OPENINGS:  The traditional horror movie start of the new year was provided by NIGHT SWIM (Blumhouse-Atomic Planet/Universal), although at $12M it was the lowest such arrival since The Grudge started with $11.4M in 2020.  The final number for that one was $21.2M, and Night Swim probably won’t be much higher.  The international launch was […]

Men in Black 3 increased again this week, to $352 million overseas to date (up solidly from $275 million last week).  Snow White and the Huntsman also grew, up to $84 million overseas (from $39 million last week).  Madagascar 3 enters the chart with $76 million overseas, while the other North American opener this weekend, Prometheus, now stands […]

  Friday’s boxoffice was like The Good, The Bad & The Ugly–except without the “good.” OPENINGS:  All the stunt casting in the world couldn’t make anyone want to see ROCK OF AGES (Warners).  The anemic $5.4M opening day was low even by the standards of Broadway adaptations, and there’s no reason to expect a lift […]

The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between August 27 and September 2 grossed $133 million, fairly close to the same week last year (-2%) but up 7% from the four-year average for the week.  The past six weeks have actually been fairly close to the four-year average box […]

  OPENINGS:  MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL (Disney) had a weak $36M start in the US, down 48% from the $69.4 opening of the first Maleficent 3 years ago.  If Mistress of Evil manages the same multiple as its predecessor, it could reach $125M in the US, but that may be a stretch, because Maleficent opened […]

  OPENINGS:  ZERO DARK THIRTY (Sony) was well ahead of the crowd with $24M, a number slightly depressed (as was almost everything this weekend) by the Sunday combination of NFL playoffs and the Golden Globes.  The $18.8M for A HAUNTED HOUSE (Open Road) didn’t get close to the openings for the Scary Movie franchise (most […]

  Yesterday we looked at some of the ways that the costs of producing a feature film are higher and more complicated than they might seem.  Today, some additional obstacles that lie between any movie and profitability.   These may be the most important and least-understood part of profitability calculations.  Every entity that distributes a […]

  It won’t be #1 for the full weekend, but the story on Saturday was DJANGO UNCHAINED (Weinstein/Sony), which–according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, at least–had its second straight day of splendid growth (+17%) and is challenging THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (Warners/MGM) for the day’s lead with $11.2M.  It appears as though Django will […]