DON’T BREATHE (Screen Gems/Sony) is the 2d horror movie of the late summer, after Lights Out, to benefit from an effectively marketed premise (monsters in the dark and the quiet) and strong reviews.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Breathe is starting even faster than Lights, with a $10.2M opening day (including $1.9M from […]

For the 18 days December 16-January 2, the top 10 films each day in North America have totaled $980 million, now -14% below last year’s record pace and +37% above the average since 2002. Holiday Box Office Volume — Top 10 Films North America $ millions by year $ millions (2002-2015) # days Period 2016 2015 2014 […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is now +11% above last year and now +24% above the average for this point the past four years ($2.082 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have […]

  OPENINGS:  The $21.6M start for THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD (Summit/Lionsgate) was on target for the B-movie, which had a modest 2% Saturday dip.  It also earned $6.6M in early international release.  While it does nothing much to burnish Ryan Reynolds post-Deadpool, Hitman is on track for a modest profit on $90M or so in production/worldwide […]

  OPENINGS:  In the US, DADDY’S HOME 2 (Paramount) eked out a victory among the newcomers at $30M, thanks to a 6% family audience bump on Saturday.  That’s still 22% below the opening for the first Daddy’s Home, and it’s likely that spread will increase greatly through the week, since the original comedy opened on […]

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 -1% below last year and now +11% above the average for this point the past four […]

  OPENINGS:  SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO (Black Label/Columbia/Sony) had a modest $19M start, which was better than the first Sicario‘s $12.1M (in October, after 2 weeks of limited release), but perhaps not by enough to justify the pricetag of opening in the crowded summer marketplace.  (Note that the risk here is Black Label’s, since […]

  The weekend box office race may end up being quite close once matinees come into play, but NIGHT SCHOOL (Perfect World/Universal) took Friday, with preliminary numbers at Deadline putting it at $9.3M for the day (including $1.4M from Thursday night).  That’s below the $13M Friday for Kevin Hart’s Central Intelligence, and $12.9M for Get […]