Weekend #28 of 2015 is looking like $194 million for the top 12 films this weekend, slightly above the norm for this weekend and way above last year’s very soft weekend (see comparisons below).  [Note: a previous version of this post had incorrect estimated weekend totals.] Minions from Universal should open with a $108 million three-day weekend. Early reviews at RottenTomatoes […]

  OPENINGS:  THE MEG (Gravity/Warners) had a fair hold on Saturday, down 2%, which brought it to a $44.5M weekend.  That’s 83% better than Skyscraper‘s start, and 27% better than Rampage, and with no new direct competition next weekend, The Meg could reach $125M in the US.  However, the mega-B-movie had a reported $300M+ in […]

      NETWORK FINALS:  The only change in final numbers was a 0.1 dip for CAUGHT ON CAMERA.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  Discovery towered over the rest of Friday cable, with GOLD RUSH up 0.02 to 1.02, and the season finale of TREASURE QUEST […]

> WANDERLUST:  Watch It At Home – Hippy Jokes Thawed Out From 1966 The new WANDERLUST demonstrates the strengths and limitations of amiability in movies.  Its stars, Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, have made very profitable careers out of being professionally likable.  Unlike, say, Tom Hanks, who also began his career in light comedy but […]

  Considering its genre and target audience, BAD GRANDPA (Paramount) did very well in its second day, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, slipping just 4% to $12M.  By comparison, the three Jackass movies went down 20%/14%/24% on their first Saturdays, suggesting strong word of mouth and possibly a longer stay in theatres than one […]

  The CBS Friday line-up began the new year strongly. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary live+same day key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2). […]

  A decent start (in CW terms) for BURDEN OF TRUTH. DEMOGRAPHIC DETAIL: For each broadcast program (or hour segment), the chart below displays preliminary key advertiser demographics (adult 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 ratings), audience skews (women 18-49, men 18-49 and adults 50+ shares) and total viewership (thousands of people over the age of 2). Ratings […]

NOTE: After the President’s Oval Office speech at 8:00 pm ET Sunday, ABC started ONCE UPON A TIME, BLOOD & OIL and QUANTICO each about 15 minutes late.  Similarly, FOX slid the 8-10 pm comedy block about 15 minutes.  In contrast, CBS started the SINATRA 100 special on time at 9:00 pm by shortening 60 MINUTES.  NBC also collapsed its […]