Following on the heels of La La Land and A Star Is Born, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (Regency/20th) is underscoring the vitality of the adult-oriented musical genre.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it had a $19.2M Friday (including $3.9M from Thursday night), and although some Queen-fan frontloading is possible, it could have a $52M weekend, […]

> Let the summer begin!  The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean will open all by itself with close to $95 million this weekend. Opening at over 4,000 theaters, Pirates 4 should average a killer $23,500 per theater (for $94 million total).  On Stranger Tides is the most coolly-received movie in the franchise by critics (read […]

Weekend #15 of 2015 is looking like $130 million for the top 12 films this weekend, somewhat above the norm for this weekend but a touch below the same weekend last year. Opening at around 3,300 theaters Friday (above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), The Longest Ride from Fox should average $4,600 […]

  OPENINGS:  The Saturday hold for DUNKIRK (Warners) wasn’t as strong as those for other Christopher Nolan non-sequels, down 11% where Inception stayed steady, and Interstellar actually rose 8%, pushing the weekend studio estimate to $50.5M.  Nevertheless, that’s a terrific start for a film that was far from a sure thing as a summer blockbuster.  […]

  OPENINGS:  THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (Illumination/Universal) quintupled the next-highest grosser of the weekend, with the biggest opening in US history for an animated non-sequel at $103.2M, easily passing last year’s $90.4M for Inside Out.  It remains to be seen if Pets can match Inside Out‘s nearly 4x multiple, but whatever happens from here, […]

  Another day, another record or two for STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Lucasfilm/Disney).  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its Saturday was no less than $55M, which tidily dispatched the biggest 2d Saturday of all time ($42.9M for The Avengers).  Sunday should close out the biggest 2d weekend of all time at $155M or […]

Weekend #15 of 2014 is looking like a very good $149 million for the top 12 films, 41% above the typical volume for this weekend the past few years ($112 million) and the second strong weekend in a row. Opening at around 3,900 theaters Friday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the […]

  OPENINGS:  Box office receipts for Mothers Day haven’t been counted yet, but SNATCHED (TSG/20th) is assuming (probably justifiably) that it will be the holiday choice, which brings the studio’s weekend estimate to $17.5M.  That’s still 43% below the start for Trainwreck, and with roughly $125M in production/marketing costs, it’s going to be an uphill […]