OPENINGS:  Although the numbers are lower, RAMPAGE (New Line/Warners) is playing much like Kong: Skull Island, another giant monster movie judged by parents to be child-friendly.  Rampage rose 20% on Saturday, giving it a 3x multiple for the weekend at $34.5M, almost identical to Kong‘s trajectory (it had a 19% Saturday bump).  If that comparison holds […]

  Even with a new horror movie in the market, A QUIET PLACE (Paramount) continued to over-perform, down just 46% from last Friday according to preliminary numbers at Deadline to $10.2M, putting it on track for a $35M 2nd weekend.  That’s the same hold as last year’s Split, and with higher numbers, suggesting that Quiet […]

  The combined box office for John Krasinski’s first two films as director, Brief Interviews With Hideous Men and The Hollars, was barely over $1M.  But overnight, Krasinski is a bankable Hollywood director thanks to A QUIET PLACE (Par), which according to preliminary numbers at Deadline took in $19M on opening day ($4.3M from Thursday […]

  OPENINGS:  READY PLAYER ONE (Village Roadshow/Warners) had a fair if unthrilling start, with $41.2M over the 3-day Good Friday/Easter weekend plus $12M on its Thursday opening day for a $53.2M 4-day total, considerably less than the $61M Kong: Skull Island earned in its first 3 days.  That points toward a $125M US ultimate, and […]

  OPENINGS:  PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING (Legendary/Universal) pulled in a family audience on Saturday, giving it a 3% bump, while the first Pacific Rim had dropped 13% on its 2nd day of release.  That pushed Uprising‘s weekend to $28M, still down 25% from the original’s start.  The US result for Uprising, however, is almost an afterthought, […]

  PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING (Legendary/Universal) was the right film at the right time this weekend, and although the preliminary numbers at Deadline have its opening day at $10.1M ($2.4M of it from Thursday night), just slightly ahead of the $9M for last Friday’s Tomb Raider, that should be enough to bring it to $26M for […]

  OPENINGS:  TOMB RAIDER (MGM/Warners) was a reboot that no one asked for, and although franchise movies aren’t star vehicles, the casting of Alicia Vikander in the lead didn’t excite anyone either.  Its $23.5M US weekend won’t get it very far in recouping $200M+ in production/marketing costs.  Things are better overseas, where Tomb Raider earned […]

  OPENINGS:  In the world of family movies, the 33% Saturday bump for A WRINKLE IN TIME (Disney) was mediocre.  (By comparison, Peter Rabbit rose 97% on its 1st Saturday.)  That brought the weekend to a soft $33.3M.  Family movies sometimes enjoy lengthy runs and high multiples, and Wrinkle faces little direct competition in the […]