Updated international box office chart:

>The weekend studio estimates (based on Friday and Saturday actuals and projections for Sunday) are coming in significantly stronger than the weekend numbers posted yesterday (based on Friday actuals only).  The box office volume for the top 12 films is now looking like a soft $206 million for the weekend, up 89% from last year’s […]

  OPENINGS:  THE LION KING (Disney) was expected to be the crown jewel in Disney’s recreations of its animated classics, and despite sharply mixed reviews, it delivered with a $185M opening weekend–and that studio estimate includes a fairly conservative number for Sunday, so it could go higher in finals.  If it stays at $185M, it […]

> We promise that starting next week, when the battle’s been joined in earnest, there will be an honest-to-god chart and more goodies to update you all on the progress of our Summer Movie Blockbuster Draft.  This week, though, it’s still totally one-sided: Team Metcalf THOR:  $129,906,155 BRIDESMAIDS:  $38,459,240 TOTAL:  $168,365,395 Team Salem $0 A […]

  OPENINGS:  Christmas Day is one of the highest-grossing days of the year, and it will give a major bump to everything in the market.  Even with that boost, AQUAMAN & THE LOST KINGDOM (DC/Warners) was only able to muster a $40M 4-day weekend studio estimate after $28.1M in 3 days (and given the 34% […]

  OPENINGS:  INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE (20th) is the latest indication that audiences may be tiring of massive CG spectacles–which is bad news for the major studios, since they’ve concentrated most of their line-ups into that genre.  ID:R‘s $41.6M weekend is mediocre at best for a would-be blockbuster with $300M+ in worldwide costs, suggesting a US […]

In the battle for second place in the ShowbuzzDaily Summer Movie Draft, very little changed the past week.  Team Weil’s slate tacked on $41.6 million the past seven days, while Team Salem added $40.9 million.  Weil remains $69 million ahead of Salem ($1.004 billion to $935 million for the entire summer). In the next week […]

> The weekend multiples this week are a little high for movies that skew to women like Something Borrowed, Jumping the Broom and Water for Elephants due to Mother’s Day, when many families treat mom to a flick. The Thor number looks a little less impressive when you compare it to mid-level comic book movies […]