July 15th, 2008
Meet the Browns led all new releases on its way to capturing the number one spot on this week's sales chart. However, its opening week sales of $8.75 million from 474,000 units were not strong to say the least and were behind the $10.64 million in sales generated by Vantage Point. It is important to note that the latter film sold only 407,000 units and only earned more thanks to a higher per unit price.
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July 8th, 2008
There were only five new releases to chart this week, but three of them occupied the top three spots. That included 10,000 B.C., which opened with 892,000 units sold and $15.54 million in revenue.
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July 8th, 2008
It was a new release, 10,000 B.C., that led the way on the rental chart beating last week's number one film, Fool's Gold, by a health margin.
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July 7th, 2008
Another week without a first-run release that deserves serious consideration for the DVD Pick of the Week award. This means we are left looking at special editions, limited releases, and TV on DVD sets for the best of the week. Sadly there are not a lot of contenders here either. Batman Begins on Blu-ray Standard Edition or Limited Edition is certainly worth picking up, but it is mostly just a port of the HD DVD release and I was hoping for more (like having the extras in High Definition). The Monk / Psych two-pack offers two great shows for a reasonable price, but I'm not sure it's award-worthy. The best this week has to offer is Stargate Atlantis - Season Four - Buy from Amazon, and it is this week's DVD Pick of the Week.
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June 23rd, 2008
There was a sharp drop-off in the number of releases this week, but while the numbers were down overall, there were several releases that I can enthusiastically recommend: Charlie Bartlett - Buy from Amazon, Definitely, Maybe - Buy from Amazon, Futurama - The Beast with a Billion Backs - Buy from Amazon, The Hammer - Buy from Amazon, and In Bruges - Buy from Amazon. However, while all those movies, and a few others, are worth picking up, the best of the best is Persepolis and either the DVD or the Blu-ray is worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week.
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May 11th, 2008
The release of Iron Man hit The Forbidden Kingdom knocking it into second place with $9.63 million on 2062 screens in 11 markets for a total of $40.51 million. The film had no major openings, but it did make $1.10 million on 398 screens over the weekend in South Korea for a total of $5.63 million.
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May 4th, 2008
Fool's Gold opened in a trio of major markets and that helped the film climb into sixth place with $4.93 million on 1809 screens in 39 markets for a total of $26.30 million. The film did relatively well in Spain with $1.03 million on 272 screens and in Germany with $934,000 on 254 screens while earning second place in both markets. On the other hand, it bombed in Italy with just $516,000 on 232 screens landing in sixth place. Overall, it was better than the film's average so far, but not nearly enough to recover from its previous troubles. It should hit $100 million worldwide this weekend, but that's not much compared to its domestic run, nor compared to its production budget.
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April 23rd, 2008
During its second weekend of release, 21 climbed into first place with $10.02 million on 1,731 screens in 21 markets for a total of $21.17 million after two. This includes a first place, $2.22 million opening on 277 screens in Russia, and a third place, $1.14 million opening on 247 screens in Italy. Meanwhile, it was able to remain in first place in the U.K. with $2.01 million on 356 screens over the weekend and $6.77 million in total and it also earned a second first place placing in Spain with $1.44 million on 255 screens over the weekend for a total of $3.77 million. This might be the last time 21 will top the charts, as the rest of its release dates are more spread out, while the summer blockbusters are just around the corner.
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April 20th, 2008
Nim's Island made its first push onto the international chart landing in sixth place with $4.53 million on 970 screens in 7 markets for a very early total of $5.64 million. The film opened in first place in Italy with $1.71 million on 304 screens while it expanded into fourth place in Australia with $780,000 on 196 screens over the weekend for a total of $1.69 million after two. The film also made its debut in France with $1.65 million on 399 screens, which was only enough for fifth place. Nim's Island is using a graduated release schedule and doesn't have a major opening for the rest of the month. On the other hand, it has major openings practically every month right through till the end of summer.
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April 9th, 2008
Three of the top five films on the international box office chart were not American this weekend, but Horton Hears A Who was able to remain in first place. Over the weekend, it earned $10.72 million on 5,617 screens in 51 markets for a total of $90.36 million. The film opened in third place in France with $3.22 million on 708 screens, which was only an average opening. The film is on track to hit $100 million before it opens in Italy, South Korea, and Japan.
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April 2nd, 2008
Despite falling nearly 50%, Horton Hears A Who rose to first place on the international charts with $13.02 million 5,879 screens in 53 markets for a total of $75.65 million. The film had no major, or even mid-level openings this week, but it held very well in Australia to climb into first place with $1.46 million on 363 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.16 million after two. On the other hand, it plummeted in the U.K., down 68% to $1.87 million on 504 screens over the weekend for a total of $10.71 million after two. The film has yet to open in France, Italy, South Korea, and Japan, and should have little trouble reaching $100 million before it is done. This is low compared to its domestic run so far. However, Dr. Seuss is not as popular internationally as he is in North America, so this is expected. In fact, overall the film has done better than expected.
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March 26th, 2008
Not only did 10,000 B.C. remain in first place on the international charts, it also climbed above $100 million during its run. The film added $26.81 million over the weekend on 7337 screens in 57 markets for a total of $117.82 million. This includes openings in China where the movie earned second place with $3.58 million on 1,000 screens, including 537 digital ones. This broke records for widest release in China and the widest digital release on the international scene. However, a glut of new releases pushed the film from first to fifth in the U.K. with $2.06 million on 430 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.55 million. Given the film's hefty production budget and its likely P&A budget, it would need to make $300 million worldwide to have a shot at showing a profit before the home market. This is likely out of the question. On the other hand, to show a profit after the home market, it would only need to make $200 million worldwide. This has likely already happened.
