Although some films have opened well against the Super Bowl, both counterprogramming (the Hannah Montana concert movie and Dear John) and playing toward the action genre (Taken and Chronicle), as a rule the studios stay away, and that was the case this year.  The only wide opening was the low-budget horror flick WINCHESTER (CBS/Lionsgate), […]

  OPENINGS:  In the US, THE MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE (20th) had an OK start with $23.5M, down from $32.5M/$30.3M for the first 2 films in the series.  It’s on track for $60-65M here.  However, it’s off to a much better start overseas, where it’s in 70 markets (with about half a dozen still […]

  THE MAZE RUNNER:  DEATH CURE (20th) will win the weekend, although not in particularly impressive fashion.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its opening day was $8.4M (including $1.5M from Thursday night), down from the $11.3M start for the first Maze Runner, and the $11M for Scorch Trials.  It should have $23.5M by Sunday, […]

  OPENINGS:  THE POST (DreamWorks/Reliance/Participant/20th) expanded to wide release with $18.6M over 3 days (which should become $22M with Monday).  That’s a bit better than the $15.4M 3-day start for Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, which didn’t have the benefit of a holiday weekend opening.  Bridge got to $72.3M in the US, and The Post […]

  As the 2018 box office enters the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, most of its strength still lies in 2017 releases.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (Columbia/Sony) is on track to win its 4th weekend of release.  Friday’s $6M take was down 44% from last week, and with […]

  OPENINGS:  By horror movie standards, INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY (Blumhouse/Universal) didn’t collapse on Saturday (down 13%), and that propelled it to a very solid $29.3M weekend, which among horror product in that first-weekend-in-January slot puts it behind only The Devil Inside‘s $33.7M (by way of comparison, that one fell 30% on its Saturday).  Last […]

  2018, as is often the case, is kicking off at the box office, with low-budget horror, and according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY (Blumhouse/Universal) easily took Friday with $12.5M (including $2M from Thursday night).  That’s a very solid number, not up to the $16.8M for January 2012’s The Devil Inside, […]

  OPENINGS:  ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD (Imperative/TriStar/Sony) opened on Monday to an indifferent public that didn’t care about Kevin Spacey being replaced with Christopher Plummer, and nothing has changed over the course of the holiday week.  Its first full weekend is estimated at $5.5M, which should become $7.5M with Monday included, and it’s […]