OPENINGS:  The 18-34 audience that now defines theatrical distribution in the US showed up for SCREAM (Skyglass/Paramount), propelling the reboot to $30.6M for the 3-day weekend and $35M for the 4-day holiday.  Reportedly, that demo was responsible for 2/3 of all tickets sold for Scream, a fact that won’t be ignored as studios plan […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #30 of 2015 now looks like $140 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, lower than yesterday’s projection and now slightly below the norm for this weekend and a touch above last year’s weekend. Opening at 3,723 theaters Friday, Pixels from Sony is now on track for a $24.0 million opening three-day weekend […]

  OPENINGS:  After several weeks of big-studio disappointments, FROZEN 2 (Disney) performed as the blockbuster it was expected to be, with $127M in the US.  Comparisons to the first Frozen in 2013 are a bit dicey, because that opened wide on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  It earned $93.5M over the 5-day weekend, with an ultimate […]

  OPENINGS:  The news was good and bad for POWER RANGERS (Lionsgate).  Its US opening was very solid at $40.5M (even if that number turns out to be a bit overstated, with an ambitious Sunday estimate).  But it carries at least $200M in production/marketing costs, and to reach profit, it also needs to be strong […]

> As expected, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens at #1, but Bridesmaids steals the show with an impressive second weekend. The ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Final estimates now show that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides should finish its domestic run with $254 million.  Bridesmaids has been upgraded to $122 million domestic (with […]

  OPENINGS:  After last week’s Barbenheimer fireworks, the box office for new movies returned to earth–with a thud in the case of HAUNTED MANSION (Disney), which was at the bottom of projections at $24.2M.  With the exception of Guardians 3, it’s been a tepid summer for Disney, and Haunted Mansion carries production/marketing costs in the […]

The weekend now looks like $70 million for the top 12 films, just a shade lower than the estimate yesterday.  The rank order remains the same, with Resident Evil: Retribution opening at #1 ahead of Finding Nemo 3D (although Nemo will outgross Retribution over the course of their theatrical runs).     The ShowbuzzDaily Domestic […]

  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.  […]