> Get ready for the flood of jokey 80s TV show remakes that will now be unleashed upon us. OPENINGS:  21 JUMP STREET (Sony) fell ever-so-slightly on Saturday, and if it fails to hit its $35M weekend estimate, it won’t miss by much.  CASA DE MI PADRE (Pantelion/Lionsgate), though, is predicting a highly suspect 19% […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2018 film slates by studio. The studio totals also include 2018 dollars for films released in late 2017. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is still +9% above last year and still +11% above the average for this point […]

> Not Even For Free Let’s give a little love to the devious people at Universal who cut the trailers.  The masterminds behind the red-band for YOUR HIGHNESS managed to find, in its 102 dull minutes, roughly 3 and a half that, when cut together with fiendish skill, suggested the movie had actual laughs.  Bow […]

> Three Muppets at a Rehearsal Thanksgiving weekend brings three well-reviewed family/ holiday entries and a mild expansion for a comedic-drama with Oscar hopes.  Total box office volume should be around $161 million for the three-day portion of the weekend, down about 6% from the same weekend last year when Tangled and Burlesque opened and […]

>The Hollywood Reporter has preliminary Friday numbers, and while the day’s boxoffice is looking like a close finish between GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE (Sony) and THE VOW (Screen Gems/Sony), with both at $7-7.5M for the day, the likelihood is that over the course of the weekend–considering that new openings are more frontloaded (especially genre […]

>The Help sits at the top of the heap thanks to a terrific 19% drop in its second weekend and especially thanks to the very weak crop of openers that make up that heap.  Spy Kids 4, Conan the Barbarian and Fright Night all are opening below forecast and headed for a quick end on […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is still down -2% from last year and still +1% above the average for this point the past four years ($8.038 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $22.4 […]

    ANOTHER EARTH – Worth A Ticket:  Tiny Story With Big Ambitions   For ANOTHER EARTH, the Sundance Film Festival went exactly the way it’s supposed to.  The low-key picture was made on a miniscule budget (a few hundred thousand dollars) by complete unknowns, director/cinematographer/editor/co-writer/co-producer Mike Cahill and star/co-writer/co-producer Brit Marling, with far less […]