THB #11a: Box Office Monday

Another good opening. Some more decent holds. Progress back to the old norm is clearly being made. And it is unclear that there will be a “new norm,” no matter how many media gold panners are seeking it out and yelling, “Eureka!,” every time they run into a new clump of dirt.

Two key pieces of the “norm” puzzle have been established. 1. A movie with a pre-sold audience can open to a number between $50 million and $100 million and probably up into the the $125 million range for the biggest draws. (I have zero doubt that if Black Widow or F9 opened next weekend, either would open over $100m.) We don’t have any phenoms on the schedule (Star Wars or Avengers), so no point in even guessing.

2. The infrastructure, as is, can carry $100 million weekends again, not just with an opener over $70 million.

What this tells me is that we are now getting to the place where we can evaluate what shorter windows and day-n-date and the loss of so many middle-class movies that were targeting theatrical an…