DEC. 26 UPDATE:  A mere adjustment to overaggressive estimation or an early sign, in this instant word-of-internet age, that audiences aren’t having a good time?  The major change from last night’s early numbers is that THE WOLF OF WALL STREET slipped to $9.2M, falling behind THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG for 2d place […]

  ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (Paramount) took in another $5.1M on Thursday, down a fairly standard 37% from its Wednesday opening (This Is the End dropped 43% on its first Thursday, while We’re the Millers fell 31%).  With $13.2M in the bank, he studio is predicting $30M over the Fri-Sun weekend, although $25-27M may […]

  As usual, Thanksgiving Day itself was down for many films.  However, that didn’t keep the holiday’s pair of blockbusters from rewriting the record books. THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (Lionsgate) set a new Thanksgiving Day record with $14.9M, tearing past the $13.1M set by Toy Story 2.  With the meat of the holiday weekend […]

  Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Wednesday was a great day for both THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (Lionsgate) and the new FROZEN (Disney), setting the stage for a sensational holiday box office weekend for the pair. Catching Fire zoomed 30% from Tuesday to $20.7M, blowing past the record for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving ($14.4M for […]

  The holiday box office “weekend” doesn’t officially start until today (several of the new openings began screening on Tuesday night, but their studios aren’t publicizing the results), and Mitch Metcalf’s weekend predictions are here.  Even in this pre-holiday period, though, THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE (Lionsgate) is piling on impressive numbers. After the normal heavy post-weekend […]

  Considering its genre and target audience, BAD GRANDPA (Paramount) did very well in its second day, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, slipping just 4% to $12M.  By comparison, the three Jackass movies went down 20%/14%/24% on their first Saturdays, suggesting strong word of mouth and possibly a longer stay in theatres than one […]

  If preliminary numbers at Deadline hold, GRAVITY (Warners) will own the new record for all-time best October opening.  It had a superb $23.5M Saturday, up 35% from its $17.5M opening day, for what should be a $55M+ weekend.  That would handily break the current October record of $52.6M for Paranormal Activity 3.  More importantly, […]

  PRISONERS (Warners) had a strong Saturday at the box office, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline.  The dark thriller increased by 28% on its second day to $9M, and should reach $21-22M for the weekend.  That would put it right in between Argo ($19.5M) and The Town ($23.8M), the successes Warners hopes to emulate […]