Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #20 of 2013 looks like $147 million for the top 12 films, somewhat above the same weekend last year but slightly below the four-year average for the weekend.  Star Trek Into Darkness had a decent Saturday but is still performing well below our expectations. Opening at 3,762 theaters […]

  OPENINGS:  HAPPY DEATH DAY (Blumhouse/Universal) opened so well at $26.5M that inevitably, despite the fact that it appears to tell a completely closed-end story, talk of a franchise has started.  You can’t blame them:  Death Day isn’t quite at the blockbuster level of Blumhouse’s Split ($40M) or Get Out ($33.4M), but it’s starting better […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #10 of 2015 now looks like $79 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, a little better than yesterday’s $77 million estimate but still down significantly from the norms for this weekend among the worst first weekends of March on record.   Opening at 3,201 theaters Friday, Chappie from Warner […]

  OPENINGS:  BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE (DC/RatPac/Warners) weathered a 38% Saturday drop and is currently estimating a $170.1M weekend.  That would make it Warners’ #1 US opening ever, beating the final Harry Potter‘s $169.2M, but that includes an aggressive Easter Sunday estimate, so it may fall behind by tomorrow.  (Depending on how that […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #15 of 2014 looks like $131 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, a significant downgrade from yesterday’s estimate but still 17% above the four-year average for this weekend ($112 million).  Rio 2 and Captain America 2 are supporting the box office, while two smaller films in the […]

  OPENINGS:  As we had forecast on Friday night, the margin of victory for the weekend box office was razor-thin, and we won’t really know who won until final numbers are released tomorrow.  For now, HIDDEN FIGURES (20th) is $172K below Rogue One at $21.8M, but Disney’s Rogue One projection relies on a speculatively strong […]

  OPENINGS:  It’s very possible that the news is going to get even worse for THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS (H Brothers/Black Bear/STX), which is grimly insisting on a studio estimate of the best Sunday hold in the weekend’s Top 10 to claim a $10M opening–even after dropping 15% on Saturay.  That number may easily slip to […]

  OPENINGS:  Studios are increasingly starting their global launches of franchise blockbusters overseas, and once again, the weekend’s biggest box office news occurred outside the US.  X-MEN: APOCALYPSE (20th) has opened in 75 overseas territories that cover about 2/3 of the world (but not yet China) and had a $103.3M weekend.  That’s much lower than […]