THEATER OWNERS ASK, “WHERE DID EVERYBODY GO?”

In the third-worst weekend at the box office since 2000, not a single film managed to crack the $10-million mark, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With the top 12 films together grossing only an estimated $51.93 million, only the comparable weekend in 2008 and the weekend of Sept. 21-23 in 2001 produced lower […]

SUMMER BOX OFFICE DISAPPOINTS

Although many analysts had predicted record earnings at the summer box office, things didn’t quite end up that way. The season, which began in May and ended with the Labor Day holiday, closed down about 3 percent behind last year at about $4.3 billion. Attendance was down 4 percent to 533 million. Hollywood.com said that […]

ATTENDANCE UP, TICKET PRICES UP — WHY NOT REVENUE, TOO?

Attendance at movie theaters may be up 9.2 percent from last year, but that percentage is not reflected in ticket-sales revenue of theater chains, reports have indicated. That anomaly left industry watchers scratching their heads even more on Friday when the National Association of Theatre Owners disclosed that the average price of a movie ticket […]

NETFLIX GIVING AWAY ALMOST-FREE MOVIE TICKETS

Netflix apparently believes the best way to entice potential customers to subscribe to its movie streaming service is to give them tickets to a real movie theater for doing so. The company has launched a promotion via Google Offers offering nonsubscribers two movie ticket vouchers worth $13 each for signing up for a free one-month […]

LIONSGATE: HUNGRY NO MORE

The Hunger Games has proved to be a bigger feast for Lionsgate than anyone had expected. While many analysts had predicted that the film would turn out to be a solid hit for the so-called minimajor, no one had imaged that after three weekends its total would reach $460 million worldwide, heading for the half-billion […]

CHINA DRIVES WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE TO RECORD LEVEL IN 2011

With a 35-percent growth spurt in 2011, China helped push the worldwide box office up 3 percent last year to $32.6 billion, despite a 4-percent decline domestically, the MPAA said today (Thursday). According to its annual theatrical statistics report, the overseas box office climbed to $22.4 billion, up 6 percent from 2011, while the domestic […]

DID 3D HURT THE LORAX?

Despite significantly higher ticket prices for Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax at 3D theaters and despite the fact that those theaters accounted for 62 percent of those showing the movie last weekend, 48 percent of the revenue for the movie came from theaters showing it in 2D, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield observed on Wednesday. 2D theaters […]

WILL BOX OFFICE REBOUND IN 2012? ANALYSTS DISAGREE

Two veteran media analysts, Anthony DiClemente of Barclays Capital and Eric Handler of MKM Partners, are predicting a small increase at the domestic box office in 2012 — not as a result of a more exciting film slate attracting more moviegoers but as a result of higher ticket prices. As reported by the Hollywood Reporter, […]

WILL BREAKING DAWN OUTDO DEATHLY HALLOWS?

Critics have gone for the jugular, but The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1 could break all opening-day attendance records, including its own, over the weekend, with some pundits predicting it could earn more than $150 million — all that loot without the benefit of 3D surcharges. (Officially, the studio, Summit Entertainment is predicting […]

TRANSFORMERS TRANSCENDS FORECASTS

Never underestimate a Transformer. That was the lesson box office forecasters learned over the weekend as Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon amassed an estimated $47 million in ticket sales — well above the $40 million or so that most analysts had predicted. In fact, in its second week, Transformers took in only slightly less […]

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