THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (Warners) had a solid Saturday and no trouble at all beating the new competition in its 3d weekend of release.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Rises should have a $36.2M weekend, a 42% decline from last weekend that’s slightly better than the 43% Weekend 3 drop for The Dark […]

This weekend is looking incredibly strong: over $250 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up 27% from a typical third weekend in November.  The final Twilight (12-34 females), Lincoln (35+ adults), and the second weekend of the strongest Bond yet (young adults) make for a powerful combination.   Opening at over 4,000 theaters Friday […]

  Seasonal Note:  Good Friday is traditionally a strong day for moviegoing, which explains the generally solid Friday-to-Friday holds below.  Easter Sunday, though, is less of a movie day, potentially bringing down weekend multiples. OPENINGS:  HEAVEN IS FOR REAL (TriStar/Sony) is impressively overperforming, its $7.9M Friday added to $7M from Wednesday and Thursday for a […]

  OPENINGS:  It’s official:  THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART I (Lionsgate) opened to $123M in the US, down 20% from the first Hunger Games and down 23% from Catching Fire.  That’s still the #1 opening of the year by 23% (beating Transformers: Age of Extinction), and the 15th biggest opening ever, but there’s no way […]

>Captain America beat expectations and opened far ahead of the second weekend of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which should drop a hefty 72%.  Friends with Benefits opened OK but below forecast.  Overall, the weekend is up 14% versus the same weekend last year.    Captain America: The First Avenger opened above forecast […]

  OPENINGS:  A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE (Paramount) handily exceeded expectations with $53M in the US, better than its predecessors ($50.2M and $47.5M respectively, although Part II earned $57.1M over its 4-day holiday launch).  It was particularly impressive because Day One featured a different cast and creative team for the most part, suggesting that A […]

The weekend now looks like $52 million for the top 12 films instead of the $50 million estimate yesterday.  But the basic rank order remains the same.  The Possession remains at #1 and is headed for a final domestic gross of over $50 million now, while Lawless has increased to a $40 million total.  The […]

  New Year’s Eve box office results were all over the place, with kids still home from school while adults chose some movies (but not others) as their picks to see out the year.  Also, not all studios have yet reported their Tuesday numbers, notably Sony, Universal, Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company.  Still, here’s what […]