OPENINGS:  THE NEW MUTANTS (20th/TSG/Disney) was DOA long before the world was engulfed by a pandemic, repeatedly postponed as first 20th and then Disney tried to figure out what to do with it.  The only reason it’s having a theatrical release at all is that 20th’s pre-Disney co-financier TSG had the contractual right to […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio, with Fox continuing to lap the field and even show it’s human with Eddie the Eagle its first movie of the year in the weak box office category.  We have amended the summary categories somewhat this year with the top category now reserved for films over $500 million […]

  OPENINGS:  ABIGAIL (Universal) launched at the low end of expectations with $10.2M, lower than the $11.8M for Night Swim and virtually the same as the $9.9M for Imaginary.  Those films are respectively at $32.5M and $28M in the US, which is the likely range for Abigail.  However, the new film reportedly cost $28M before […]

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 +9% above last year and still +11% above the average for this point […]

  OPENINGS:  KNOCK AT THE CABIN (Universal) won the eternal footnote that it was the film to finally dethrone Avatar 2 at the top of the box office, but its $14.2 start was at the low end of expectations, below the $16.8M for 2021’s Old and thus M. Night Shyamalan’s lowest opening since his pre-Sixth Sense […]

  OPENINGS:  ALIEN: COVENANT (TSG/20th) slumped almost as badly on its 2d day of release as the unpopular Prometheus (22% vs 25%), and the result was a lackluster $36M weekend in the US–and even that number includes an aggressive estimate for Sunday.  Worse yet, with Covenant now playing in every major international market except China […]

  Marvel brings summer ticket sales to April. OPENINGS:  The record-breaking $96.2M US opening weekend for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (Disney), the highest ever in April (it may come down $1M or so tomorrow thanks to an aggressive studio prediction for Sunday, but it would still be far ahead of the previous record, $86.2M […]

  It’s been a while since we’ve had a chance to look at box office together, and the period has been a busy one, with the return of Hollywood blockbusters like A Quiet Place Part II, F9, The Suicide Squad and Black Widow to theaters (some exclusively, others shared with various forms of home availability).  […]