News & Analysis

December marks the first full month since the ending of the actors’ strike, allowing for full publicity and talk show appearances by casts. How much will that help the box office? The month’s release calendar is poised to offer much...

#1 = The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Last frame, Lionsgate’s dystopian action prequel started in first place with $44.6M, substantially below the openings for all four installments in the original franchise. It opened -56% below the...

Animation has been bringing big dollars to the box office this year, holding two of the top five highest box office spots. Though 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($608.5M) still holds the trophy for the highest-grossing animated film of all time, this...

#1 = The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Lionsgate’s dystopian action prequel starts with $44M, substantially below the openings for all four installments in the original franchise: -71% below 2012’s The Hunger Games: $152.5M -72% below 2013’s...

#1 = The Marvels Disney’s superhero sequel posted by far the worst opening in the 15-year history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with only $47.0M. That’s -15% below the prior worst: 2008’s The Incredible Hulk ($55.4M), only the MCU’s...

#1 = Five Nights at Freddy’s Universal’s horror video game adaptation fell a steep -76% to $19.4M in its sophomore frame, as is to be expected over the immediate post-Halloween weekend. Still, lacking major competition, it repeats in first place...

#1 = Five Nights at Freddy’s Hitting theaters right before Halloween, Universal’s horror video game adaptation exceeded all expectations with an $78.0M opening, despite a day-and-date release strategy that had it debuting simultaneously in cinemas and streaming on Peacock. Here...

Horror has been a bright spot on on the cinematic landscape over the last few years, with many films—some even originally destined for streaming—making it big at the box office. No horror film released in 2023 has yet reached the...

#1 = Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour In her 2019 song “The Man,” Taylor Swift name-checked Leonardo DiCaprio: “And they would toast to me, oh / Let the players play / I’d be just like Leo / In Saint-Tropez.” At...

#1 = Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour She has a blank space, and she’ll write a check for $97M. [Monday Update: the final opening weekend number ultimately came in at $92.8M, several million dollars below its original Sunday estimate.] During its...

The Exorcist: Believer Universal’s horror sequel pulled in $27.2M over the weekend for a debut in first place. That’s +50% above the franchise’s last major installment, 2004’s Exorcist: The Beginning with $18.0M—although Believer would actually fall below the earlier film...

Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie Paramount’s animated sequel took a bite out of the box office with $23.0M, putting it in first place. That’s +75% above 2021’s Paw Patrol: The Movie’s $13.1M debut, although that film’s theatrical earnings were hurt...