THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Sony) is headed for a strong post-4th of July weekend, according to preliminary Friday numbers at Deadline.  Spidey reportedly made $21M on Friday, which if that number holds would be a 33% increase over Thursday, signficantly better than the 18% Friday bump that Transformers had in its 4th of July week […]

> Thanks to Universal’s Fast Five, the box office is headed for the third up weekend in a row.  Other openers to have minimal impact, however. Another up weekend is in store, fueled by Fast Five, the fifth in the Fast and Furious franchise (see complete franchise track below).  The film should open at a […]

>Two new films open this weekend, a formulaic romantic comedy from director Garry Marshall and an R-rated comedy starring Jonah Hill that looks like it will come and go very quickly.  New Year’s Eve will be #1 this weekend but not at a particularly impressive level.  And none of the Thanksgiving holdovers look to gross […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #15 of 2014 looks like $131 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, a significant downgrade from yesterday’s estimate but still 17% above the four-year average for this weekend ($112 million).  Rio 2 and Captain America 2 are supporting the box office, while two smaller films in the […]

> Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens huge overseas, almost topping Fast Five in its first weekend.    The table below shows the domestic and international grosses for the Top 25 films (out of the 47 movies released between January and April at over 500 theaters).  Fast Five is still the #1 film worldwide released between January and […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2017 film slates by studio.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2017 to date is now +11% above last year and now +24% above the average for this point the past four years ($2.082 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have […]

  OPENINGS:  It’s likely that THE 355 (Universal) would have been challenged at the box office even in normal times, considering that its level of action spectacle is significantly lower than superhero movies can afford, and that the cast features performers who are extremely talented but with little proven appeal to ticketbuyers.  (The 27% score […]

  The burnished Jackie Robinson bio 42 (Warners) continued its winning ways on Saturday, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, with a solid 22% bump to $11.1M and what should be a $27M weekend.  That’s very strong for a sports movie, and with good word of mouth and an audience that skews old, it should run […]