August 8th, 2009
Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs became the all-time highest grossing animated film on the international scene during the past week. Over the weekend it earned $24.66 million on 8844 screens in 68 markets for a total of $551.39 million internationally, which tops the $526.88 million earned by Finding Nemo. On the other hand, that film made $866.59 million worldwide compared to this film's running tally of $733.45 million. Ice Age isn't done yet, and should reach a couple milestones before it is done. but the record is likely safe.
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April 22nd, 2009
There were plenty of new releases to chart this week, including the top two sellers. The new number one was Bedtime Stories 1.46 million units for its first full week of release, while including early sales it has made $28.78 million from 1.68 million in sales.
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April 15th, 2009
Slow week for new releases with only four or five reaching the top five, depending on how you count Bedtime Stories. We did have a new number one, as Marley and Me sold 1.53 million units generating $28.32 million in sales.
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April 8th, 2009
Another weird week for new releases as the top two DVDs on the sales chart are both new releases and holdovers. Twilight had its first full week of sales adding 2.46 million units to its running tally of 6.03 million, which is the best for 2009 so far. It also become the film DVD to cross the century mark with $108.32 million in sales so far.
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April 8th, 2009
There were only two or three new releases to reach the top 30 on the rental charts this week, with Quantum of Solace grabbing top spot with nearly 50% more rentals than second place Twilight.
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March 31st, 2009
It was a strange week on the sales chart, as the best new release didn't come out last Tuesday.
Twilight came out on Saturday, sold an estimated 3 million units on its first day and 4.65 million units over two.
And with that, it instantly became the second-best-selling DVD of 2009 in terms of units sold, and the best in terms of raw dollars.
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March 24th, 2009
Technical difficulties with Amazon's site meant this column was a lot harder to get done than usual. However, I won't hold that against this week's releases, and there are a number that are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week from practically every category. TV on DVD has Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series, from the classics we have The Odd Couple - Centennial Collection, from new releases we have Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, Blu-ray offers us James Bond Blu-ray Collection - Volume 3. We even have a late entry, as Let the Right One In - Blu-ray arrived. All five are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week, but if I was forced to chose just one, Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack would probably please the most people. After a couple of "slow" weeks, we are back to splitting the column into two parts.
The first part can be found here.
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March 23rd, 2009
Technical difficulties with Amazon's site meant this column was a lot harder to get done than usual. However, I won't hold that against this week's releases, and there are a number that are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week from practically every category. TV on DVD has Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series, from the classics we have The Odd Couple - Centennial Collection, from new releases we have Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, Blu-ray offers us James Bond Blu-ray Collection - Volume 3. We even have a late entry, as Let the Right One In - Blu-ray arrived. All five are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week, but if I was forced to chose just one, Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack would probably please the most people. After a couple of "slow" weeks, we are back to splitting the column into two parts. The second part can be found here.
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March 22nd, 2009
Confessions Of A Shopaholic nearly doubled its weekend haul as it pulled in $6.78 million on 2023 screens in 26 markets for a total of $31.91 million after a month of release. The film opened in first place in Australia, no surprise there, as that's the home of Isla Fisher, with $1.89 million on 309 screens. It earned a nearly identical result of $1.84 million on 426 screens in Germany, but that was only enough for third place in that market. Next up for the film is South Korea and Spain at the end of this month, while it doesn't end its run till the end of May when it opens in Japan and France.
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March 17th, 2009
This is a smaller list than it should be as there were no fewer than six DVDs on this list where I am supposed to receive a screener, but the screener is late. The next few weeks could be busy, as I attempt to catch up. In the meantime, there are a trio of serious contenders for DVD Pick of the Week, starting with Murnau, a box set that is a must have for silent movie fans, especially those who enjoy F.W.Murnau. Also up for the honor is Degrassi - The Next Generation - Season Seven, which is fast becoming one of the longest running kids shows ever. Finally, Bolt is making its debut on a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack on Sunday, and the movie is fantastic, while the Blu-ray has enough exclusives to be worth the small premium in price. (On a side note, there have been reports that Hounddog's home market debut was pushed back to this week, but that appears not to be the case. It could have been pulled from the schedule temporarily, or it might have been canceled entirely.)
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March 15th, 2009
The Reader nearly reached the top five with $5.14 million on 1169 screens in 17 markets for a total of $28.35 million. The film opened in a number of smaller markets, including Belgium where it placed fifth with $174,000 on 24 screens over the weekend and $225,000 in total. However, most of its money came from holdovers, like Germany, where the film added $2.89 million on 456 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.44 million after two.
