OPENINGS:  CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (Sony) had an even softer Friday than the early numbers claimed with $9.3M.  That’s barely ahead of the first Cloudy‘s $8.1M, and sequels tend to be more frontloaded than originals, which means the $35M weekend estimates being thrown around this morning, which assume exactly the same […]

  Nothing hit a 2 rating on the first Friday of the new season. CBS:  HAWAII 5-0 had an underwhelming Friday debut with 1.5, down 0.3 from last year’s Monday start.  It was even with the premiere of UNDERCOVER BOSS (which was even with its own premiere last season), but below the 1.7 for BLUE […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #39 of 2013 looks like an okay $98 million for the top 12 films, up 5% from the average for the same weekend the past few years. Opening at 4,001 theaters Friday, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 from Sony grossed $9.3 million Friday and is on track for a $35.5 million […]

  Preliminary box office numbers at Deadline give Friday, as expected, to CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (Sony), and it will easily win the weekend as well.  Its $10M opening day is above the original Cloudy in 2009 ($8.1M) but below last year’s Hotel Transylvania ($11M), and with a sequel’s usual frontloading, it’s […]

  Another NBC vs CBS showdown–but this one goes the other way. CBS:  Two-thirds of a remarkable night.  The back-to-back episodes of THE BIG BANG THEORY that served as its Season 7 premiere were spectacular at 5.3/5.8, not just the highest network scores of the week (barring football), but up from last year’s 5.0 for […]

  THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW:  Thursday 9:30PM on NBC (airing tonight at 9PM) – If Nothing Else Is On… Behind its feel-good star and tone, THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW is–even more than most TV shows–as much a business proposition as it is a piece of entertainment, so let’s start with that.  In a […]

  After the excitement of the past two days, with the arrivals of The Blacklist and Agents of SHIELD, last night’s numbers were on the dull side. ABC:  Even though ABC won the night, there was no good news in the line-up.  THE MIDDLE began its season at 2.4, down 0.5 from last fall.  The […]

The 39th weekend of the year is looking like a good $114 million for the top 12 films, up 22% from the $94 million multi-year average for this weekend. Opening at over 3,800 theaters Friday (way above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 from Sony should average […]