>Based on Friday and Saturday box office (and estimated Sunday numbers), Paranormal Activity 3 is now looking like a $54 million opening weekend, almost matching the last big opening ($54.8 for Rise of the Planet of the Apes on August 5) and blowing past the $41 million opening for Paranormal Activity 2 this week last year.  […]

> Deadline has some early updated weekend numbers, and there are no major surprises from the Friday results.  The top 3 are DOLPHIN TALE, MONEYBALL and THE LION KING with $14M, $12M and $11M respectively, with the family pictures garnering the benefit of stepped-up Saturday matinee business.   After that, 3 new titles–50/50, COURAGEOUS and DREAM […]

This weekend is on track to be the fifth weekend in a row to be up over the previous years.  None of the openers look like big hits — it’s just that Argo is hanging around very well in its third week and there are more films at or near $10 million this weekend than […]

> Navy SEALs shoot up the Friday boxoffice. OPENINGS:  The very aggressive marketing for ACT OF VALOR (Relativity) made it seem like it was a patriotic duty to see the film, and successfully hid the fact that it’s mostly a sub-par B action movie.  The question now is whether its quality will catch up with […]

For the 15 days December 16-30, top 10 films in North America have totaled $942 million, now +68% ahead of the same period last year, +73% above the average since 2002, and +36% ahead of the previous record for this period (2009, the year of Avatar). Box Office Volume — Top 10 Films North America ($ […]

> The 2011 box office slump continues in full force.  The top 12 films this Christmas weekend should total an anemic $112 million, down 15% from the comparable weekend last year and not even close to the previous three years.  Of course, weekend comparisons are tricky because the calendar is particularly cruel this year, putting […]

> NEW YEAR’S EVE (Warners):  Hardly any bump from Saturday night couples meant about as low an opening as anyone could have reasonably imagined.  Even with some play during Christmas week, the picture may struggle to earn more than its $56M production budget (which is separate from a likely $100M+ worldwide marketing budget).  After J. […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #13 of 2015 now looks like $146 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, above the norms for this weekend. Opening at 3,708 theaters Friday, Home from Fox and DreamWorks Animation is on track for a $54.0 million opening three-day weekend (way above our non-believing $28.0 million ShowBuzzDaily forecast earlier this […]