WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2019 film slates by studio. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2019 is still -18% below last year’s comparable span (0 points different than last week) and still -16% below the average for this point the past four years ($2.577 billion).  Over the same […]

> 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.  […]

  OPENINGS:  The major studios took the weekend off in anticipation of next week’s The Batman overwhelming the market.  STUDIO 666 (Open Road) didn’t find much of a crowd for its Foo Fighters horror with a $1.6M weekend, and it probably won’t reach $10M in the US. CYRANO (UA/MGM) may have outsmarted itself, scheduled for […]

  OPENINGS:  Studios are increasingly starting their global launches of franchise blockbusters overseas, and once again, the weekend’s biggest box office news occurred outside the US.  X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (20th) has opened in 75 overseas territories that cover about 2/3 of the world (but not yet China) and had a $103.3M weekend.  That’s much lower than […]

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 +10% above last year and still +14% above the average for this point […]

  OPENINGS:  THOR: RAGNAROK (Marvel/Disney) exceeded high expectations, which is no mean feat for a Marvel blockbuster.  In the US, its weekend was $121M, 42% ahead of both Thor: The Dark World and last November’s Doctor Strange.  (The one slight negative was that its 5% Saturday drop was a bit worse than the 1%/4% dips […]

  OPENINGS:  STAR TREK BEYOND (Skydance/Alibaba/Huahua/Paramount) had a tepid start, claiming a $59.6M opening weekend in the US.  Even if that number holds (it includes an extremely aggressive Sunday estimate), it would be 20% below the $75..2M 2009 franchise reboot, and even below the $70.2M earned by Star Trek Into Darkness, which opened on a […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Very little change in the studio rankings of worldwide box office for the year to date.  No studio changed its ranking this week, and the top four studios grossed a modest $60 to $101 million each over the past week. Scroll down for domestic and overseas grosses for each film individually so […]