November 4th, 2008
Most of the new releases that charted on this week's sales chart also charted on this week's rental chart, and they even shared the same new number one film, The Incredible Hulk.
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October 28th, 2008
There were more than half-a-dozen new releases to reach the top 30 on this week's sales chart, including Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. That film topped the charts with 3.03 million units sold for sales of $70.57 million. However, the Franchise Collection placed sixth with 177,000 units sold and $10.85 million in sales. Add in the individual releases and the total sales were more than $80 million from 3.3 million units sold.
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October 28th, 2008
There were fewer new releases that were able to reach the top 30 on the rental chart this week, but the same film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was able to come out on top.
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October 24th, 2008
Next week the widest release of the week is Zack and Miri Make a Porno, but despite our intense interest in that movie, it is not the most interesting race going on. The most interesting race is between John McCain and Barack Obama, and it is this race that is the target of this week's poorly named Box Office Prediction contest.
In order to win, one must simply predict how many electoral college votes are won by each candidate in the United States presidential election that happens on November 4th, 2008.
You need to give your prediction for the number of electoral college votes won by John McCain and Barack Obama, as reported by CNN.com at noon on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008.
Note that if one or more states have not been called by CNN by noon on Wednesday, they will not be included on either candidate's electoral college total for the purposes of the contest, even though they will eventually be awarded one way or another.
We expect a lot of entries, and a tie at the top, so the tie breaker will go to the person who can come the closest to correctly predicting the total popular vote for whichever candidate is leading in the popular vote, without going over, again as report by CNN.com at noon on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008.
Whoever comes out on top will win ...So Goes the Nation on DVD, as well as some non-political movies: Pathology on DVD, The Happening on DVD, and Joy Ride 2 - Dead Ahead on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Monday, November 3, to be eligible, so don't delay!
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October 21st, 2008
The number of DVDs reaching my door is increasing each week (so are the number of ones that are late, or so it would seem). However, while there was a wide selection, the choice for DVD Pick of the Week was easy: Looney Tunes - Golden Collections - Volume 6. ... And
James Bond - Blu-ray Uber Collection, as well as Casino Royale on Blu-ray. One last note, as has happened more often than not, this week's list is split into two. The second part can be seen here.
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October 20th, 2008
New releases were again dominant on this week's DVD sales chart with three in the top five, five in the top ten, and nine in total. This includes the new number one selling DVD, Sleeping Beauty, which generated $22.43 million in revenue from 1.34 million units sold.
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October 20th, 2008
New releases played an important role on this week's rental charts, taking the top two spots. However, while The Happening and You Don't Mess With the Zohan finished one - two, Iron Man was very close behind in third.
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October 7th, 2008
It's not a good week for first-run releases, as there's not a single one from that group that would get serious contention for DVD Pick of the Week. However there are a number of other contenders, including classic releases Sleeping Beauty - Two-Disc Platinum Edition - on Blu-ray and Ray Harryhausen - Ultimate Collector's Giftset on DVD or Blu-ray. There as also a couple of TV on DVD picks to look at like 30 Rock - Season Two and Robot Chicken - Season Three. The final release this week that I would like to give a shout out to is Jack Brooks - Monster Slayer on DVD. (Finally, there are a couple of late spotlight reviews that are worth picking up: NCIS - Season Five and Ghost Whisperer - Season Three.) One last note. While first run releases were weak, the overall list was long and the second part of my run-down can be found here.
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August 10th, 2008
Hancock fell from second to sixth with $12.03 million on 5425 screens in 68 markets, however, it still reached $300 million internationally since last week and now has a running tally of $319.43 million. Its best market of the weekend was Spain where it added $1.92 million on 567 screens over the weekend for a total of $20.56 million after two. Meanwhile, its best market overall remains the U.K. where it has $47.09 million after a month of release, including $900,000 on 318 screens this past weekend. With Japan and Italy still ahead, the film should become Will Smith's second $600 million movie, but it will end well back of Independence Day.
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August 3rd, 2008
Hancock fell 56% to $20.22 million on 7516 screens in 70 markets, however, that was still enough for second place on the international chart this week, and lifted its totals to $295.58 million internationally and $502.06 million worldwide, reaching a major milestone. The film's best market of the week was Spain where it remained in first place with $3.98 million on 575 screens for a total of $16.86 million. It is also performing well in Germany where it held on to second place with $1.70 million on 755 screens over the weekend and $33.62 million after four. However, it is starting to slip in the U.K. falling to fifth place with $1.40 million on 400 screens, but its total of $45.15 million in that market is still fantastic. Hancock likely hit $300 million early last week, and it has yet to open in Japan and Italy.
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July 20th, 2008
Kung Fu Panda grew to its biggest yet pulling in $45.32 million on 6314 screens in 49 markets for a total of $221.64 million. This includes openings in France where it placed second with $8.64 million on 743 screens for the full week and in Spain where it topped the charts with $6.29 million on 581 screens. The film's best holdover was The U.K. where it slipped a spot to third with $5.55 million on 456 screens for a two-week total of $21.57 million. It also held well in Germany adding $4.54 million on 838 screens for a two-week total of $11.14 million while it now has $20.38 million in Australia, including $3.17 million on 361 screens during this past weekend. Meanwhile, the film has yet to open in Italy or Japan, as well as a few other smaller markets, and should have no trouble reaching $300 million before long.
