October 29th, 2007
There were six new releases on this week's sales chart, including the number one film of the week, The Transformers. That DVD sold 5.09 million units for opening week sales of $117.01 million, which was the best opening on the home market this year in terms of raw dollars. However, 300 sold more units, barely, at 5.10 million.
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October 29th, 2007
The Transformers led a list of six new releases and the overall rental chart this week, but at $9.97 million in rentals, it was a subdued victory compared to its dominance of the sales chart.
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October 21st, 2007
Evan Almighty was a surprise winner on this week's sales chart topping fellow new release Surf's Up in terms of sales 740,000 units to 682,000 units and in terms of dollars $12.58 million to $10.91 million.
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October 21st, 2007
New releases took three of the top five places including Surf's Up, which earned first place with $8.13 million. This is unusual since kids movies tend to place higher on the sales chart than the rental chart, but that was not the case here.
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October 14th, 2007
There was a battle for top spot on this week's DVD sales chart between two new releases.
Both Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer's and The Jungle Book's respective studios claimed top prize, but in the end Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer outsold The Jungle Book 1.47 million to 1.28 million and also led in terms of dollars, $24.04 million to $19.18 million.
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October 14th, 2007
New releases were not very prominent on the DVD rental chart this week, but they did have two in the top five, including the overall champion, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which made $9.46 million during its first week of release.
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October 1st, 2007
Busy week, at least for me with seven spotlight reviews (including one double-shot from previous weeks).
Of the DVDs I've reviewed, several are easy recommendations, including 1408 - Two-Disc Collector's Edition, which is the DVD Pick of the Week.
The NHL Stanley Cup Champions 2006-2007 6-disc set would have also have been a DVD Pick of the Week if the Canucks had won and not the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
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September 30th, 2007
Ratatouille opening in first place in South Africa this weekend earning $298,000 on 40 screens, which is very close to what The Simpsons Movie made in its opening there a few weeks ago. Its best market of the weekend remains France where it was down a mere 4% to $1.67 million on 655 screens over the weekend for a total of $58.63 million. At this pace, the film will reach $60 million by this time next week while topping Finding Nemo's total of nearly $65 million is increasingly in reach. Overall Ratatouille added $4.66 million on 2535 screens in 27 markets for a total of $216.42 million, which is more than Cars managed, and this film still has openings in Germany, U.K., Italy, and Scandinavia.
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September 9th, 2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix may have fallen out of the top five, but it was able to cross $900 million worldwide since last week making it only the tenth film to do so. Over the weekend the film added $7.08 million on 4486 screens in 53 markets for a total of $626.30 million internationally, which places the film sixth place on that chart just $16 million behind Dead Man's Chest. There's not much to report for individual markets with the film down 43% during its second weekend in Greece adding $612,000 on 129 screens for a total of $2.91 million. Its best market remains Japan at $1.67 million on 605 screens over the weekend for a total of $75.18 million after seven weeks. Meanwhile, the film continues to march towards $100 million in the U.K. and after earning $796,000 on 306 screens over the weekend it now sits at $97.89 million in total.
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September 2nd, 2007
Knocked Up went from barely making the top 30 to nearly hitting the top five after adding $6.89 million on 1628 screens in 19 markets. The film now has a total of $25.54 million internationally while its worldwide total hit $173.34 million. To put this into perspective, The 40-Year Old Virgin earned $177.34 million and Knocked Up has yet to open in France, Spain, Italy, and many other significant markets. This week it did open in two major markets, the U.K. and Germany. In the former it had to settle for second place with $3.08 million on 423 screens while in the later it topped the charts with $2.11 million on 597 screens. In both markets this represents a small drop-off from The 40-Year Old Virgin, but the movie has already covered its total cost, so there's little reason to complain.
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August 26th, 2007
The Transformers fell out of the top five but still cracked 8 digits with $11.10 million on 54.92 screens in 52 markets for a total of $354.33 million. The film is mostly coasting on holdovers at the moment, but it did top the Polish market with $664,000 on 106 screens while its best market was Japan where it added $2.49 million on 592 screens over the weekend for a total of $23.98 million.
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August 15th, 2007
For the third weekend in a row, The Simpsons Movie topped the charts, but it was a close race as the TV adaptation pulled in $24.12 million on 6,629 screens in 55 markets for a total of $232.02 million, just beating Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which clocked in with $23.87 million.
