WINTER HITS KEEP BOX OFFICE IN PLUS TERRITORY

Last year it was the period between January and May that looked dismal at the box office, while things picked up during the summer. This year the reverse proved to be the case. While the summer box office wound up 3 percent behind last year, business was so good at the beginning of the year […]

THEATERS EXPERIENCE LABOR DAY BLUES

With many young moviegoers preparing to return to school or college during the same week, Labor Day generally produces the lowest box-office grosses of any four-day holiday of the year. This year was no exception. The Jewish-themed horror flick The Possession was able to grab first place over the four days with an estimated $21.3 […]

IT’S OFFICIAL: THE AVENGERS IS NO. 3, BEHIND TITANIC, AVATAR

Disney/Marvel’s The Avengers was expected to cross the $1.5-billion mark at the worldwide box office this weekend following the decision by Disney to put the film back into 1,705 theaters for the Labor Day weekend. The studio estimated that it earned $1.7 million over the three-day weekend and $2.2 million over the four-day holiday. That […]

THE HELP WORKS ON LABOR DAY (UPDATED)

Even without the benefit of 3D surcharges, DreamWorks/Paramount’s’ The Help easily managed to stay at the top of the box office for the third week in a row, beating a slew of films that did have 3D going for them during the summer, including debuting Shark Night 3D, which pretty much only played 3D venues. […]

BOX OFFICE FALLS TO LOWEST LEVEL IN 4 YEARS

The fourth iteration of Sony/Screen Gems’s Resident Evil franchise wound up with $26.68 million over the weekend, according to final box office figures released on Monday. The figure was about $1 million lower than the studio’s $27.7 million estimate on Sunday. After opening with $10.74 million on Friday, then raking in another $9.81 million on […]

LABOR DAY BOX OFFICE HIGHER THAN USUAL

Final box-office figures for the four-day Labor Day holiday released on Tuesday indicated that the studios’ original estimates were right on target. The results were the fourth-highest for the holiday. Focus Features’s The American, starring George Clooney, ended up on top with $16,662,333, well ahead of forecasts. Its gross, including Wednesday and Thursday receipts, came […]

AUDIENCES GIVE THE AMERICAN A ONE-FINGER SALUTE

Suggesting that word-of-mouth may be highly overrated when it comes to predicting a movie’s success, the George Clooney movie The American performed well above expectations over the four-day Labor Day weekend despite polls indicating that audiences loathed it. The film ranked No. 1 at the box office (after opening on Wednesday), earning an estimated $16.4 […]

THE AMERICAN CLAIMS VICTORY ON LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Although Fox’s Machete took an early lead at the box office on Friday, Focus Features’s The American cut it down on Saturday and Sunday to wind up as the weekend winner, according to studio estimates. The results for The American were nothing to hoist a flag over, however. The film earned just about $12.3 million […]

3 R-RATED MOVIES DEBUT LABOR DAY WEEKEND

With kids heading back to school on Tuesday in many areas of the country, 3 R-rated movies are debuting this weekend — and none is expected to produce sizable returns at the box office. (The Labor Day weekend is the only major U.S. holiday that does not see a spike in ticket sales; in fact, […]