> The past week (seven days ending Sunday) came in down 12% versus last year’s comparable week (the second down week in a row).  Year-to-date box office is now down 4.1% versus last year.  The Help again was the lone bright spot this weekend, down only 27% from last weekend and shaking off the effect […]

> Worth a ticket. They say that the definition of madness is repeating the same action with the expectation of a different result.  But that diagnosis doesn’t allow for this:  a man (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up and finds himself on a train, where his reflection in the mirror doesn’t look like himself, and the woman […]

> Watch It At Home:  Gibson Delivers, The Movie Wobbles As you may have heard, the new comedy-drama THE BEAVER stars a guy named Mel Gibson, who used to be a big-time movie star.  (It’s actually a surprise to realize how long ago that was:  his last real hit was Signs, 9 years ago–to put […]

>The Smurfs continue to print money overseas — now only $26 million from passing Cars 2 in worldwide box office revenue.  Dolphin Tale (#54) and Moneyball (#56) are currently not on the chart and have no overseas money to date.  Dolphin Tale will certainly be more exportable than Moneyball — the baseball theme will just […]

> Worth a Ticket; It Wasn’t Broke, They Didn’t Fix It In Hollywood, the word “sequel” is often code for “remake.”  This isn’t news:  the James Bond series has been going on for almost 50 years, and allowing for the occasional change in cast and some fluctuation in quality, it’s pretty much been the same […]

> It’s not looking good for Team Metcalf, which is about $160 million behind Team Salem in the first annual ShowBuzzDaily Summer Movie Draft.  And it’s not going to get any better this weekend.  Even if Salem’s Green Lantern does not light the world on fire, Metcalf’s Mr Popper’s Penguins will do worse.  If Metcalf […]

Weekend #27 of 2012 looks pretty solid: $185 million for the top 12 films, up 27% from last year’s comparable weekend and up 22% from the four-year average for the weekend. Much of this increase can be attributed to the calendar and the unusual placement of July 4 on a Wednesday, having little effect on […]

>The fifth weekend of the year should generate about $84 million for the top 12 films — up 15% from last year’s comparable weekend but down a similar percentage from a “normal” weekend this time of year.  Three new films open this weekend to positive reviews, but none of the three should gross more than […]