Weekend #5 of 2015 is looking like $104 million for the top 12 films this weekend, actually well above the normal volume for this weekend ($77 million), which is hobbled by the Super Bowl and its massive television audience.  American Sniper on Friday and Saturday should salvage the weekend somewhat, but there is very little […]

  CINDERELLA (Disney) had an enchanted Friday, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, with $23M (that includes $2.3M from Thursday night), and since its target audience is all about weekend matinees, it should be at $70M and perhaps even $75M by Sunday.  That would be better than the $69.4M opening for Maleficent, which had a […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Universal remains a dominant #1, growing even more this week.  Unfriended helped a little with its domestic opening, but the big reason for the weekly again this week was Furious 7 which is exploding overseas.  As for the other openers this weekend, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 does not significantly improve Sony’s fortunes, nor does Monkey Kingdom for Disney. […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.     YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +4% above last year and +5% above the average for this point the past four years ($3.482 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $10.1 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.     YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +6% above last year and +3% above the average for this point the past four years ($6.297 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $16.8 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #39 of 2015 looks like $124 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, significantly above the norm for the weekend (see track below). Opening at 3,754 theaters Friday, Hotel Transylvania 2 from Sony is on track for a $48.0 million opening three-day weekend (somewhat above our $37.5 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast earlier this week). The film […]

Weekend #47 of 2015 is looking like a decent $202 million for the top 12 films this weekend, up moderately from the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 from Lionsgate should open with a $126.0 million weekend. The film is on track for around $360 million domestic in its run. Overseas the film could bring […]

  Pixar is still Pixar, but the Disney Animation division of the studio (also headed by John Lasseter) is proving that it’s a formidable creator of animated features as well, following Frozen with the smashingly imaginative ZOOTOPIA (Disney).  Based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, Zootopia had a $18M Friday (including $1.7M from Thursday night), and […]