> According to Deadline, most films were down 20-30% from Friday, which is par for the course on New Year’s Eve, due to early theater closings and non-movie plans for the night.  But there are a few oddities: Most notably, Deadline’s numbers have WAR HORSE suddenly jumping up more than 20% for the day.  If […]

>Team Metcalf is now $102 million ahead of Team Salem in the first annual Summer Movie Draft.  The weekday business of Transformers 3 the next few days will push the margin a little higher, but the opening weekend of the final Harry Potter Friday will erase these recent gains and position Salem for a commanding […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is still +4% above last year and now +6% above the average for this point the past four years ($1.638 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $4.8 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office […]

>Now 14 full weeks into 2012, year-to-date domestic box office is still running 27% ahead of last year’s dreadful pace, and the year-to-date total is still fully 15% ahead of the comparable period’s average for the last several years.   Updated final domestic gross estimates are available below for recent releases, with The Hunger Games now […]

The 46th weekend of the year is looking like $115 million for the top 12 films, around 50% below this weekend the last few years.  Usually this weekend is a big warm-up to the long Thanksgiving weekend the following week, but this year Thanksgiving falls later than normal on the calendar relatively speaking, leaving this […]

> According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, THE PIRATES!  BAND OF MISFITS (Sony) will pull ahead of THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT (Universal) for the weekend thanks to Saturday and Sunday matinee business, although Engagement is still ahead as of Saturday and the race will be close.  (Both, however, will be behind Think Like A Man and […]

    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 […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is our first look at the 2017 film slates by studio. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is now +1% above last year and now +10% above the average for this point the past four years ($1.257 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed […]