>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), the total box office for this weekend is now looking like $151 million, up 2% from last year.  Saturday business (impacted by New Year’s Eve) was not as rough as expected and the studio projections are now fairly rosy, as they are expecting a […]

>Through Sunday, Team Metcalf has a $52 million lead in the ShowBuzzDaily Summer Movie Draft.  Metcalf’s Captain America outpaced Salem’s Harry Potter weekend two, and Salem’s Friends with Benefits opening was cancelled out by Metcalf’s Transformers and Horrible Bosses.  Next weekend Metcalf’s final two films open.  Salem has three films in August, which collectively should […]

  MISSION:  IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL:  Worth A Ticket – Routine But Spectacular   With MISSION:   IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL, Brad Bird makes the very unusual transition from animation auteur to live-action director.   Of course, since his animated work includes The Incredibles, one of the snazziest and smartest action-adventures of recent years, the leap […]

The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between August 27 and September 2 grossed $133 million, fairly close to the same week last year (-2%) but up 7% from the four-year average for the week.  The past six weeks have actually been fairly close to the four-year average box […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Universal is the big gainer again this week, partly because of the forecast domestic total for Ted 2 added to the chart but mostly because of almost $300 million in overseas box office added to Jurassic World (some of which is delayed reporting from the prior week). YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North […]

>Real Steel is knocking on the $200 million worldwide door, as the overseas gross to date jumped above $100 million (outweighing a downgrade in our domestic total estimate).  Picking up steam, Paranormal Activity 3 doubled its overseas tally to $54 million, and it is just getting going.  (See the updated chart after the jump.) Making […]

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 now +7% above last year and now +17% above the average for this point the past four years ($1.698 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  The studio rankings remain unchanged, although Warner Brothers had a nice week ($141 million worldwide the past seven days thanks to the domestic debut of Dolphin Tale 2 and a good start overseas for the sequel).  No other studio was over $100 million worldwide for the week, and most were well below that. Scroll […]