Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #36 of 2014 looks like $50 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, 20% below the norm for this weekend ($66 million).  This weekend after Labor Day is usually the worst weekend of the year, and this year did not disappoint. Opening at 1,950 theaters, The Identical from Freestyle Releasing grossed […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.     YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +2% above last year and +3% above the average for this point the past four years ($3.737 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $10.6 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]

  TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY:  Worth A Ticket – An Epic of Betrayals   John LeCarre is (I guess one should say “arguably”) the greatest of all spy novelists, and his 1974 TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY is “arguably” his finest work.  Incredibly, the 1979 BBC miniseries adaptation lived up to the level of the novel, […]

The 20th weekend of the year is looking like $158 million for the top 12 films, a little better than average for this weekend over the past few years but much better than the same weekend last year, which featured the opening of the one of the greatest clunkers/ punchlines/ punching bags ever: Battleship from […]

  ZOOKEEPER – Not Even For Free:  Isn’t There An ASPCA For Audiences?   Let’s put off talking about ZOOKEEPER–it’s terrible, for those with no time to spare–by mentioning the trailer for Adam Sandler’s upcoming Jack & Jill that’s attached to it (both movies are produced by Sandler’s production company Happy Madison and released by […]

> With a summer movie season bracketed by the first weekend in May on one end, and Labor Day on the other, we’ve reached the midpoint of 2011’s array of blockbusters, here at SHOWBUZZDAILY, we’ll be providing our judgments on how the studios are doing.  Click the links below to see our assessment of each […]

>The weekend studio estimates (based on Friday and Saturday actuals and projections for Sunday) are coming in significantly stronger than the weekend numbers posted yesterday (based on Friday actuals only).  The box office volume for the top 12 films is now looking like an impressive $174 million for the weekend, up a very strong 29% […]

> Watch It At Home:  Morgan Spurlock’s latest doc is more stunt than revelation. If Michael Moore were a movie franchise, Morgan Spurlock would be the direct-to-video entry in the series.  Or maybe the one that adds cheesy 3D effects to squeeze out every last dollar.   Moore is, lord knows, self-aggrandizing and fond of the […]