> Well, another disaster weekend for the Hollywood studios.  $70 million in business for the top 12 films, down 17% from the same weekend last year (which was a fairly typical second weekend in December).  New Year’s Eve from Garry Marshall will badly miss a forecast that was already down over 50% from the opening […]

>The Devil Inside looks like a $34-35 million opening weekend based on studio estimates (Friday and Saturday actual results with estimates for Sunday).  The top 12 films combined total this weekend has been reduced to $128 million, still 7% ahead of the typical total for the comparable weekend in past years and 30% above the […]

> The past week (seven days ending Sunday) came in up 48% versus last year’s comparable week.  Year-to-date box office is now down 9% versus last year (an improvement of three percentage points from last week).    The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between May 23 and May […]

>The week after Thanksgiving is always a let down in movie attendance, and 2011 was even softer than the past few years.  Another week or so of limited business and then the box office will explode as Christmas turns to New Year’s.  Last year, for example, the week of December 6-12 grossed $105 million, followed […]

  MOONRISE KINGDOM:  Worth A Ticket – The Kingdom is Wes Anderson’s     Wes Anderson seemed to find the perfect vehicle for his particular form of brilliance with 2009’s stop-motion animated Fantastic Mr. Fox, a spectacularly designed, witty and surprisingly moving piece of jewel-like aritificiality.  Unfortunately, Mr. Fox wasn’t a success at the boxoffice […]

>The Hunger Games has moved up to $216 million overseas (up from $194 million last week).  The film is probably headed for a worldwide total of $650 million, including the $388 million forecast domestic total.  Click “read more” to see the updated weekly worldwide table.      Titanic 3D is doing even better internationally, now […]

> Plot spoilers are even more problematic when it comes to limited releases, because by definition they’re only being seen by a few people in certain selected locations, and–if they’re good–will ideally be discovered by audiences over time.  Which is a roundabout way of saying that I strongly recommend, but can reveal almost nothing about, […]

>The Worldwide Box Office chart now tracks the movies released in the U.S. the last three months.  This will provide a clearer view of the marketplace at any point of the year.  Remember that each week going forward, movies will be added to the ranking and the oldest movies will be deleted as they fall out […]