Whatever one can say about Chris Columbus–and there’ll be plenty of less than glowing words about him below–he’s the man who cast Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as the leads in 2001’s HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, and for that Warners should name a building after him.  The three grew over […]

In the movie 42, Jackie Robinson (played by Chadwick Boseman) repeatedly asks Branch Rickey why he is breaking baseball’s unwritten whites-only rule.  Rickey (played by Harrison Ford) gives very vague, unsatisfying responses each time.  What a blown dramatic opportunity.  In Ken Burns’ nine-part documentary masterpiece “Baseball,” an aged Red Barber (the Dodgers’ radio broadcaster) describes the […]

> Navy SEALs shoot up the Friday boxoffice. OPENINGS:  The very aggressive marketing for ACT OF VALOR (Relativity) made it seem like it was a patriotic duty to see the film, and successfully hid the fact that it’s mostly a sub-par B action movie.  The question now is whether its quality will catch up with […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Guardians of the Galaxy has pushed Disney ahead of Warner Brothers in the 2014 to date totals for worldwide box office.  And there is much more upside to come for Guardians, which will push Disney toward $2.7 billion in the next few weeks.  Sony remains on top with almost $3.2 billion worldwide for the […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #10 of 2015 looks like $77 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down significantly from the norms for this weekend among the worst first weekends of March on record.   Opening at 3,201 theaters Friday, Chappie from Warner Brothers is on track for a $13.0 million opening three-day weekend (well below […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #11 of 2015 looks like $123 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, up solidly from the norms for this weekend.   Opening at 3,845 theaters Friday, Cinderella from Disney is on track for a $70.0 million opening three-day weekend (near our $69.5 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast earlier this week). The film is pacing toward […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2019 film slates by studio. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2019 is still -8% below last year’s comparable span (one point better than two weeks ago) and now -1% below this point the past four years ($5.728 billion).  Over the same period, […]

  30 MINUTES OR LESS – Watch It At Home:  Doesn’t Deliver   The frustration of 30 MINUTES OR LESS is that of all the R-rated comedies this summer, it was the one with the most original premise and promising credentials:  direction by Ruben Fleischer, the man behind the surprisingly smart and funny hit Zombieland, […]