Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #51 of 2013 now looks like $137 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 […]

  OPENINGS:  ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (Paramount) eked out a Friday victory over The Hobbit, $8.7M to $8.6M, but Hobbit will likely take the weekend fairly easily, with perhaps $30M  to $27M for Anchorman.  Thanks to the holiday week coming up (Anchorman could take in $65M between Christmas and New Year’s), the comedy should top […]

  Vintage TV beat vintage Hollywood on a very slow night. CBS:  It doesn’t say much to be “#1 for the night” when the result is a 1.4 rating, but the colorized I LOVE LUCY HOLIDAY SPECIAL can claim that honor.  (In the older-skewing total viewers metric, Lucy was CBS’s least-watched show of the night.) […]

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) […]

  Early numbers at Deadline have ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (Paramount) and THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (Warners/MGM) just about neck-and-neck at the Friday box office, both in the $8.5-9M neighborhood.  However, as a new arrival, Anchorman is likely to do softer business on Saturday, which should give Hobbit the weekend win. For […]

  What do Blue Is the Warmest Color and The Past have in common?  Two things, actually:  they’re both widely considered among the best foreign-language films shown in the US this year–and neither will be nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.  Blue was the victim of arcane Academy rules regarding its theatrical release date […]

  ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (Paramount) took in another $5.1M on Thursday, down a fairly standard 37% from its Wednesday opening (This Is the End dropped 43% on its first Thursday, while We’re the Millers fell 31%).  With $13.2M in the bank, he studio is predicting $30M over the Fri-Sun weekend, although $25-27M may […]

  The X Factor ended its season with no miraculous ratings recovery. FOX:  Although THE X FACTOR‘s season finale was up 0.5 from last week to 1.7, that number was down a horrific 1.4 from last year’s finale, barely more than half as strong.  With 3 weekly hours of primetime in the balance, FOX has […]