> $59.99 for home VOD — Genius! Box office normally starts to pick up when the calendar turns to November, moving from $90-100 million per weekend through most of October to $120 million or more per weekend in early November (building toward $185 million or more for the Friday-Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend).  Last year’s first […]

> Deadline is reporting that Saturday’s boxoffice for THE HUNGER GAMES is heading for $50M.  This is obviously a very preliminary figure–some late night west coast shows haven’t even started yet, much less been reported back to the studio.  But if the number holds, it would mean that Hunger Games is an even more phenomenal […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #51 of 2013 looks like $139 million for the top 12 films from Friday-Sunday, up substantially from the same weekend last year (see comparisons to previous years at the bottom).   Opening at 3,507 theaters Wednesday, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues from Paramount grossed $13.2 million before Friday ($8.1 Wednesday and $5.1 Thursday) […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #27 of 2013 still looks like a terrific $223 million for the top 12 films, up sharply from the comparable weekend in recent years. Not even The Lone Ranger could derail a hot summer box office, which is up 30% or more in three of the last four […]

> Hop will be–by far–Russell Brand’s biggest opening as a featured performer:  both Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Me To the Greek opened to around $17M.  All of which makes this week’s opening of Arthur, his first bona fide shot as a leading man, that much more interesting.  Be sure to read Mitch Metcalf’s Arthur […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is still +4% above last year and still +1% above the average for this point the past four years ($9.144 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed over $24.3 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office (that’s […]

STUDIO SCORECARD.  Disney remains in the #1 spot in the worldwide box office chart for 2013, but Universal has moved into second place with strong domestic and international performance from Fast & Furious 6.  Imagine if the studio could produce and distribute more films that overseas audiences wanted to see.  Some studios have slates that significantly […]

Eleven days into the three-week holiday movie season, 2012 is now 9.5% behind the average for the same period over the last several years ($316 million this year versus $349 million on average 2004-2011).  Further, 2012 is 13.7% behind the last time Christmas fell on a Tuesday (2007’s $366 million over this period).   The […]