> This weekend should be another good one versus last year, up around 9%.  The strongest entry looks to be Hugh Jackman and the robot boxers in Real Steel — it’s playing in a lot of theaters and we expect a very solid per screen average, giving it a forecast $26 million opening.  (Aside from The Lion […]

  THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO:  Worth A Ticket – David Fincher Meets Lisbeth Salander   The most remarkable thing about David Fincher’s version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (written for the English-language screen by Steven Zaillian) is that while remaining, for the most part, scrupulously faithful to the best-selling novel by […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Universal had another huge week with the release of Minions and Jurassic World taking over the spot as #1 film of the year worldwide.  Universal now boasts four of the top five films of the year (see individual film ranking chart below).  The other studios are playing a different game this year.   YEAR TO DATE […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #36 of 2013 looks like a very average $62 million for the top 12 films, down 5% from the average post-Labor Day weekends the past few years. Riddick and The Butler did not hit our more aggressive forecasts, although the other films were close to our projections. Opening at 3,107 […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Year to date, Warner Brothers is closing in on $800 million worldwide, while Sony and Universal remain a second tier with about $500 million worldwide.  Fox and Paramount are now in the third tier (with a little over $400 million worldwide each), thanks to Grand Budapest Hotel and Noah.  Lionsgate/Summit and Disney form the […]

> The fundamental problem with LAY THE FAVORITE, Stephen Frears’ new film that premiered last night at Sundance, is that it’s made by people who seem to have little if any interest in gambling. And since this is a movie about the thrill and especially the business of gambling, that means they don’t have any […]

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 now +8% above last year and now +12% above the average for this point […]

  DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK – Not Even For Free:  No, Really–Don’t Be Afraid     FilmDistrict has gone out of its way to identify co-writer/co-producer Guillermo del Toro with DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, to the extent that from the marketing, one could easily fail to realize that the movie is […]