OPENINGS:  THE EQUALIZER 2 (Escape Artists/Columbia Sony) rode a relatively stable Saturday (down 5% from Friday) to a $35.8M weekend win, up about 5% from the opening for the first Equalizer in 2014.  That film had an 8% Saturday bump, suggesting that the sequel, like most sequels, will burn out faster than the original, […]

  OPENINGS:  HOBBS & SHAW (Universal) dropped 13% on Saturday, considerably less frontloaded than the 31% Saturday drops for the last 2 Fast & Furious titles, The Fate Of the Furious and Furious 7.  Both of those shed an additional 29-31% on their first Sundays, and Universal is optimistically assuming a mere 20% drop for […]

  OPENINGS:  After last week’s Barbenheimer fireworks, the box office for new movies returned to earth–with a thud in the case of HAUNTED MANSION (Disney), which was at the bottom of projections at $24.2M.  With the exception of Guardians 3, it’s been a tepid summer for Disney, and Haunted Mansion carries production/marketing costs in the […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio, including early 2018 dollars for films released later in 2017. We will start tracking the 2018 studio slates in a few weeks. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is still +7% above last […]

  OPENINGS:  DESPICABLE ME 2 (Universal) had an even better weekend overseas than it did in the US, with $88.8M (in 45 markets, with plenty more major ones to come) vs $82.5M.  (Of course, in the US it also had the benefit of a holiday week, giving it a huge $142.1M here so far.)  The […]

  Note:  Most of the studios are pinning extremely aggressive Sunday estimates on the hope that their movie will be a popular Mothers Day destination, so look for a potentially larger than usual set of adjustments in final numbers tomorrow. OPENINGS:  NEIGHBORS (Universal) is that rare Hollywood ideal of an easily-promotable, high-concept comedy that’s also […]

  OPENINGS:  MINIONS (Illumination/Universal) had a surprisingly bumpy 16% drop on Saturday, but it will handily become the #2 animated opening of all time, topping Toy Story 3‘s $110.3M, even if the studio’s $115.2M forecast turns out to rely on a stronger Sunday rebound than final numbers confirm.  (Still #1: 2007’s  Shrek The Third at […]

>The 22% drop for GREEN LANTERN on Saturday is fairly disastrous:  Thor, X-Men and Pirates 4 all dropped about 8% on their first Saturdays, and Super 8 actually increased.  (Hangover 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 opened on Wednesdays, so their weeks had a different dynamic.)  Obviously, this indicates terrible word of mouth for the […]