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 […]

  OPENINGS:  The surprise isn’t so much that COCAINE BEAR (Universal) “overdelivered,” but that expectations were so low for a picture that had been the subject of pop culture fascination for months.  The $23.1M weekend seems like a realistic reflection of that fact, and although business is likely to drop quickly now that audiences have […]

  OPENINGS:  THE MARVELS (Marvel/Disney) fulfilled the ghastliest projections assigned to it, setting a new low for the MCU with a $47M US opening, and it was similarly dismal overseas, with $63.3M from 51 territories.  The internet is already bursting with theories that include “No one liked Captain Marvel in the first place” and the […]

>The weekend studio estimates (based on Friday and Saturday actuals and projections for Sunday) are coming in slightly stronger than the weekend numbers posted yesterday (based on Friday actuals only).  The box office volume for the top 12 films is now looking like a very good $145 million for the weekend, up 11% from last […]

>Transformers 3 keeps on rolling at #1, while Horrible Bosses opens reasonably well and Zookeeper is more mediocre.  The weekend is looking like it will be down 20% from 2010.    The ShowbuzzDaily Domestic Final estimates now show that Horrible Bosses is headed for a domestic gross of $97 million, while Zookeeper is on track […]

The weekend still looks like a very good $132 million for the top 12 films, similar to the estimate yesterday.  Taken 2 opened well (ahead of the ShowbuzzDaily Weekend Prediction earlier this week) but probably will degrade quickly the next few weekends, while Hotel Transylvania and Looper are having decent sophomore weekends (each down only about […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #20 of 2013 looks like $147 million for the top 12 films, somewhat above the same weekend last year but slightly below the four-year average for the weekend.  Star Trek Into Darkness had a decent Saturday but is still performing well below our expectations. Opening at 3,762 theaters […]

Based on Friday’s and Saturday’s grosses, Weekend #47 of 2013 now looks like $222 million for the top 12 films — up from yesterday’s estimate thanks to a stronger than expected Saturday for Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  Now the overall weekend volume virtually matches the average for recent weekends before Thanksgiving. Opening at 4,163 theaters […]