The marketing department did its job, and BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (DC/RatPac/Warners) had its massive opening day, currently estimated by Deadline at $81.3M (including $27.7M from Thursday night).  If that number holds till morning, it will be the #5 opening day ever, behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Harry Potter & […]

  How big is big enough?  It’s a question that comes up on giant franchise installments, and the latest is THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (Universal), the 8th in its series.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its opening day earned $45.5M (including $10.4M from Thursday night), a huge number, but down 33% from Furious […]

  OPENINGS:  It was no picnic opening against the historic 2nd weekend of Black Panther, and all of the new arrivals may have left some money on the table.  GAME NIGHT (New Line/Warners) fared best, and ran a healthy 25% Saturday bump into a $16.6M weekend, but that points toward a $45M US total, far […]

  OPENINGS:  THE POST (DreamWorks/Reliance/Participant/20th) expanded to wide release with $18.6M over 3 days (which should become $22M with Monday).  That’s a bit better than the $15.4M 3-day start for Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, which didn’t have the benefit of a holiday weekend opening.  Bridge got to $72.3M in the US, and The Post […]

Weekend #6 of 2015 is looking like $108 million for the top 12 films this weekend, well below the normal volume for this weekend ($133 million). Opening at around 3,500 theaters Friday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water from Paramount should average […]

  The latest underperforming franchise entry is TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (Nickelodeon/Movie Media Group/Alibaba/Paramount).  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have opening day at $11.6M, down 55% from the $25.6M start for the rebooted TMNT 2 years ago.  That suggests a weekend that may not hit $30M, and a US total under $100M.  […]

  For the third consecutive weekend, BLACK PANTHER (Marvel/Disney) is having its way with the box office.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have Panther down 43% from last Friday to $16.3M, which should give it a $62M weekend, bringing its US total close to $500M.  That will put its 17-day total well ahead of the $457.7M […]

  OPENINGS:  At $6.5M, THE POSSESSION OF HANNAH GRACE (Screen Gems/Sony) performed adequately for a low-budget horror item placed in one of the lower-grossing weekends of the year.  Possession also earned $4.1M in 17 international territories, the start of a release that will extend into early 2019.  It has around $30M in production and worldwide […]