On one of the slowest weekends of the year, it took some holy help to raise the box office from the dead.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, WAR ROOM (Affirm/TriStar/Sony) is edging into Friday’s top slot with $3.8M.  Christian films, when they hit, tend to hold well over the course of the weekend […]

Weekend #35 of 2015 is looking like $68 million for the top 12 films this weekend, significantly below the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). We Are You Friends from Warner Brothers should open with a $9.0 million three-day weekend. Early reviews at RottenTomatoes are soft: 37% positive overall so far. We Are Your Friends is on track for […]

  OPENINGS:  With a $10M production budget (and tens of millions in marketing on top), the $10.6M weekend for SINISTER 2 (Blumhouse/Gramercy/Focus/Universal) will test Blumhouse’s ability to make money out of just about anything.  The opening is far below the $18M start for 2012’s Sinister, and its US total won’t be near the $48.1M gross […]

  There were no pleasant surprises for anyone at the Friday box office, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline.  That even included STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (Legendary/Universal), which will easily win the weekend, but which–considering the very mild competition–fell more heavily than expected from last Friday, down 65% to $8.5M.  That drop will moderate over the […]

Weekend #34 of 2015 is looking like $105 million for the top 12 films this weekend, above the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). Sinister 2 from Focus/Universal should open with a $15.5 million three-day weekend. Early reviews at RottenTomatoes are not going encouraging: 0% positive overall so far (with fewer than 10 reviews counted at this time…but […]

  OPENINGS:  STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (Legendary/Universal) turned out to be somewhat frontloaded, with a 20% drop on its 2d day of release.  But no one will complain about its huge $56.1M weekend, the #6 August opening ever (and #2, behind only Signs, among non-franchise titles).  It should add plenty of gold to Universal’s 2015 pile […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #33 of 2015 looks like $132 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, somewhat above the norm for this weekend (see track below). Opening at 2,757 theaters Friday, Straight Outta Compton from Universal is on track for a $59.0 million opening three-day weekend (well above our $45.5 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast earlier this week). […]

  STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (Legendary/Universal) had a smashing start, with preliminary numbers at Deadline giving it $22.8M on Friday (that includes $5M from Thursday night).  With a production budget under $30M and a moderate marketing campaign, Compton will be well on the road to profit by the end of the weekend, providing a finishing touch […]