June 7th, 2012
Getting caught up on the Blu-ray sales chart after a massive overhaul of the database, which hopefully you didn't notice too much. We're splitting the two weeks into two articles, otherwise they would be just too cumbersome. We start with the week ending May 20th, which featured six new releases on the chart. Top spot went to The Grey with 375,000 units sold, but in terms of revenue, it was in second place with $7.50 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 51%, which even just last year would have been momentous, but now is standard for a first-run release for any action or adventure film.
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June 5th, 2012
After a major change on the back end of site, we have two weeks of home market numbers to get to, starting with the week ending on May 20th. New releases dominated the chart taking the top three spots and four of the top six. The Grey earned first place with 360,000 units / $6.12 million. This is a fine start given its theatrical run, but not an exceptional one.
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May 23rd, 2012
The same four new releases that charted on the DVD sales chart also charted on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, with just one addition. (And that one addition is actually related to the top film.) Leading the way was Underworld: Awakening, which earned $11.77 million from 590,000 units sold. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 56%, which is becoming commonplace for action films.
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May 23rd, 2012
There was a weird mix of new releases and ancient holdovers on the top of the DVD sales chart this week. (Maybe "ancient" is overstating things.) Leading the way was The Vow with an impressive opening week sales of 810,000 units / $13.76 million. Given its domestic box office numbers, this is a great start and it is likely already profitable.
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May 7th, 2012
It's yet another very slow week on the home market. Boy, I feel like a broken record saying that every week, but it is true. It's especially true this week, as I'm having trouble picking out any release that is worth of Pick of the Week. In the end I went with a Doctor Who release. There are three of them coming out this week, but Story 153: The Happiness Patrol is the only one that is truly good, as opposed to the other two, which are weak installments that have a few fans that defend them.
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February 8th, 2012
Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol has reached two milestones since last week, reaching $400 million internationally and $600 million worldwide. It added $24.31 million on 6,259 screens in 51 markets over the weekend and now has $420.83 million internationally and $626.03 million worldwide. Of its weekend haul, $20 million came from China, which was $7 million more than last week's opening.
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February 7th, 2012
It was Super Bowl weekend, which apparently some people care about. (Not me. Go B.C. Lions!) The crossover audience between the Super Bowl and most movies is quite high, so it is no real shock that the box office was down compared to last weekend. However, it was only down 8% to $116 million. This was 33% higher than the same weekend last year. Both Chronicle and The Woman in Black topped expectations by significant degrees, while the weakest movie the top five missed weekend predictions by less than $1 million. Year-to-date, 2012 is ahead of 2011's pace by 12% at $964 million to $850 million. Before we get too excited, by this weekend in 2010, the box office had already pulled in $1.21 billion.
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February 2nd, 2012
There are two important dates in February: Valentine's Day and Presidents Day. This weekend deals with neither of those, so it is probably going to be a little soft at the box office. On the other hand, all three films opening this weekend, Big Miracle, Chronicle, and The Woman in Black, have overall positive reviews and are averaging around 75% positive (That might change by the end of the evening as more reviews come in.) By comparison, this weekend last year saw the release of The Roommate and Sanctum, both of which earned terrible reviews and neither of which earned a lot at the box office. Those two films combined earned just under $25 million over the weekend, while there's a slim, slim chance The Woman in Black will make that much by itself. Even on the low end, the top two new releases should match that, while this year appears to have the advantage with depth as well. I'm almost feeling optimistic. ... I may have just cursed the box office.
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February 1st, 2012
It was a good weekend for Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol. It crossed $200 million domestically and jumped back to first place on the international chart with $25.23 million on 6,411 screens in 56 markets. It now has $369.37 million internationally and $571.93 million worldwide, which is the best in the franchise. The film earned first place with $12.7 million on 3000 screens in China, but had to settle for second place in Italy with $3.01 million on 575. It will quickly cross $600 million worldwide, even though it has no more major markets left to open in.
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January 30th, 2012
January completed the sweep this weekend, despite slipping 6% from last weekend to $126 million over the weekend. This was still 16% higher than the same weekend last year, meaning three out of the four weekends in January saw double-digit gains over 2011 and by the end, 2012's lead over 2011 was 12% at $812 million to $726 million. I'm starting to get a little optimistic and hopefully this trend will continue next month.
