A definition of pathetic:  the combined rating for the four broadcast networks last night sunk below a 4 rating with adults 18-49, down 33% from the same night last year. CBS:  For what it’s worth, a 1.1 average allowed CBS to claim victory last night.  BIG BROTHER was the highest-rated show of the evening […]

  OPENINGS:  The $40M weekend estimate for THE HEAT (20th) makes more sense than it did last night, now that the movie’s Saturday is being reported as a 6% increase rather than a 5% drop.  (But always be suspicious of round-number estimates anyway.)  The Heat is going to be profitable, thanks to its $45M production budget, […]

Updated international box office chart:

STUDIO SCORECARD. No change in the year-to-date studio rankings this week, the midpoint of the year. 20th Century Fox was up $133 million from last week mainly thanks to the domestic release of The Heat. Warner Brothers had a similar $129 million weekly gain, mostly because of international gains by Man of Steel.  Disney and Paramount were […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #26 of 2013 now looks like $185 million for the top 12 films, up a bit from yesterday’s $181 million estimate and still very close to the same weekend in recent years.   Opening at 3,181 theaters Friday, The Heat from 20th Century Fox grossed $13.6 million Friday and $14.3 million […]

  Based on preliminary numbers at Deadline (which, it should be noted, were fairly overoptimistic last night), Saturday’s results were in line with Friday’s lead.  MONSTERS UNIVERSITY (Disney/Pixar) will easily take the weekend after a decent 20% Saturday bump, for what should be a $45M weekend, down only 45% from opening weekend–a better performance than […]

  OPENINGS:  Almost all the “early Friday” numbers turned out to be overly optimistic, but THE HEAT (20th) is still having a great opening, with a $13.6M first day that should put it in the neighborhood of a $37M weekend.  That puts it ahead of Melissa McCarthy’s $34.6M opening with Identity Thief, and remarkably enough, […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #26 of 2013 looks like an okay $181 million for the top 12 films, even with or slightly down from the same weekend in recent years.  Not a bad weekend at all, just not the blistering pace of the last two weekends. Opening at 3,181 theaters Friday, The Heat from 20th Century Fox […]