box office

The term box office refers to both the part of a theater which sells tickets and the receipts made from ticket sales. Before modern computerized ticketing, box office ticketing for live theaters was a physical operation. The box office was entrusted with a number of printed tickets corresponding to the number of seats per performance.

After the show they would have to show the management the unsold tickets which would be compared to the ticket stubs collected from patrons, and they would naturally be responsible for producing the cash receipts to match the number of sold tickets.

“The box office” therefore came to mean the money from the sold tickets as well as the part of the theatre that sold them. The usage continues to this day, where entertainment news reports “the opening box office” or “the weekend box office” of a particular movie, meaning its gross receipts.

Pertinent blog entries:

Producer of the Top Grossing Movies Reveals How Rejections and Perseverance Paved The Way to The Batman Movie Franchise

Harry Potter topples The Dark Knight box office record

by Chris Dee Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Original Technorati articles tagged “box office”

• in Technorati Women
  Attendance Is Down at the Box Office
  The reasons why ticket sales are down.
  by aflynn / on Jan 6, 2012
• in Film
  Transformers: Dark of the Moon Sets New Box Office Record
  Transformers: Dark of the Moon was lambasted by critics but nevertheless, it still managed to crush the box office competition.
  by aondieki / on Jul 4, 2011
• in Film
  Summer is Around the Corner, but What Movies Do We Have to Look Forward to?
  Summer is the time for movies, but as Hollywood is faltering, are there any good movies about to be released or in production?
  by clairethebear88 / on May 3, 2011

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “box office”

 

• Podcast EP205: Epic, Fast & Furious 6, Hangover Part 3 Predictions, News, BoxOffice

  
  — Authority:
  Episode two-hundred and five. Join hosts Trevor and Jason as they discuss the latest in movie news, box office numbers and trailers. Box Office Ace Predictions: Epic Fast & Furious 6 Hangover Part III News: Rumor: Christopher Nolan in Informal Talks for Next James Bond Movie ‘Crouching Tiger’ Sequel ...
  1 day ago

• Star Trek Continues Payback for All Those Years of Being Ridiculed

  
  — Authority:
  Your weekend box office:1. Star Trek Into Darkness - $70.6 million , another huge, number-one opening for the re-invented franchise. Things keep going this way, one day John Cho is going to have quite the popular Facebook page.2. Iron Man 3 - $35.1 million . As one Sherlock ascends, another falls. Much like in ...
  1 day ago

• Star Trek Movies: Top 10 at the box office

  
  Filmonic — Authority: 144
  So you’ve seen many actors before done in this box office Top 10, but never a movie series. If you wonder why is that, well, there simply aren’t that many (shaken, not stirred) franchises that could claim such a thing. With the release of Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend, it gives us a grand total of 12 ...
  1 day ago

• Weekend Box Office: Trekkies Take #1 With Star Trek: Into Darkness

  
  — Authority:
  Trekkies showed they are still here over the weekend, when they helped Star Trek: Into Darkness warp to the top of the box office. The latest film installment of the Star Trek franchise pulled in $70.6 million domestically. In the film, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a [...]
  1 day ago

• Star Trek Into Darkness Tops the Rest: Weekend Box Office Report

  
  — Authority:
  Summer blockbuster season is officially upon us, as  Star Trek Into Darkness displaces another major action film,  Iron Man 3 , in this weekends box office.  Trek grossed $70.56 million dollars in the three day period, which combined with its Thursday opening numbers equals a total of $84.1 million.   ...
  1 day ago

• Chris Pines Early Career Is a Lesson In Terrible Haircuts

  
  — Authority:
  [IMG: http://www.pajiba.com/assets_c/2013/05/pine_csi_01-thumb-550x303-69293.jpg]
  1 day ago

• Weekend Box Office: To $70 Million… and Beyond!

  
  — Authority:
  As this weekend proves, you don’t have to be a nerd to be a ‘Star Trek’ fan. I’ve been waiting for the day that a ‘Star Trek’ movie opens north of $100 million. While early predictions made claims that we could see that happen this weekend, sadly, even with a fantastic sequel and the extra [...]
  1 day ago

• Weekend Box-Office Results: Star Trek’s Warp Core Has Malfunctioned, Fails To Bring In More Than Predecessor

  
  — Authority:
  Star Trek Into Darkness  was this week’s biggest film and the sequel to a franchise reboot produced by J.J. Abrams .  The guy has his hand all over television with Fringe , Revolution , Alias , and plenty others and has made a solid career as a director with Mission: Impossible III  and Super 8 ...
  1 day ago

• ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Is The #1 Movie In The Country

  
  — Authority:
  Star Trek Into Darkness claimed the #1 spot for the weekend box-office raking in $70.5 Million in the US.  Did you go see the movie this weekend?  Give us your review in our comments section. BOM
  1 day ago

• Box Office: May 17-19, 2013: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, IRON MAN 3

  
  — Authority:
    Box Office May 17-19, 2013 . Star Trek Into Darkness premiered in Number One spot at the box office over the weekend with $70.5 Million. Iron Man 3 was Second with $35.1 Million for $337 Million in the US and $1 Billion worldwide. The Great Gatsby was Third with $23.4 Million. Continue reading: ...
  1 day ago

• Art House Box Office: “Frances Ha” Gets Last Laugh

  
  — Authority:
  Indie audiences went to see "Frances Ha." Okay, I’m really misusing the phrase “gets the last laugh” in the title of this post. You use that when someone or something, in this case, that has been underestimated proves everyone wrong, and “Frances Ha,” the new movie from indie darlings Noah Baumbach and ...
  1 day ago

• Box Office Beat: Star Trek Into Darkness Soars to the Top

  
  — Authority:
  While Iron Man maintained it’s reign over the number one spot for two weeks in a row, it couldn’t fly as high as the Star Trek sequel. Find out what other films aimed high this weekend: 1. Star Trek Into Darkness $70.6M 2. Iron Man 3 $35.2M 3. The Great Gatsby $23.4M 4. Pain and Gain $3.1M 5. The Croods ...
  1 day ago

• Peter Jackson: A Director and Producer of Legends

  
  — Authority:
  Peter Jackson stunned the world when he first adapted the Lord of the Ring from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and proved to be one of the decade’s greatest epics and has had quite a number of imitators ever since. To drive the point home, Lord of the Rings has long been considered “unfilmable” by many directors ...
  1 day ago

• Star Trek Into Darkness Dominates Box Office With $70 Million Weekend Take

  
  — Authority:
  "Star Trek Into Darkness" easily took the top spot at the weekend box office, debuting with $70.6 million in ticket sales. The film added another $13.5 million from early showings on Wednesday and ... Read More >
  1 day ago

• Star Trek Into Darkness Ties Original But Soars No Higher

  
  — Authority:
  In the morning after the weekend box office totals have been tallied, the word on " Star Trek Into Darkness " is that of slight disappointment, as least in regards to the domestic take. J.J. Abrams sequel to the 2009 reboot managed to do almost as well as its predecessor, taking in an estimated $70.6 million, ...
  1 day ago

• Box Office: Young chicks hate Star Trek

  
  — Authority:
  I sat next to a fidgety gay couple at my screening of Star Trek , but I thought it was just because I lived in San Francisco. Turns out it was actually part of a broader trend (THANKS, OBAMA). That trend being, that girls and youngins largely stayed away from Star Trek 2: 2 Trek 2 Furious . I guess that’s what ...
  1 day ago

• Box Office Weekend: Star Trek Into Darkness Less Than Expected, Still Warps Past Competition

  
  — Authority:
  Written by Seth Paul for CinemaNerdz When a four-day weekend expected to bring in $100 million only gives an estimated $84.1 ($70.6 million for the three-day), chances are an investor might be a little disappointed. But for most, an opening that big is a good thing, and critics and audiences alike are enjoying ...
  1 day ago

• Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pine in ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’: did they deliver?

  
  — Authority:
  CB & I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend! It was really good. I think we both liked it a lot. I think CB disagreed when I started bitching about the politics and economics of the Star Fleet though. Like, I just can’t see how a League of Nations-type Star Fleet justifies its expenditures purely ...
  1 day ago

• Weekend Box Office: Star Trek Into Darkness Finishes Atop The Top 10, But Can’t Meet Heightened Expectations

  
  — Authority:
  Damn it, Jim. I’m a doctor, not a box office prognosticator. If Dr. McCoy was a box office prognosticator maybe he could explain why Star Trek Into Darkness was unable to obtain a 4-day opening close to $100 million. One would think that after the success of 2009′s Star Trek , the combination of audience ...
  1 day ago

• Watch Iron Man 3 2013 Full Movie

  
  — Authority:
  Iron Man 3   is a 2013 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008s Iron Man and 2010s Iron Man 2, and the seventh installment in the Marvel Cinematic ...
  2 days ago

Comments about box office