OPENINGS:  Here’s the really remarkable thing about this weekend’s haul for IRON MAN 3 (Disney).  It’s not the $175.3M opening in the US, even though that’s the 2d highest start in US history–that was pretty much where it was expected to be, well above Iron Man 2 but not quite equal to the combined […]

  OPENINGS:  ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US (TriStar/Sony) continued its frontloaded box office swoon, with a 28% Sunday drop and probably another 25% today (the Monday number will likely be 75% below what the movie earned on opening day).  Despite more than doubling the Friday box office of The Butler, it will end up losing […]

  OPENINGS:  A bit surprisingly, LONE SURVIVOR (Universal) had no Saturday bump to speak of (under 1%), giving it a more frontloaded weekend than a movie appealing to an older audience (which tends not to run out on opening night) with strong reviews might be expected to have.  American Hustle, by way of comparison, went […]

  Note:  Most of the studios are pinning extremely aggressive Sunday estimates on the hope that their movie will be a popular Mothers Day destination, so look for a potentially larger than usual set of adjustments in final numbers tomorrow. OPENINGS:  NEIGHBORS (Universal) is that rare Hollywood ideal of an easily-promotable, high-concept comedy that’s also […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  The studio rankings remain unchanged, and the most noteworthy change is that Universal now boasts a film in the $300+ million worldwide box (Lucy with $126 million domestic and $192 million overseas to date).  But the success of Lucy cannot make up for an excess of clunkers, as Universal is showing a hit-to-miss ratio even […]

  UPDATE:  The release of THE INTERVIEW continues to be improvisational, and contrary to regular practice–as well as Sony’s previously expressed plans–the studio announced on Sunday that in addition to its $2.8M take from independent theatres, the film earned $15M from online viewing in the Wed-Sat period.  However, Sony didn’t specify how that amount was […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.     YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is still +5% above last year and +7% above the average for this point the past four years ($3.249 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $9.8 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +6% above last year and now +2% above the average for this point the past four years ($7.066 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed over $18.6 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]