OPENINGS:  KONG: SKULL ISLAND (Legendary/Tencent/Warners) is playing as a quasi-family movie, perhaps in response to the R-rated Logan and Get Out.  That gave it a much more muscular Saturday than similar big-budget monster movies, up 19% on Saturday where Godzilla fell 16% and Pacific Rim dropped 13%.  With that boost, Kong should hit its […]

>1960 Kennedy/Nixon.  2000 Bush/Gore.  2011 Salem/Metcalf.  Team Salem has moved back into the lead (by a $17.8 million margin) thanks to a strong second weekend for Rise of the Planet of the Apes and a great opening for The Help.  With no new films opening for either Team, it is time for Metcalf to concede […]

  Once again, Gone Girl was vanquished for a day by a horror movie, but will almost certainly rebound to take the weekend. OPENINGS:  DRACULA UNTOLD (Legendary/Universal) gets the partnership between Universal and its new co-producer/financier Legendary (which for years was parked at Warners) off to a solid start.  Dracula‘s Friday results were underreported in […]

  OPENINGS:  TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (Nickelodeon/Movie Media Group/Alibaba/Paramount) opened 46% below the TMNT reboot 2 years ago at $35.3M.  That suggests a $100M US total, and with $250M+ in production/marketing costs, the bulk of that will have to be recovered overseas.  So far, it’s earned $34M in 40 territories, not […]

Based on Friday’s  and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #50 of 2013 looks like $139 million for the top 12 films from Friday-Sunday, not as strong as we had forecast and down $5 million from yesterday’s estimate but still up double digits in terms of percent increase over comparable weekends the past several years.   Opening at […]

> DreamWorks’ Puss In Boots is opening at a solid #1 but below its forecast.  Paranormal Activity 3 is sporting a 65% decline in its second weekend (just under $20 million for the weekend), but it has nonetheless been upgraded to a $119 million final domestic estimate thanks to solid midweek business.  In Time and […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2019 film slates by studio. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2019 is now -13% below last year’s comparable span (5 points better than last week) and now -7% below the average for this point the past four years ($3.123 billion).  Over the same […]

  Strong holds by Dawn of the Planet Of the Apes and some longer-running titles made this weekend look less terrible than it was. OPENINGS:  THE PURGE: ANARCHY (Universal) topped the newcomers with $28.4M, but that was 17% below the $34.1M opening weekend for last year’s Purge.  While Purge 2 will turn a profit, it […]