THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN:  Worth A Ticket – The Return of Steven Spielberg   Remember how lousy the last Indiana Jones movie was?  Remember watching it and wondering sadly what had become of Steven Spielberg, the magician who for decades had an irresistible, inexhaustible ability to spin action sequences into sight gags into satisfying […]

>With Christmas coming this Sunday a host of films arrive this important weekend, with three films opening wide Wednesday (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Adventures of Tintin, and the wide expansion of Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol), one major film opening Friday (We Bought a Zoo), and two major films in effect previewing […]

> Two of the season’s major films are launching unconventionally this evening, and it’s worth taking note.  Both Sony’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO and Paramount’s MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL will begin “sneak” screenings at around 6-7PM, before officially opening tomorrow.  For boxoffice gross purposes, it’s not clear whether the studios will report […]

>The much anticipated surge at the box office did not materialize for the slew of sequels releases.  Total volume for the past week was down 17% from last year, and the second Sherlock Holmes and third Alvin and the Chipmunks are lagging behind their predecessors.       The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films […]

>Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol opened with a narrow 425-theater preview domestically this weekend, but the fourth M:I opened in over two-thirds of the international markets this weekend and already has taken in $68 million overseas.  The other domestic openers this weekend had fairly limited international bookings the first weekend.  Sherlock Holmes: A Game of […]

> As schools close and vacations begin, a lot of money is about to flood into Hollywood for about 2 blissful weeks.  But not enough to make up for the rest of a doleful year. SHERLOCK HOLMES:  GAME OF SHADOWS (Warners):  With a studio estimate that just barely managed to nudge above $40M–and needed an […]

>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), the two sequels opening wide this weekend are not doing the business generally forecast, and they are under-performing the preceding movies in their series.  As a whole, the weekend is looking like $111 million for the top 12 films, down 13% from the same […]

> The news didn’t get any better for Hollywood on Saturday.  In fact, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, the downhill ride got steeper for SHERLOCK HOLMES:  GAME OF SHADOWS.  The film had virtually no increase from Friday to Saturday, and if those numbers hold, its full weekend tally will probably be around $40M, below […]