WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is now +7% above last year and now +17% above the average for this point the past four years ($1.698 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have […]

  OPENINGS:  JIGSAW (Lionsgate) had a better Saturday hold than Saw VI (down 21% instead of 32%), and that saved it from having the lowest opening weekend of the franchise.  However, its $16.3M start is still far below the $24.2M for the last installment Saw 3D, which killed off the series for 7 years.  Jigsaw […]

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 +17% above last year and now +24% above the average for this point the […]

  OPENINGS:  INCREDIBLES 2 (Pixar/Disney) resoundingly became the highest-opening animated film of all time with a giant $180M weekend, more than 30% higher than the $135.1M for Finding Dory.  Its Saturday behaved similarly to Dory, down 18% from Friday compared to Dory‘s 17%, although Incredibles 2 is looking for a better Sunday hold, down 16% […]

  OPENINGS:  FIRST MAN (Perfect World/Universal) had an underwhelming $16.5M start, and considering its older-skewing audience, its 10% Saturday bump wasn’t impressive either.  It carries $150M+ in production/marketing costs, and a $50M US total would leave it at risk for red ink, since its very American story (flag controversy notwithstanding) makes foreign appeal questionable.  It […]

  OPENINGS:  THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART (Warners Animation) had a solid 83% family matinee bump on Saturday, but its $34.4M weekend studio estimate is still down more than 50% from the opening of the original Lego Movie, and down 35% from The Lego Batman Movie.  (It’s considerably better than the relatively disastrous […]

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 now -5% below last year’s comparable span (2 points better than last week) and now +2% above the average at this point the past four years ($4.304 billion).  Over the […]

  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 -5% below last year’s comparable span and now +1% above this point the past four years ($8.047 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $21.4 billion […]