OPENINGS:  MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU (Illumination/Universal) exceeded industry expectations with a $108.5M 3-day opening.  That’s just a bit lower than the $115.7M launch for the first Minions movie, although that was an April 2015 launch that didn’t have the benefit of a holiday Sunday.  Rise of Gru is expected to hit $127.9M over […]

  OPENINGS:  While DUNGEONS & DRAGONS:  HONOR AMONG THIEVES (eOne/Paramount) launched at the upper end of expectations, $38.5M (which included an unusually intense program of preview screenings) was a shaky start for a project with $250M in production/marketing costs and the hope to become a franchise.  It will need to hold up extremely well over the next several […]

  OPENINGS:  WONKA (Warners) kicked off the holiday movie season with $39M, at the upper end of expectations.  As a family entertainment, it can look forward to a high multiple into January, and could reach $200M+ in the US, against around $250M in production/marketing costs.  The IP musical is even stronger overseas, where it expanded […]

  OPENINGS:  THE WILD ROBOT (DreamWorks Animation/Universal), aided by strong reviews, started above expectations with $35M.  It has the family audience almost to itself until mid-November, and should pass $100M in the US.  It’s thus far in only 29 international territories, and has $18.1M after a $9.9M weekend.  Since the source material is a series […]

>The weekend studio estimates (based on Friday and Saturday actuals and projections for Sunday) are coming in about the same as the weekend numbers posted yesterday (based on Friday actuals only).  The box office volume for the top 12 films is now looking like $146 million for the weekend, up 28% from last year’s weekend […]

>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), The Help is the pick of the litter, down an impressive 21% from last weekend’s opening.  All the openers are pretty much stillborn.  The weekend overall is now looking like it will be down 3% from this weekend last year.     The ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Final […]

Although Expendables 2 did not open as big as we forecast earlier in the week, the weekend was not bad for a third weekend in August.      The ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Final estimates for films opening wide this weekend: The Expendables 2 ($87 million), ParaNorman ($69 million), Sparkle ($32 million) and The Odd Life of Timothy Green ($37 million). Second […]

Based on Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #13 of 2013 is looking like $140 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up a hair from yesterday’s estimate of $139 million but still a touch below the $143 million average for this weekend the past few years.   Opening at 3,719 theaters Thursday with $10.5 million, G.I. Joe: Retaliation from Paramount grossed […]