OPENINGS:  In what Hollywood hopes will be the last weekend of drought for a while, the TV episodes packaged as DEMON SLAYER:  KIMETSU NO YAIBA – TO THE HASHIRA TRAINING (Crunchyroll/Sony) led the newcomers with $11.6M, a bit better than the $10.1M for last year’s Demon Slayer episodes.  In addition, the film earned $13.7M […]

>Weekend #17 of 2012 looks like it will be about $112 million for the top 12 films, down 23% from last year’s comparable weekend (when Fast Five exploded with an $86 million opening weekend) and down 17% from the four-year average for this weekend.  A lack of compelling new product should make this weekend the […]

  OPENINGS:  THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER (Lionsgate) is claiming “victory” among the newcomers, but its reported $11.1M comes with a huge asterisk, as $2.1M of that total was from a preview day the previous week.  Strictly on a weekend vs weekend basis, it wasn’t close to the win.  It’s also estimating the smallest Sunday […]

>THERE IS A GOD!  Adam Sandler’s latest movie in which he plays a brother and a sister will not be the #1 movie of the weekend.  While not a flop, it failed to open to the $30-35 million his fans usually pony up.  Best of all, the film will not come close to the $100 […]

    Be extra-nice to anyone you know at Universal today. OPENINGS:  BATTLESHIP (Universal) is lucky John Carter exists, because the studio can spin the numbers (Carter cost a little more, Battleship is doing a little better overseas) to obscure the fact that its movie, with a domestic opening of $25.3M ($5M less than Carter‘s) […]

>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), Paranormal Activity 3 is now looking like a $54 million opening weekend, almost matching the last big opening ($54.8 for Rise of the Planet of the Apes on August 5) and blowing past the $41 million opening for Paranormal Activity 2 this week last year.  […]

>Now 14 full weeks into 2012, year-to-date domestic box office is still running 27% ahead of last year’s dreadful pace, and the year-to-date total is still fully 15% ahead of the comparable period’s average for the last several years.   Updated final domestic gross estimates are available below for recent releases, with The Hunger Games now […]

> The past week (seven days ending Sunday) came in down 2% versus last year’s comparable week (the first down week after five up weeks in a row).  Year-to-date box office is now down 3.9% versus last year.  The Help was the lone bright spot this weekend, down only 23% from its opening weekend and managing to […]