In an entertainment universe changing with bewildering speed, two stories today spoke to the difficulties and opportunities of old and new media.  First, let’s take a look at what’s happening to the traditional mode of seeing movies in theaters Big-budget adventure-adventure spectacles have long been the bread and butter of the Hollywood studios, and […]

Weekend #22 of 2012 looks like it will total about $122 million for the top 12 films, down 21% from last year’s comparable weekend and down 20% from the four-year average for the weekend.  That would make it three down weekends (way down) in a row.   Opening at an estimated 3,700 theaters, Snow White and […]

The 37th weekend of the year is looking like $81 million for the top 12 films, very close to the multi-year average for this weekend. Opening at around 2,900 theaters Friday (just above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Insidious Chapter 2 from FilmDistrict and director James Wan should average $11,300 per theater for […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #32 of 2014 still looks like a very good $173 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well above our forecast ($152 million) and 26% above the norm for this weekend ($138 million). Opening at 3,845 theaters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Paramount grossed $25.6 million through Friday and $22.1 […]

  None of the weekend’s openings were expected to come near last week’s blockbuster opening, and none will.  The target Christian audience is turning out for RISEN (Affirm/Columbia/Sony), with preliminary numbers at Deadline putting it at $4.25M for Friday.  Given its demographics, Risen should hold well through the weekend, particularly on Sunday, which could give […]

Weekend #15 of 2016 forecasts for films opening wide and major returning films: NEW FILMS THIS WEEKEND April 8-10, 2016 Critics Positive ($ millions) Opening Weekend Forecast Domestic Total Projection Overseas Total Projection Worldwide Total Projection The Boss Uni R 10% 19.5 58 67 125 Hardcore Henry STX R 74% 10.0 36 16 52 Note: […]

  ANT-MAN (Marvel/Disney) appears to be opening at the lower end of the Marvel universe.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, the latest superhero epic had a $23.4M Friday (which includes $6.4 from Thursday night).  That puts it modestly below the $25.5M opening day for the original Thor and $25.7M for the first Captain America, as well […]

> HUGO: The boxoffice story of the holiday was undoubtedly Martin Scorsese’s quasi-family film.  While almost every other film of the day fell steeply or at best held around even, Hugo zoomed an astonishing 40%  This probably reflects to some extent the older audience for the picture, but The Descendants, which has a similar appeal, […]