Weekend #17 of 2014 is looking like a not so hot $99 million for the top 12 films, 11% below the typical volume for this weekend the past few years ($111 million).  Opening at around 3,000 theaters Friday (somewhat above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), The Other Woman from Fox should […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #20 of 2014 looks like $177 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up a very good 21% from the norm for this weekend.   Opening at 3,952 theaters, Godzilla from Warner Brothers grossed $38.5 million Friday and late Thursday, putting the film on track for a great $98 million opening weekend (well […]

  THE FAULT IN OUR STARS (20th) was unable to attract ticket buyers beyond its core of young female fans, and according to preliminary numbers at Deadline and elsewhere, the result was a mammoth Friday-to-Saturday drop of at least 50%, pushing the film’s Saturday box office down to $12-13M, and its weekend to $46-48M.  The […]

  There were no surprises at the Thursday box office, and certainly no pleasant ones for the previous day’s openings.  Ticket sales won’t have the usual Friday pop today, as many have other plans for the 4th of July, but Saturday should rebound nicely. OPENINGS:  All of the Wednesday arrivals dropped on their 2d day […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #31 of 2014 looks like $173 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well above our forecast ($150 million) and 34% above the norm for this weekend ($129 million). Opening at 4,080 theaters, Guardians of the Galaxy from Disney and Marvel grossed $37.7 million through Friday and is on track for a […]

  This weekend, Denzel Washington is proving himself yet again one of the last truly reliable movie stars.  Just a week after Liam Neeson flopped with A Walk Among the Tombstones, preliminary numbers at Deadline have THE EQUALIZER (Columbia/Sony) at $12.5-13M on Friday (including $1.5M from Thursday night)–roughly the same amount ($12.7M) Tombstones made in […]

Weekend #40 of 2014 is looking like $117 million for the top 12 films this weekend, up 13% from the norm for this weekend. Opening at around 3,000 theaters Friday (above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Gone Girl from 20th Century Fox should average a solid $10,600 per theater for the […]

  Halloween is a terrifying holiday for studios and theatre owners, because the young adult audience that both count on have better things to do that night–and it’s particularly bad when the holiday falls on a Friday, interfering with new openings.  As a result, hardly anyone dared premiere a new movie this weekend.  That turned […]