Early numbers at Deadline and elsewhere make DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (20th) the runaway winner at the Friday box office with $26-27M.  That could give it a weekend as high as $70M, at the high end of expectations and breezing past Rise of the Planet of the Apes and its $54.6M […]

  OPENINGS:  PRISONERS (Warners) came in at $7M on Friday, a bit less than the initial $7.5M estimate.  That could indicate cooling word-of-mouth as the evening went on, or just overenthusiastic estimators.  The number is still above Argo‘s $5.9M start but it’s below the $8.3M for The Town, two other adult thrillers Warners released in […]

The three weeks around Christmas (December 16-January 5) and especially the nine days including both the Christmas and New Year’s Day holiday (December 25-January 2) represent an enormous box office opportunity each year.  Over the last eight years, the December 16-January 5 period has averaged $717 million for the top 10 films, while the heart […]

  There was wide speculation that AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (Marvel/Disney) would outgross the opening weekend of the first Avengers, but in the US that may not be in the cards.  Ultron did beat Avengers on Friday, $84.5M vs $80.8M, but that win comes with an asterisk, because both include Friday night showings, and Ultron […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #30 of 2014 looks like $137 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, better than our forecast earlier this week ($128 million) but still -8% below the norm for this weekend. Opening at 3,173 theaters, Lucy from Universal grossed $17.1 million through Friday and is on track for a $46.0 million […]

Weekend #19 of 2015 is looking like $126 million for the top 12 films this weekend, somewhat below the norm for this weekend. Opening at around 2,700 theaters Friday (slightly below the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Hot Pursuit from Warner Brothers should average a somewhat above average $6,600 per theater for the three-day […]

  OPENINGS:  NO GOOD DEED (Screen Gems/Sony) hit in a big way with an unexpected $24.5M start.  That’s not quite the equal of 2009’s Obsessed ($28.6M), but it’s close enough.  And while Obsessed had to contend with the opening of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in its 2d weekend, No Good Deed will face much less blockbusterish […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #5 of 2013 is another weak one: only $69 million for the top 12 films (over 30% behind the pace for the same weekend the last few years).   Opening at 3,009 theaters Friday, Warm Bodies from Summit grossed $7.6 million Friday and is on track for a $20 million opening weekend […]