>Through this weekend, the major action on the Worldwide Box Office chart is happening at the bottom of the Top 10.  The Smurfs continue to show an amazing amount of momentum, almost hitting $300 million overseas.  Next week it should be able to pass Thor and move into the #9 spot for all films released […]

> Worth A Ticket; This franchise has been working out. Over the past few years, DreamWorks Animation has been emerging a bit from its place as the jokey, insubstantial sidekick to Pixar’s superhero studio.  How To Train Your Dragon was a thoroughly enjoyable surprise, and even though Megamind had its share of pop culture parody, […]

>The 22% drop for GREEN LANTERN on Saturday is fairly disastrous:  Thor, X-Men and Pirates 4 all dropped about 8% on their first Saturdays, and Super 8 actually increased.  (Hangover 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 opened on Wednesdays, so their weeks had a different dynamic.)  Obviously, this indicates terrible word of mouth for the […]

> With a summer movie season bracketed by the first weekend in May on one end, and Labor Day on the other, we’ve reached the midpoint of 2011’s array of blockbusters, and for the next week, here at SHOWBUZZDAILY, we’ll be providing our judgments on how the studios are doing.  US Grosses and Overseas Grosses […]

>2012 is underway with one wide release this weekend (and only 2,000 theaters or so at that) and one major expansion.  The Devil Inside should battle Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol for the top spot this weekend.  As a whole, the weekend volume for the top 12 films will be around $102 million, up about […]

>This weekend will feature a moderately successful comic book movie targeting teens and young adults and a mediocre opening for a family comedy aimed at kids and young parents.  Last year Toy Story 3 opened this weekend to huge business, forcing year-to-year declines for the weekend overall. CORRECTION — The titles in the June 19, […]

  Whatever one can say about Chris Columbus–and there’ll be plenty of less than glowing words about him below–he’s the man who cast Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as the leads in 2001’s HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, and for that Warners should name a building after him.  The three grew over […]

> There’s been quite a bit written in the last few years about the phenomenon of US films doing much better business overseas than domestically, sometimes more than making up for American disappointment or failure–and rightly so, as a glance at Mitch Metcalf’s chart today confirms.  Indications are that the latest Harry Potter and Transformers […]