THE FAULT IN OUR STARS (20th) ran away with Friday’s box office, demonstrating the hunger out there for movies that aren’t centered on special effects extravaganzas.  Based on preliminary numbers at Deadline and elsewhere, Fault took in a huge $23.5-25M for the day (including $8.2M from Thursday night), and even if it plummets on […]

  Halloween is a terrifying holiday for studios and theatre owners, because the young adult audience that both count on have better things to do that night–and it’s particularly bad when the holiday falls on a Friday, interfering with new openings.  As a result, hardly anyone dared premiere a new movie this weekend.  That turned […]

  After last weekend’s misfired The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, THE GRINCH (Illumination/Universal) is kicking off the family holiday movie season in a bigger way.  Early numbers at Deadline have opening day at $18.3M (including $2.2M from Thursday night), which should mean a $64M weekend, plus more on Monday, since many schools are closed […]

  OPENINGS:  The first Sonic the Hedgehog had the final pre-pandemic smash opening in 2020 before theaters started to close, with $58M for its 3-day weekend ($70M for the full Presidents Day holiday).  Now SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 (Paramount) has gotten off to an even bigger start with $71M for 3 days.  Although the success […]

Weekend #25 of 2012 looks like another disappointment: a soft $150 million for the top 12 films, down 12% from last year’s comparable weekend and down 14% from the four-year average for the weekend.  Pixar’s Brave should open well, but the other two openers will struggle to find any audience and there certainly won’t be […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +5% above last year and still +3% above the average for this point the past four years ($7.878 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost $21.1 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]

  OPENINGS:  A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE (Paramount) handily exceeded expectations with $53M in the US, better than its predecessors ($50.2M and $47.5M respectively, although Part II earned $57.1M over its 4-day holiday launch).  It was particularly impressive because Day One featured a different cast and creative team for the most part, suggesting that A […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #38 of 2014 now looks like $93 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, 8% above the norm for this weekend ($86 million) and up a bit from yesterday’s estimate ($91 million). Opening at 3,604 theaters, The Maze Runner from 20th Century Fox grossed $11.3 million Friday and […]