>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 is opening just short of $140 million in its first weekend, while Happy Feet Two looks like a $22 million opening.  The top 12 films this weekend should do a combined $217 million, up 16% from the same […]

  OPENINGS:  THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (Illumination/Universal) quintupled the next-highest grosser of the weekend, with the biggest opening in US history for an animated non-sequel at $103.2M, easily passing last year’s $90.4M for Inside Out.  It remains to be seen if Pets can match Inside Out‘s nearly 4x multiple, but whatever happens from here, […]

  OPENINGS:  After last week’s Fall Guy stumble, KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (20th/Disney) arrived at the high end of projections with $56.5M.   That was roughly on par with the starts for 2011’s Rise ($54.8M) and 2017’s War ($56.3M), although a bit lower than 2014’s Dawn ($72.6M).  The franchise has reliably done better […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #31 of 2013 still looks like a surprisingly weak $126 million for the top 12 films, down 4% from the average for this weekend the past few years (the first such decline since the weekend of June 7-9 eight weeks ago).  Opening at 3,025 theaters Friday, 2 Guns from Universal grossed […]

  OPENINGS:  THE INVISIBLE MAN (Blumhouse/Universal) had a 12% Saturday bump, evidence of extremely strong word of mouth in the horror genre (among recent uncommonly leggy horror releases, Get Out rose 17% on its 2nd day of release, and A Quiet Place was up 1%).  That brought it to a strong $29M weekend, and with […]

  OPENINGS:  HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION (Sony Animation/Columbia/Sony) clocked in with a reliable $44.1M weekend, just about midway between the first Transylvania‘s $42.5M and the second’s $48.5M.  (Sticklers might note that this the first of the franchise to feature Thursday night screenings, giving it a slightly longer “weekend”.)  There are some other family movies […]

  OPENINGS:  LIGHTYEAR (Pixar/Disney) was a tricky attempt to extend the hugely lucrative Toy Story franchise, both a prequel and a spinoff that featured a different version of the titular character than the one audiences have loved for decades.  Disney didn’t manage to convince fans that it was essential viewing, and the result was a […]

  OPENINGS:  DESPICABLE ME 4 (Illumination/Universal) arrived at the high end of expectations with a $75M 3-day weekend and $122.6M since its July 3 opening.  That was a tad below 2013’s Despicable Me 2, which also opened on a Wednesday July 3 with $83.5M/$143.1M.  Despicable 4 should pass $300M in the US, which would put […]