Sundance, like most major film festivals, makes an extended process out of the unveiling of its yearly offerings, and today the festival announced its 2013 competition entries (fiction and documentary, US and foreign), as well as the avant-garde NEXT category.  The really high-profile Premieres and the sometimes more commercial Midnight titles are among those […]

Based on Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #52 is now on pace for $168 million, very similar to the outlook yesterday.  However, Django Unchained and Les Miserables continue to move in opposite directions.   Yesterday, it looked like both films would be around $29 million for the weekend (with Les Mis only $400,000 behind Django).  But based […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #1 of 2013 is on pace for $124 million, very much line with the comparable weekend in previous years.  Texas Chainsaw 3D is opening somewhat better than forecast ($22.5 million versus our forecast of $17.8 million), while Django Unchained continues to perform solidly. In limited release, The Impossible is stronger than forecast […]

Based on Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #8 of 2013 is looking a little stronger than it did yesterday but still down versus previous years.  The top 12 films Friday-Sunday should total $89 million (down 22% from the same weekend last year and down 11% from the average for the weekend the last few years).  Snitch had a […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #21 of 2013 looks like an outstanding $256 million for the top 12 films, 50-75% above the comparable weekend the past few years.  A fairly deep bench of films is currently playing, although don’t count on Hangover III to contribute much in the coming weeks. Opening at 3,658 theaters Friday, Fast […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #27 of 2013 looks like a terrific $223 million for the top 12 films, up sharply from the comparable weekend in recent years. Not even The Lone Ranger could derail a hot summer box office, which is up 30% or more in three of the last four weekends. Opening at […]

STUDIO SCORECARD. The studio rankings for worldwide box office remain the same this week, with Sony, Universal and 20th Century Fox having the most productive weeks.  Sony benefited from the domestic and especially overseas revenue from The Smurfs 2, while Universal was helped by the release of 2 Guns and the continued overseas grosses for Despicable Me 2.  Even […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #38 of 2013 looks like a lame $72 million for the top 12 films, down 19% from the average for the same weekend the past few years. Opening at 3,260 theaters Friday, Prisoners from Warner Brothers grossed $6.9 million Friday and is on track for a $20.2 million opening weekend (somewhat above the $18.5 […]