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:  The only wide launch this week (2027 theatres) was the horror movie THE EMPTY MAN (20th/Disney), which despite its big-studio credentials had a nearly invisible level of marketing behind it, and started with a $1.3M weekend that was low even by pandemic standards. AFTER WE COLLIDED (Open Road) had a limited arrival at […]

  OPENINGS:  We’re starting to get a feel for what this pandemic box office looks like, absent big-studio blockbusters.  This week’s HONEST THIEF (Open Road) opened at $3.7M in 2425 theatres (a weekend per-theatre $1525 average), just about the same as last week’s The War With Grandpa, even though they’re in completely different genres.  Honest […]

  OPENINGS:  We had a new wide release this weekend, and THE WAR WITH GRANDPA (101) managed a win over the weary Tenet with $3.6M.  That’s certainly not a number that would make anyone feel good in non-pandemic times, and since War With Grandpa had a semblance of a national marketing campaign, it’s not at […]

  OPENINGS:  There were no new wide openings this weekend, and with the postponement of No Time To Die until 2021, and the announcement that Regal Theaters may be re-closing some or all of its houses, it’s not clear when the major studios will be returning.  (Currently Pixar/Disney’s Soul and Universal’s The Croods 2 are […]

  OPENINGS:  There were no truly wide openings this weekend.  However, a few low-budget films entered mid-level distribution.  The horror movie SHORTCUT (Gravitas) averaged $420 over the weekend at 725 theatres for a $305K total.  The other two arrivals were Sundance acquisitions.  THE LAST SHIFT (Sony) averaged $270 at 871 for a $235K total.  KAJILLIONAIRE […]

  OPENINGS:  The only wide opening of the week was the Christian-aimed action movie INFIDEL (Cloudburst), the first release from that studio.  The official estimate is $1.5M from 1724 theatres, or a bit less than $900 per-theatre for the weekend, but that number assumes a very strong Sunday, so we’ll see if it holds up.  […]

  OPENINGS:  Even in a normal box office marketplace, a mild rom-com with no big-name stars like THE BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY (TriStar/Sony) probably wouldn’t have made much money, and it has both a low production budget and limited marketing costs going for it.  All that being said, though, there’s nothing about a $1.1M weekend at […]