Big movers overseas this week include Django Unchained (now with $48 million overseas to date), Life of Pi (another $36 million overseas this past week to an astounding $393 million overseas and projected worldwide just under $500 million), and Les Miserables (up $35 million overseas this week to $151 million and a projected $301 million worldwide). The Hobbit and The Impossible follow close behind […]

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 still down -2% from last year and still +2% above the average for this point the past four years ($7.310 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed […]

  VENOM (Tencent/Columbia/Sony) is the first big-budget action movie to open since The Meg in mid-August, and that (plus a huge marketing campaign) seems to have gotten it past murderous reviews for an enormous start, the biggest ever in October.  Preliminary numbers at Deadline have opening day at $32.3M (including $10M from a Thursday that […]

> For anyone who thought the angst over JOHN CARTER‘s boxoffice returns was overstated:  Disney has issued a public statement advising that it expects the film to result in a $200M loss, which will singlehandedly pull the Disney film studio as a whole to a loss of $80-120M for this calendar quarter.  That’s less horrific […]

Weekend #23 of 2016 forecasts for films opening wide and major returning films: NEW FILMS THIS WEEKEND June 3-5, 2016 Critics Positive ($ millions) Opening Weekend Forecast Domestic Total Projection Overseas Total Projection Worldwide Total Projection Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows Par PG13 22% 37.5 105 275 380 Me Before You WB […]

  The yummiest weekend of the year for right-wing propagandists. OPENINGS:  2016:  OBAMA’S AMERICA (Rocky Mountain) drew its core audience to the tune of $6.2M, which gave it a return in the same neighborhood as recent faith-based movies like Fireproof ($6.8M), but not nearly as high as Courageous ($9.1M).  Its per-theatre average of $5700 is […]

  OPENINGS:  Here’s an idea of how disastrously JACK THE GIANT SLAYER (Warners) is bombing.  DreamWorks recently had to take an $87M loss on its Rise of the Guardians, which cost $145M (plus marketing costs) and grossed $300M worldwide.  Jack cost at least $50M more, and is on the road to earn much less with […]

  OPENINGS:  With the LA movie theatre market now open (at 25% capacity) and a general rise in vaccinations, the box office seems to be taking its first very tentative steps back to pre-pandemic life.  The one wide opening of the weekend THE COURIER (Roadside) wasn’t at all impressive at a $2M start, but the […]