Weekend #30 of 2012 looks like $143 million for the top 12 films, the same as last year’s comparable weekend but down 16% from the four-year average for the weekend.  Two new movies will try to take on The Dark Knight Rises without any chance of success. Opening at about 3,000 theaters, The Watch from 20th […]

  JURASSIC WORLD (Legendary/Universal) is stomping past even the the highest expectations for its opening.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, its opening day was a stupendous $78.6M (including $18.5M from Thursday night), giving it the biggest June box office day ever by far, easily passing the $68.5M for Twilight: Eclipse, and in line for […]

  OPENINGS:  The $31.6M first day for THOR: THE DARK WORLD (Disney) was about 24% higher than the $25.5M opening for the first Thor, an increment likely to reduce as the movie’s run continues, since sequels tend to be more front-loaded.  A $200M US total would be more than 10% up from Thor‘s $181M.  Where […]

  OPENINGS:  GET OUT (QC/Blumhouse/Universal) had a remarkable Saturday performance for a horror movie, rising 17% in a genre that usually drops sharply on its 2d day of release.  That’s better than the 13% bump for Day 2 of Split, and also better than the 14% increase for Insidious, one of the leggiest of recent horror […]

Weekend #25 of 2012 looks like another disappointment: a soft $150 million for the top 12 films, down 12% from last year’s comparable weekend and down 14% from the four-year average for the weekend.  Pixar’s Brave should open well, but the other two openers will struggle to find any audience and there certainly won’t be […]

  THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (Universal) will win its third consecutive box office weekend, but in the US it continues to run with considerably less than vroom-vroom momentum.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, it fell 54% from last Friday to $5.1M, and is heading for a $18M weekend.  It’s now clear that Fate […]

  OPENINGS:  ADRIFT (H Brothers/STX) was at the top of a very low hill with $11.5M (plus $350K in 9 overseas territories).  STX, which only has domestic rights, is claiming to be on the hook for only around $30M in limited production and marketing costs, but even at that number, it may not break even, […]

  OPENINGS:  A Friday Valentines Day that leads into a long holiday weekend is a bonanza for Hollywood, and the movie that cleaned up the most was SONIC THE HEDGEHOG (Paramount), with a remarkable $57M over the 3-day weekend and $68M with Monday.  That’s the biggest opening ever for a videogame-based property, and it gives […]