CONSTANTINE:  Friday 10PM on NBC THE FACTS:  John Constantine (Matt Ryan) has the ability to see demons and spirits hidden from the outside world and the ability to defeat them; unfortunately, he’s also been damned to hell for actions in his past.  Trying to redeem himself, he sets out to protect Liv (Lucy Griffiths), […]

  MARRY ME:  Tuesday 9PM on NBC THE FACTS:  Happy Endings creator David Caspe reunites with Casey Wilson, one of that show’s stars, for a rom-com that pairs her with Ken Marino, as a longtime couple who finally get engaged. WHAT’S IT SAYING:  The NBC quirky single-camera rom-com brand is in good hands:  Happy Endings […]

  STATE OF AFFAIRS:  Monday 10PM on NBC (starting November 17) THE FACTS:  Katherine Heigl is the CIA agent in charge of putting together the President’s (Alfre Woodard) daily list of the nation’s Top 10 threats.  She’s also the quasi-widow of the President’s son, who was killed in an apparent terrorist attack overseas.  Except, guess […]

  Note:  Most of the studios are pinning extremely aggressive Sunday estimates on the hope that their movie will be a popular Mothers Day destination, so look for a potentially larger than usual set of adjustments in final numbers tomorrow. OPENINGS:  NEIGHBORS (Universal) is that rare Hollywood ideal of an easily-promotable, high-concept comedy that’s also […]

  NBC has kept a lot of is pieces in place, but also made some significant changes for next season, especially on its once-signature Thursday night.  Let’s dig in. MONDAY:  No surprise that THE VOICE is staying where it is, but 10PM is a risk.  NBC will keep THE BLACKLIST there only until November 10, […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  The release of Neighbors has pushed Universal out of the Paramount and Lionsgate/Summit pack to 5th place among Hollywood studios year to date in worldwide box office (with just under $800 million).  Sony sits at #1 with close to $1.3 billion worldwide in 2014 to date, with Amazing Spider-Man 2 still producing significant overseas revenue. […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #19 of 2014 now looks like $129 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, $2 million higher than yesterday’s estimate and now down 8% from the norm for this weekend (somewhat better than we expected due to the impressive strength of Neighbors).   Opening at 3,279 theaters, Neighbors from Universal grossed $19.6 million […]

  Mothers Day is a bit of a wild card this weekend, but based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, nothing on Saturday changed the way the box office is likely to play out.  NEIGHBORS (Universal) held very well, falling just 5% from Friday to around $18M.  (By comparison to other big-hit R-rated comedies, Ted dropped […]