CARS 3 (Pixar/Disney) will have a strong Fathers Day, which in turn will make its weekend multiple look good, but it’s off to a disappointing start.  In preliminary numbers at Deadline, its opening day is pegged at $19.1M (including $2.8M from Thursday night), down 25% from the first day of 2011’s Cars 2 ($25.7M), […]

  OPENINGS:  THE POST (DreamWorks/Reliance/Participant/20th) expanded to wide release with $18.6M over 3 days (which should become $22M with Monday).  That’s a bit better than the $15.4M 3-day start for Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, which didn’t have the benefit of a holiday weekend opening.  Bridge got to $72.3M in the US, and The Post […]

  OPENINGS:  The release strategy for 1917 (Universal) has gone just about perfectly, culminating in a $36.5M wide opening weekend that was significantly ahead of industry expectations.  Universal screened the film to critics and guild groups at the end of November, unveiled it in limited release on Christmas Day with the benefit of strong reviews, […]

Weekend #25 of 2015 is looking like $202 million for the top 12 films this weekend, significantly above the norm for the same weekend the past few years and way above last year’s misfire on this weekend (see comparisons below). Inside Out from Disney should open with a $70.0 million three-day weekend. Early reviews at RottenTomatoes are unanimous: 100% positive overall […]

The second weekend of 2013 should total about $122 million for the top 12 films, a little better than the same weekend the last few years but below the comparable weekend in 2009 and 2010.  Zero Dark Thirty moves from the art houses to a fairly wide release and should play more commercially than The […]

> Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 from Warner Brothers will open huge at the box office, propelling the weekend up more than 30% over this weekend last year (when Inception and the Nicolas Cage classic The Sorcerer’s Apprentice opened).  Winne the Pooh from Disney will get lost in the shuffle. Opening at […]

  STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI (Lucasfilm/Disney) was expected to be gigantic, but not quite as huge as 2015’s The Force Awakens, which benefited from a decade of pent-up expectations.  That’s exactly where it’s heading, as preliminary numbers at Deadline have Friday at $100.4M, of which $45M is from Thursday night.  That opening day is […]

  The major studios didn’t try to seriously challenge HALLOWEEN (Blumhouse/Miramax/Universal) on its titular weekend, and despite a 69% Friday-to-Friday drop to $10.3M according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it will easily win its 2nd weekend with around $33M.  At this rate, it could top $175M in the US, which would put it neck-and-neck with […]