OPENINGS:  THE NEW MUTANTS (20th/TSG/Disney) was DOA long before the world was engulfed by a pandemic, repeatedly postponed as first 20th and then Disney tried to figure out what to do with it.  The only reason it’s having a theatrical release at all is that 20th’s pre-Disney co-financier TSG had the contractual right to […]

  OPENINGS:  There were no truly wide openings this weekend, but the pandemic horror movie IN THE EARTH (Neon) arrived at the low end of “wide” in 547 theatres and started quietly at $500K. Next weekend’s likely #1 US opening MORTAL KOMBAT (Warners) has reached $19.2M overseas after a $5.7M weekend in 28 territories. HOLDOVERS:  […]

  OPENINGS:  The MCU-adjacent MORBIUS (Marvel/Columbia/Sony) was unable to pull off Venom‘s feat of opening big despite lousy reviews.  Its $39.1M weekend was less than half of Venom‘s $80.3M, and negative word of mouth was evident in the 24% Friday-to-Saturday drop.  It’s never a good sign when the best spin a studio can put on […]

  OPENINGS:  The combination of the typically low early-December box office and the approach of Avatar 2 dissuaded the studios from introducing any new product this week.  The closest thing to a wide release in the US was the expansion of SPOILER ALERT (Focus/Universal) to 783 theaters, where it fared badly with $700K, averaging $900 […]

  OPENINGS:  Although BLUE BEETLE (DC/Warners) won the weekend over a tiring Barbie, it landed at the low end of expectations with $25.4M–and given the heavy 15% Friday-to-Saturday drop (much steeper than the 4%/6% drops for the Shazam movies), not to mention the Sunday West Coast weather, that studio estimate may be optimistic.  The international […]

  OPENINGS:  INSIDE OUT 2 (Pixar/Disney) overdelivered massively compared to expectations with $155M in the US, a remarkable $65M higher than the start for 2015’s original Inside Out, and depending whether you count the “live-action” CG remake of The Lion King ($191.8M) as animated, either the #2 or #3 US opening for an animated feature […]

> We’re still a few hours away from the release of actual boxoffice numbers for last weekend (check back for Mitch Metcalf’s full analysis when the figures are official), but The Hollywood Reporter is claiming that COWBOYS AND ALIENS has pulled ahead of THE SMURFS for the weekend crown, with $35.7-36M compared to Smurfs’ $35.6M.  […]

> Hope you like Hunger Games rip-offs, because plenty of them are on the way. OPENINGS:  The 3d biggest opening weekend of all time, the 2d best Saturday, the 4th best Sunday… and is it done?  Lionsgate is estimating a reasonable 29% Sunday drop for THE HUNGER GAMES, but considering that the movie has overperformed […]