> For everyone journeying to the multiplex this long weekend, some reviews to click on: THE TREE OF LIFE:  An often stupendous achievement that courts ridicule–and sometimes earns it. THE HANGOVER PART II:  It wasn’t broke, they didn’t fix it. KUNG FU PANDA 2:  This franchise has been working out. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS: A tasty […]

> Even though the Oscar race has had clear favorites in THE DESCENDANTS, THE ARTIST and THE HELP since last fall, the first 2 haven’t sparked any huge enthusiasm among the general public, where after almost 2 months, Descendants has yet to gross $50M, and Artist, which Harvey Weinstein hasn’t dared put into general release, […]

Django Unchained leads the way this week (up $22 million overseas since last week), followed closely by Les Miserables (up $18 million overseas) and Wreck-It Ralph (also up $18 million from some late-playing territories). The only other North American films up double-digits since last week are Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (up $17 million), Silver Linings Playbook (up $11 million) and Flight (up $10 million). […]

The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between November 12 and November 18 grossed an amazing $300 million, up 28% from the four-year average for the week and up 24% from the same week last year.    The past six weeks are now 13% above the four-year average and […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD. Scroll down for domestic and overseas grosses for each film individually so far in 2014. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2014 is still running -5% behind last year and -3% below the average for this point the past four years ($8.399 billion).  Over the same period, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Year to date, Warner Brothers remains on top with $804 million worldwide, while Disney has vaulted to a competitive second place with $677 million (because of the arrival of Captain America: The Winter Soldier).  Sony and Universal remain in the next tier with about $530 million worldwide each.  Fox and Paramount are […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio, including early 2018 dollars for films released later in 2017. We will start tracking the 2018 studio slates in a few weeks. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is now +15% above last […]

> Worth a ticket. The director and writer of Saw, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, combine again to bring us–hey, where are you going?  No, seriously:  don’t run away.  Leaving aside that Saw is rather unfairly maligned (before it became the poster child for “torture porn” and a dumb sequel machine for Lionsgate, the original […]