Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #17 of 2013 is looking like a very weak $80 million for the top 12 films, down 34% from the average the past few years for this weekend and down 18% from the same weekend last year.  Michael Bay’s Pain and Gain opened fairly quietly — not a total disaster but […]

The two openers this weekend will be forgotten in several days or weeks, while Oblivion has a good chance of staying at #1 in its second weekend and 42 will be the other holdover still above the significant $10 million weekend mark.  But that’s about it for the box office.  The top 12 films this […]

Looking at wide-release films in North America (those that play on at least 400 screens at some point), 2013 now totals $2.37 billion, down 15% from 2012 and down 8% from the prior four-year average 2009-2012.  Each year-to-date period below is defined as the first Monday after New Year’s Day through the most recent Sunday. […]

  In an entertainment universe changing with bewildering speed, two stories today spoke to the difficulties and opportunities of old and new media.  First, let’s take a look at what’s happening to the traditional mode of seeing movies in theaters Big-budget adventure-adventure spectacles have long been the bread and butter of the Hollywood studios, and […]

Updated International Box Office Chart:

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #16 of 2013 is looking like $102 million for the top 12 films, down 19% from the same weekend last year and down 8% from the average the past few years for this weekend.   Opening at 3,783 theaters Friday, Oblivion from Universal grossed $13.3 million Friday and is on track for […]

  With hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, the opening dates for blockbuster movies are carefully calculated months–sometimes years–in advance.  So a last minute change doesn’t come from nowhere, and it’s notable that with less than 2 months to go, Sony has moved its Will Smith/M. Night Shyamalan vehicle AFTER EARTH from its previous […]

Only one new opener (Oblivion) and only one decent holdover (42) mean it’s pretty slim pickings at the box office this weekend: less than $100 million for the top 12 films, down 11-22% from the same weekend in recent years. Opening at around 3,800 theaters Friday (a very high number), Oblivion from Universal should average a […]