> The Games are barely slowing down. THE HUNGER GAMES:  We’ll find out soon enough whether any of the genuinely exciting rumors about possible sequel directors (Alfonso Cuaron, David Cronenberg) are true, because Lionsgate needs Catching Fire in the can by early 2013, when Jennifer Lawrence has to report for X-Men duty.  For now, THE […]

  FOOTLOOSE:  Watch It At Home – Faithfully Reproduces the Original For Good and Bad   1980s week at the multiplex continues with a remake of FOOTLOOSE, a trip back to the territory of Herbert Ross’s 1984 hit.  (Financially, by the way, there was no contest between the 1980s versions of this weekend’s entries:  the […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #2 of 2014 looks like $124 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down 10% from the average for the same weekend the past few years (but better than we forecast earlier this week and now 2% above last year’s comparable weekend). Opening at 2,876 theaters Friday, Lone Survivor from Universal […]

>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), the box office slump continues.  Only $70 million in volume for the top 12 films, down from the $82-87 million range the last three years for the comparable weekend.  The #1 movie, New Year’s Eve, collected less than $14 million in its opening weekend, […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #39 of 2014 looks like $99 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, 5% above the norm for this weekend ($95 million) and just a shade under yesterday’s estimate ($100 million). Opening at 3,236 theaters, The Equalizer from Sony grossed $12.6 million Friday and $13.6 million Saturday, now […]

> When the announcement was made that Warner Bros would split HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS into 2 full-length movies, there was a certain amount of cynicism about studio greed–and, indeed, why not pick up an extra billion or so if the opportunity arises?  But really, J.K. Rowling’s novels have all been stuffed so […]

  THE CABIN IN THE WOODS:  Watch it At Home – Clever and Culty   Seeing THE CABIN IN THE WOODS is sort of like being in Fight Club:  the first rule is not to talk about it.  Or, at least, not to reveal any of the wild, ingenious twists put into place by its […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #38 of 2014 looks like $91 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, 6% above the norm for this weekend ($86 million). Opening at 3,604 theaters, The Maze Runner from 20th Century Fox grossed $11.3 million Friday and is on track for a $31.0 million opening three-day weekend (somewhat below […]