> We’ll see if SUPER 8 gets to $40M, but in any case Paramount has done the season’s best job of managing expectations.  Considering that they’ve been throwing millions into promoting the movie since the Super Bowl, the idea that the lowest action opening of the summer is somehow good news is a beautiful piece […]

> In September, SHOWBUZZDAILY will be attending the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, for short).  This is the first in an intermittent series of pieces about the experience of TIFF-ing. Every film festival has its own personality and place in the movie calendar.  TIFF has become hugely popular and important, especially in the last decade, […]

>The 12th weekend of the year should be a whopper: about $176 million for the top 12 films.  How big is that for the fourth weekend in March?  Enormous, unprecedented: up 62% from last year’s comparable weekend and up 55% from the four-year average for this weekend.  Of course, this weekend is all about The […]

>Keep your helmets on: the studios are about to drop three more bombs in movie theaters this weekend.  A horror movie, an action flick and an adult comedy are being released, and we expect each to gross not much more than $30 million in their entire domestic theatrical run.  Opening weekends should range between $9-12 […]

>Through Thursday, Team Metcalf’s lead in the ShowBuzzDaily Summer Movie Draft stands at almost $115 million.  This weekend Team Salem opens Rise of the Planet of the Apes, while Team Metcalf has no movies left to open.  Check back Monday for the update with the weekend’s numbers, and click “Read more” to see the updated chart. […]

> Deadline has a more complete set of Saturday numbers, and the news just gets better and better for RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.  It now appears the picture didn’t drop at all from Friday, and it could edge as high as $55M for the weekend.  (No such luck for CHANGE-UP, still looking […]

> In just her second feature film as a director (her first was 2006’s Oscar-nominated Away From Her), Sarah Polley demonstrates that she’s already a filmmaker with rare grace and sensuality in TAKE THIS WALTZ, which premiered tonight at the Toronto Film Festival.  Blessed with yet another superb lead performance by Michelle Williams, Polley’s film […]

> THE SOCIAL NETWORK fell only 31% in its second weekend, so MONEYBALL, which is headed for a fall closer to 40% (after a lower opening), continues not to be in Network‘s league financially.  The timing of a movie like this is tricky, because if it’s out of theatres when the awards discussions start to […]