As will be noted endlessly by the studio and its mouthpieces all weekend, KUNG FU PANDA 3 (DreamWorks Animation/20th) is the first in the series to open in January, after June and May openings for the previous chapters.  Nevertheless, DWA and 20th didn’t choose that day with the idea of earning less, and the […]

  OPENINGS:  NON-STOP (Universal) had the Friday lead with $10M, but that doesn’t mean it’ll take the weekend.  In any case, Universal’s investment will pay off handsomely–it covered only $12M of the budget for US rights (plus marketing costs in its territory, of course), and a likely weekend in the high $20Ms should mean US […]

Weekend #29 of 2014 is looking like $147 million for the top 12 films this weekend, -21% below the norm and the fifth weekend in a row down significantly from previous years.  Opening at 3,303 theaters Friday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), The Purge: Anarchy from Universal should […]

  THE DARK TOWER (MRC/Columbia/Sony) will probably win the weekend, but in unimpressive fashion.  It had a $7.7M opening day (including $1.8M from Thursday night), putting it on track for a $19M weekend.  The production budget was reportedly kept reasonable in the $60Ms, but Sony gave it an A-level marketing campaign, which will put total […]

Weekend #9 of 2016 is looking like $98 million for the top 12 films this weekend, somewhat below the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). NEW FILMS THIS WEEKEND February 26-28, 2016 Critics Positive ($ millions) Opening Weekend Forecast Domestic Total Projection Overseas Total Projection Worldwide Total Projection Gods of Egypt LG PG13 n/a 11.5 30 175 […]

  OPENINGS:  THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (Illumination/Universal) quintupled the next-highest grosser of the weekend, with the biggest opening in US history for an animated non-sequel at $103.2M, easily passing last year’s $90.4M for Inside Out.  It remains to be seen if Pets can match Inside Out‘s nearly 4x multiple, but whatever happens from here, […]

Weekend #23 of 2015 is looking like $154 million for the top 12 films this weekend, very much on par with the same weekend the past few years. Spy from Fox should open with a $39.5 million three-day weekend. Early reviews at RottenTomatoes are loving: 96% positive overall so far. Spy is on track for around $133 million domestic. Overseas the […]

  OPENINGS:  Despite a launch scheduled around Mother’s Day, BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER (Focus/Universal) had a soft start with $6.5M.  That’s less than half the $13.6M for the first Book Club in 2018, and also considerably below the $12.7M for this year’s 80 For Brady.  (The grasp for a closer comp with The Second […]