WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  The 2014 Scorecard, updated with additional overseas grosses, has been updated below.  The 2015 Scorecard will be introduced toward the end of January. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is -4% behind last year but +7% above the average for this point the past […]

> Not Even For Free. There’s a key scene in the new SOUL SURFER where the one-armed teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who’s had her other arm chewed off by a shark and who despairs of her career in competition, is in Thailand on a Christian mission to tend to tsunami survivors.  And these survivors, having […]

Weekend #9 of 2016 is looking like $98 million for the top 12 films this weekend, somewhat below the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). NEW FILMS THIS WEEKEND February 26-28, 2016 Critics Positive ($ millions) Opening Weekend Forecast Domestic Total Projection Overseas Total Projection Worldwide Total Projection Gods of Egypt LG PG13 n/a 11.5 30 175 […]

    Beware of studio estimates and round numbers. OPENINGS:  In order to get MEN IN BLACK 3 (Sony) to a round $70M for the 4-day weekend, the studio had to claim the lowest Monday drop of the market’s Top 9 films–even though MIB3 hasn’t shown any particular strength with the family matinee audience (its […]

Big movers overseas this week include Django Unchained (now with $48 million overseas to date), Life of Pi (another $36 million overseas this past week to an astounding $393 million overseas and projected worldwide just under $500 million), and Les Miserables (up $35 million overseas this week to $151 million and a projected $301 million worldwide). The Hobbit and The Impossible follow close behind […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #29 of 2014 now looks like $135 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, -27% below the norm for this weekend and still below our forecast ($147 million).  This is the fifth really sub-par weekend in a row. Opening at 2,806 theaters, The Purge: Anarchy from Universal grossed $13.0 […]

> Not Even For Free; The 3D Must Stand For “Dull Deadly Dud” If you squint at the post-apocalyptic desert wasteland settings of PRIEST, I swear you can see the camera crews from The Book of Eli, Jonah Hex, Resident Evil and Ultraviolet trying to duck out of frame.  At this point, I don’t think […]

  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 -5% below last year’s comparable span and still basically even with this point the past four years ($7.473 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed almost […]