OPENINGS:  Let’s be clear:  the decision to greenlight a $100M production budget for IN THE HEART OF THE SEA (Village Roadshow/Warners)–a period whaling adventure that features about 10 minutes of a CG whale and is otherwise mostly (spoiler alert) about the cast starving and suffering–was fundamentally insane.  Even if the film had been good, […]

Updated international box office chart:

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  SHARK TANK dropped a tenth to 0.46, and 20/20 was up 0.03 to 0.43. CBS:  BIG BROTHER: CELEBRITY EDITION fell 0.11 from Thursday to 0.38.  A BLUE BLOODS rerun followed at 0.29. NBC:  The WINTER OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY was at 1.97, a dismal 70% plunge from the 2018 Ceremony.  (Note that […]

  Last night the numbers continued to slide for Under the Dome, and viewers watched country singers rock out. ABC:  CMA MUSIC FESTIVAL: COUNTRY’S NIGHT TO ROCK was up an impressive half ratings point from last year’s installment to 2.0, although that one aired in mid-September, against some early regular season competition. CBS:  UNDER THE […]

  BROADCAST FINALS:  ABC’s NBA game was at 0.61.  FOX’s MLS match was at 0.13.  CW’s originals were at 0.05/0.04.  NBC’s SNL returned from its Olympics break at 0.86.   Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart   CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  ESPN’s COLLEGE BASKETBALL was at 0.45/0.41/0.35/0.33/0.29/0.21.  As the war in Ukraine continued to dominate, cable news […]

> Another Sunday, or as NBC likes to think of it, The Only Night That Should Count. ABC:  ONCE UPON A TIME barely slipped from last week, proving its full season pick-up was well deserved.  DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES continues its limp to the finish line, while the only good news for PAN AM is that CBS’s […]

  STAR WARS:  Whether one considers Avatar‘s proper US all-time box office record to be $749.8M (initial release) or $760.5M (includes “director’s cut” re-release), the crown will be changing hands in the next few days.  STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Lucasfilm/Disney), which declined 41% on its 3rd weekend to $88.3M (setting yet another record by […]

The 34th weekend of the year is looking like $99 million for the top 12 films, up a decent 10% from the average for this weekend.  Opening at 3,046 theaters Wednesday (a bit above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones from Sony should average $4,100 per theater for the […]