OPENINGS:  FIRST MAN (Perfect World/Universal) had an underwhelming $16.5M start, and considering its older-skewing audience, its 10% Saturday bump wasn’t impressive either.  It carries $150M+ in production/marketing costs, and a $50M US total would leave it at risk for red ink, since its very American story (flag controversy notwithstanding) makes foreign appeal questionable.  It […]

  OPENINGS:  A Friday Valentines Day that leads into a long holiday weekend is a bonanza for Hollywood, and the movie that cleaned up the most was SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (Paramount), with a remarkable $57M over the 3-day weekend and $68M with Monday.  That’s the biggest opening ever for a videogame-based property, and it gives […]

  It’s beginning to look like a long, dark summer for Hollywood, which is adding two more box office disappointments to a growing list over this Memorial Day weekend.  PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES (Disney) had a $23M Friday (including $5.3M from Thursday night) according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, and […]

> This weekend looks like it will have a very solid opener (the best since August 5, when Rise of the Planet of the Apes bowed) but the weekend as a whole should still lag behind the same weekend last year.  The third Paranormal Activity has its sights set on over $41 million this weekend, while […]

  OPENINGS:  A variety of studios threw product at the Labor Day weekend wall.  None of them broke through, but REAGAN (ShowbizDirect) zeroed in on its target audience–reportedly nearly 2/3 of the audience was over 55 years old, and 3/4 were white–for $7.4M over the 3-day weekend ($9.2M with Monday).  Although films appealing to older […]

  OPENINGS:  It’s possible to make money on Super Bowl weekend, as hits like Dear John ($30.5M), Taken ($24.7M) and Chronicle ($22M) have shown.  But MISS BALA (Columbia/Sony) didn’t have what it takes, with a sluggish $6.7M start.  The 5% Saturday bump suggests that word of mouth isn’t bad, but next weekend it will have […]

Weekend #10 of 2016 is looking like $146 million for the top 12 films this weekend, above the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). NEW FILMS THIS WEEKEND March 4-6, 2016 Critics Positive ($ millions) Opening Weekend Forecast Domestic Total Projection Overseas Total Projection Worldwide Total Projection Zootopia Dis PG 100% 67.0 225 375 600 London Has […]

  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 […]