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 +12% above last year and now +22% above the average for this point the past four years ($2.296 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have […]

  OPENINGS:  The Saturday hold for DUNKIRK (Warners) wasn’t as strong as those for other Christopher Nolan non-sequels, down 11% where Inception stayed steady, and Interstellar actually rose 8%, pushing the weekend studio estimate to $50.5M.  Nevertheless, that’s a terrific start for a film that was far from a sure thing as a summer blockbuster.  […]

  OPENINGS:  Could JUSTICE LEAGUE (RatPac/DC/Warners) actually lose money?  That possibility exists after a worldwide opening (except Japan, not a huge superhero market) that hit only $281.5M, a number that sounds big only when it isn’t put up against $450M in production/marketing costs, not to mention other sunk expenses like distribution costs and interest.  In […]

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 +3% above last year and now +17% above the average for this point the […]

  OPENINGS:  BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (Regency/20th) is claiming a round-number $50M weekend, but even if that drifts down a bit in final numbers, it’s still a huge win.  The box office was steady from Friday to Saturday, which indicates a wide range of audience and strong word of mouth, and it has plenty of open road […]

  OPENINGS:  A MADEA FAMILY FUNERAL (Lionsgate) launched at $27.1M, and with the exception of the outliers Madea Goes To Jail ($41M) and A Madea Christmas ($16M), that puts it in the standard $21-30M range of the franchise.  It should be headed for $65M in the US, and that’s the only number that counts, since […]

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 -9% below last year’s comparable span (same as the -9% last week) and still -1% below the average at this point the past four years ($5.168 billion).  Over the […]

  OPENINGS:  The entertainment business revolves these days around IP, but not all franchises are created equal, and there turned out to be a thunderous lack of interest in TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (Skydance/Tencent/20th/Disney/Paramount), which opened to just $29M in the US against production/marketing costs of $300M+.  A big-budget action epic in that predicament normally hopes […]