Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #18 of 2013 kicks of the summer with a very solid $213 million for the top 12 films, below the Avengers-fueled same weekend last year but well above the four-year average for this weekend.       Opening at 4,253 theaters late Thursday, Iron Man 3 from Disney grossed $68 […]

> MONEYBALL‘s debut looks to be in line with the opening weekend of The Social Network ($22.4M) just about a year ago.  That movie rode the Oscar race to a $97M gross.  Moneyball is more likable but less incisive than Network, and while it’s going to be part of the Oscar conversation, it’s less likely […]

>Harry Potter is leaving the screen with a bang, setting a new single-day record and a new opening weekend record.  And the film has absolutely ingnited the box office, pushing the weekend up almost 50% versus this weekend last year.    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (the 8th and final — according to Warner […]

The softness of MEN IN BLACK 3‘s (Sony) appeal noted in Mitch Metcalf’s predictions for this weekend seems to be very real.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, and contrary to much more bullish forecasts elsewhere, MIB3 is heading for a mediocre $18M at the Friday boxoffice.  (By way of comparison, last year The Hangover […]

Weekend #51 of 2014 is looking like $147 million for the top 12 films this weekend, up 22% from the norm for this weekend and up 8% from the same weekend last year.   Opening at over 3,875 theaters Wednesday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), The Hobbit: The Battle of […]

>The third weekend of the year should generate about $114 million for the top 12 films.  This would be a marked improvement from last year’s very weak comparable weekend, but in line with most other years for this weekend.  Underworld Awakening should open at #1 with $25+ million, but don’t look for this installment in […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  The studio rankings remain unchanged, although Warner Brothers had a nice week ($141 million worldwide the past seven days thanks to the domestic debut of Dolphin Tale 2 and a good start overseas for the sequel).  No other studio was over $100 million worldwide for the week, and most were well below that. Scroll […]

> The periodic rumor that Universal Pictures is due for a major shake-up can be put to rest… for now.  It’s been announced that President and COO Ron Meyer has signed a new deal that runs through 2015.  Assuming Meyer stays through his entire contract (always less than a certainty when it comes to studio […]