OPENINGS:  It was a bleak Memorial Day weekend at the box office, the worst in decades.  FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA (Warners) limped to a victory for Friday-Sunday with $25.5M, but it may well tumble to 2nd place once the Monday holiday numbers are tallied.  Tellingly, Warners refused to so much as issue a […]

  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 […]

  OPENINGS:  JASON BOURNE (Perfect World/Universal) is claiming a $60M US start, although as is par for the course, that number includes an aggressive Sunday estimate and could come down a bit on Monday.  In any case, it will be the #2 opening for the franchise, behind the $69.3M for 2007’s Bourne Ultimatum.  That film […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #38 of 2013 now looks like $75 million for the top 12 films, down 15% from the average for the same weekend the past few years. Opening at 3,260 theaters Friday, Prisoners from Warner Brothers grossed $7 million Friday and $9 million Saturday, now on track for a […]

  OPENINGS:  It’s possible to make money on Super Bowl weekend, as hits like Dear John ($30.5M), Taken ($24.7M) and Chronicle ($22M) have shown.  But MISS BALA (Columbia/Sony) didn’t have what it takes, with a sluggish $6.7M start.  The 5% Saturday bump suggests that word of mouth isn’t bad, but next weekend it will have […]

There was enough product at the multiplexes to make for a solid Thanksgiving weekend total, but holiday fireworks were absent. OPENINGS:  THE GOOD DINOSAUR (Pixar/Disney) had a $39.2M weekend ($55.6M since its Wednesday opening), putting it behind Frozen ($67.4M), Toy Story 2 ($57.4M) and Tangled ($48.8M) among Thanksgiving openings.  It continues to run closest to […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #12 of 2014 looks like $133 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, very similar to the same weekend last year (up 2%) but 7% below the average for this weekend the past several years (which is heavily weighted by the enormous opening for The Hunger Games this […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +6% above last year and +10% above the average for this point the past four years ($2.333 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost $7.2 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office […]