Projected weekly network ratings in prime time (based on four days of official nationals and three days of fast nationals). NBC jumped to first place the week ending Sunday, thanks to the pre-season NFL Hall of Fame Game Sunday, while FOX tumbled to fourth place (from first last week) as original Hell’s Kitchen episodes were […]

  There’s everything else on television… and then there’s NFL football. NBC:  The preseason exhibition HALL OF FAME GAME is about as meaningless as any “NFL” game can be, but nonetheless it was the first sign of pro football since winter, and last night’s rating (currently at 3.5, which we estimate will rise to 3.8 […]

The ratings below are household ratings from the 56 television markets with local Nielsen meters for Saturday August 3 and Sunday August 4, 2013. (The 56 markets out of 210 total cover about 70% of the US television population.)   Golf was back in business this weekend with Tiger Woods running away with the WGC […]

  OPENINGS:  With a $27.4M start, 2 GUNS (Universal) is probably headed for $85M in the US, a fair if unexciting return for a movie that claims to have (post-tax credits) a $61M production budget.  With Universal taking its marketing expenses and distribution fees off the top, there won’t be much profit for financiers Emmett-Furia […]

STUDIO SCORECARD. The studio rankings for worldwide box office remain the same this week, with Sony, Universal and 20th Century Fox having the most productive weeks.  Sony benefited from the domestic and especially overseas revenue from The Smurfs 2, while Universal was helped by the release of 2 Guns and the continued overseas grosses for Despicable Me 2.  Even […]

Updated international box office chart:

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #31 of 2013 still looks like a surprisingly weak $126 million for the top 12 films, down 4% from the average for this weekend the past few years (the first such decline since the weekend of June 7-9 eight weeks ago).  Opening at 3,025 theaters Friday, 2 Guns from Universal grossed […]

  OPENINGS:  The production budget for 2 GUNS (Universal) was funded by producers Emmett/Furla and Foresight Entertainment, with Universal just on the hook for marketing and distribution.  In addition, the overseas distribution is being handled by other studios.  All of this limits Universal’s risk and also its upside, and since the movie had a $10M […]