>This weekend will be the first one in a while to underperform the same weekend in 2010.  One highly-anticipated film is looking like it will do well but not great, and one kid/teen movie is looking like it will come and go very quietly. Opening at about 3,200 theaters, Super 8 should average a strong […]

  After its history-making $120.5M opening day, there were two pre-existing Saturday models that STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Lucasfilm/Disney) could have followed.  The final Harry Potter was so front-loaded that it crashed by 53% from Friday to Saturday.  On the other hand, Jurassic World gently declined by 15%, similar to the 14% drop for […]

  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 […]

Weekend #1 of 2015 is looking like $133 million for the top 12 films this weekend, up +12% from the norm for this weekend and up +4% from the same weekend last year.   Opening at 2,602 theaters Friday (somewhat below the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), The Woman in Black 2 from Relativity […]

  INFERNO (LStar/Columbia/Sony) was expected to earn less than The Da Vinci Code ($217.5M US/$540.7M overseas) and Angels & Demons ($133.4M/$352.6M), which is why Sony spent $75M less to produce the new film.  But that still leaves $200M in production/marketing costs, and Inferno is flopping too badly to have much chance of profit.  According to […]

Weekend #6 of 2016 is looking like $94 million for the top 12 films this weekend, below the norm for this time of year (see comparisons below). Hail, Caesar! from Universal should open with $12.5 million Friday-Sunday. The film is on track for around $41 million domestic in its run. Overseas the film could bring in $32 million, giving it a worldwide box […]

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:  Could JUSTICE LEAGUE (RatPac/DC/Warners) actually lose money?  That possibility exists after a worldwide opening (except Japan, not a huge superhero market) that hit only $281.5M, a number that sounds big only when it isn’t put up against $450M in production/marketing costs, not to mention other sunk expenses like distribution costs and interest.  In […]