OPENINGS:  THE CALL OF THE WILD (20th/Disney) did a bit better than expected at $24.8M, but in the long run that’s not likely to make much difference.  Similarly to Dolittle (although much more quietly), Call of the Wild was extremely expensive, with $200M+ in production/marketing costs, so a $75M US total won’t get it […]

  OPENINGS:  LITTLE WOMEN (Columbia/Sony) had a solid start with $16.5M over the 3-day weekend ($29M since Wednesday).  The next week will be particularly difficult to predict because of the midweek holiday, after which schools will mostly remain closed but some adults will be going back to work.  If Little Women can reach $50M by […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  A huge weekend for Warner Brothers, pushes the studio back into a secure second place among the Hollywood studios. Scroll down for domestic and overseas grosses for each film individually so far in 2014. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2014 is still running -6% behind last […]

Don’t look a gift boxoffice in the mouth? OPENINGS:  Unsurprisingly, both studios pushed their estimates on MADAGASCAR 3 (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount) and PROMETHEUS (20th) to the highest round number available, meaning $60M and $50M, respectively.  In order to achieve those numbers, the 2 movies with the worst Friday-to-Saturday performance in the Top 10 will need to […]

  OPENINGS:  BAD GRANDPA (Paramount) romped to 1st place at the multiplexes this weekend with $32M, but perhaps more notably, it also made $8.4M in just 16 overseas territories.  That’s the same level as Jackass 3D, which ended up making $54M internationally, a tremendous success for such a low-budget franchise.  Bad Grandpa 2 seems all […]

  OPENINGS:  According to published reports, Emma Watson’s deal on BEAUTY & THE BEAST (Disney) starts at a $3M base, but rises to $15M if the film reaches around $750M worldwide.  It seems like Watson can safely buy any Lamborghini that’s caught her eye, because Beauty is a global blockbuster.  In the US, Disney’s $170M […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2016 to date is now +3% above last year and now +6% above the average for this point the past four years ($3.372 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $9.4 billion worldwide […]

  OPENINGS:  A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE (Paramount) handily exceeded expectations with $53M in the US, better than its predecessors ($50.2M and $47.5M respectively, although Part II earned $57.1M over its 4-day holiday launch).  It was particularly impressive because Day One featured a different cast and creative team for the most part, suggesting that A […]