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January 26th, 2012
There are three important questions that need to be answered this weekend. Can the box office finish the January sweep this weekend? Will Liam Neeson's box office reliability overcome Open Road's inexperience? And shouldn't The Grey be spelled The Gray? That is how it is spelled in America, as opposed to the U.K. Last year the number one film, The Rite, opened with less than $15 million. However, there were a total of five films with more than $10 million over the weekend. This year does look weaker, but it should be close. All it will take is one film to be a surprise hit and 2012 can come out a head for the fourth weekend in a row.
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January 25th, 2012
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was again the top film on the international box office, even though it fell significantly from last week. It generated an additional $18.3 million on 7,505 screens in 57 markets for totals of $261.3 million internationally and $439.6 million worldwide. Getting to $400 million worldwide is more than enough to show a profit, unless it cost a ridiculous amount for global prints and advertising. There were no major new markets to report on last weekend, but it did add $2.38 million on 422 screens over the weekend in Brazil, giving the film a total of $8.08 million after two. Up next is France this weekend, while it opens in Japan in March. $300 million internationally is pretty much a given, unless it bombs in those two markets, while if it does well, it could reach $500 million worldwide.
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January 25th, 2012
The winners of our Get Real contest were determined and they are...
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January 25th, 2012
Underworld: Awakening broke a record for IMAX with $3.6 million over the weekend, or 15% of its total box office. This is a record for a digital release on the format. It also pulled in $1.0 million internationally for a $4.6 million opening weekend. Meanwhile, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate became the first Chinese film to reach $10 million on IMAX in its native country and now sits in third place on the all time IMAX chart in that market. (Only Avatar and Transformers: Dark of the Moon are ahead of it.)
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January 23rd, 2012
2012 has gone three for three in the year-over-year comparison. This weekend we have a couple films do a little better than expected and a couple films struggle a little bit, but the overall box office was up 1% from last weekend to $134 million. More importantly, the box office was up 30% from last year. Not only did we have better strength on top with Underworld: Awakening earning $25 million, but we also had much stronger depth. This bodes well going into next week and hopefully January will complete the sweep when compared to last year. Year-to-Date, 2012 now has a 15% lead over 2011 at $748 million to $653 million. It is still far too early to declare victory, but every dollar earned now puts us one dollar closer to matching last year's total.
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January 22nd, 2012
A solid $25.4 million projected opening for Underworld: Awakening this weekend, backed by a better-than-expected $19.1 million for Red Tails will help give the industry a healthy start to 2012. Based on studio estimates released on Sunday, business this weekend should be up about 30% from the same weekend last year, and 2012 is currently running about 11% ahead of 2011. Obviously there's a long way to go, but early momentum is always useful.
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January 19th, 2012
It's very early in the year, but so far 2012 is on a winning streak. Will that streak continue this weekend? This weekend we have three wide releases, Underworld: Awakening, Red Tails, and Haywire, plus a wide expansion, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Conversely, last year there was only one wide release, No Strings Attached, plus only one holdover that earned more than $10 million, The Green Hornet. This year we should have five films earning more than $10 million and this depth should help 2012 earn a win in the year-over-year comparison.
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January 13th, 2012
There are a trio of wide releases debuting next week, but evidence suggests Underworld: Awakening is the clear favorite of the three and it is the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Underworld: Awakening.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Real Steel on Blu-ray 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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January 1st, 2012
2011 ended, and really that's the only good news we got from the entire month of December. That's not snark either. Of the eleven films opening or expanding wide that month, six will definitely miss expectations by significant margins and with the other five it is too soon to tell, (it depends on how well they hold up during the New Year's Day long weekend). Only Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol can be considered a pleasant surprise, and even then it might not match original expectations. Looking forward, the only really good piece of news for this January is that last January was a pretty bad as well. Only two films, The Green Hornet and No Strings Attached, beat expectations by significant margins, while The Dilemma bombed hard enough to nearly wipe out those gains. This time around, the biggest hit will likely be Beauty and the Beast's 3D re-release, but even then, I doubt it will do as well as The Lion King's 3D re-release. There's a good chance the year will start off on a sour note, just like 2011 ended.
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