OPENINGS:  GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (Columbia/Sony) opened with $44M, which was $2M below the launch of the 2016 Ghostbusters, a result treated as such a disaster that the franchise had to be re-rebooted.  Afterlife, though, is considered a success, thanks to a lower production budget ($75M, moderate for a tentpole), pandemic box office standards, and the […]

  OPENINGS:  Jordan Peele’s NOPE (Universal) premiered on the lower end of expectations at $44M.  That’s a significant number for a project that isn’t based on preexisting IP, but down 38% from Peele’s US, and Nope reportedly cost about $40-50M more than US to produce.  Add the fact that Peele’s films haven’t performed particularly well […]

> Box office momentum continues this weekend with one strong new entry and several solid holdovers.  We expect another weekend tally above the same weekend in 2010. Opening at about 3,400 theaters, X-Men: First Class should average a very strong $20,800 per theater (for $71 million this weekend).  Critical reviews for this prequel have been […]

  OPENINGS:  EVIL DEAD RISE (Warners) modestly exceeded expectations with $23.5M, although that was still below the franchise’s last reboot in 2013 at $25.8M (which only reached a $54.2M total in the US and didn’t spawn a sequel).  Horror has become the most dependable genre in Hollywood, and Evil Dead Rise is the only one […]

>After three very rough weekends, this weekend should be very solid at the box office.  We expect the top 12 films to gross around $145 million, up sharply from the $128 million the same weekend last year.  The second Sherlock Holmes film should lead the way with over $60 million this weekend, followed by around […]

  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 […]

      Continuing to wield a mighty hammer at the boxoffice, THE AVENGERS on Monday had the highest non-holiday, non-summer Monday of all time with $18.9M.  That handily beat the previous record holder Avatar, which had $16.4M on December 21, 2009.  Avengers has already grossed $700M worldwide, with much more to come.

  OPENINGS:  Saturday showed an 18% drop for FAST & FURIOUS 6 (Universal), but really the number was better than it looked, because “Friday” included $6.5M from Thursday night.  With that factored out, the movie held almost dead even on Saturday, and should be headed for a $120M+ 4-day weekend, easily the 4th best Memorial […]