WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Strong overseas grosses for Captain America: The Winter Soldier continue to pad Disney’s lead over Warner Brothers in worldwide box office to date (Disney has $929 million compared to $861 million for Warner Brothers).  Fox is next with $723 million, and Sony has pulled to over $600 million with Heaven Is for Real this weekend. […]

  OPENINGS:  THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 (Illumination/Universal) had a better launch than this weekend’s other big arrival, but it was a major box office disappointment in its own right.  The $47.1M weekend was down 55% from the first Pets just 3 years ago, and although Pets 2 will likely hit profit thanks to […]

  OPENINGS:  Here’s the really remarkable thing about this weekend’s haul for IRON MAN 3 (Disney).  It’s not the $175.3M opening in the US, even though that’s the 2d highest start in US history–that was pretty much where it was expected to be, well above Iron Man 2 but not quite equal to the combined […]

  OPENINGS:  LUCY (Universal) is claiming the lowest Sunday drop in the Top 10, so the studio’s $44M weekend estimate may come down a bit tomorrow, but it’s still a very solid hit for all concerned.  That’s especially true for Scarlett Johansson, who now has non-Avenger action movie bona fides.  The only question is whether […]

  OPENINGS:  As usual with new arrivals, the eager studios behind GI JOE: RETALIATION (Paramount/MGM) have claimed a low Sunday decline (2d lowest in the Top 10), so the $41.2M weekend and $51.7M opening 4 days could slip a bit when final numbers are released tomorrow–and even if they don’t, that 4 day figure is […]

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 +7% above last year and still +12% above the average for this point the […]

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:  MAMA (Universal) had a 9% bump on Saturday, not bad for a horror movie, and should have a very healthy $33M by the end of the 4-day weekend.  BROKEN CITY (20th) and THE LAST STAND (Lionsgate), with their older-skewing audiences, had proportionately better Saturdays (up 19% and 25%, respectively), but there’s still such limited […]