OPENINGS:  HALLOWEEN (Blumhouse/Miramax/Universal) was front-loaded, with a Saturday drop that hit 18%, but that only prevented it from setting records, not from being a giant hit at $77.5M for the weekend.  That instantly makes it the highest-grossing entry in the 40-year old Halloween franchise (not adjusting for inflation).  With one more weekend before the […]

  OPENINGS:  ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL (20th) squeezed everything it could out of its opening 2-holiday week, with paid preview screenings on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights (totaling $2.4M) preceding its official Thursday opening.  All-in, that put it at $36.5M through Sunday, which will probably become $41M with Monday.  It has two more or less open […]

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 -7% below last year’s comparable span (2 points worse than last week) and now basically even with the average at this point the past four years ($4.565 billion).  Over […]

  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 still +1% above this point the past four years ($8.203 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed over $21.9 […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is a first look at the 2020 film slates by studios (films entering wide release in the 2020 calendar year). BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2020 is now +14% above last year’s comparable span but -7% below this point averaged over the past four years ($1.110 billion).  Over […]

  OPENINGS:  The second entry in the studio’s experiment with split theatrical/HBO Max distribution THE LITTLE THINGS (Warners) arrived with $4.8M in theatres, on the higher end of recent action movie openings ($3.1M for The Marksman, $4M for Unhinged), although of course paltry by pre-pandemic standards.  In addition, the film launched overseas with $2.8M from […]

  OPENINGS:  The 18-34 audience that now defines theatrical distribution in the US showed up for SCREAM (Skyglass/Paramount), propelling the reboot to $30.6M for the 3-day weekend and $35M for the 4-day holiday.  Reportedly, that demo was responsible for 2/3 of all tickets sold for Scream, a fact that won’t be ignored as studios plan […]

  OPENINGS: As studio greenlight and release strategies continue to morph, one thing that’s clear is that there will never be a shortage of low-budget horror movies.  SMILE (Paramount) is the latest successful arrival with $22M, following such recent releases as Barbarian, The Invitation, Pearl, and The Black Phone.  Although Smile will have to face […]