>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 will drop another 59% this weekend but remain at #1, and its final domestic estimate has been downgraded to $269 million.  The Muppets dropped a very surprising 62%, and its final domestic estimate has been taken down below […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio, with Fox continuing to dominate but Disney now in the game with Zootopia.  Note: 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 […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #24 of 2014 now looks like $184 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, still 20% above the norm for this weekend but now -7% below the same weekend last year.   Opening at 3,306 theaters, 22 Jump Street from Sony grossed $25.2 million Friday and $18.8 million Saturday, […]

> The past week (seven days ending Sunday) is up 17% versus last year’s comparable week, thanks to a solid second-weekend hold for the 3D resissue of The Lion King and good openings for Moneyball and Dolphin Tale.  Year-to-date box office is now down 3.5% versus last year, the smallest year-to-year margin we’ve seen so far this year.  The Lion […]

> THE HUNGER GAMES held fairly well on its first Tuesday, dropping around 4% to $10.3M.  This isn’t quite as good as it sounds, because Tuesday is generally an up day (except where Monday is part of a holiday weekend), and the other Top 10 movies rose by 9-24%.  However, it’s not unusual for new […]

>The ninth weekend of the year should generate about $125 million for the top 12 films, a fairly typical weekend for the first weekend in March — up 2% from last year’s comparable weekend and down a negligible 1% from the four-year average for this weekend.  Universal should stand tall with a $44 million opening […]

>After three very rough weekends, this weekend should be very solid at the box office.  We expect the top 12 films to gross around $145 million, up sharply from the $128 million the same weekend last year.  The second Sherlock Holmes film should lead the way with over $60 million this weekend, followed by around […]

> The fundamental problem with LAY THE FAVORITE, Stephen Frears’ new film that premiered last night at Sundance, is that it’s made by people who seem to have little if any interest in gambling. And since this is a movie about the thrill and especially the business of gambling, that means they don’t have any […]