Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #6 of 2015 looks like $135 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, nearly matching the norm for this weekend.   Opening at 3,641 theaters Friday, SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water from Paramount is on track for a $53.0 million opening three-day weekend (way above our $30.5 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast earlier this […]

>The Devil Inside looks like a $34-35 million opening weekend based on studio estimates (Friday and Saturday actual results with estimates for Sunday).  The top 12 films combined total this weekend has been reduced to $128 million, still 7% ahead of the typical total for the comparable weekend in past years and 30% above the […]

Warner Brothers moved back into first place, pushing Disney back into second place in their recent tug of war.  Gravity enjoyed a nice week of overseas grosses, the bulk of the Warner Brothers gain this week.  Thor: The Dark World also generated some more overseas dollars, but not enough to allow Disney to keep pace.  Of course, […]

> The past week (seven days ending Sunday) is up 4% versus last year’s comparable week.  Year-to-date box office is now down 3.9% versus last year.  Contagion opened in first place and is headed for $72 million domestic.  Warrior opened below forecast and is on track for $24 million in North America.  Despite falling to second place, The […]

    THE IDES OF MARCH:  Watch It At Home – An Excellent Play Becomes a Merely Good Movie   The Ides of March, one of the most eagerly awaited of this year’s festival crop, is more entertaining than it is good. Oddly both low-key and melodramatic, claptrap and high-minded drama, it represents a series […]

  Virtually every screening at Sundance is followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker, and while these sessions can be informative and charming (although 3 questions that need never be asked again are How long did you shoot?  What was the budget? and How much was improvised?), they can also be quite sad.  Watching them, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is a first look at the 2020 film slates by studios (films entering wide release in the 2020 calendar year). BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2020 is now +14% above last year’s comparable span but -7% below this point averaged over the past four years ($1.110 billion).  Over […]

> UPDATE:  The Reporter has some early Friday numbers, and the storm’s effect can already be seen at the boxoffice.  THE HELP seems likely to win the weekend as expected, but with a lower-than anticipated $12-13M.  COLOMBIANA was in second on Friday, heading for a weekend of perhaps $10M.  DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK […]