Author Archive
 

 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Rings,” “Space Between Us” Punt Super Bowl Weekend, “Split” Scores Again

  Hollywood generally has little interest in opening films against the Super Bowl, and to the extent it participates, it tries to counterprogram the game by aiming at the young female demographic.  Thus we have a PG-13 ho...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”

  The first season of CW’s musical-comedy CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND was by far the most daring and distinctive show on broadcast television, but a nagging question remained:  what could it do for an encore?  It wasn̵...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 2.5.17

  OPENINGS:  It’s still too soon to gauge whether RINGS (Paramount) can creep its way to breakeven with international help (total production/marketing costs are $75M+), but it’s certainly not performing well e...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Legion”

  LEGION:  Wednesday 10PM on FX – DVR Alert The answer to what Noah Hawley could do for an encore after Fargo is:  continue to spectacularly overperform.  Fargo was and is a totally unexpected piece of great telev...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “LEGO Batman,” “50 Shades Darker,” “John Wick 2″” All Solid

This is a well-designed weekend for Hollywood, with a trio of sensibly-budgeted franchise titles all drawing audiences from their mostly separate target demos.  The Friday winner, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 2.13.17

  OPENINGS:  The split between US and international box office was unusually evident this weekend.  In the US, THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (Warner Animation) was on top with $55.6M, although that number may be a bit shaky sinc...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere: “Girls”

  GIRLS:  Sunday 10PM on HBO As HBO’s GIRLS begins its 6th and final season, it somehow feels older than it actually is.  That’s the way it is with television now:  the revolutionary can become the familiar ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Finale Review: “The Young Pope”

  Viewed in its 10-hour entirety, THE YOUNG POPE encompassed much of the good and bad of Auteur TV.  HBO, by all appearances, wrote a (very large) check to the arthouse filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino as creator, director and ...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Doubt”

  DOUBT:  Wednesday 10PM on CBS – If Nothing Else Is On… As highly prized as the talents of Shonda Rhimes are, it takes the continuing line of her failed imitators to remind us just how difficult it is to dupl...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “The Great Wall,” “Fist Fight,” “Cure For Wellness” Fall to “LEGO Batman”

  A weak slate of newcomers is almost always good news for the holdovers in the market, and that will be the case this holiday weekend.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE (Warners Animati...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Season Premiere Review: “Billions”

  BILLIONS:  Sunday 10PM on Showtime The second season of Showtime’s financial intrigue soap BILLIONS isn’t in a tremendous hurry to get started.  The story picks up a few weeks after the Season 1 finale, eno...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

Behind the US/Worldwide Weekend Box Office – 2.19.17

  OPENINGS:  THE GREAT WALL (Legendary/Universal) scraped its way to $18.1M in the US, and should add another $3M or so on Monday.  The $50M it will hope to reach here will barely pay for its US marketing campaign, so th...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “Big Little Lies”

  BIG LITTLE LIES:  Sunday 9PM on HBO – DVR Alert We no longer blink when movie stars sign on for TV work, and this week’s arrivals are Oscar winners Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, not to mention Shailen...
by Mitch Salem
 

 
 

SHOWBUZZDAILY Series Premiere Review: “The Blacklist: Redemption”

  THE BLACKLIST: REDEMPTION:  Thursday 10PM on NBC – Change the Channel THE BLACKLIST: REDEMPTION is for all those who longed to see what The Blacklist would look like without James Spader, a group that could probab...
by Mitch Salem
 

 

 

EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Get Out” Slams Door on “LEGO Batman,” “Rock Dog” & “Collide”

  GET OUT (Blumhouse/Universal) is the latest hit from the prolific low-budget horror production company that still has Split in the market, off to a fast start according to preliminary numbers at Deadline with $10.5M on F...
by Mitch Salem