Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #32 of 2015 looks like $119 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down significantly from the norm for this weekend (see track below). Opening at 3,995 theaters Friday, Fantastic Four from Fox is on track for a listless $27.0 million opening three-day weekend (well below our $46.5 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast earlier this week). […]

>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), Rise of the Planet of the Apes will continue to hold the #1 spot, although The Help performed better than expected with $25.5 million Friday-Sunday and $35 million Wednesday-Sunday.  Final Destination opened fairly respectably in third place but should disappear quickly.  30 Minutes or […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  There were no changes from the preliminary morning ratings.          Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  ESPN’s NBA doubleheader was at 0.72 (Houston vs. Clippers)/0.40 (San Antonio vs. Philadelphia), preceded by a COLLEGE BASKETBALL game at 0.24.  A&E’s LIVE PD slipped 0.02 […]

  MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, which won the Sundance US Dramatic Directing award for Ava DuVernay last night, is in no rush.  The films moves with deliberation as it establishes its leading character and her difficult situation:  Ruby (Emayatzy E. Corinealdi) isn’t a single mom, but she might as well be, with husband Derek (Omari Hardwick) […]

> Two massively-promoted programs premiered last night, both to strong but not groundbreaking ratings.  FOX’s The X Factor opened to a 4.2 Adult 18-49 rating (4.0 in the first hour and 4.4 at 9 pm).  This is above the ShowBuzzDaily projection for the quarter on a fiercely competitive night.  However, this is below the 6-7 […]

  A TO Z:  Thursday 9:30PM on NBC THE FACTS:  The title refers to Andrew (Ben Feldman) and Zelda (Cristin Milioti), who both work at an online dating company, and who, since this is a rom-com, are of course fated for each other.  The series creator is Ben Queen, whose first series this is, and […]

> As you see elsewhere on this page, ShowbuzzDaily isn’t just about movies.  And since, as it happens, Your Faithful Correspondent is in New York for the week, we’ll have a few days of thoughts about some of the hot new shows on Broadway. For anyone who doesn’t already know, THE BOOK OF MORMON is […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  NCIS: NEW ORLEANS gained 0.1 in final numbers, and the reruns of THE ROOKIE and SUPERGIRL lost the same (the latter rounded down to 0.0).          Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  ESPN may have seen its schedule eradicated of virtually all […]