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March 4th, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire nearly doubled its weekend haul thanks to its Oscar wins, and a bit of expansion. For instance, the film opened in second place in Poland with $536,000 on 60 screens over the weekend for a total of $662,000. In the U.K. it rose from third into first place with $2.38 million on 447 screens over the weekend for a total of $36.74 million. Over in Spain it added $2.21 million on 250 screens, which was also enough for first place, while it has now made $6.00 million after three weeks of release. Overall the film made $16.94 million on 2,915 screens in 37 markets for a total of $99.71 million and will have reached the $100 million mark on Monday.
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February 25th, 2009
No major, or midlevel openings left The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button down 30% this weekend; however, it still earned more than enough to remain in top spot on the international charts.
It earned $21.20 million on 5,516 screens over the weekend in 55 markets for a total of $153.15 million, which is the second best total for a David Fincher film.
(Only Se7en earned more.)
The film's best market was Italy where it added $3.10 million on 502 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.65 million after two.
It was also very strong in France adding $3.06 million on 584 screens, giving the film a three-week total of $14.72 million.
With no major openings left ahead, the film will have to rely on holdovers to grow its worldwide box office, but it is only $50 million away from overtaking Se7en and becoming the biggest hit in David Fincher's career.
This is great news, because it was an very, very expensive movie to make.
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February 19th, 2009
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button isn't exactly bringing in the Benjamins, at least not internationally, but it is brining in the Euros and the Pounds, and the Wons. In total it made $30.49 million on 5669 screens in 49 markets for a total of $119.56 million internationally, which is nearly as much as the film has made domestically. The film opened in first place in Italy with $3.84 million on 477 screens, while it also topped the charts in South Korea with $1.84 million on 382 screens over the weekend for a total of $2.14 million. Holdovers were led by France, where the film added $4.19 million on 579 screens for a total of $10.87 million, while it climbed to first in Japan with $3.03 million on 426 screens over the weekend and $11.30 million after two. The film was solid in both the U.K. ($2.52 million on 419 screens) and in Germany ($2.49 million on 590 screens). The film now has totals of $7.27 million after two weeks in the former and $13.56 million after three weeks in the latter.
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February 17th, 2009
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Animated Feature Film and Best Feature Length Documentary.
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February 11th, 2009
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button earned first place on the international chart with $32.57 million on 4,939 screens in 42 markets for a total of $75.41 million. The film opened in first place in four major markets, led by France where it made $5.45 million on 566 screens, while it made $5.05 million on 459 screens in Spain. It was not as potent in the U.K. with $3.29 million on 425 screens and in Russia with $1.62 million. It had to settle for second place in Japan, but earned a strong $3.42 million on 427 screens. As for holdovers, the film remained in first place in Germany with $3.82 million on 605 screens over the weekend for a total of $10.27 million after two weeks of release. Benjamin Button isn't done yet and it will hit $200 million worldwide shortly, if it hasn't already, while it should top its domestic total before too long.
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February 8th, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire slipped to sixth place with $7.67 million on 1275 screens in 12 markets for a total of $42.46 million. The film had no major openings this past weekend, but it added $3.02 million on 416 screens during its fourth weekend on top of the charts in the U.K. for a total of $18.21 million in that one market.
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February 2nd, 2009
The Very Best Film 2, the sequel to The Very Best Film opened in Russia and a handful of other markets this past weekend. It scored first place in its native land with $8.38 million on 948 screens, while it earned sixth place in total with $9.29 million on 1072 screens in 4 markets. This is a serious decline from its predecessor's opening weekend, but still a strong start otherwise.
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January 25th, 2009
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa fell from second to sixth with $9.07 million on 5601 screens in 48 markets for a total of $380.42 million. No openings hurt the film this past weekend, and its only $1 million markets this past weekend were South Korea at $1.20 million on 432 screens and Poland at $1.09 million on 130. The film has made $3.76 million after two weeks in the former and $7.72 million after three weeks in the latter.
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January 22nd, 2009
For a year without an obvious front-runner for the Oscar race, there were not a whole lot of surprises when it came to the nominations. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their nominations today and leading the way was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with thirteen while Slumdog Millionaire was second with ten.
