> Deadline has preliminary weekend boxoffice numbers, and if they hold, PUSS IN BOOTS will have had a remarkable second weekend.  DreamWorks Animation is reportedly claiming a Saturday number doubling its Friday, which would mean a $34M weekend, virtually even with its opening.  We’ll see if this claim survives till Sunday morning, let alone Monday […]

  DON’T BREATHE (Screen Gems/Sony) is the 2d horror movie of the late summer, after Lights Out, to benefit from an effectively marketed premise (monsters in the dark and the quiet) and strong reviews.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Breathe is starting even faster than Lights, with a $10.2M opening day (including $1.9M from […]

  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have the record pace continuing for both THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (Lionsgate) and FROZEN (Disney). Catching Fire had no trouble with the all-time record for the day after Thanksgiving, doubling its holiday number to $31M on Friday.  This wasn’t just far better than the previous post-Thanksgiving Friday ($22.6M for […]

> The past week (seven days ending Sunday) came in down 10% versus last year’s comparable week (the third significant decline in a row).  Year-to-date box office is down 8% versus last year.    The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between June 27 and July 3 grossed $331 […]

Paranormal Activity 4 opened this weekend with $27 million overseas from 33 markets, on its way to an estimated $110 million total overseas and a weak $67 million total domestic (according to ShowbuzzDaily projections).  That would give PA4 a worldwide total of $177 million, tied with PA2 as the lowest in the still-very-profitable franchise. The biggest gainer overseas this […]

> TOWER HEIST hurts Universal on several levels.  It’s a big-budget movie (with marketing costs included, the total is likely $200M) in a genre that doesn’t necessarily travel well, and it was the studio’s big year-end release.  And just to make things worse, next week its pair of Stiller and Murphy have to face off […]

Looking at wide-release films in North America (those that play on at least 400 screens at some point), 2013 now totals just over $3.1 billion, down 13% from 2012 and down 5% from the prior four-year average 2009-2012.  Still a very mediocre year.  Each year-to-date period below is defined as the first Monday after New […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #17 of 2015 looks like $81 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well below the norm for this weekend. Opening at 2,991 theaters Friday, The Age of Adaline from Lionsgate is on track for a $12.2 million opening three-day weekend (somewhat above our $10.5 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast earlier this week). The film is pacing toward a […]