OPENINGS:  In the US, NO TIME TO DIE (UA/MGM) opened at $56M, at the low end of expectations–and “expectations” are usually already set low so that the press will report that a film has “overperformed”–and below the last three Bond films (Quantum of Solace $67.5M, Skyfall $88.4M, Spectre $70.4M).  Obviously the pandemic is a […]

  OPENINGS:  Although JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION (Universal) is being billed as the “conclusion of the trilogy,” the studio certainly won’t be abandoning the franchise, as Dominion opened to $143.4M, almost identical to the $148M for 2018’s Fallen Kingdom, and with a very similar trajectory, down 22% on Saturday (Fallen Kingdom dropped 15%, but that was […]

  OPENINGS:  THE LITTLE MERMAID (Disney) began its run with $95.5M over the 3-day weekend, projected to $117.5M with the Monday holiday.  That’s within the range of pre-release projections, and if the numbers hold, it would be slightly higher than the $116.8M earned over the 2019 4-day Memorial Day weekend by Aladdin.  However, it’s a […]

  OPENINGS:  KUNG FU PANDA 4 (DreamWorks Animation/Universal), the first new all-ages animated release since the holiday season, arrived at the high end of projections with $58.3M, impressively above the $41.3M start for 2016’s Panda 3.  (And at a reported production budget 40% lower than its predecessor.)  It faces no direct competition for months, and […]

> It’s always to the advantage of the new opening to own first place at the boxoffice, so if Paramount thought FOOTLOOSE could pull it out over REAL STEEL, they would have staked their claim today.  (Both pictures are reporting a 39% Saturday-to-Sunday drop.) The Hollywood Reporter says Real Steel also made $23M overseas, which […]

  And now we know which was more front-loaded. OPENINGS:  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, TED (Universal) fell 10-15% from Friday to Saturday, which is about the same way the original Hangover played.  The weekend should still get to at least $50M, ahead of Hangover, making it potentially the highest-opening original R-rated comedy ever. MAGIC MIKE […]

  OPENINGS:  TEXAS CHAINSAW (Lionsgate) did what most horror movies do, dropping 23% on Saturday for a lousy 2.3x weekend multiple of its Friday gross.  It was actually in 2d place on both Saturday and Sunday, but that frontloaded Friday was enough to give it a comfortable $23M win for the weekend.  With a $20M […]

STUDIO SCORECARD. With the strong domestic and international opening of Despicable Me 2, Universal had a very good week (up $311 million from last week and almost catching Warner Brothers in terms of worldwide box office for the year).  Warner Brothers, thanks to Man of Steel, still brought in $157 million this week.  Next week the studio […]