> TRANSFORMERS:  DARK OF THE MOON becomes the latest franchise movie to fall short in the US compared to prior chapters of the series, despite an increased 3D ticket price.  (Like others, most notably Pirates 4, it may well make up the shortfall overseas.)  That doesn’t make a US gross of $350M anything to complain […]

The domestic box office was back down this week.  Volatility has been the operative word recently.  The first two weeks of May (April 30-May 13) were up more than 35% each from prior years, followed by the next three weeks (May 14-June 3) which were down around 15% each week.  Then last week was up […]

> Why did it snow on my weekend? Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), Puss in Boots looks like a $34 million opening weekend.  The highly unusual late-October snowstorm in the northeast certainly reduced the opening numbers for Puss, but the weather also seemed to have a strong impact on […]

>Word of Mouth is the most powerful and trusted form of marketing in many industries, not least film and television.  Good Word of Mouth can save a movie or make it a surprise hit, whether it’s The 40-Year Old Virgin or Black Swan, while bad Word of Mouth can sink even a “sure thing” movie […]

> The past week (seven days ending Sunday) came in up 16% versus last year’s comparable week (the second significant increase in as many weeks).  Year-to-date box office is now down 6% versus last year.    The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between July 18 and July 24 grossed $289 million, up 16% versus […]

> BRIDESMAIDS is having a very solid opening weekend, particularly given its relatively low budget.  We’ll see how word of mouth holds up the rest of the weekend, but for now Universal has to be very happy–as do Kristen Wiig’s talent reps. THOR‘s hold is OK, but on a weekend where it faced no new […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio, with Fox continuing to the lap the field.  We have amended the summary categories somewhat this year with the top category now reserved for films over $500 million worldwide and the lower category for films under $150 million worldwide.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at […]

The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between October 8 and October 14 grossed a decent $167 million, up 7% from the four-year average for the week and up 44% from the same week last year.    The past six weeks remain 1% above the four-year average box office […]