Posting this update later than usual for the record. The Past Week: Total Box Office Volume All films in wide release playing between December 17 and December 23 grossed a dreadful $155 million, down 41% from the four-year average for the week and down 27% from week #51 last year.  To be fair, December 25 […]

> The seventh weekend of 2012 is another good one, running ahead of last year and the multi-year average for this weekend.  The Vow should hold on to the top spot, with Safe House a close #2, and Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance opening in third place for the weekend.  This Means War is basically […]

Based on Friday’s and  Saturday’s grosses, weekend #33 of 2014 now looks like a modest $129 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, a little better than yesterday’s forecast ($124 million) and 11% above the norm for this weekend ($116 million) but still below our forecast ($140 million). Playing at 3,094 theaters, Let’s Be Cops from Fox […]

  ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD (Columbia/Sony), the summer’s great adult-oriented, non-franchise, auteur/movie star hope, had a solid start per preliminary numbers at Deadline with a $16.7M opening day (including $5.8M from Thursday night).  That’s the biggest opening of Quentin Tarantino’s career, higher than the $14.4M for Inglourious Basterds and the $15M for Django […]

  OPENINGS:  NEED FOR SPEED (DreamWorks/Disney) won Friday with $6.6M (which includes $1.1M from Thursday night), but it’s destined to come in 2d or even 3rd for the weekend, probably under $20M.  At a $175M cost (including worldwide marketing), $50M in the US will barely make a dent, meaning that the movie will need to […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2018 film slates by studio. The studio totals also include 2018 dollars for films released in late 2017. YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2018 to date is now +6% above last year and now +16% above the average for this point […]

    Don’t hold your breath for Men In Black 4.   OPENINGS:  The US 3-day weekend numbers on MEN IN BLACK 3 (Sony) are in accord with last night’s lackluster preliminary estimate of $55M.  Sony is predicting $70M for the full holiday weekend, which may be a stretch, as it would allow for only […]

  OPENINGS:  Could JUSTICE LEAGUE (RatPac/DC/Warners) actually lose money?  That possibility exists after a worldwide opening (except Japan, not a huge superhero market) that hit only $281.5M, a number that sounds big only when it isn’t put up against $450M in production/marketing costs, not to mention other sunk expenses like distribution costs and interest.  In […]