The 48th weekend of the year is looking like $164 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, well below the normal pace for a normal Thanksgiving weekend. Opening at 3,742 theaters Wednesday (well above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Frozen (3D) from Disney should average $12,200 per theater for the weekend […]

Weekend #17 of 2014 is looking like a not so hot $99 million for the top 12 films, 11% below the typical volume for this weekend the past few years ($111 million).  Opening at around 3,000 theaters Friday (somewhat above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), The Other Woman from Fox should […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +4% above last year and still +2% above the average for this point the past four years ($8.361 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $22.6 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s still +6% […]

  Roger Ebert, after enduring cancer with extraordinary fortitude for over a decade, passed away today.  Ebert was one of the smartest, hardest-working and most passionate film critics of his generation, and almost certainly the most famous.  Although he was devoted to criticism expressed in writing–both in newspapers (and books) and, later in his career, […]

One slate had a significant gain this week: Team Weil was up $180 million over the last seven days to $734 million, vaulting into second place.  The Dark Knight Rises accounted for most of that increase, although Ice Age 4 also remains a significant contributor. Team Salem had a small $22 million increase this week, hitting $709 million […]

STUDIO SCORECARD.  No change in the studio worldwide box office rankings this week.  Universal is extremely hot with the broad international appeal of Fast & Furious 6, but there is still about $500 million to go to catch #1 Disney.  Fox, Paramount and Warner Brothers are very tightly bunched in the next tier. Looking at […]

Updated international box office chart:

> The Hollywood Reporter has preliminary Friday numbers suggesting that BREAKING DAWN PART 1 will gross $65-75M for the day, including $30.3M in Thursday midnight showings.  Even at the high-end, that would make Breaking Dawn more front-loaded with midnight viewers than its November 2009 predecessor New Moon, which made $72.7M on its opening Friday, of […]