The Toronto International Film Festival is, of the major North American festivals, by far the most pleasant to attend.  Its line-up of films and clout are matched only by Sundance’s, and it substitutes balmy 70 degree weather and large, well-appointed theaters for that festival’s snowy winds and converted high school auditoriums and hotel ballrooms.  […]

This weekend is on track to be the fourth weekend in a row to be up over the previous years.  Paranormal Activity 4 opens very large but will play out very quickly as the young, horror audience flocks to the first weekend.  Tyler Perry puts down his Madea outfit and his writer-producer-director suit and simply […]

This weekend is normally dead.  On average, last weekend (the three days after Thanksgiving) is the 7th busiest of the year, while this weekend (the first in December) is normally ranked 50th in terms of volume.  Last year, there were no wide releases on the comparable weekend, and two years ago only one film was […]

Saturday’s $57.4 million for the top 10 films and Sunday’s estimated $49.6 million both slightly exceed the similar days in 2007 (when December 30 was also a Sunday). Partly because of the way the calendar is configured, 2012 is catching up to the multi-year average for December 16-30 (2012 is now only 1.8% behind the […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #6 of 2013 is another weak one: only $84 million for the top 12 films (about 50% behind the pace for the same weekend the last few years, an even steeper drop than last weekend).  The lone bright spot: Identity Thief.  Our big lesson: never underestimate Melissa McCarthy.  Our outlook […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #13 of 2013 is relatively close to the comparable weekend the past few years: about $139 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, compared to a $143 million average for this weekend the past few years.   Opening at 3,719 theaters Thursday with $10.5 million, G.I. Joe: Retaliation from Paramount grossed $15.5 […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #19 of 2013 looks like $151 million for the top 12 films, below the same weekend last year but above the four-year average for the weekend.  Iron Man 3 remains #1 in its second weekend, but it is on pace for a 61% decline from its opening (compared to a […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #25 of 2013 still looks like an excellent $223 million for the top 12 films, up 32-42% from the same weekend in recent years. The two wide openers clicked with audiences, with Monsters University doing as well as we forecast but World War Z opening much stronger than […]