Weekend #17 of 2015 is looking like $78 million for the top 12 films this weekend, well below the already low norm for this weekend. Opening at around 2,900 theaters Friday (very close to the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Age of Adaline from Lionsgate/Summit should average $3,600 per theater for the three-day […]

  Official studio estimates are in for New Year’s Weekend in the US, but overseas numbers are still sketchy.  A few notes: ROGUE ONE (Lucasfilm/Disney) had a US result in keeping with preliminary numbers, up 15% on Sunday and with an anticipated 12% Monday drop.  This puts it at $439.7M domestically, 41% below The Force […]

  OPENINGS:  STAR TREK BEYOND (Skydance/Alibaba/Huahua/Paramount) had a tepid start, claiming a $59.6M opening weekend in the US.  Even if that number holds (it includes an extremely aggressive Sunday estimate), it would be 20% below the $75..2M 2009 franchise reboot, and even below the $70.2M earned by Star Trek Into Darkness, which opened on a […]

  OPENINGS:  BULLET TRAIN (Columbia/Sony) opened in line with general predictions at $30.1M, but that’s not the same as a good result.  The film carries around $175M in production/marketing costs, and faces a long track to profitability.  Nor does it appear to be showing particular strength internationally, despite Brad Pitt’s star power and the international […]

  OPENINGS:  LYLE LYLE CROCODILE (Columbia/Sony) arrived below expectations at $11.5M (it might reach $13.4M with the Monday holiday), unable to take advantage of the 11-week gap since the last major family movie opened.  It has more than a month until Strange World claims that audience, but even with strong holds, it still may not […]

  For the third consecutive weekend, BLACK PANTHER (Marvel/Disney) is having its way with the box office.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have Panther down 43% from last Friday to $16.3M, which should give it a $62M weekend, bringing its US total close to $500M.  That will put its 17-day total well ahead of the $457.7M […]

  OPENINGS:  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3 (Marvel/Disney) launched with $114M in the US, within tracking expectations but 22% lower than 2017’s Guardians 2, despite marketing that emphasized the end of a beloved (sub-)franchise.  Guardians 2 ended with a 2.66 multiple to its opening, and if Guardians 3 performs the same way, its US total […]

Weekend #23 of 2014 is looking like a pretty typical $149 million for the top 12 films this weekend, within 1% of the norm for this weekend and 4% above the same weekend last year.   Opening at over 3,000 theaters Friday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two […]