OPENINGS:  The Presidents Day weekend wide releases were Sundance titles seeking to take advantage of the expanded “2020” Oscar calendar, which includes films released through February 2021.  Both would likely have been platformed releases in a non-pandemic marketplace, and remained niche in their appeal.  JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (Warners, also on HBO Max) […]

  OPENINGS:  This year’s Saturday night Valentine’s Day worked out well for everyone this weekend, but especially for FIFTY SHADES OF GREY (Universal/Focus).  The prospect of some kink refreshed the movie’s audience from Friday’s fan-girls to a horde of couples, and the result was that despite the huge $30.3M opening day, the box office went […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2016 to date is now down -1% from last year and still +2% above the average for this point the past four years ($5.690 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost $14.7 billion worldwide […]

  OPENINGS:  ARGYLLE (Apple/Universal) arrived within blah expectations at $18M.  That makes it the third consecutive wildly expensive theatrical flop for Apple (with worldwide marketing included, costs were around $300M), and while the company has a few more projects on the calendar, including a pair of Brad Pitt vehicles, one has to wonder how many […]

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 +8% above last year and now +15% above the average for this point the […]

  OPENINGS:  DIVERGENT (Summit/Lionsgate) had an unusual trajectory for a YA movie, with a relatively unimpressive start but then much less of a Saturday drop than others in its genre.  The result was a $56M weekend (the number may tick down when adjusted figures are released tomorrow, considering the aggressive estimate of a 31% Sunday […]

  OPENINGS:  SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK (CBS/Lionsgate) dropped 21% on its 2nd day of release, which isn’t unusual for the horror genre (recently, The Curse of La Llorona fell 26% on its Day 2, and Child’s Play was down 25%), resulting in a $20.8M weekend, and a likely $40M US total.  Scary […]

> BREAKING DAWN PART 1: After a full week of running behind New Moon on a day-to-day basis, often by more than $1M per day, Summit’s estimates for the past 2 days suddenly have Breaking Dawn 1 ahead by a few thousand dollars. These are among several numbers that may change when Actuals are released […]