Vulture picked the wrong weekend to predict Universal’s demise. OPENINGS:  SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN (Universal) had a very good $20.3M Friday, and will do better than $50M for the weekend, successfully selling (male) audiences on the revisionist fairy tale as an epic action movie.  All that epic action and spectacular CG came at […]

>Real Steel is knocking on the $200 million worldwide door, as the overseas gross to date jumped above $100 million (outweighing a downgrade in our domestic total estimate).  Picking up steam, Paranormal Activity 3 doubled its overseas tally to $54 million, and it is just getting going.  (See the updated chart after the jump.) Making […]

> In its second week on the international box office chart, Rio has widened its lead at the top, emerging as the worldwide choice among movies in the first third of 2011 (until we see how Fast Five fares).   Rio (Fox) now has over $200 million overseas, with possibly $50 million more to go.  This would […]

> The Academy, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to fiddle once again with the Best Picture category.  Instead of 5 nominees, as was the case pre-2009, or 10, as we’ve had the past 2 years, now no one will know just how large the category will be until the nominations are announced (January 24 […]

> 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 are as of […]

>The ninth weekend of the year should generate about $125 million for the top 12 films, a fairly typical weekend for the first weekend in March — up 2% from last year’s comparable weekend and down a negligible 1% from the four-year average for this weekend.  Universal should stand tall with a $44 million opening […]

> Rise of the Planet of the Apes should open easily at #1 with over $43 million.  With broadly positive reviews behind it, this prequel should have decent holds in the following few weeks.  The Smurfs should slide into #2 with a decent second week decline ($21 million, down 41%).  Fighting for #3 should be […]

>Through Sunday, Team Metcalf has a $52 million lead in the ShowBuzzDaily Summer Movie Draft.  Metcalf’s Captain America outpaced Salem’s Harry Potter weekend two, and Salem’s Friends with Benefits opening was cancelled out by Metcalf’s Transformers and Horrible Bosses.  Next weekend Metcalf’s final two films open.  Salem has three films in August, which collectively should […]