>Weekend #15 of 2012 looks like it will be about $105 million for the top 12 films, down 11% from last year’s comparable weekend (dominated by Rio) and about even with the four-year average for this weekend.  After three weeks of blazing box office, The Three Stooges and The Cabin in the Woods should struggle […]

  OPENINGS:  TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (Nickelodeon/Movie Media Group/Alibaba/Paramount) opened 46% below the TMNT reboot 2 years ago at $35.3M.  That suggests a $100M US total, and with $250M+ in production/marketing costs, the bulk of that will have to be recovered overseas.  So far, it’s earned $34M in 40 territories, not […]

Weekend #8 of 2014 is looking like an okay $110 million for the top 12 films, 4% above the average for this weekend the past several years. Two new movies look to open very quietly, while The Lego Movie remains the only real force in theaters currently. Opening at around 2,500 theaters Friday (slightly below the 2,886 average […]

Another lifeless weekend is in store this weekend, as the audience prepares for the holidays and puts of moviegoing until the week between Christmas and New Year’s, when there are seven weekend-volume days in a row.  Until then, we have a weekend which will add up to less than $80 million for the top dozen […]

Weekend #26 of 2012 looks like another weak one: $157 million for the top 12 films, down 18% from last year’s comparable weekend and down 8% from the four-year average for the weekend.  Some of this decline can be attributed to the calendar.  July 4 fell on or close to the 26th weekend in previous […]

  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 […]

  We’re just about 24 hours away from the US arrival of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the kick-off of the summer movie season, and in our survey of each studio’s schedule and prospects, we’ve already taken a look at Sony, Universal and Warner Bros.  Today:  the House of Murdoch, aka 20th Century Fox. LAST […]

  OPENINGS:  A MADEA FAMILY FUNERAL (Lionsgate) launched at $27.1M, and with the exception of the outliers Madea Goes To Jail ($41M) and A Madea Christmas ($16M), that puts it in the standard $21-30M range of the franchise.  It should be headed for $65M in the US, and that’s the only number that counts, since […]