OPENINGS:  THE WOMAN KING (TriStar/Sony) launched at the higher end of expectations with $19M, boosted by strong reviews (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and enthusiastic audience response as measured by exit polls.  In the current market, with few openings arriving each week (and even fewer for Woman King‘s older female target demo), the film should […]

  OPENINGS:  There wasn’t any good news for this week’s wide releases, and that began with the weekend’s leader, as THE FLASH (DC/Warners) failed to meet even the lowest expectations with a sluggish $55.1M start.  (The studio’s 4-day estimate, including the Monday Juneteenth holiday, was an optimistic $64M.)  The 3-day total was significantly lower than […]

  OPENINGS:  MONKEY MAN (Universal) walked an odd path to theaters, originally being targeted for a Netflix release.  While the result earned strong reviews (87% on Rotten Tomatoes), there was no storybook ending at the box office, as Dev Patel’s film was below expectations at $10.1M.  Nor did Monkey Man stir much excitement overseas, with […]

>Two new films open this weekend, a formulaic romantic comedy from director Garry Marshall and an R-rated comedy starring Jonah Hill that looks like it will come and go very quickly.  New Year’s Eve will be #1 this weekend but not at a particularly impressive level.  And none of the Thanksgiving holdovers look to gross […]

>The Hangover Part II Domestic Total estimate has been upgraded to slightly exceed the first Hangover. The Hangover Part II‘s Domestic Total estimate has been upgraded to $285 million, slightly beating the $277 million of Part I.  There are two main reasons for this.  First, the original estimate generated by the ShowBuzzDaily model did not […]

This weekend is looking incredibly strong: over $250 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up 27% from a typical third weekend in November.  The final Twilight (12-34 females), Lincoln (35+ adults), and the second weekend of the strongest Bond yet (young adults) make for a powerful combination.   Opening at over 4,000 theaters Friday […]

The 26th weekend of the year (halfway through already!) is looking like an on-target $189 million for the top 12 films, within a few percentage points of the comparable weekend the last few years.     Opening at around 3,000 3,222 theaters Friday (somewhat above the average 2,886 theater count for opening weekend wide releases), White […]

The 47th weekend of the year is looking like $238 million for the top 12 films, just about where the weekend before Thanksgiving should be. Opening at over 4,100 theaters Friday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire from Lionsgate/Summit should average a superior $40,800 per […]