OPENINGS:  CAPTAIN MARVEL (Marvel/Disney) launched with $455M worldwide, the highest superhero intro movie ever (although not all the titles in that category opened in China on their first weekend).  In the US, its $153M total was #2 behind Black Panther, which had the advantage of a holiday weekend Sunday.  Captain Marvel declined 14% on […]

The first weekend of the new year is looking like $125 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, slightly above average for this weekend versus previous years. Opening at around 2,500 theaters Friday (slightly below the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones from Paramount should average about $7,000 per theater for […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  A synergistic run of the original AVATAR was at 0.35, followed by a rerun of THE CONNERS at 0.18. CBS:  Compared to 2 weeks ago when the network didn’t have the late national NFL game, 60 MINUTES gained 0.04 to 0.75, followed by a NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING special at 0.41, […]

> A surprisingly strong start for 2 low-budget arrivals, although the upside is limited by tomorrow’s Super Bowl. OPENINGS:  CHRONICLE (20th) had a slight $350K edge over THE WOMAN IN BLACK (CBS Films) on Friday, and both are in frontloaded genres, appealing to young men and young women, respectively.  Young men are more likely to […]

  The enduring respect and admiration for Get Out, and its own enthusiastic reviews, are pushing Jordan Peele’s US (Blumhouse/Perfect World/Universal) way past expectations.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, opening day was $28.6M (including $7.4M from Thursday night), which means that in one day, Us has already earned more than 85% of Get Out‘s […]

  Another newcomer bites the dust. FOX:  ENLISTED showed no signs of life in is premiere with 0.7, slightly behind the 0.8 for its lead-in RAISING HOPE, and the question will be whether FOX is content to leave that hour at a sub-1 level.  BONES was at 1.5, down 0.2 from its last new episode […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  The network successfully reshuffled its night.  THE ROOKIE, moved from Sunday and airing for the first time since December 4, was at 0.64 compared to 0.44/0.41 that night.  THE ROOKIE: FEDS shifted to 9PM and in its first airing since November 29 rose 0.13 to 0.44.  The premiere of WILL TRENT […]

  By superhero movie standards, SHAZAM (DC/New Line/Warners) was moderately priced, with around $225M in production/marketing costs.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline put its opening day at $20M (including $5.9M from Thursday), and although that’s a cut below comic book blockbusters like Captain Marvel ($61.7M), Spider-Man: Homecoming ($50.8M) or Wonder Woman ($38.2M), it’s solidly in line with […]