OPENINGS:  For ROGUE ONE (Lucasfilm/Disney), massive success was taken for granted, and the question was how big a standalone spin-off entry in the Star Wars canon could be.  The answer is pretty damn big:  its $155M US opening weekend is the 12th highest ever, and #3 for the year (behind $179.1M for Captain America: […]

  OPENINGS:  Just about everything about the release of TAYLOR SWIFT: THE ERAS TOUR (Variance/AMC Theaters) has been unique, and that includes the fact that the theater chain, a first-time distributor, has announced the weekend box office as $95-97M for now, with a definite number to be issued tomorrow.  Even at the high end, that’s […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2016 to date is now -2% below last year and still +1% above the average for this point the past four years ($4.577 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $12.2 billion worldwide when we […]

> So you love me, after all Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), Puss in Boots almost matched its three-day opening in weekend two, bringing its 10-day total to $76 million and increasing the final domestic estimated total to a very good $170 million.  Tower Heist and A Very Harold […]

The complete Friday Box Office report will be posted at its usual time Saturday morning, but in the meantime we have one big over-performer in Despicable Me 2, one opener slightly above forecast (Kevin Hart) and one flat-out, embarrassing bomb (Lone Ranger), doing even worse than our bearish expectations. With $34.3 million Wednesday and $24.5 million […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC: Reruns at 0.32/0.21/0.18/0.20, followed by the special FINDING HARMONY at 0.16. CBS:  The fall finale of SURVIVOR was at 0.75, up 0.04 from last week and down 0.24 from last December’s finale. NBC:  An SNL clip show at 0.60, followed by a rerun THAT’S MY JAM at 0.34. FOX:  The season […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  The final game of the STANLEY CUP FINALS adjusted up by 0.2 to 2.8.  The only other adjustments were at CW, where as expected the baseball preemptions led to 0.1 reductions for each rerun. CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  No surprises at the top of Monday cable, which was led by VH1 and USA.  On […]

The top 10 films December 26, 2014 totaled $63.3 million,right at the average $63.1 million for the days since 2002 when December 26 landed on a Friday-Sunday.  The last time December 26 fell on a Friday (2008), the day’s top 10 films added up to a similar $63.5 million.  The 11 days December 16-26 total […]