OPENINGS:  THE LITTLE MERMAID (Disney) began its run with $95.5M over the 3-day weekend, projected to $117.5M with the Monday holiday.  That’s within the range of pre-release projections, and if the numbers hold, it would be slightly higher than the $116.8M earned over the 2019 4-day Memorial Day weekend by Aladdin.  However, it’s a […]

  OPENINGS:  KUNG FU PANDA 4 (DreamWorks Animation/Universal), the first new all-ages animated release since the holiday season, arrived at the high end of projections with $58.3M, impressively above the $41.3M start for 2016’s Panda 3.  (And at a reported production budget 40% lower than its predecessor.)  It faces no direct competition for months, and […]

>With Christmas coming this Sunday a host of films arrive this important weekend, with three films opening wide Wednesday (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Adventures of Tintin, and the wide expansion of Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol), one major film opening Friday (We Bought a Zoo), and two major films in effect previewing […]

>X-Men: First Class now has an accurate screen count and updated critical response.  The prequel has been adjusted downward a tick but will still lead the weekend, which will be up significantly over the same weekend last year. Opening at about 3,641 theaters, X-Men: First Class should average a strong $18,700 per theater (for $68 […]

This weekend is looking like it will be about 12% below the comparable weekend the last few years (about $106 million for the top 12 films).  Wreck-It-Ralph should play well to the family crowd, while Flight will be a moderate success at best, and Man with the Iron Fists is destined for an early exit […]

The 24th weekend of the year is looking like a very good $201 million for the top 12 films, well above the same weekend the last few years.   Opening at over 4,200 theaters Friday (well into the top 10% of theater counts), Man of Steel from Warner Brothers should average $26,400 per theater for the […]

The 45th weekend of the year is looking like $174 million for the top 12 films, which would be a record for the second weekend of November. Opening at over 3,800 theaters Friday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Thor: The Dark World from Disney and Marvel should […]

Weekend #14 of 2014 is looking like a robust $159 million for the top 12 films, 41% above the typical volume for this weekend the past few years ($113 million). Opening at around 3,900 theaters Friday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Captain America: The Winter Soldier from Disney should average […]