The Rock’s second-worst opening is second-best at the boxoffice this slow Oscar weekend. OPENINGS:  Boosted by a 36% Saturday rise, SNITCH (Summit/Lionsgate) is projecting a $13M weekend, although like all round numbers, that one will likely come down, beginning with a “12” when final figures are released tomorrow.  The best that can be said […]

  OPENINGS:  ADRIFT (H Brothers/STX) was at the top of a very low hill with $11.5M (plus $350K in 9 overseas territories).  STX, which only has domestic rights, is claiming to be on the hook for only around $30M in limited production and marketing costs, but even at that number, it may not break even, […]

  OPENINGS:  Let’s be clear:  the decision to greenlight a $100M production budget for IN THE HEART OF THE SEA (Village Roadshow/Warners)–a period whaling adventure that features about 10 minutes of a CG whale and is otherwise mostly (spoiler alert) about the cast starving and suffering–was fundamentally insane.  Even if the film had been good, […]

  OPENINGS:  At $6.5M, THE POSSESSION OF HANNAH GRACE (Screen Gems/Sony) performed adequately for a low-budget horror item placed in one of the lower-grossing weekends of the year.  Possession also earned $4.1M in 17 international territories, the start of a release that will extend into early 2019.  It has around $30M in production and worldwide […]

Friday’s $52.1 million for the top 10 films is very close to the pace for the same day in 2007 (when December 28 was also a Friday). In fact, over the past three days, 2012 is performing almost identically to 2007.  The big differences between the two years are last weekend (December 21-23), which was […]

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:  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 musical remake of MEAN GIRLS (Paramount) was within expectations at $28M for the 3-day weekend ($32M is anticipated with the inclusion of Monday’s MLK Day holiday).  The film, which was originally developed for streaming, had a moderate budget, so it should be on its way to a fair amount of profit.  The […]