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 basically even with this point the past four years ($7.473 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost […]

  OPENINGS:  The only new wide release on Halloween weekend was the low-budget horror movie COME PLAY (Focus/Universal), which was relatively impressive compared to last week’s $1.3M for Empty Man with $3.2M.  It seemed to be helped by pandemic considerations, because while normally a Saturday Halloween would be a down day, this year moviegoing appeared […]

  OPENINGS:  EVIL DEAD (TriStar/Sony/FilmDistrict) took the weekend with $26M, and even though, based on Sunday results for other recent horror movies, that number may drop a bit with final figures tomorrow, it should end up with a pleasantly bloody $50M before it’s done in the US (it also made $4.5M this weekend in 21 international […]

: Because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, box office figures are incomplete this morning.  As is usually the case with Christmas Eve, business was down across the board yesterday, and if we look to 2011 as a guide, the Sunday bumps today may range from 40-60% for family movies like Sing and Moana, to […]

  OPENINGS:  FAST & FURIOUS 6 (Universal) dropped 16% on Sunday and estimates a 13% slip on Monday–that latter number may be a little overoptimistic, but even if it turns out that the 4-day total is $119M instead of $120M, it matters very little except to Universal’s press people.  FF6 was easily the 4th best […]

  The biggest boxoffice story of the weekend happened overseas:  in only 25 international markets, SKYFALL (Sony) the new James Bond, has opened at a scorching, record-setting pace, with a reported $77.7M in 3 days (including $32.4M in the UK alone).   The movie doesn’t open in the US for 2 weeks, but it’s already kicking […]

  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 […]

  OPENINGS:  MAMA (Universal) had a 9% bump on Saturday, not bad for a horror movie, and should have a very healthy $33M by the end of the 4-day weekend.  BROKEN CITY (20th) and THE LAST STAND (Lionsgate), with their older-skewing audiences, had proportionately better Saturdays (up 19% and 25%, respectively), but there’s still such limited […]