July 20th, 2011
Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition Trilogy remained on top of the Blu-ray sales chart this week selling 104,000 units / $5.08 million for the week. It now has generated just over $30 million in sales in just two weeks, and even if you split that between the three movies, it's still an excellent run for a catalog title.
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July 12th, 2011
While it's not common for a box set to lead the way on the Blu-ray sales chart, it is also no real surprise that Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition Trilogy managed to do just that, as it was clearly the biggest new release of the week. It took top spot with sales of 336,000 units, and thanks to its premium pricing, it generated $25.21 million in opening week consumer spending.
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July 7th, 2011
The Adjustment Bureau led the way on this week's Blu-ray sales chart, but with just a fraction of last week's winning total. It sold 122,000 units and generated $2.87 million in consumer spending, which is very low for the number one film. However, its Blu-ray ratio was 35%, which is good for this type of film. (At its heart it is a romance, with a slice of science fiction thrown in.)
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July 6th, 2011
Several new DVD releases charted this week, and new releases even earned the top three spots on the chart. However, sales were very weak and they only placed that well due to the lack of substantial competition. The number one film on this week's DVD sales chart was Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodick Rules with just 255,000 units sold and $5.01 million in opening week consumer spending at retail. To put this into perspective, that's on par with the original film's second week on the home market.
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June 29th, 2011
Battle: Los Angeles was just able to squeak ahead of True Grit on this week's Blu-ray sales chart with 375,000 units sold for opening week sales of $8.71 million. Its opening week Blu-ray sales ratio was 47% in terms of units and 54% in terms of dollars. It won't be long before visual effects laden blockbusters commonly sell more Blu-rays than DVDs.
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June 27th, 2011
While three new releases reached the top five, none were able to sell as many DVDs as True Grit. That film sold 446,000 units over the week for a total of 1.36 million after two, lifting its total revenue to $20.95 million.
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June 13th, 2011
It's actually a rather busy week for DVD / Blu-ray releases, at least for the summertime, with four first run releases coming out. Granted, those four films averaged just 21% positive reviews, so it is certainly a matter of quantity over quality. Unfortunately, the quantity of first run releases appears to have scared away quality alternatives and there are not a lot of top notch releases. There are a few that are with picking up, some of which are for limited audiences, but as far as Pick of the Week contenders go, there are none. However, True Blood: Season Three arrived late, and I'm giving the Pick of the Week honor to the Blu-ray.
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April 13th, 2011
Did summer start already? I ask because we have a summer-like result at the international box office this weekend. Rio crushed the competition with $54.94 million on 11,714 screens in 45 markets. Opening on more than 10,000 screens is usually a feat reserved for summer blockbusters. The film earned first place in nearly every market, although its individual results did vary considerably. For instance, it was stunning in Russia earning $9.28 million on 1,297 screens over the weekend for a total of $11.31 million. Perhaps more impressively, the film earned $8.77 million on 1,024 screens in Brazil. While Brazil is a very large country, it's still an emerging market and this is a great result there. The film was also strong in Mexico with $4.90 million on 1,521. On the other hand, it was more average in a number of other major markets. For instance, it earned $2.63 million on 724 screens in Germany, which is mediocre for a potential blockbuster. The same was true in the U.K. with $2.48 million on 522, in Australia with $2.42 million on 459, and in Spain with $2.21 million on 390.
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April 6th, 2011
Just Go With It reached first place on the international chart with $10.84 million on 2,791 screens in 40 markets for a total of $76.26 million after 8 weeks of release. It opened in first place in Australia with $2.44 million on 311 screens, but it struggled in Italy with just $732,000 on 248. So far the film has $9.09 million in Russia after just two weeks, including $2.87 million on 544 screens this past weekend.
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March 30th, 2011
Battle: Los Angeles remained in first place on the international scene with $16.32 million on 7,746 screens in 55 markets for a total of $79.63 million after three weeks of release. It didn't have many new openings. It did add $1.12 million on 331 screens during its second weekend in Australia for a total of $4.39 million so far. It has already made more internationally than it has domestically, and with openings in Spain, Germany, and Italy, it should have no trouble getting to $200 million worldwide. I think the studio should be happy with that, but I'm not sure they will be happy enough to go with a sequel.
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March 23rd, 2011
The international box office is as weak as the domestic box office is with very few films worth talking about. We do have a new number one, as Battle: Los Angeles earned first place with $28.74 million on 8,384 screens in 52 markets for a running tally of $51.70 million after just two weeks of release. The film debuted in first place in Australia with $2.58 million on 328 screens, while it also placed first during its debut in Brazil with $1.51 million on 263 screens. On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in France with $2.07 million on 295 screens. The number one film was a local hit, so there is a mitigating factor. As for its long-term chances, it was down 51% in the U.K. to $1.42 million on 417 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.61 million after two. This is not a great start there and will likely ends its run with the equivalent of $50 million to $60 million here.
