Allaying concerns about word of mouth, LUCY (Universal) held quite well in its 2d day of release, down 10% from Friday to $15M+ (better than some of the summer’s blockbusters, which fell 15% or more), according to preliminary numbers at Deadline and elsewhere.  That should give it a weekend of $43M+.  (The studios, as […]

  OPENINGS:  Despite all the testosterone flowing through the Avengers-verse, the biggest star to emerge from the mega-franchise is turning out to be Scarlett Johansson, the latest warrior woman at the front of the box office.  This weekend she’s doing what Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth haven’t been able to pull off:  launch an unrelated […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #30 of 2014 looks like $137 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, better than our forecast earlier this week ($128 million) but still -8% below the norm for this weekend. Opening at 3,173 theaters, Lucy from Universal grossed $17.1 million through Friday and is on track for a $46.0 million […]

  The remarkably nutty LUCY (Universal)–more Transcendence than La Femme Nikita–connected with audiences in a big way on Friday, with $16-17M (including $2.75M from Thursday night) according to preliminary numbers at Deadline and elsewhere.  That makes it one of the biggest non-franchise action movies of the summer.  Although word of mouth is uncertain once ticket […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  NY MED gained 0.1 in final numbers, while GANG RELATED dropped by the same amount. THURSDAY CABLE:  Viewers didn’t seem to like what they saw in FX’s MARRIED or YOU’RE THE WORST last week, as their ratings went down more than 30% to 0.41 and 0.29.  USA’s newcomers fared better, although a […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  NBC’s numbers were slightly shuffled in final numbers, with AMERICA’S GOT TALENT gaining 0.1 at the expense of TAXI BROOKLYN.  The MODERN FAMILY rerun gained 0.1, but the ARROW rerun lost the same. WEDNESDAY CABLE:  The best that can be said for THE DIVIDE (WE) is that it stayed steady from its […]

Weekend #30 of 2014 is looking like $128 million for the top 12 films this weekend, -13% below the norm for this weekend.  Not a disaster like the previous three weekends (-27% to -34%), but the sixth down weekend in a row.  Opening at 3,172 theaters Friday (somewhat above the 2,886 average theater count for opening weekends […]

  NETWORK UPDATE:  EXTREME WEIGHT LOSS and CELEBRITY WIFE SWAP each gained 0.1 in final numbers. TUESDAY CABLE:  THE DEADLIEST CATCH (Discovery), PRETTY LITTLE LIARS (ABCFamily) and RIZZOLI & ISLES (TNT) were bunched together at 1.0, which was up 0.1 for RIZZOLI.  The dramas’ companion shows didn’t fare as well, with both PERCEPTION and CHASING LIFE […]