The midweek boxoffice path of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES has been oddly up and down.  Compared to the trajectory of The Dark Knight, it’s had a worse Monday, a better Tuesday, a worse Wednesday, and now a better Thursday, as Rises took in an additional $13.2M yesterday for a 7-day total of $225M.  Rises […]

  A lot of product made for a decent weekend total, but none of the new films fared particularly well. OPENINGS:  THE EXPENDABLES 2 (Lionsgate) opened 20% behind its predecessor, when sequels usually open bigger (and then run out of steam faster) than the earlier films.  It’s likely to make only $75-80M in the US, and […]

The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between September 17 and September 23 grossed a weak $107 million, down 12% from the four-year average for the week and down a big 24% from the same week last year.  We have to go back to the same week in 2007 […]

This weekend is on track to be the fifth weekend in a row to be up over the previous years.  None of the openers look like big hits — it’s just that Argo is hanging around very well in its third week and there are more films at or near $10 million this weekend than […]

This weekend is solid but definitely cooler than last weekend’s torrid pace:  $180 million for the top 12 films this Friday-Sunday, up 10% from a typical fourth weekend in November.  The final Twilight installment will remain at the top of the chart this weekend, while Skyfall’s third weekend will challenge the family-friendly Rise of the […]

The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between December 10 and December 16 grossed a solid $153 million, up 6% from the four-year average for the week and up 12% from the same week last year.  The past six weeks are still 18% above the four-year average and 24% […]

  They deleted Massacre from its title, but it’s still mowing down the competition. OPENINGS:  Why does Hollywood make ultraviolent movies?  Because they sell tickets.  TEXAS CHAINSAW (Lionsgate) is overperforming its way to a surprisingly strong weekend win, with $10.2M on its first night.  Horror movies are hugely front-loaded, so it’s unlikely to be higher […]

  OPENINGS:  Melissa McCarthy is now a genuine Hollywood player with the enormous debut of IDENTITY THIEF (Universal), beating all pre-release estimates with $36.6M.  (Take that, Rex Reed!)  Apart from Universal, the happiest studio in town is Fox, which has the McCarthy/Sandra Bullock vehicle The Heat coming up in the thick of summer movie season […]