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, […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  RIVERDALE gained 0.1 in final numbers.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  ESPN’s NBA doubleheader topped Wednesday cable, although the early Cleveland vs Minnesota game was much higher than San Antonio vs. Phoenix at 0.83 vs 0.47.  VH1’s BLACK INK CREW […]

  Hollywood doesn’t typically open strong titles on Oscar weekend, when moviegoing is likely to fall sharply on Sunday.  So although the superfans and curiosity-seekers have already had their fill, and 50 SHADES OF GREY (Universal/Focus) wasted no time in diving from last week’s remarkable heights, the kinky romance is having no trouble with this […]

>CBS had a strong Monday last night, up 19% over the same night last year.  ABC finished in second but slid 12% versus last year’s comparable night.  FOX was flat.  And NBC turned in a Monday down 17% from the same night last year.  NOTE: The fast nationals for Monday will be very accurate as […]

Weekend #3 of 2016 is looking like a pretty normal $143 million for the top 12 films this weekend (see comparisons below). Ride Along 2 from Universal should open with $35.0 million Friday-Sunday and about $43 million Friday-Monday. The film is on track for around $105 million domestic in its run. Overseas the film could bring in $25 million, giving it a […]

  Simply a spectacular night for cable television. AMC:  The season finale for THE WALKING DEAD had an astounding 9.1 rating in 18-49s when its 9PM, 11PM, midnight and 1AM airings are combined, and the 9PM broadcast alone scored a giant 6.4, up a full point from the previous week.  Even the TALKING DEAD post-finale […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  The release of X-Men: Days of Future Past has pushed 20th Century Fox to the top of the heap with over $1.5 billion in worldwide box office in 2014 to date.  The race will ebb and flow through the rest of the summer and into the holiday season, but Fox, Warner Brothers and Sony […]

  OPENINGS:  AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (Marvel/Disney) got the historic opening of its dreams, edging out The Force Awakens with a $250M US weekend, and also becoming the #1 worldwide opening in history with $630M.  That latter number is remarkable not only because it beat The Fate of the Furious by $88.1M, but even more because […]