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January 18th, 2009
Australia reached a major milestone this past weekend as it topped $100 million internationally. Over the weekend the film added $12.33 million on 4901 screens in 55 markets for a total of $103.30 million internationally and $151.06 million worldwide. Additionally, with openings in Italy, Brazil, China, Russia, and Japan still ahead, the film has a shot at $200 million worldwide. That would be enough to cover the film's production budget, after taking into account Australia's generous tax incentives.
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January 9th, 2009
The final guild nominations were recently announced, and there are several theatrical categories to get to. The three guilds, DGA, PGA, and WGA, announced out eight nominations in total, which really help to fill in the gaps for prediction the Oscar nods. Or in some cases, just make matters more confusing.
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January 7th, 2009
Not only did Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa remained in first place for the third weekend in a row, and four in total, the film also managed to surpass the international total of its predecessor. It was aided by a record-breaking first place opening in Poland where the film opened with $3.22 million on 130 screens over the weekend for a total of $4.02 million. Granted, films like this tend to do very well in this market, but this is still a pleasant surprise. It was not as impressive in China with $2.43 million on 600 screens earning third place there. Holdovers were led by France, where the film added $4.50 million on 820 screens over the weekend and $38.75 million in total. Meanwhile in Italy, the film earned $3.86 million on 571 screens for a total of $29.38 million. Overall it made $31.96 million over the weekend on 6290 screens in 43 market and it now has $339.88 million internationally and $516.90 million Worldwide.
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January 5th, 2009
Ghajini was a surprise entry in the top five as the Indian film earned $12.85 million on 1347 screens in 22 markets, which is more than enough to be considered a monster hit. In fact, it set records in its native market and could break the record set by Dhoom 2 worldwide.
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December 28th, 2008
It turns out studio estimates were highly accurate, and the only real change from Wednesday's column involves a surprise $10 million film. If You Are The One opened in first place in China and fourth place internationally with $11.68 million on 1010 screens.
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December 24th, 2008
There are five films opening wide tomorrow, as well as a limited release expanding into more than 1000 theaters, which could be enough to propel it into the top ten. Given the weak new releases for the past few weeks, there is a chance all five wide releases will place in the top five, while it is unlikely any will bomb completely (even the two saddled with negative buzz). Compared to last Christmas, the box office could see some growth, which will help the year end on a positive note.
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December 21st, 2008
No new openings left Bolt out of the top five with $4.94 million on 1916 screens in 11 markets for a total of $28.69 million. Its best market was Russia where it slipped to second place with $1.20 million on 570 screens for a three-week total of $10.73 million, while it added $1.06 million on 412 screens over the weekend in Spain for a total of $3.96 million after two. The film has yet to open in most major markets, and won't until the new year, but when it is done it should surpass its domestic total while aiming for $250 million worldwide.
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December 15th, 2008
It was a rough week for new releases as none of the three debut films managed to live up to expectations, in dramatic fashion in some cases. However, holdovers did pick up some of the slack to help the overall box office to $92 million over the weekend. That was 11% higher than last weekend, but 43% lower than the same weekend last year when I Am Legend opened. Or you could compare it to the weekend when The Golden Compass opened, in which case it was nearly 12% higher. Either is acceptable. As for the year-to-date numbers, 2008 extended its lead over 2007 to 1.4% at $8.96 billion to $8.84 billion. It appears that 2008's lead is safe this late in the year, at least in terms of raw dollars. Ticket sales, on the other hand, will decline.
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December 12th, 2008
There are three wide releases this week, including the only action film in the month of December, The Day the Earth Stood Still. There's no doubt it will be the biggest hit of the week. The only real question is if it can open better than I Am Legend did this week last year and help 2008 keep pace with 2007.
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December 12th, 2008
The latest set of Awards Season nominations were handed out today as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations. There was not much in the way of surprises, and it is hard to look at one film and say it was the big winner, but Frost/Nixon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button come the closest.
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December 10th, 2008
As expected, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa earned first place on the international chart.
However, its weekend haul of $50.99 million on 5,009 screens in 33 markets was better than expected, while its total of $126.43 million internationally is close to 40% of the original's final.
Its best market of the week was Germany where it pulled in $11.43 million on 841 screens, while it also performed amazingly in France ($9.54 million on 788 screens) and in the U.K. ($9.48 million on 520). Other first place debuts included Mexico ($4.53 million on 438 screens); Switzerland ($2.51 million on 152); Belgium ($1.69 million on 115); and Austria ($1.57 million on 101).