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July 13th, 2008
Kung Fu Panda saw its weekend numbers climb by close to 70%, and its weekend haul of $40.16 million on 5325 screens in 40 markets was the best of its run so far. A run that has brought in $154.13 million so far. However, it still remained in second place thanks to the opening of Hancock. The film had a pair of second place openings including the U.K. where it made $8.63 million on 446 screens over the weekend for a total of $11.96 million. Meanwhile in Germany it was not as strong with $4.48 million on 831 screens, but it still managed second place. The film also slipped to second place in Australia, but it held well down just 24% to $3.83 million on 363 screens over the weekend for a total of $13.63 million.
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July 6th, 2008
Sex and the City fell more than 40% this past weekend, but still eared $12.94 million on 5991 screens in 53 markets over the weekend for a total of $198.97 million after a month of release. The film had no major, or even midlevel openings, in fact, it's only market of note where it hasn't opened in yet is Japan, where it does make its nationwide debut at the end of August. However, it still did well in a number of markets cracking $1 million in Australia ($1.58 million on 365 screens), Russia ($1.50 million on 496), U.K. ($1.18 million on 388), and Spain ($1.08 million on 359). In fact, in the U.K. the film has earned $49.24 million after a month of release, which is even better than it managed domestically, if you take into account the relative size of the two markets.
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June 29th, 2008
The Happening fell from first to fifth with just $14.05 million on 5579 screens in 65 markets for a total of $56.40 million after two weeks. Good news, it was able to remain in first place in France despite falling 60% to $1.93 million on 550 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.68 million after two. On the other hand, it fell from first to third in Spain down 65% to $1.20 million on 387 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.41 million after two. Even worse, it was down just under 80% in Italy and just over 80% in South Korea earning $367,000 on 338 screens and $206,000 on 293 screens respectively. Its totals of $2.77 million in the former and $2.18 million in the latter are hardly impressive, and well below its domestic run. This is a shocking decline, especially since films tend to have better legs internationally than they have domestically. And while it should earn more on the international marketplace, there's little hope of reaching $200 million worldwide now.
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June 23rd, 2008
It was another strong weekend at the box office, at least compared to last year, and almost every film matched expectations nearly perfectly. (Get used to reading that phrase.) Overall the box office earned $143 million during the past three days, which is 20% lower than last weekend. On the other hand, it was nearly 9% higher than the same weekend last year and that was just enough to push 2008 into the lead over 2007 at $4.27 billion to $4.26 billion. Ticket sales are still down nearly 3%, but that too could change.
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June 19th, 2008
The outlook for this weekend is mixed. On the one hand, very few people are expecting this week's two new releases to match last week's openings. However, most expect them to top last year's new entries, which is the more important task. This, along with the better holdovers, could be enough to push 2008 over 2007's pace for the first time in a long time.
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June 18th, 2008
The Happening launched worldwide over the weekend scoring first place on the international chart with $31.82 million on 5693 screens in 88 markets. This includes first place openings in a handful of major markets, the best of which was France at $4.90 million on 550 screens. It also topped the charts in Spain with $3.41 million on 385 screens and in Italy with $1.70 million on 363 screens over the weekend and $1.89 million in total. In all three markets, The Incredible Hulk opens in a later date, so this film didn't have to deal with it as competition.
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June 17th, 2008
Mongol repeated atop the Per Theater Chart with an average of $22,442 in five theaters, which was 17% lower than its opening. Now the next big test is how well it can expand. The second best release of the week was Encounters at the End of the World as the documentary earned $17,730 in its lone theater. Even more impressive is the fact that the film was a Wednesday release that earned nearly $26,000 in total -- had it opened on Friday it might has topped the charts. The overall number one film, The Incredible Hulk debuted in third place on the per theater chart with $15,810. Next up was The Grocer's Son, which grew more than 30% to $13,789 in one theater. The final film to earn $10,000 or more during its run was The Happening, which surprised analysts with an average of $10,220 in just under 3,000 theaters.
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June 15th, 2008
The Incredible Hulk made an strong debut over the weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday morning.
Its estimated $54.54 million weekend is a little below the $62.1 million earned by the first attempt at launching the franchise, but at the high end of expectations.
The Happening also did better than expected, picking up $30 million.
With Kung Fu Panda holding up well with $34 million, the weekend as a whole was up again compared to last year, and the Summer season is actually ahead of last year's pace, in spite of a relative lack of sure-fire hits.
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June 15th, 2008
Not a terribly busy week in terms of new releases, which obviously limits the number of sites on this week's list. Additionally, there's only one site that was even remotely better than average: The Incredible Hulk - Official Site. Fortunately, it is up to the level of a Weekly Website Award winner.
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June 12th, 2008
There was a chance The Incredible Hulk and The Happening would open with nearly identical weekends of around $50 million each. However, the box office potential of the two films has diverged lately with The Incredible Hulk going up a little and The Happening going way down. Combined, they should still top last year's group of new releases, and perhaps even help close the gap on the year-to-date race.
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June 1st, 2008
June is filled with top picks, and practically only top picks. The best schedule for the overall health of the movie industry is only two wide releases, the potential blockbuster and the counter-programming release. This month that's exactly what happens; however, almost every week the counter-programming film has a serious shot at $100 million as well. If everything goes well, then we could have 8 films opening this month that crack 9 digits and that would put 2008 back on track. Even a more conservative estimate has four $100 million movies coming out this month, but there's a lot of uncertainty involved here. On the limited front, none of May's limited releases managed to breakout and expand wide, so there's still an opening for sleeper hit of the summer. That role could be filled by The Promotion, which appears to have the best shot at escaping the art hour circuit and reaching multiplexes.
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April 1st, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Nanny Diaries, Sweeney Todd, The Happening and more.
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