OPENINGS:  ALADDIN (Disney) will probably be in the top half-dozen Memorial Day openings when Monday brings it to $105M or so (the 3-day total is $86.1M).  Compared to other Disney live-action reboots of animated hits, though, it had a subpar 5% drop on Saturday (The Jungle Book gained 28% on its 2nd day of […]

  ALADDIN (Disney) marked a rebound from the opening day of Dumbo, with preliminary numbers at Deadline projecting $30.8M on Friday (including $7M from Thursday afternoon/evening), compared to $15.3M for Dumbo.  The Memorial Day holiday will provide an extra boost, so the 3-day weekend should be around $86M, with $106M by Monday.  Aladdin wasn’t cheap, […]

  OPENINGS:  JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3: PARABELLUM (Thunder Road/Summit/Lionsgate) continued the upward climb of the franchise in the US with a $57M weekend, substantially ahead of the $30.4M for Wick 2, which was above the $14.4M of the original.  If Parabellum plays out like Wick 2, it could cross $150M in the US, on costs […]

  JOHN WICK CHAPTER 3: PARABELLUM (Thunder Road/Summit/Lionsgate) marks a rarity these days, a solid and growing mid-level action franchise.  The first John Wick collected $5.4M on its first day and $14.4M for the weekend, the second was at $11M/$30.4M, and according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Parabellum‘s first day was at $22.5M (including $5.9M […]

  OPENINGS:  POKEMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU (Legendary/Warners) started strong in the US with $58M, not that far off the $69.1M launch of The LEGO Movie.  Pikachu may not have that movie’s legs, especially with Aladdin just 2 weeks away, but it should total $175-200M here.  Pokemon in general is a more worldwide phenomenon than LEGO, which […]

  OPENINGS:  THE INTRUDER (Screen Gems/Sony) performed on target with $11M, and given the massive competition and the fates of the weekend’s other arrivals, that counted as a win.  It still wasn’t anything to get excited about, considering that similar Screen Gems releases like When The Bough Breaks ($14.2M), No Good Deed ($24.3M) and The […]

  After AVENGERS: ENDGAME (Marvel/Disney) torched the record books last weekend, the remaining question was whether it would have the stamina to challenge the biggest records of them all, The Force Awakens in the US ($936.7M) and Avatar worldwide ($2.79B).  It’s not clear after Friday whether this weekend will answer that in a definitive way.  […]

  Box office discussions about AVENGERS: ENDGAME (Marvel/Disney) will revolve around records broken and those likely to fall.  The first to go was the Thursday night record, which is now $60M (beating The Force Awakens‘s $57M and 54% above Infinity War‘s $39M), and now preliminary numbers at Deadline have Endgame‘s Thursday/Friday at $157M, absolutely smashing […]