October 16th, 2012
It's a mixed week on the home market. Granted, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is coming out, which made more than $200 million domestically and should sell quite well on the home market. On the other hand, the second biggest first run release is That's My Boy, which failed to make an impact at the box office. There is also a flood of weaker releases, secondary Blu-ray releases, and Christmas releases, much of which I would consider filler. The signal to noise ratio is a little off. As for the best releases of the week, there are some great TV on DVD releases like Mad Men: Season Five and Degrassi: Season 11, Part 2. There are also some limited releases, like Moonrise Kingdom on Blu-ray Combo Pack and even some Direct-to-DVD releases, like Excision on Blu-ray. All of these were contenders for Pick of the Week. In the end I went with Mad Men: Season Five for Pick of the week, while Degrassi: Season 11, Part 2 earned Puck of the Week.
More...
December 10th, 2007
There were no new releases to reach the top five on the sales chart this week and this left Live Free or Die Hard in first place with 716,000 units sold this week.
That raises its total sales to 2.78 million units and $47.60 million.
More...
December 3rd, 2007
New releases were not plentiful on the sales chart this week, but they dominated the top five by taking three spots.
This includes Live Free or Die Hard in first place with 2.06 million units sold and $35.11 million in total sales.
More...
November 20th, 2007
Another big list of DVD releases, including nearly a dozen spotlight reviews. And again, we had to split the list into two parts. There is also a number of high quality releases this week making the selection for DVD Pick of the Week tough to make. Live Free or Die Hard had me interested, either the Unrated 2-Disc Edition or as part of the Blu-Ray Die Hard Collection, but in the end I went with Star Trek - The Original Series - Season 1 - HD-DVD/DVD Combo. Even at that price, it is still the best on this week's list.
More...
December 23rd, 2006
Curse of the Golden Flower started its international run in its native
China with a record breaking $12.27 million on 826 screens. That was almost enough to reach the top five falling just short to
Arthur & the Invisibles and its $12.47 million.
More...
December 17th, 2006
Open Season solidified its chances to reach $100 million with a first place debut in Italy. Over the weekend the film just managed to beat
Happy Feet $1.68 million to $1.66 million over the weekend, (with midweek numbers
Open Season earned $1.82 million on 430 screens). The film was not as successful in Japan with just $968,000 on 441 screens; with such a small per theatre average, it will likely disappear quickly from charts. Overall it earned $4.97 million on 3451 screens in 51 markets for a total of $87.16 million; and even with no major markets left to open in, it does have a great shot at $100 million before its run is over.
More...
December 11th, 2006
Saw III slipped another spot to sixth with $4.46 million on 1518 screens in 29 markets for an international total of $54.27 million. Its best opening of the weekend came in South Korea where it placed third with $1.08 million on 144 screens, which is the last major opening for the film this year.
More...
December 3rd, 2006
Open Season only has a few more markets to open in and is starting to shed screens and markets; however, it sill managed sixth place with $4.08 million on 3489 screens in 49 markets for a two-month total of $76.58 million. This week the film opened in first place in both South Africa with $257,000 on 77 screens and in the Czech Republic with $79,000 on 23 screens.
More...
November 26th, 2006
Late numbers for the international weekend meant there was a shakeup in the top five with
Saw III trading places with
The Devil Wears Prada.
Saw III took fourth with $6.54 million on 1912 screens in 20 markets for a total of $37.18 million. Meanwhile,
The Devil Wears Prada fell to sixth with $5.87 million on 2452 screens in 23 markets for a total of $172.54 million. It was also the first time in nearly two months that the film didn't place in the top five on the international box office.
More...
November 21st, 2006
There were a few surprises on the charts this week, including the number one film.
But overall things played out almost exactly as expected, leading to a total of $146 million at the box office.
This was 15% higher than last weekend but 19% lower than the same weekend last year.
However, that was the weekend when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire opened and no-one was expecting this year to be able to keep pace.
More...
November 16th, 2006
What do penguins and secret agents have in common? (Not counting the fact that they both wear tuxedos.) Not a whole lot. However, movies featuring both will be in a close battle this weekend for top spot on the box office charts. Personally, in these battles I usually put my money on the guy with the gun, but cuteness might win out.
More...
November 14th, 2006
There were four new releases opening in varying degrees of wideness this past weekend, but none of them could live up to lowered expectations.
This left the overall box office at $127 million, which was down about 2% from last weekend while up less than 1% from the same weekend last year.
That's not a large enough increase to keep up with ticket price inflation, but any good news is still welcome at this point.
More...
November 10th, 2006
With Borat beating all expectations last weekend, all eyes are on it this weekend. Can it maintain this amazing pace? Will it be able to keep its momentum as it expands? Will it suffer a major drop-off? What about the competition? Can they handle the pressure?
More...
November 7th, 2006
To call this weekend unpredictable is an understatement as there was a surprise number one film and records fell.
But despite this, the overall market was only mixed. Sure, week-to-week the box office was up roughly 24% from last weekend, but Halloween tends to depress the box office, even when it doesn't hit on the weekend. Compared to the same weekend last year, the $130 million total box office was 4% lower.
More...
November 3rd, 2006
Slow week for websites with only one real contender for the weekly website award, (not counting those sites that have already won). Fortunately, that site,
Flushed Away -
Official Site, truly deserved to win.
More...
November 2nd, 2006
It's the first week of the winter / holiday season and this weekend alone we have two films coming out that are aimed at the family market.
While the time of the year is great for these films, the direct competition will keep both from becoming more than mid-level hits.
On the other hand, neither look likely to bomb either.
More...
November 1st, 2006
Note: Article updated 11/18/2006 with correct budget for Harsh Times
It's that time of the month again, a time to look forward, but it is also a time to look back.
October was a stronger month than expected and, while there are a lot of reasons for that, I think one must pay particular attention to the play of Taylor Pyatt.
The departure of Anson Carter to free agency over the summer was troublesome and many felt finding a right winger for the Sedin twins was a key in maintaining or even improving upon last year's numbers.
Without good chemistry, Daniel and Henrik might have taken a step back this year.
However, with a team leading 6 goals, Taylor Pyatt is more than proving he can play with the speedy Swedes. ...
What?
Oh right, movies.
It was a pretty good month for movies as well.
November sees the beginning of the most important time of year for the movie industry.
Not only do the holidays start with Thanksgiving, but this is also the time of year that award season really heats up.
This means there is an excellent mix of blockbusters, especially family films, and critically acclaimed films hoping that first impressions are lasting impressions.
It also means there are several limited releases that could expand wide later in their run; these include Fur, Bobby, For Your Consideration and others.
More...
October 30th, 2006
Friday marks the first weekend of November, so you know what that means.
Christmas movies.
This also means The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is the target film in this week's box office prediction contest.
To win one, must simply predict the opening weekend box office of The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going over will win Harveytoons: The Complete Collection.
While the person who comes the closest to the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday, without going under, will win Reds - 25th Anniversary Edition.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
More...
October 28th, 2006
There was a good selection of sites this week in terms of updates, but unlike last week there were fewer contenders for the Weekly Website Award. That's not to say
Let's Go to Prison -
Official Site didn't deserve to win, it just had a lot less competition than it would have had if it launched last week.
More...
October 20th, 2006
Strange week with very few site featuring updates, but several very strong contenders for Weekly Website Award. In the end I went with
The Prestige -
Official Site, but several others on this list should win awards in the coming weeks.
More...