>Three full weeks into 2012, domestic box office is running well ahead of last year’s anemic pace but about the same as the comparable period’s average for the last several years.        The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between January 16 and January 22 grossed $180 million, […]

> The past week came in up 10% versus last year’s comparable week.  Year-to-date box office is now down 12% versus last year.    The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between May 16 and May 22 grossed $202 million, up 10% versus the same week in 2010.  Year […]

> Watch It At Home; Dreary Franchise Moviemaking. In the 137 minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean:  On Stranger Tides, the 4th installment in Disney’s hugely successful franchise (and yes, you have to sit through all 10 minutes of end credits for a not-crucial coda scene), there is exactly one inspired idea.  About halfway through, […]

> Worth A Ticket:  Superheroes Behind the Camera, Too. The most substantial movie of the summer so far is, depending on how you calculate, the fifth in a comic book series, a prequel or a reboot.  X-MEN:  FIRST CLASS arrives with its own secret weapons, namely a smart script, a well-chosen cast, some genuine thematic […]

>Here are the latest Summer Movie Draft results (through Thursday).  Not much change from the last update on Monday — Salem is pounding Metcalf with a $247 million lead.  This weekend two new movies join the rankings: Cars 2 (Metcalf) and Bad Teacher (Salem).     

> Deadline has the early Saturday and weekend boxoffice estimates, and this is what “frontloaded” looks like:  HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS (PART 2) plummeted by 52% from Friday (including midnights) to Saturday, with the result that its $44.2M on Saturday didn’t even come close to the Spiderman 3 record of $51.3M for that […]

>Adam Sandler opens Jack and Jill this weekend, and it will be an uphill battle for it to displace Puss in Boots from the top of the box office.  Immortals will be challenging Jack and Jill for the second spot on the chart.  Box office volume for the weekend will probably be up around 6% […]

> Another up weekend at the box office is on store, led by an eclectic assortment of films.  It should be an up weekend, led by Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family and a forecast $31 million opening.  Playing at over 2,100 theaters, Madea should average over $14,000 per theater, a very good number.  Water […]