OPENINGS:  NO HARD FEELINGS (Columbia/Sony) slightly exceeded tracking expectations with $15.1M, but those expectations were themselves quite low.  With production and worldwide marketing costs in the neighborhood of $100M, the film will need to hold strongly for the next several weeks to reach any profit, and while it has the hard-R comedy field to […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Universal is the big gainer again this week, primarily because of continued overseas strength for Jurassic World.  Paramount had the second best week, thanks to Terminator: Genisys.  In contrast, Magic Mike XXL made a small contribution to its studio totals, giving Warner Brothers about the same modest week that Disney had with late overseas returns […]

  OPENINGS:  The first Sonic the Hedgehog had the final pre-pandemic smash opening in 2020 before theaters started to close, with $58M for its 3-day weekend ($70M for the full Presidents Day holiday).  Now SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 2 (Paramount) has gotten off to an even bigger start with $71M for 3 days.  Although the success […]

> DreamWorks Animation can blame the weather for diminishing its PUSS IN BOOTS number–although there seemed to be little effect on the weekend’s other openings–but $34M is awfully low for a major animated release.  (And no one will be surprised to see the actual figure fall tomorrow by $400K or more, which is the margin […]

> As detailed in Mitch Metcalf’s Weekend Boxoffice Report, New Year’s Day wasn’t the bonanza the studios were expecting it to be. PARAMOUNT:  MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL‘s Sunday increase was less than half of the 33% projected, and it’s likely to fall another 15-20% today, giving it a bit over $140M in total and […]

  OPENINGS:  The only new arrival in wide US release was the woebegone VOYAGERS (Lionsgate), which got a minimal push from its studio and opened at a low $1.4M, fated for $5M or so in the US. The major new international opening was MORTAL KOMBAT (Warners), which brought in $10.7M from 17 territories.  It opens […]

  OPENINGS:  David Cronenberg is a venerated filmmaker, but not a source of many box office hits:  in a career that spans more than 4 decades, his highest-grossing film in the US is still 1986’s The Fly at $40.5M (a little over $100M adjusted for inflation).  That won’t change with his brooding and frequently grotesque […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +5% above last year and now +2% above the average for this point the past four years ($8.007 billion).  Over the same period, Hollywood films have grossed $21.5 billion worldwide when we add overseas box office […]