OPENINGS:  It’s possible to make money on Super Bowl weekend, as hits like Dear John ($30.5M), Taken ($24.7M) and Chronicle ($22M) have shown.  But MISS BALA (Columbia/Sony) didn’t have what it takes, with a sluggish $6.7M start.  The 5% Saturday bump suggests that word of mouth isn’t bad, but next weekend it will have […]

  JASON BOURNE (Universal) is performing in line with expectations.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have its opening day at $22M (including $4.3M from Thursday night), down just 10% from the $24.7M start (with no Thursday screenings) for 2007’s Bourne Ultimatum, the last Matt Damon/Paul Greenglass title in the franchise.  Great word of mouth gave Ultimatum […]

> A rather sleepy weekend ahead, most likely down about 15% from the same weekend last year.  No dominant openers arrive Friday, leaving the weekend Contagion’s to lose.   Opening at more than 2,400 theaters in North America by FilmDistrict, Drive should average $5,000 per theater (for $12 million for Friday-Sunday).  (All films the last two years […]

  The stretch of box-office beginning in mid-August is one of the weakest of the year, and this weekend’s arrivals did nothing to change that tradition.  WAR DOGS (RatPac/Warners) had the best of the low starts, with $5.4M on Friday (including $1.3M from Thursday night) according to preliminary numbers at Deadline.  That may give it […]

  HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION (Sony Animation/Columbia/Sony) continues to be a solid mid-level franchise.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have the opening day box office at $16.3M, the best of the trio, although it’s a bit misleading to compare that with the $11M Friday for the first Transylvania and the $13.3M for the second, since […]

Weekend #31 of 2016 forecasts for films opening wide and major returning films: NEW FILMS THIS WEEKEND July 29-31, 2016 Critics Positive ($ millions) Opening Weekend Forecast Domestic Total Projection Overseas Total Projection Worldwide Total Projection Jason Bourne Uni PG13 59% 53.5 155 245 400 Bad Moms STX R n/a 26.5 85 35 120 Nerve […]

This weekend is solid but definitely cooler than last weekend’s torrid pace:  $180 million for the top 12 films this Friday-Sunday, up 10% from a typical fourth weekend in November.  The final Twilight installment will remain at the top of the chart this weekend, while Skyfall’s third weekend will challenge the family-friendly Rise of the […]

  THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (Village Roadshow/MGM/Columbia/Sony), an expensive action movie in a month that doesn’t often feature them, and toplining the potent combo of Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, is starting off moderately well but not exceptionally.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have its opening day at $13M (including $1.75M from Thursday night), slightly ahead of […]