> Let the summer begin!  The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean will open all by itself with close to $95 million this weekend. Opening at over 4,000 theaters, Pirates 4 should average a killer $23,500 per theater (for $94 million total).  On Stranger Tides is the most coolly-received movie in the franchise by critics (read […]

  OPENINGS:  While DUNGEONS & DRAGONS:  HONOR AMONG THIEVES (eOne/Paramount) launched at the upper end of expectations, $38.5M (which included an unusually intense program of preview screenings) was a shaky start for a project with $250M in production/marketing costs and the hope to become a franchise.  It will need to hold up extremely well over the next several […]

> Three Muppets at a Rehearsal Thanksgiving weekend brings three well-reviewed family/ holiday entries and a mild expansion for a comedic-drama with Oscar hopes.  Total box office volume should be around $161 million for the three-day portion of the weekend, down about 6% from the same weekend last year when Tangled and Burlesque opened and […]

  OPENINGS:  Hiyao Miyazaki’s THE BOY AND THE HERON (GKids) exceeded expectations and set a high-water mark for its filmmaker and for non-franchise Japanese animation with a $12.8M launch.  The film will lose its Imax screens next week and faces challenges from other family-oriented films, but if word of mouth is strong and it can […]

    So much for front-loading. The preliminary Saturday number for THE AVENGERS (Disney), as reported by Deadline, is genuinely extraordinary.  If it holds up, Avengers will have one of the best 2d day holds of a mega-opening film in history, and be well on its way to the best opening weekend ever.  The current […]

  OPENINGS:  TRANSFORMERS ONE (Hasbro/Paramount) underdelivered vs projections by about 20%, and its dim $25M start didn’t even give it the weekend’s #1 ranking at the box office.  Paramount was taking a calculated risk by rebooting the franchise via PG-rated animation, and it doesn’t seem to have worked out.  It faces direct competition next weekend […]

> Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol remains at the top of the box office, and the other sequels (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked) are just behind.  After that, the non-sequels are finding it tough to break out.  Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has the best chance of breaking […]

>The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean opens just below forecast, although not quite at the higher end of expectations that Disney was rooting for.  Bridesmaids has a very good second weekend Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides should open with $92 million this weekend and is on a pace to finish with $260 million […]