OPENINGS:  Playing in 44 markets that represent a bit over half the world (and not including China), AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (Marvel/Disney) has already romped to $201.2M in advance of its US opening.  International comparisons are tricky, due to variations in release pattern and exchange rates, but Disney claims this puts Ultron 44% ahead […]

  OPENINGS:  THE WOLF OF WALL STREET (Paramount/Red Granite) fell behind American Hustle on Friday, dropping 6% to $6.3M, but considering that it’s a polarizing, 3-hour, hard-R saga that people aren’t even sure whether to call a black comedy or a drama, that’s still a fine result, and the film is likely to earn $50M+ […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, weekend #12 of 2015 looks like $123 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, a little better than it looked yesterday but still below the norms for this weekend.   Opening at 3,875 theaters Friday, Insurgent from Lionsgate/Summit is on track for a $54.0 million opening three-day weekend (better than yesterday’s estimate and […]

: Because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, box office figures are incomplete this morning.  As is usually the case with Christmas Eve, business was down across the board yesterday, and if we look to 2011 as a guide, the Sunday bumps today may range from 40-60% for family movies like Sing and Moana, to […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Here is an updated look at the 2019 film slates by studio. BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2019 is now -7% below last year’s comparable span (2 points worse than last week) and now basically even with the average at this point the past four years ($4.565 billion).  Over […]

Based on Friday’s grosses, weekend #48 of 2014 looks like $148 million for the top 12 films Friday-Sunday, down 18% the norm for Thanksgiving weekend ($180 million) and down 24% from the same weekend last year.  Pretty weak. Opening at 3,654 theaters, Penguins of Madagascar from Fox and DreamWorks Animation is on track for a $26.9 million opening […]

> Hop (Universal) is set to be #1 with almost $25 million, although this weekend the last two years has boasted top openings in the $61-71 million range.  Overall, it looks like another soft weekend of box office numbers. The well-reviewed Source Code from Summit (92% positive rating at rottentomatoes) is headed for about $15 million this weekend.  Bringing […]

> For all the wildly unexpected success of THE LION KING, Disney has limited boxoffice upside, because the new Blu-Ray hits the streets on October 4, and that’s not likely to be a date that can be changed. The Friday number for DRIVE is right on the edge between meeting expectations and disappointing them; its […]