> The problem with 2011 on screen was more the pervasive mediocrity than an overload of terrible movies, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some awful films to be found–and, if possible, avoided.  Here are 10 or so: 10.  ONE DAY:  Admittedly, a cheat:  One Day wasn’t a complete disaster–it was far less painful to […]

> As detailed in Mitch Metcalf’s Boxoffice Report, Friday’s numbers were solid but lacking any breakout excitement.  First, let’s take a quick look at the limited-run Oscar hopefuls: THE IRON LADY (Weinstein):  Meryl-Streep-as-Margaret-Thatcher came roaring into the awards mix with a terrific $19K average in 4 theatres that should lead it to a $75-80K average […]

> Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol remains at the top of the box office, and the other sequels (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked) are just behind.  After that, the non-sequels are finding it tough to break out.  Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has the best chance of breaking […]

> Deadline has initial boxoffice figures for Friday, and if the numbers hold, the results seem to be a healthy amount higher than last year’s Friday before New Year’s, allowing the holiday period–and the year–to end on an up note. (Note, however, that overall comparisons to 2010’s holidays are skewed by the fact that 2011 […]

> The boxoffice was steady as expected yesterday, virtually everything within 5%, up or down, from where it was on Wednesday.  There were just a couple of exceptions: PARIAH (Focus):  Proved to be scarily front-loaded, down a horrible 55% on its 2d day to an average $2500 in 4 theares. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE […]

> The boxoffice did more or less what it was supposed to on Wednesday, drifting down 5-10% from Tuesday.  Thursday should be fairly steady, then business should have a bit of a roller-coaster ride:  an increase on Friday, down somewhat on New Year’s Eve, back up on New Year’s Day, and down again on January […]

>No new wide releases this weekend, the final weekend of the year as we welcome the arrival of 2012.  We are estimating a box office volume of $145 million for Friday-Sunday for the top 12 films, up 27% from $114 million last weekend (which was limited by Christmas Eve on Saturday) and down only 2% […]

> The holiday celebrations at the studios may have been a bit premature.   Traditionally, the Tuesday after Christmas sees a 10-20% drop from Monday, and that number becomes the template for the rest of the holiday period.  But yesterday, aside from the films aimed straight at the family crowd, the drops were much worse. MISSION: […]