The Simpsons' nearly 50% drop-off can be explained by they lack of new openings and the film is still performing strongly in several major markets, including the U.K. where it added $4.39 million on 506 screens to its running tally of $60.41 million.
Meanwhile in Mexico, the film was down 64% during its second weekend of release, although that's typical of the film's performance so far and it was still able to earn first place with $1.95 million on 986 screens for a total of $11.10 million so far.
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July 29th, 2007
The Transformers held on strong dipping just 7% to $33.77 million on 4626 screens in 41 markets for a total of $192.44 million. This includes an estimated $6.4 million from previews in the U.K. The film's only major opening of the weekend was Mexico where it placed first with $5.46 million on 410 screens pushing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix into second place. The Transformers also continued its amazing run in South Korea adding $3.12 million on 442 screens for a running tally of $46.21 million, which is like making $500 million here given the relative sizes of the two markets.
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July 22nd, 2007
As expected, The Transformers fell to second place this week, what wasn't expected was how well it held on. The film was down a mere 23% to $36.13 million on 3667 screens in 31 markets for a total of $146.66 million internationally. The film opened in China with a record-setting $12.6 million on 300 screens over the first five days while it earned $498,000 on 71 in Greece and $258,000 from 28 in Israel. The film's best market so far has been South Korea where it has taken in $39.52 million in three weeks, including $5.76 million on 540 screens this past weekend. This is a record for a non-South Korean film and an unexpectedly strong performance. Additionally, the film has yet to open in a number of major markets including the U.K., Japan, France, and Mexico and should hit $300 million internationally and $600 million worldwide, if not more.
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July 15th, 2007
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End remained in sixth place with $8.94 million on 5442 screens in 101 markets for a total of $624.93 million. Internationally the film is in fifth place all-time and should top Dead Man's Chest shortly. Worldwide, it is also in fifth place but Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone's $974.56 million seems safe. As for At World's End's individual markets, the U.K. is still ahead of Japan $80.06 million to $77.58 million. However, Japan is catching up $2.28 million on 674 screens compared to just $738,000 on 357 in the U.K. At this pace Japan will need just two weeks to become the film's biggest draw.
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July 5th, 2007
For the third weekend in a row, Shrek the Third led the international box office this time growing substantially to $60.98 million on 5810 screens in 41 markets for a total of $262.00 million. Almost all of the growth came from Britain where it scored a record-opening of $33.45 million on 535 screens, sort of. This includes more than $10 million in previews that was earned over three days and that, plus a weakened American dollar, helped it over the top. On the other hand, the film struggled in Japan placing third with $2.97 million on 543 screens; that was less than Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End earned in its sixth week there. Holdovers were led by Spain where the film dipped just 33% to $5.16 million on 672 screens for a $17.24 million total while Germany was nearly as strong down 38% to $4.42 million on 857 screens for a total of $14.67 million.
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July 2nd, 2007
There was some good news over the weekend; the mini-slump ended as the overall box office pulled in $156 million, 1% over the same weekend last year. That's not a big increase, in fact, it is below ticket price inflation, but that's still something to celebrate and focusing on the good news is good for business.
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June 28th, 2007
The mini-slump of 2007 threatens to become the dominant story if things don't change soon. This week there are a two wide releases hoping to prop up the box office numbers, as well as two other films opening or expanding semi-wide. None look like they will set records during their opening weekends, but Ratatouille should outperform Superman Returns, and that's good news.
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June 28th, 2007
Shrek the Third managed to grow, albeit by a tiny amount, adding $47.29 million on 5,737 screens in 45 markets for a total of $170.44 million. The film opened in a pair of major markets scoring first place in Germany with $7.84 million on 861 screens and a nearly identical $7.77 million on 687 screens in Spain. While these numbers are impressive, they are not up to the same level as Shrek 2 managed. On the other hand, it had the best openig of the year and the franchise in Belgium with $2.47 million on 125 screens, including midweek numbers. Holdovers continue to be a problem as the film was down 42% in France, the second worst in the top ten, adding $7.62 million on 8750 screens for a $22.22 million running tally. In Mexico is was even worse down 56% to $3.82 million on 417 screens over the weekend and $17.23 million in total
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June 25th, 2007
The box office was off last year's pace, again, this time it is mainly due to the box office struggles of the overall box office leader, Evan Almighty, which missed lowered expectations. Overall the industry added $132 million over the weekend, which was down 9% from last weekend and 6% from the same weekend last year. It is not time to panic, yet, but if we don't see the box office rebound over the next few weeks, industry talk will switch from the big hits to the misses, and that tends to worsen a depressed market even more.