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March 21st, 2011
It was another poor weekend at the box office and none of the new wide releases were blockbusters, but on the plus side, none were bombs either. The overall box office was down 11% from last weekend to $115 million, which was 9% lower than the same weekend last year. However, that was actually much better than 2011 has managed for most of the year. Year-to-date, 2011 is still off of 2010's pace by 20% at $2.52 billion to $2.02 billion and that likely won't change till Memorial day. Hopefully it won't be too late to turn things around by then.
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March 20th, 2011
The North American box office showed further glimmers of hope this weekend, with no less than five movies vying for top spot on the chart, and Limitless handily beating expectations to finish first. Its $19 million debut is the best so far for Relativity Media's fledgling distribution organization. Overall, however, box office will be down around 10% from last year, continuing a losing streak that will almost certainly extend to cover the entire first quarter.
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March 17th, 2011
Three wide releases come out this week, all of which have the potential to reach first place, and there's a slim chance they will finish one-two-three. On the other hand, there are also two holdovers that have a reasonable shot at first place as well, meaning the new releases could be fighting for scraps at the box office. Regardless, there's little hope that the total box office will match last year's pace, as Alice in Wonderland was still dominating the chart. Best case scenario, there's a close race for top spot with a couple of the new releases pulling in $30 million, or close to it. Worst case scenario has no new release earning half that. Unfortunately, the low end seems more likely.
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March 16th, 2011
Rango climbed into first place on the international chart this weekend adding $24.05 million on 5214 screens in 46 markets to its two-week total of $47.18 million. It opened in first place in Australia with $2.73 million on 296 screens, while it finished a very close second in Brazil with $1.75 million on 330 screens over the weekend for a total opening on $2.75 million. As far as holdovers go, it was down just 6% in the U.K. to $2.48 million on 471 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.82 million after two. It was able to remain in first place in Mexico with $2.13 million on 927 screens over the weekend and $5.82 million after two. With debuts in Russia, France, Italy, Japan, and other markets still ahead, it should have little troublen hitting $100 million internationally and $250 million worldwide making it the biggest hit of the year, so far.
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March 15th, 2011
The winners of our Three Days a Week contest were determined and they are...
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March 15th, 2011
It was an amazing week on the per theater chart, even if you ignore Red State's special showings. The latest Kevin Smith offering added more than $100,000 over the weekend, at two special showings, for an average of $51,283. At this pace, it's going to start hitting major milestones before its theatrical debut this fall. Meanwhile, Jane Eyre had the best per theater average for a regular release this year at $45,721 in four theaters. The good news doesn't end there as Kill The Irishman opened with an average of $29,086 in five theaters, which also suggests the ability to expand significantly. Certified Copy earned close to $80,000 in five theaters for an average of $15,587. That would have been enough to lead the way many weekends so far this year. 3 Backyards opened with $11,000 in one theater, while the overall number one film, Battle: Los Angeles opened with an average of $10,411 in more than 3400 theaters.
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March 14th, 2011
While Battle: Los Angeles easily won the race at the box office this weekend, that was practically the only bit of good news, as it was the only film in the top five to top expectations. Overall the box office pulled in $129 million, which was 3% lower than last weekend and 12% lower than the same weekend last year. On the other hand, this is actually better than average for the year so far. Year-to-date, 2011 is just over 20% behind last year's pace at $1.85 billion to $2.33 billion.
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March 13th, 2011
Battle: Los Angeles posted an estimated opening of $36 million to win the weekend, and give the market another boost after Rango's solid debut last week.
With Rango itself dropping only 40% to a shade over $23 million the total weekend box office should be about 12% below last year, which is actually an improvement over recent weeks, although it continues a months-long slump.
And the weekend brought some very bad news for Disney, whose Mars Needs Moms had a catastrophic $6.8 million opening weekend, on a budget reported at $150 million.
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March 10th, 2011
Three films open at saturation level theater counts this weekend, and last weekend's number one film is still playing in over 3,000 theaters, so we could have a lot of depth in terms of box office strength. This time last year we had four wide releases, none of which were major hits. On the other hand, there was also Alice in Wonderland, which made more than $60 million during its sophomore stint alone. There's no film opening this weekend that can match that figure. In fact, all three films combined might not match that figure and 2011 will again lose ground against 2010.
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March 4th, 2011
There are three films opening with saturation level theater counts (or close to it) this week. Included in these films is Battle: Los Angeles, which is not only the early favorite for number one, but also the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Battle: Los Angeles.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), regardless if they go over or not, will win a copy of The Next Three Days on Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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March 1st, 2011
This is going to suck. February wasn't exactly a banner month at the box office and 2011 is already roughly $400 million behind 2010's pace. To make matters worse, last March broke records starting with the release of Alice in Wonderland. There is no movie coming out this month that will come close to Alice in Wonderland's performance; in fact, the number one film this March will likely not do as well as the second best film from last March. The best case scenario has the month producing three $100 million movies, plus a number of midlevel hits, while still failing to match last year's pace by about $100 million. The worst case scenario has two of the three potential $100 million hits missing that mark, plus the midlevel hits also struggling. In that case, we could end March about $300 million further behind 2010's pace. (Hopefully things will start to turn around in April.)
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