> Happy Voice/Smash Bowl, everyone!  (And go Giants!!!) OPENINGS:  CHRONICLE (20th) is claiming bragging rights for the weekend over THE WOMAN IN BLACK (CBS) by $1M.  But both films are assuming almost identical Super Bowl Sunday drops (69% and 67%, respectively), so the win will depend on whether one or the other faces more audience […]

> Yep, that happened. OPENINGS:  THE HUNGER GAMES (Lionsgate/Summit) was as massive as predicted, with a $68.3M opening day that was the 5th largest in movie history, behind only the final Harry Potter and the last 3 Twilights, and slightly ahead of The Dark Knight.  The question, of course, is what happens today.  The Friday […]

Warners is claiming that Sucker Punch cost around $80M, which given the scale of the film suggests either admirable cost-effectiveness or a lowball number–in any case, word of mouth is likely to be terrible (see my review, not to mention that its overall Rotten Tomatoes number is at 20%), so it’s doubtful to get past […]

Pixar’s Brave has a modest $13.5 million overseas to date, obviously with a big international potential as it rolls out around the world.  Pixar films generally have a healthy multiple over the domestic gross, which we are projecting to be $219 million based on the opening weekend.  An overseas target of $320 million seems reasonable […]

  Both Warner Bros and the Rentrak organization, which formally reports boxoffice receipts for the studios, have chosen not to announce grosses for this weekend, out of respect for the terrible events that occurred in Colorado on Thursday night (and possibly to avoid any sense that the studios are reaping profits at such a difficult […]

  The 41% Weekend 3 drop for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Warners) is a bit better than Dark Knight‘s parallel 43% decline, but in actual numbers, Dark Knight‘s 3d weekend is $6.3M ahead ($42.7M vs $36.4M), and the $39M gap that separates them probably can’t be bridged. Internationally, though, Rises is at $378M in only […]

  OPENINGS:  Everything stayed pretty much as is after Monday’s estimates were released.  THE POSSESSION (Lionsgate) has the #2 Labor Day 4-day opening weekend with $21.3M.  LAWLESS (Weinstein Company) is trying to stay ahead of last year’s The Debt, and is currently claiming to be $148,400 in front over 4 days–we’ll find out tomorrow if that’s […]

Hotel Transylvania joins the worldwide chart at #14 (among films released the past four months), and it will probably move up to 8th place as the overseas receipts come in. Compared to last week, Resident Evil: Retribution and Ted were the big gainers overseas (up $34 million and $26 million since last week, respectively).