Not a lot of changes from last night’s early numbers. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (Lucasfilm/Disney):  The all-time biggest 2d US weekend:  $153.5M (down 38% from opening weekend, far better than the 49%/50% for Jurassic World/Avengers, although the 2% drop for Avatar and 24% increase for Titanic–both from the era before giant Thursday night openings–remain […]

  OPENINGS:  This was the weekend of AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER (20th/Disney), and the epic’s launch was softer than widely expected at $134M in the US and $301M in all major overseas markets including China.  Box office apologists, who at this point resemble political press secretaries, have rushed in to spin that Way of […]

  OPENINGS:  Beyonce’s concert documentary RENAISSANCE (Variance/AMC Theaters) led the traditionally slow first weekend of December with $21M, a shadow of the $92.8M for the Eras Tour movie a couple of months ago, but within expectations.  As with Eras Tour, it’s likely that the Renaissance box office will be front-loaded with fans, so the US […]

  OPENINGS:  FIFTY SHADES FREED (Perfect World/Universal) declined a mild 17% from Fifty Shades Darker to $38.8M, suggesting that Freed will end up around $95M in the US  That wouldn’t be great compared to roughly $150M in production/marketing costs, but the Fifty Shades franchise has always made the bulk of its revenue overseas, and that’s […]

  OPENINGS:  ABIGAIL (Universal) launched at the low end of expectations with $10.2M, lower than the $11.8M for Night Swim and virtually the same as the $9.9M for Imaginary.  Those films are respectively at $32.5M and $28M in the US, which is the likely range for Abigail.  However, the new film reportedly cost $28M before […]

  OPENINGS:  WRATH OF MAN (Miramax/UA/MGM) held solidly through the weekend and emerged with $8.1M, better than Nobody‘s recent $6.8M start, and not too far below the $10.7M for Guy Ritchie’s pre-pandemic The Gentlemen.  That film ended up with $36.5M in the US, and with the relative lack of competition Wrath faces, it could also […]

  OPENINGS:  OVERBOARD (MGM/Pantelion/Lionsgate) opened in 45% more theatres than Eugenio Derbez’s How To Be A Latin Lover, and had a weekend that was 20% higher at $14.8M.  That’s not the cross-cultural breakout hit that the studio and Derbez had in mind, although an eventual $40M in the US will likely provide a modest profit […]

  OPENINGS: The weekend belonged to Bond.  James Bond.  SKYFALL (Sony/MGM) had by far the biggest start for any Bond movie in the US, with an estimated $87.8M.  That’s more than $20M ahead of the previous record-holder, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall will have far better legs than Solace, as shown by its up day […]