OPENINGS:  In the US, THE MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE (20th) had an OK start with $23.5M, down from $32.5M/$30.3M for the first 2 films in the series.  It’s on track for $60-65M here.  However, it’s off to a much better start overseas, where it’s in 70 markets (with about half a dozen still […]

  OPENINGS:  The Presidents Day weekend wide releases were Sundance titles seeking to take advantage of the expanded “2020” Oscar calendar, which includes films released through February 2021.  Both would likely have been platformed releases in a non-pandemic marketplace, and remained niche in their appeal.  JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (Warners, also on HBO Max) […]

  After a moratorium on official boxoffice pronouncements due to the tragic events in Colorado, Warners has officially released the weekend boxoffice figure for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES:  $160.9M.  This is where the unofficial weekend estimates had the picture, although it’s 10-20% below the pre-release expectations for the film.  That was also largely the case […]

Wow.  It’s time to haul out the superlatives and the sports cliches like grand slam and buzzer-beating three-point shot.  Marvel’s The Avengers is headed for a $200 million opening weekend, shattering the record previously held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.2 million).  Beating a record by 18% is truly extraordinary.  While […]

  OPENINGS:  GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (Columbia/Sony) opened with $44M, which was $2M below the launch of the 2016 Ghostbusters, a result treated as such a disaster that the franchise had to be re-rebooted.  Afterlife, though, is considered a success, thanks to a lower production budget ($75M, moderate for a tentpole), pandemic box office standards, and the […]

Based on Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #5 of 2013 continues to be on pace for $69 million for the top 12 films (over 30% behind the pace for the same weekend the last few years and identical to the early estimate yesterday).   Opening at 3,009 theaters Friday, Warm Bodies from Summit grossed $7.6 million Friday and $9 […]

  OPENINGS:  SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (Marvel/Columbia/Sony) was considerably more front-loaded than initial enthusiasm suggested, dropping 27% on Saturday, and pushing its weekend total to $117M.  While the weekend result was still a very big number, that Saturday decline was far steeper than the 8-9% Day 2 drops for Wonder Woman and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 […]

>Transformers 3 is looking like a $97.4 million opening weekend (Friday-Sunday only) and $162 million through Sunday.  The three-day number is a record July 4th weekend showing.  What about Larry Crowne?  From an interview at Boxofficemagazine.com Tom Hanks said, “How do we compete in the marketplace?  Forgive me, I haven’t the slightest fu*king idea….  At […]