual ShowbuzzDaily Summer Movie Draft now stands at $556 million, with a lot of upside left in Amazing Spider-Man, significant business left for Brave, and three movies left to open. Team Weil is now at $228 million, with two very big movies opening the next two weeks (Ice Age: Continental Drift this Friday […]