Considering it was the third-worst blowout in Super Bowl history, the early ratings in the 56 markets with local Nielsen meters are very good and in line with the last four years.  National ratings will be available later today.  The 47.6 household rating in the metered markets for last night’s game will translate to a […]

As we continue to tally the films released wide in 2013, Disney has pulled ahead of Warner Brothers in worldwide box office for the 2013 slate (now an $18 million margin out of over $9 billion between the two rival studios).  Disney continues to benefit mightily from Frozen, both in North America and overseas.  For a complete […]

International box office for 2013 releases through February 2, 2014.  Frozen has pushed past Hunger Games: Catching Fire, after passing The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in the yearly worldwide rankings last week.  The Wolf of Wall Street (now #33 for the year) is putting some distance between it and American Hustle (still #41 worldwide).  While American Hustle is winning domestically, Wolf is dominating […]

  Philip Seymour Hoffman, now ridiculously,  shockingly dead at 46, had two films at Sundance this year, and as will always happen, the way one thinks of those movies changes in the light of this awful event. Neither film, the John LeCarre adaptation A MOST WANTED MAN or John Slattery’s feature directing debut GOD’S POCKET, […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #5 of 2014 now looks like $72 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, even worse than the usual pace for a Super Bowl weekend and two million dollars below yesterday’s estimate. Opening at 2,809 theaters Friday, That Awkward Moment from Focus/Universal grossed a small $3.9 million Friday and a weak […]

  Tonight the Writers Guild of America followed the lead of the Golden Globes and gave its award for Best Original Screenplay to Spike Jonze for HER rather than to AMERICAN HUSTLE.  The WGA awards were seen as Hustle‘s chance to recapture some of the momentum it had lost after 12 YEARS A SLAVE and […]

  Even by Super Bowl Weekend standards, this one is likely to be dim. OPENINGS:  Despite aggressive preliminary estimates, THAT AWKWARD MOMENT (Focus/Universal) couldn’t even carry the day on Friday with $3.9M, and seems to be heading for a $9.5M weekend (all titles will drop precipitously on Sunday because of the game).  Focus acquired Awkward […]

  A good night for some veteran shows. CBS:  UNDERCOVER BOSS started things off nicely, up 0.1 to 1.7, and the momentum continued, as HAWAII 5-0 and BLUE BLOODS both rose 0.2, to 1.7 and 1.6 respectively. ABC:  LAST MAN STANDING tied its best outing of the season,  up 0.1 to 1.5, and THE NEIGHBORS […]