OPENINGS:  SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (Marvel/Sony Animation) flew past expectations with a $120.5M US opening, more than triple Into the Spider-Verse‘s $35.4M start in 2018.  That made it the 2nd biggest opening of 2023, behind only The Super Mario Bros Movie.  Across probably won’t have the 5.4x multiple that Into did (Across is more […]

  OPENINGS:  ARTHUR THE KING (Lionsgate) was clearly hoping to emulate the sleeper success of 2022’s Dog, which ran a $14.9M opening into $61.8M in the US.  However, the Mark Wahlberg vehicle came up very short with a $7.5M start.  Production/marketing costs are reportedly $60M, which will make for a tough road to profit.  Arthur […]

      THE AVENGERS:  Simply spectacular.  The 50% drop in Weekend 2 ripped past the $75M record to an amazing $103M.  The level of the weekly decline isn’t unprecedented (Avatar dropped an insane 2%, Shrek 2 33%, the original Spider-Man 38%, Alice In Wonderland and Toy Story 3 46% each), but it’s better than […]

> As detailed in Mitch Metcalf’s Weekend Boxoffice Report, New Year’s Day wasn’t the bonanza the studios were expecting it to be. PARAMOUNT:  MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL‘s Sunday increase was less than half of the 33% projected, and it’s likely to fall another 15-20% today, giving it a bit over $140M in total and […]

  Paul W.S. Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson share the glory. OPENINGS:  W.S. Anderson’s RESIDENT EVIL:  RETRIBUTION (Screen Gems/Sony) took the weekend, but its $21.1M haul is the lowest the series has seen in a decade, and 20% below the opening of the last installment.  All of this only means something if it’s reflected overseas, […]

  OPENINGS:  EVIL DEAD (TriStar/Sony/FilmDistrict) took the weekend with $26M, and even though, based on Sunday results for other recent horror movies, that number may drop a bit with final figures tomorrow, it should end up with a pleasantly bloody $50M before it’s done in the US (it also made $4.5M this weekend in 21 international […]

  OPENINGS:  THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES (Screen Gems/Sony) won the weekend’s battle (among newcomers) but isn’t likely to win the war, with a very blah $3K average at over 3000 theatres for a $9.3M weekend ($14.1M since its Wednesday opening).  The big question is whether Constantin Film, the German studio that financed the […]

  Truth be told, “weekend” box office doesn’t mean much in a week where Friday/Saturday/Sunday are no stronger than the weekdays that surround them, and virtually all the openings took place on Wednesday.  (Also, morning estimates aren’t very different from the preliminary numbers we posted last night.)  Nevertheless, a few thoughts. OPENINGS:  THE WOLF OF […]