OPENINGS:  THE REVENANT (Regency/20th) had an impressive $38M start, the #5 January wide opening ever (although tomorrow’s final numbers could send it below Lone Survivor‘s $37.8M, the comp it wanted to beat).  Survivor made it to $125.1M, and Revenant could do the same, especially fueled by what now seems like a can’t-miss campaign for […]

CBS’s second half of the Sunday NFL doubleheader did a terrific 17.0 HH rating in the metered markets (mostly Pittsburgh at Dallas between 4:30 and almost 8:00 pm). NBC’s Sunday Night Football at 8:30 pm averaged a 15.2 HH rating in the 56 metered markets (San Francisco at New England, briefly interrupted by President Obama’s […]

    THE GOODWIN GAMES:  Tuesday 9:30PM on FOX   WHAT IT’S SAYING:  From the guys who gave you How I Met Your Mother, another unexpected spin on sitcom convention:  this time, the Sibling Rivalry comedy.   WHAT IT’S REALLY SAYING:  Are there more to the “Games” than the customized Trivial Pursuits questions we see?  […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, Weekend #5 of 2013 is another weak one: only $69 million for the top 12 films (over 30% behind the pace for the same weekend the last few years).   Opening at 3,009 theaters Friday, Warm Bodies from Summit grossed $7.6 million Friday and is on track for a $20 million opening weekend […]

        NETWORK FINALS:  The night’s primetime SNL rerun lost 0.1 in final numbers.         Broadcast Official Nationals Program Ratings Chart     CABLE HIGHLIGHTS:  ESPN’s UFC FIGHT NIGHT led Saturday cable at 0.33.  News took over much of the rest of the list, with CNN’s 11PM SITUATION ROOM at […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  THE BIG BANG THEORY and CASTLE each lost 0.1 in final numbers, and THE VOICE gained 0.1. Ratings in key demos for the Top 25 original cable telecasts Monday (plus a few other lower-rated but noteworthy programs): ESPN’s MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL was naturally at the top of Monday cable at 4.58, although […]

  Word of mouth was great for ZOOTOPIA (Disney), which according to preliminary numbers at Deadline fell a soft 36% from last week’s opening day to $12.5M, setting up a $50M weekend that will put the smash over $140M by Sunday.  That compares to a 45% drop for the 2d Friday of The Lorax, the […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Updated look at 2016 by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2016 to date is still +3% above last year and now +5% above the average for this point the past four years ($6.592 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $17.3 billion worldwide when we […]