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March 23rd, 2008
No Country For Old Men remained in sixth place with $4.92 million on 1660 screens in 44 markets for a total of $68.25 million. The film ended its international run in Japan where it earned $492,000 on 41, but it missed the top ten there. Perhaps it can expand there.
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March 16th, 2008
No Country For Old Men slipped out of the top five but still added $7.07 million on 1881 screens in 47 markets for a total of $60.56 million. It is on track to top its domestic box office shortly, which would give it $150 million worldwide.
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March 4th, 2008
Good news, 2008 is still ahead of 2007's pace by a substantial margin. Bad news, the lead is shrinking. Over the past three days, overall box office earnings were $97 million, which was 12% lower than last weekend. More importantly it was 22% lower than the same weekend last year. 2008 still has an 8% lead over last year, $1.54 billion to $1.43 billion, but at this pace, that lead won't last until the end of the month.
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February 28th, 2008
Wide releases are rather limited this week with only one film debuting in more than 3,000 theaters while the other two are opening in barely more than 1,000 each. Overall, the new releases do have a lot more strength than last weekend, but not compared to last year. In fact, all three wide releases combined might not earn as much this weekend as Wild Hogs opened with last year, which is bad news for a market that is starting to slip in the year-to-year race.
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February 25th, 2008
It was a rather predictable weekend with none of the films missing or beating expectations by huge margins. This led to $110 million in overall box office takings, which was down 21% from last weekend and 6% from the same weekend last year. It is not time to panic as 2008 is still leading 2007, but after a couple weeks of declines, the margin has been cut to 9%.
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February 24th, 2008
Rambo climbed five spots just missing the top five with $6.96 million on 1989 screens in 25 markets for a total of $25.63 million. The film opened in second place in Germany with $2.78 million 405 screens while it managed third in Mexico with $704,000 on 300. Next up is the U.K., Australia, and Italy, where it opens this weekend, while it enters South Korea next weekend.
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February 21st, 2008
There's only one truly wide release this week, but there are three other films aiming for a spot in the top ten. This means there's not much of a battle for top spot, and there will likely be a sizable drop-off at the box office. And even with last year showing some weakness during the weekend, it is not likely that 2008 will get back to its winning ways.
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February 20th, 2008
The streak is over. For the first time in a while we saw decline on the year-to-year comparison. In fact, it wasn't even close as the overall box office earned $136 million over three days and $165 million over four. In both cases this represents double-digit declines, but 2008 is still leading 2007 by 11%, $1.29 billion to $1.16 billion.
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February 17th, 2008
The combination of Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day gave us a de facto five day weekend, and gave the studios a reason to release movies that cater to practically every audience.
Teenage boys seem to have won the battle of the niches, with Jumper winning the 3-day part of the weekend with $27.2 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
Teenage girls came in second, with Step Up 2 the Streets making about $19.7 million, enough to put family movie The Spiderwick Chronicles in 3rd place with $19.1 million.
Spiderwick will have the consolation of winning the 5-day weekend race for 2nd place though, as it had a better day on Thursday, and should win larger audiences on Monday's holiday.
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February 16th, 2008
The year has been slow for websites with some weeks having no sites at all that were worthy of awards. This makes it frustrating that week we have two sites that could have taken home the Weekly Website Award; it's either feast or famine. But there can be only one winner and this week it is The Spiderwick Chronicles - Official Site.
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February 14th, 2008
It's Valentine's Day today and President's Day on Monday, so it is a de facto 5-day long weekend. There are four wide releases this week: a romantic comedy for couples, a fantasy adventure film for families, a dance film for teenage girls, and a sci-fi special effects film for teenage boys. So there really is something for everyone. Unless you are like me, single, and are sick of having romance thrust at me. I can't even buy some Valentine chocolate and wallow cause I'm still on a diet, so this year I hate Valentine's Day even more than usual. ... What?
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February 1st, 2008
2008 got off to a faster than expected start with January helping the year to a 17.5% lead over 2007. It seems unlikely that February will be able to keep up that pace, but there are still enough releases that most avid moviegoers should find something to get excited about. Granted, this is partially due to the combination of the lead year and February 29th landing on a Friday. This means we have five weekends in February this year, something that only happens approximately once every 28 years, which explains the number of films.
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January 13th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Spiderwick Chronicles, Doomsday, Coraline and more!
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December 27th, 2007
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Fly Me To the Moon, Justice League, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and more!
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November 30th, 2007
While Beowulf's success on the big screen has been muted, it's numbers on the really big screen have broken records. The film opened with $3.58 million on 84 IMAX screens, which was a record for highest percentage of the total opening weekend for an IMAX release. During its second weekend of release, the film added $2.95 million on 84 screens, this time a record for sophomore stint for a Hollywood IMAX release.
Overall, Beowulf has brought in a total of $8.8 million domestically and $11.1 million worldwide, proving that 3-D is on the verge of making a full comeback and returning to the glory days not seen since drive-ins dotted the landscape.
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July 14th, 2007
One of the last summer blockbusters launched its full site this week. This means two things, The Bourne Ultimatum - Official Site is the clear winner of the weekly website award. And secondly, there will likely be a slowdown in top-notch sites as we approach the dog days of summer, and the even worse days of September.
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November 12th, 2006
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Halloween, Saw 4, The Incredible Hulk and more.
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September 24th, 2006
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Horton Hears a Who, Black Snake Moan and more.
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