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June 21st, 2007
A trio of new releases this week are led by Evan Almighty, but while that film has a clear shot at first place, the real question is whether the overall box office can avoid falling behind last year's pace. Last year's top 10 pulled in just under $125 million, which is certainly within reach, but far from a sure thing.
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June 20th, 2007
Not only did Shrek the Third climb to top spot this weekend, it also crossed $100 million internationally while hitting $400 million worldwide. Over the weekend the film added more than 10 new markets earning $46.64 million on 3564 screens in 32 markets for a total of $108.27 million, double its haul at this point last week. Its biggest new market of the week was France where it earned $12.5 million from 850 screens, 20% more than Shrek 2 opened with. The film was also tops in Mexico with $9.12 million on 418 screens and in Brazil with $5.9 million on 280. That last figure represents a record for animated films and is nearly triple what Shrek 2 opened with. On the other hand, the film fell nearly 50% in Australia to $4.41 million on 476 screens for a total of $16.78 million while its decline was even steeper in South Korea down 69% to $2.7 million over the weekend and $15.2 million in total. That said, it is still tracking for a $500 million international total and $800 million worldwide. On the other hand, poor critical reception and shorter legs suggest the franchise peaked with Shrek 2 and Shrek 4 and Shrek 5 might be pressing the studio's luck.
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June 19th, 2007
Only one new release topped $10,000 on the per theater chart this week, and only two films in total were able to do that.
That new release was the overall box office leader, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which pulled in an average of $14,663.
The only holdover was 12:08 East of Bucharest with $10,108 in its lone theater.
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June 19th, 2007
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer set a record for best Father's Day opening and overall the box office reached just over $145 million, which was 7% more than last weekend. But that's still lower than the same weekend last year by just over 4%. On the one hand, the box office is still healthy and undoubtedly more records will fall this year. On the other hand, there are some troubling signs and perhaps the irrational exuberance is starting to wear off.
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June 17th, 2007
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer made a good start at the box office over the weekend, earning $57.4 million, according to Fox's Sunday estimate.
That's about on par with the $56 million opening achieved by the first movie in the franchise a couple of years ago, and vindicates the studio's decision to go ahead with a sequel, despite the lukewarm reception to Fantastic Four.
If it manages a similar week-to-week performance, Silver Surfer should be another profitable outing, and guarantee another episode for the franchise.
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June 17th, 2007
There weren't as many websites on this week's list as in the past few weeks, but there were at least three that earned some consideration for the Weekly Website Award. In the end, that honor went to I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry - Official Site.
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June 14th, 2007
After an amazing May, June has shown a bit of weakness and the summer has fallen off its record-setting pace.
Things look to turn-around thanks to a super-hero sequel and the buzz suggests Fantastic Four franchise should be up to the task of rescuing a slumping box office, again.
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June 1st, 2007
With the irrational exuberance of May over, June promises to be a solid month with a number of big hits opening. In fact, every week there's at least one film being released that has a legitimate shot at $100 million at the box office and two films that should hit $200 million. If both Ratatouille and Evan Almighty make it there, we will have six $200 million films so far this year, just two back of 2005's record. On the other hand, there are also a number of films on this month's list that may or may not open wide, and for most of these becoming a midlevel hit will be a chore.
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May 12th, 2007
Not the best week for sites as there was only one that had even a chance of winning, Surf's Up - Official Site. There were a couple others that showed potential, but they will need a little more work to win.
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April 21st, 2007
There were a few new flash sites to launch this week, but while there might be a couple future winners among those sites, it was a long time resident on this week's list that walked away with top honors. That site was Hot Fuzz - Official Site, which probably could have won several weeks ago if the features were added all at once. However, it's much better to spread the updates out in order to get people coming back week after week.
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April 14th, 2007
Even with the extra day, it was a slow week for websites. There were a couple films to have their full sites go live this week, but in both cases there was a lack of features. The best of the list is Pathfinder - Official Site, but it's not up to the level of an award winner.
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March 2nd, 2007
Just an average week in terms of updates, but there are a couple sites of note including the winner of the Weekly Website Award, Wild Hogs - Official Site.
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December 30th, 2006
Another abridged list with just the sites for movies opening this week, and two others. While there is less than a dozen films on this week list, the first one,
Arthur and the Invisibles -
Official Site, is worthy of the Weekly Website Award.
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