Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #28 of 2014 now looks like $140 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, 27% below the norm for this weekend and now slightly above our forecast ($134 million). Opening at 3,967 theaters, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes from 20th Century Fox grossed $27.7 million through Friday […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #9 of 2015 now looks like $95 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, better than the weekend looked yesterday but still down from the norms for this weekend and the first down weekend since January 9-11.   Opening at 3,323 theaters Friday, Focus from Warner Brothers is on track […]

  OPENINGS:  The really bad news for GODS OF EGYPT (Summit/Lionsgate) wasn’t the $14M US opening, although that was certainly pathetic enough.  No, the really bad news was that in 68 overseas territories covering most of the world (although not yet China, which opens in 2 weeks, nor France, Germany or the UK), it managed […]

  OPENINGS:  As is frequently the case these days, the biggest opening numbers are outside the US.  DOCTOR STRANGE (Marvel/Disney) won’t arrive here until Thursday night, but it’s already racked up $86M in 33 overseas territories covering less than half the world, and not including China or Japan.  It’s a particularly impressive start since Strange […]

  OPENINGS:  In the US, the launch of THE MUMMY (Perfect World/Universal) could hardly have gone worse with a $32.2M weekend.  Although it’s higher than the openings for Tom Cruise’s recent Jack Reacher titles and Edge of Tomorrow, this was a very expensive project (reports differ on just how expensive, with production costs from $125M […]

  OPENINGS:  FIRST MAN (Perfect World/Universal) had an underwhelming $16.5M start, and considering its older-skewing audience, its 10% Saturday bump wasn’t impressive either.  It carries $150M+ in production/marketing costs, and a $50M US total would leave it at risk for red ink, since its very American story (flag controversy notwithstanding) makes foreign appeal questionable.  It […]

  Note:  The Father’s Day tide is expected to lift virtually all movie boats on Sunday, and the studios have factored that into their weekend estimates.  However, next weekend’s declines may be steeper than usual as a result. OPENINGS:  MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL (Tencent/Columbia/Sony) was the latest big-budget franchise entry to perform dimly, with a […]

  What are we to make of the first meaningful box office numbers to come our way since March?  The area is a landscape of spin in the best of times, and these of course are not those.  Other than drive-ins, heatres remain closed in several major US markets (including both NY and LA), and […]