OPENINGS:  Everything stayed pretty much as is after Monday’s estimates were released.  THE POSSESSION (Lionsgate) has the #2 Labor Day 4-day opening weekend with $21.3M.  LAWLESS (Weinstein Company) is trying to stay ahead of last year’s The Debt, and is currently claiming to be $148,400 in front over 4 days–we’ll find out tomorrow if that’s […]

  OPENINGS:  As usual with new arrivals, the eager studios behind GI JOE: RETALIATION (Paramount/MGM) have claimed a low Sunday decline (2d lowest in the Top 10), so the $41.2M weekend and $51.7M opening 4 days could slip a bit when final numbers are released tomorrow–and even if they don’t, that 4 day figure is […]

  OPENINGS:  If a movie like THE BUTLER (Weinstein) can make back most of its production cost in a single weekend (and The Help did the same 2 years ago), why aren’t there more movies like The Butler?  The answer is the other side of the coin of “Why are there so many action-fantasy adventure […]

  Truth be told, “weekend” box office doesn’t mean much in a week where Friday/Saturday/Sunday are no stronger than the weekdays that surround them, and virtually all the openings took place on Wednesday.  (Also, morning estimates aren’t very different from the preliminary numbers we posted last night.)  Nevertheless, a few thoughts. OPENINGS:  THE WOLF OF […]

  OPENINGS:  THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (Sony) is still several days from its US opening, but the superhero spectacle already has $132M in the bank after a $67.2M 2d weekend in 42 international territories–which don’t yet include such lucrative areas as China, Brazil and France.  It should be over $150M before any US ticketbuyer has […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Again, no changes to the year to date studio ranking of worldwide box office.  20th Century Fox remains #1 and also had the largest gain this week (an okay $87 million weekly gain, mostly because of continued overseas grosses of How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).  Disney, […]

The holiday box office season is here, a revenue bonanza particularly between December 25 and January 2, when the top 10 films in North America total over $45 million per day on average.  And the top 10 totals often exceed $60 million each day between December 25 and 27.   As a baseline, we look […]

WORLDWIDE STUDIO SCORECARD.  Universal remains #1 by far and the only studio to show significant growth thanks to the Furious 7 juggernaut overseas.   YEAR TO DATE BOX OFFICE. Looking at North American box office, 2015 to date is now +3% above last year and +7% above the average for this point the past four years ($2.639 billion). […]