>The weekend studio estimates (based on Friday and Saturday actuals and projections for Sunday) are coming in somewhat stronger than the weekend numbers posted yesterday (based on Friday actuals only).  The box office volume for the top 12 films is now looking like $112 million for the weekend, up fully 26% from last year’s disaster […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #51 of 2013 now looks like $137 million for the top 12 films from Friday-Sunday, up substantially from the same weekend last year (see comparisons to previous years at the bottom).   Opening at 3,507 theaters Wednesday, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues from Paramount grossed $13.2 million before Friday ($8.1 Wednesday […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  BACHELOR IN PARADISE rose 0.09 to 0.54, and THE GOOD DOCTOR was up 0.03 to 0.32. CBS:  THE NEIGHBORHOOD climbed 0.05 to 0.56, BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA grew by 0.06 to 0.41, NCIS surged by 0.08 to 0.43, and NCIS: HAWAII was up 0.04 to 0.36. NBC:  THE VOICE dropped 0.09 to […]

> It takes about an hour, but Nicholas McCarthy’s THE PACT, which premiered in the Park City At Midnight section at Sundance, eventually turns out to have a neat twist up its sleeve, one that switches the movie from haunted house horror to an entirely different subgenre of thriller.  And after that, a solid reel […]

  OPENINGS:  CAPTAIN MARVEL (Marvel/Disney) launched with $455M worldwide, the highest superhero intro movie ever (although not all the titles in that category opened in China on their first weekend).  In the US, its $153M total was #2 behind Black Panther, which had the advantage of a holiday weekend Sunday.  Captain Marvel declined 14% on […]

The first weekend of the new year is looking like $125 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, slightly above average for this weekend versus previous years. Opening at around 2,500 theaters Friday (slightly below the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends the last two years), Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones from Paramount should average about $7,000 per theater for […]

  BROADCAST FINALS ABC:  A synergistic run of the original AVATAR was at 0.35, followed by a rerun of THE CONNERS at 0.18. CBS:  Compared to 2 weeks ago when the network didn’t have the late national NFL game, 60 MINUTES gained 0.04 to 0.75, followed by a NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING special at 0.41, […]

> A surprisingly strong start for 2 low-budget arrivals, although the upside is limited by tomorrow’s Super Bowl. OPENINGS:  CHRONICLE (20th) had a slight $350K edge over THE WOMAN IN BLACK (CBS Films) on Friday, and both are in frontloaded genres, appealing to young men and young women, respectively.  Young men are more likely to […]