The three weeks around Christmas (December 16-January 5) and especially the nine days including both the Christmas and New Year’s Day holiday (December 25-January 2) represent an enormous box office opportunity each year.  Over the last eight years, the December 16-January 5 period has averaged $717 million for the top 10 films, while the heart […]

Skyfall is finally starting to slow down — “only” $16 million overseas since last week.  Although still a decent haul, the weekly pace is down substantially from recent weeks.  The latest Bond film looks tantilizingly close to $1 billion worldwide, but it will have to stretch to make it. The Hobbit is really rolling overseas, with $146 […]

The weekend looks a little stronger than it did yesterday ($102 million for the top 12 films rather than $98 million) but still well below the normal pace for weekend #51 .  The Hobbit is looking a little stronger than it did yesterday, and This Is 40 is a tiny bit stronger.  But everything else continues to […]

  After a strong start with Skyfall and Breaking Dawn Part 2, the holiday boxoffice seems to be at risk of languishing. OPENINGS:  The thing about the Christmas/New Year’s week boxoffice multiple is that it’s real and will help every movie in theatres during the holiday season, but it’s only as good as the number it’s mutiplying. So […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #51 is on pace for a horrifying $98 million.  This weekend of the year is tricky because sometimes it contains Christmas Day itself (such as 2009 when this weekend was December 25-27 and totaled a massive $260 million) and other times it is just a slow warm up to the […]

  Kathryn Bigelow’s acclaimed ZERO DARK THIRTY (Sony) is off to a tremendous start in limited release, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.  The real-life drama about the CIA hunt for Osama bin-Laden, despite (or in part because of) being assailed by, among others, members of the US Senate for its depiction of US torture, was on track […]

The weekend before Christmas offers four wide releases and another fairly-wide release.  What a collection of underperformers.  The weekend should total a very uninspired $112 million for the top 12 films.  The 51st weekend of the year averages $172 million, and the last time this weekend started on December 21 (2007), the top 12 films […]

The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between December 10 and December 16 grossed a solid $153 million, up 6% from the four-year average for the week and up 12% from the same week last year.  The past six weeks are still 18% above the four-year average and 24% […]