OPENINGS:  Word of mouth kicked in on Saturday for CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (Marvel/Disney), which fell a mild 19% from opening day, much better than the 38% drop for Batman v Superman and the 33% for The Avengers: Age Of Ultron (although not quite as good as the 10% for Iron Man 3, 14% for The Avengers […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2018 film slates by studio. The studio totals also include 2018 dollars for films released in late 2017. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is now +14% above last year and now +23% above the average for this point the […]

  OPENINGS:  CRAZY RICH ASIANS (Color Force/SK Global/Warners) had a strong 42% Saturday bump, an especially bright sign for a film that might have been expected to play as front-loaded for a niche audience.  That pushed its weekend to $25.2M, with a total of $34M since its Wednesday opening.  It was just slightly below the […]

  OPENINGS:  A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE (Paramount) handily exceeded expectations with $53M in the US, better than its predecessors ($50.2M and $47.5M respectively, although Part II earned $57.1M over its 4-day holiday launch).  It was particularly impressive because Day One featured a different cast and creative team for the most part, suggesting that A […]

  Although we’re still a few days away from December 25, the holiday movie rush is upon us, which should mean an unusually strong Sunday that will lead into 2 solid weeks of weekday numbers that look more like weekends. OPENINGS:  THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (New Line/MGM/Warners) is off to a […]

  OPENINGS:  STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (Legendary/Universal) turned out to be somewhat frontloaded, with a 20% drop on its 2d day of release.  But no one will complain about its huge $56.1M weekend, the #6 August opening ever (and #2, behind only Signs, among non-franchise titles).  It should add plenty of gold to Universal’s 2015 pile […]

  THE MAIN EVENT:  As the roof caved in on BATMAN V SUPERMAN:  DAWN OF JUSTICE (DC/RatPac/Warners), the studio had two last-ditch goals:  to avoid a Weekend 2 result that dropped 70% from last week or dipped below $50M in the US.  Pending tomorrow’s final numbers, it appears to have managed that, with a 68% […]

  OPENINGS:  We’ll find out tomorrow if the studio’s $100.2M US weekend estimate for THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (Universal), which counts on an influx of post-church Easter Sunday Christians, will slip into double figures.  But even if the number holds, it’s down 32% from the Furious 7 opening.  If Universal’s hypothesis that this decline […]