Weekend #21 of 2014 is looking like a very good $205 million for the top 12 films over the traditional Friday-Sunday portion of the Memorial Day weekend, 21% above the norm for this weekend (although -18% from the same weekend last year, which was fueled by sequels that opened big but couldn’t sustain).  Reminder: on […]

Weekend #48 of 2015 is looking like a decent $182 million for the top 12 films this weekend, up moderately from the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). The Good Dinosaur from Disney should open with $53.5 million weekend during the traditional Friday-Sunday weekend and $76.5 million for the first five days Wednesday-Sunday. The film is on track for around […]

Updated international box office chart:

Weekend #17 of 2015 is looking like $78 million for the top 12 films this weekend, well below the already low norm for this weekend. Opening at around 2,900 theaters Friday (very close to the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Age of Adaline from Lionsgate/Summit should average $3,600 per theater for the three-day […]

> According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, THE HUNGER GAMES (Lionsgate/Summit) had an exceptional Saturday bump of almost 40%, giving it $26.2M for the day and a probable weekend of $63-65M.  If these numbers hold, Hunger Games would have the #5 2nd weekend of all time, behind only Avatar, The Dark Knight, Shrek 2 and […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2016 to date is now +5% above last year and now +9% above the average for this point the past four years ($2.609 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed over $7.3 billion […]

Warner Brothers is back on top of Disney, thanks to the second Hobbit film.  For a complete ranking of 2013 films individually by worldwide performance click here. TOTAL NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE. Looking at wide-release films in North America (those that play on at least 400 screens at some point), 2013 totals almost $9.5 billion, virtually even with […]

  SARAH’S KEY – Watch It At Home:  Misses a Difficult Mark     There may be no cinematic minefield more dangerous for filmmakers than the Holocaust.  For films entering that difficult territory, the choices of tone, approach and imagery may not just be called into question, but outright offend audiences, and viewers have very […]