HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 (Columbia/Sony) is giving its beleaguered studio some good news, with a strong $12.8M opening day according to preliminary numbers at Deadline.  That’s better than the $11M start for the first Hotel, and although Transylvania 2 may be more frontloaded as a sequel and not match the original’s 73% Saturday bump, it […]

Weekend #39 of 2015 is looking like $137 million for the top 12 films this weekend, well above the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). Hotel Transylvania 2 from Sony should open with a $37.5 million weekend. Reviews are non-existent: nothing yet at RottenTomatoes. The film is on track for around $123 million domestic. Overseas the film could bring in […]

Weekend #38 of 2015 is looking like $120 million for the top 12 films this weekend, well above the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials from Fox should open with a $40.5 million weekend. Reviews are fairly positive: 59% positive at RottenTomatoes. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is on track for around $119 million domestic. […]

Weekend #37 of 2015 is looking like $65 million for the top 12 films this weekend, below the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). The Visit from Universal should open with a $16.5 million opening weekend. Mediocre reviews so far: 53% positive at RottenTomatoes. The Visit is on track for around $44 million domestic. Overseas the film could bring in $50 […]

  Note:  Because of the holiday weekend and consequent strong Sunday, weekend-to-weekend drops will look softer than usual. OPENINGS:  It was a weak battle of newcomers, with A WALK IN THE WOODS (Broad Green) ahead at $8.4M ($10.5M with Wed-Thurs earnings) vs. THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED (Europa/RED) at $7.1M.  Walk compares well to the $8.5M opening […]

  Labor Day weekend is always the exhausted last gasp of the summer movie season, but this year the studios didn’t even try.  Partly it’s the effect of August having generally been a disaster in 2015 (last year’s 4-day Labor Day span featured a $22.9M 5th weekend for Guardians of the Galaxy and $15.6M from […]

Weekend #36 of 2015 is looking like $54 million for the top 12 films this weekend, a touch better than last year but still below the norm for this weekend, normally the slowest of the year (see comparisons below). The Transporter Refueled from EuropaCorp should open with a $7.8 million three-day weekend and about $9.6 million Friday-Monday. No early […]

  OPENINGS:  Every time a Christian movie sells some tickets, the pundits treat it as though they’ve seen… well, a miracle.  But at this point there have been plenty of these “miracles,” and people should just accept that the films fill a sizable niche.  (And that because of their narrow-yet-intense audience, they’re nearly always underestimated […]