OPENINGS:  The weekend belonged to ZOOTOPIA (Disney Animation/Disney), which broke its studio unit’s opening record and the March animation record with $73.7M, and also earned $63.4M internationally (including $24M from China) to give it a worldwide total, counting early foreign openings, of $232.5M, with plenty of road ahead, and only The Little Prince as […]

  OPENINGS:  PITCH PERFECT 2 (Gold Circle/Universal) blew past even the highest of expectations, outgrossing the entire US run of its predecessor with a $70.3M weekend, and proving not to be all that frontloaded with a 12% Saturday drop.  In addition, with a gradual international roll-out in just 29 markets, the movie earned $26.9M, which […]

> Three Muppets at a Rehearsal Thanksgiving weekend brings three well-reviewed family/ holiday entries and a mild expansion for a comedic-drama with Oscar hopes.  Total box office volume should be around $161 million for the three-day portion of the weekend, down about 6% from the same weekend last year when Tangled and Burlesque opened and […]

Weekend #5 of 2016 is looking like $129 million for the top 12 films this weekend, much stronger than normal (see comparisons below). Kung Fu Panda 3 from Fox and DreamWorks Animation should open with $49.5 million Friday-Sunday. The film is on track for around $165 million domestic in its run. Overseas the film could bring in $560 million, giving it […]

> Another up weekend at the box office is on store, led by an eclectic assortment of films.  It should be an up weekend, led by Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family and a forecast $31 million opening.  Playing at over 2,100 theaters, Madea should average over $14,000 per theater, a very good number.  Water […]

  OPENINGS:  THE REVENANT (Regency/20th) had an impressive $38M start, the #5 January wide opening ever (although tomorrow’s final numbers could send it below Lone Survivor‘s $37.8M, the comp it wanted to beat).  Survivor made it to $125.1M, and Revenant could do the same, especially fueled by what now seems like a can’t-miss campaign for […]

  OPENINGS:  GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (Columbia/Sony) opened with $44M, which was $2M below the launch of the 2016 Ghostbusters, a result treated as such a disaster that the franchise had to be re-rebooted.  Afterlife, though, is considered a success, thanks to a lower production budget ($75M, moderate for a tentpole), pandemic box office standards, and the […]

  As was the case last Sunday, the weekend holiday has meant that estimates for New Year’s Day (which are all over the place, from 5% down to 40% up) are no more than speculative, and there are only fragmentary international numbers.  Here’s where things stand currently:   ROGUE ONE (Lucasfilm/Disney) is reporting holiday numbers […]