OPENINGS:  AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (Marvel/Disney) got the historic opening of its dreams, edging out The Force Awakens with a $250M US weekend, and also becoming the #1 worldwide opening in history with $630M.  That latter number is remarkable not only because it beat The Fate of the Furious by $88.1M, but even more because […]

  OPENINGS:  With little else new around, DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO (Crunchyroll/Sony) seized the weekend with $20.1M, a bit lower than the studio’s Dragon Slayer: Mugen Train, which opened with $21.2M at about half the number of theaters.  Dragon Ball, like most anime titles, was heavily skewed to the M18-34 audience, and it may […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #18 of 2014 continues to look like $144 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down 25% from the norm for this weekend.   Opening at 4,324 theaters, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from Sony grossed $35.5 million Friday and $33.1 million Saturday, putting the film on track for a $92.0 million […]

  OPENINGS:  There were no new wide openings on this pre-holiday season weekend in the US, but things were busier overseas.  AQUAMAN (DC/Warners), which won’t arrive in the US until December 21, launched in China with a huge $93.6M, the best start for any Warner Bros film in that country, and almost as much as […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #14 of 2014 looks like $160 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up over 40% from the four-year average for this weekend.  All credit goes to the second Captain America, as Disney has succesfully transformed April into the new May on the evolving movie release calendar.   […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #20 of 2014 now looks like $171 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, somewhat less than the $177 million estimate yesterday but still up 17% from the norm for this weekend.   Opening at 3,952 theaters, Godzilla from Warner Brothers grossed $38.5 million late Thursday/Friday and a slightly cooler $32.2 […]

  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:  Despite being limited to 2 Saturday shows at 803 theaters, the (tape-delayed) live concert movie BTS: PERMISSION TO DANCE (Trafalgar) earned $6.8M at the US box office.  Even with an average $35 ticket price, that’s an impressive achievement, and the international result was even more remarkable at $25.8M.  This was the highest-grossing movie […]