The 2015 holiday box office continues to shatter records, thanks to Star Wars: The Force Awakens as it plays like a holiday word of mouth hit after opening like a summer blockbuster. For the ten days December 16-25, top 10 films in North America have totaled $600 million, almost double the same period the last few years and more […]

  OPENINGS:  AS ABOVE/SO BELOW (Universal) cost just $5M to produce, but its big-studio marketing campaign will add at least $30M to that, and after a $3.2M Friday, it’s headed for $9.5M by Sunday and $11.5M for the 4-day holiday, which will likely give it $20M at best for its entire US theatrical run.  Those […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #39 of 2013 looks like an okay $98 million for the top 12 films, up 5% from the average for the same weekend the past few years. Opening at 4,001 theaters Friday, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 from Sony grossed $9.3 million Friday and $15.2 million Saturday, now on […]

  OPENINGS:  AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (Marvel/Disney) got the historic opening of its dreams, edging out The Force Awakens with a $250M US weekend, and also becoming the #1 worldwide opening in history with $630M.  That latter number is remarkable not only because it beat The Fate of the Furious by $88.1M, but even more because […]

Weekend #6 of 2016 is looking like $94 million for the top 12 films this weekend, below the norm for this time of year (see comparisons below). Hail, Caesar! from Universal should open with $12.5 million Friday-Sunday. The film is on track for around $41 million domestic in its run. Overseas the film could bring in $32 million, giving it a worldwide box […]

  OPENINGS:  STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS (Paramount) is the first underperformer of the summer, and there will be plenty of harrumphing and speculation about why that is.  With Sunday likely to be much weaker than last weekend’s Mother’s Day, Darkness will be hard-pressed to match in 4 days (plus Wednesday night screenings) the $79.2M that […]

Despite the horrific murders in Aurora, Colorado at the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises, business remained quite strong in the nation’s movie theaters throughout Friday.  The 29th weekend of 2012 is looking like $242 million for the Top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up close to 50% from the multi-year average for this weekend.  Of […]

  Warner Bros and Peter Jackson are very, very lucky that THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG is a significantly better movie than last year’s An Unexpected Journey, which will give it strong word of mouth, because early box office indications are that audiences, burned by Journey, are initially dubious about spending 3 more hours […]