>The weekend studio estimates (based on Friday and Saturday actuals and projections for Sunday) are coming in somewhat 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 $96 million for the weekend, up a very strong 31% from last […]

>Cars 2 is looking like a $68 million opening weekend now, lower than the estimate based on Friday’s numbers but very close to the initial ShowBuzzDaily forecast.  Bad Teacher is looking like a solid $31 million for the R-rated comedy.  The weekend is now looking like 10% higher than the same weekend in 2010, a […]

>2012 is underway, and the first week of the year (January 2-8) which includes strong early week business for the holiday holdovers and a better than expected weekend from low-budget The Devil Inside was up substantially from both the same week last year (absolutely jinxed by Nic Cage’s Season of the Witch) and a broader […]

>Thanks to strong weekday business, the past week is up 5% versus last year.  The year-to-date total is now down 14% from last year (after being off as much as 26% in February).  The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between May 2 and May 8 grossed $206 million, up […]

>Updated international figures follow.  Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol is surging, as Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and especially Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is just getting going. Click “read more” for the complete chart.

> Reviews of some of the more prominent movies in theatres right now: X-MEN:  FIRST CLASS MIDNIGHT IN PARIS THE HANGOVER PART II KUNG FU PANDA 2 THE TREE OF LIFE

> The 10% drop for CARS 2 on Saturday is unusual, but by no means unheard of, for a big animated film (Toy Story 3 and Wall-E had similar drops, and they worked out OK).  Any additional slippage on Sunday beyond the 19% Disney is projecting, though, could be cause for concern.  The similar Saturday […]

>Through Sunday, Team Metcalf is holding on to a $39 million lead over Team Salem in the ShowBuzzDaily Summer Movie Draft.  The terrific opening of Harry Potter was balanced somewhat by decent holds for Transformers 3, Horrible Bosses and to some extent Zookeeper.  We expected Salem to pull ahead by Sunday, but that should happen sometime […]