OPENINGS:  A $34.1M US launch for a movie that reportedly carries about $350M in production and marketing costs likely means a nine-figure loss in theatrical release, which traditionally is considered less than desirable.  But the ways of Box Office Magical Thinking are infinite (and the number of pundits willing to parrot such spin similarly […]

>Puss in Boots managed to bounce back from a soft opening last week, declining only 18% and holding on to the #1 position.  Tower Heist stumbled out of the gate and is on track for #2 and an underwhelming $25 million.  A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas was impressive only by the low standards […]

  Today Paramount announced that its upcoming sequel GI JOE:  RETALIATION won’t be opening on June 29 after all, but will instead be pushed to March 2013.  The studio would like you to know that this in no way, absolutely, positively, definitely has nothing whatsoever to do with the quality of said film, no sir […]

>Now 13 full weeks into 2012, year-to-date domestic box office is running 27% ahead of last year’s iceberg-dead-ahead pace, and the year-to-date total is still fully 15% ahead of the comparable period’s average for the last several years.       The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between March 26 […]

>Another strong week in North American movie theaters.  The full week box office (August 8-14) generated $236 million, up 16% versus the same week last year and up 10% versus the average week the past four years. Year-to-date box office is $6.677 billion, now down only 4.0% from this time last year and up 1.8% […]

>Wrath of the Titans joins our worldwide box office chart about a quarter of the way down the chart (ranking #13 out of 47 films released since Christmas).  We are estimating Wrath will end its domestic run with $92 million, and its current overseas total to date is a solid $78 million (probably headed for […]

>The Smurfs continue to print money overseas — now only $26 million from passing Cars 2 in worldwide box office revenue.  Dolphin Tale (#54) and Moneyball (#56) are currently not on the chart and have no overseas money to date.  Dolphin Tale will certainly be more exportable than Moneyball — the baseball theme will just […]

> As we discussed yesterday, first a couple of bar bets.  Which film grossed more worldwide: Megamind or The King’s Speech?  The answer is King’s Speech.  Although Megamind grossed more domestically ($148 million to $132 million), the international audience preferred King’s Speech ($226 million to $171 million), giving the Best Picture winner a $40 million […]