OPENINGS:  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3 (Marvel/Disney) launched with $114M in the US, within tracking expectations but 22% lower than 2017’s Guardians 2, despite marketing that emphasized the end of a beloved (sub-)franchise.  Guardians 2 ended with a 2.66 multiple to its opening, and if Guardians 3 performs the same way, its US total […]

  OPENINGS:  The calendar did Hollywood a favor by placing Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, affording films a 6-day window with Presidents Day on Monday.  The chief beneficiary was BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE (Paramount), which surpassed expectations with $51.1M through Monday ($27.7M over the traditional 3-day weekend).  With little new competition in the wings next week, […]

  OPENINGS:  THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER (Lionsgate) is claiming “victory” among the newcomers, but its reported $11.1M comes with a huge asterisk, as $2.1M of that total was from a preview day the previous week.  Strictly on a weekend vs weekend basis, it wasn’t close to the win.  It’s also estimating the smallest Sunday […]

>The second weekend of 2012 looks to be fairly anemic: $103 million for the top 12 films for the traditional three-day Friday-Sunday period.  This would be down 11% from the same weekend in 2011 and down 28% from the same weekend average for the past several years.  Basically, there is just not enough heat or […]

> This weekend will feature a Pixar sequel aimed at kids and their parents, while young adults and older teens are the bullseye for an R-rated comedy starring Cameron Diaz, the queen of movies released the last weekend of June.  The weekend overall is looking like it will be slightly above this weekend last year. […]

This weekend is poised to be the third solidly up weekend in a row.  Five films open this weekend, with four boasting positive critical acclaim and two in rave territory.  None looks to be a big commercial hit, but the total business for the openers combined with very good returning box office for Taken 2 […]

The 21st weekend of the year is looking like an outstanding $258 million for the top 12 films, over 50% better than typical Memorial Day weekends because three films serving very different audiences should open well in addition to continued solid business from Star Trek Into Darkness and Iron Man 3. Opening at over 3,600 […]

  It’s not much of a surprise at this point that GRAVITY (Warners) continues to run rings around its competition.  Based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, the blockbuster will easily win its third consecutive weekend, with $8.8M on Friday, down only 30% from last Friday.  That should mean a $30M weekend, and close to $170M […]