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December 9th, 2008
The results at the box office were mixed over the weekend with a couple of films topping expectations while a few others failed at that task.
Overall, box office receipts were $82 million, which was 50% lower than last weekend; however, it was Thanksgiving long weekend last weekend so a sharp drop-off was expected.
Compared to the same weekend last year, 2008 was better, but by only 0.5%.
Year-to-date, 2008's lead on 2007 is now 0.5% at $8.72 billion to $8.68 billion.
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December 7th, 2008
Bolt started its run on the international charts in sixth place with $7.90 million on 1417 screens in 4 markets. This includes a second place, $4.30 million opening on 570 screens in Russia, while it Italy it also placed second with $2.19 million on 467 screens. Meanwhile in Poland, it topped the charts with $855,000 on 120 screens, but this is par for the course as films of this nature tend to do very well in Poland.
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December 4th, 2008
There are three wide releases this week, if you have a more forgiving definition of the term, "wide." Of these three films, none have a shot at first place, while two of them might not reach the top ten. Additionally, the holdovers will take a tumble as this is a post-holiday weekend. The only bright news is this weekend last year was even worse.
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December 2nd, 2008
Tryptophan overload wasn't enough to slow do the box office as every film matched or exceeded Thursday's predictions (or came within a rounding error of doing so). This helped the overall box office pull in $164 million over the three-day weekend and an amazing $234 million over five. Over the three-day weekend the box office was down by less than 1% from last weekend, but it was up by just under 2% over last year and nearly 3% over the five day period. (Strangely, it is $10 million behind the record, which was set in 2000. Ticket price inflation alone should have resulted in that record going down by now.) Year-to-date 2008 has now brought in $8.60 billion compared to $8.57 billion over the same period on 2007.
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November 30th, 2008
Thanksgiving weekend produced three big winners, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
At the top, Four Christmases scored an excellent $31.7 million Friday-Sunday and $46.7 million over the five-day weekend, and is the third best Thanksgiving opening ever, just behind Enchanted's opening last year.
Second place, Friday-Sunday, was taken by Bolt, which scored $26.6 million, and, very unusually these days, earned more in its second weekend than it did in its first.
In sixth place, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa also benefited from the holiday, dropping just 7% from last weekend to earn another $14.5 million.
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November 27th, 2008
The Thanksgiving long weekend has started, but none of the new releases look like they have what it takes to capture top spot. Compared to last year, there are not as many new releases this time around, nor are there any that look as strong as Enchanted was. That said, the holdovers look strong enough to compensate for this weakness.
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November 26th, 2008
The winners of our End of a Journey contest were determined and they are...
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November 25th, 2008
Wow. The winning streak at the box office continues as Twilight had the fifth best November weekend and the 32nd best opening weekend of all time. Overall, the box office pulled in $165 million, which is 10% more than last weekend and 2% more than the same weekend last year. It is important to note that there was growth year-to-year despite this weekend last year being the Thanksgiving long weekend. Year-to-date, 2008 remains ahead of 2007, but by a barely perceptible margin of $8.34 billion to $8.32 billion.
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November 23rd, 2008
Summit Entertainment have their first blockbuster.
Vampire romance Twilight opened with an amazing $70.553 million over the weekend, according to Summit's estimate.
That's the fourth best opening of 2008, and might also prove to be the fourth best opening in November, although The Incredibles will run it close. (The top three November openers are all from the Harry Potter franchise, incidentally).
Perhaps the best measure of Twilight's performance, however, is that it beat last week's debut for James Bond by $3 million, and topped Madagascar's opening two weeks ago by $7 million.
That's pretty remarkable.
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November 22nd, 2008
There were very few movies released this week, and fewer sites that are remotely noteworthy. That said, there are two sites on this week's list, Bolt - Official Site and I Can't Think Straight - Official Site, that were given the Weekly Website Award.
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November 20th, 2008
So far November has been an amazing month, and it looks like it is about to get even better. With two films showing strength at the box office, there should be no problem for the overall box office to top the same weekend last year, and there's even a chance that this week's number one film will top Quantum of Solace's opening from last week.
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November 14th, 2008
There are two saturation level releases next week. While Twilight could challenge Bolt for top spot on the chart, we are choosing the latter to be the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of Bolt.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Three - Remastered on DVD.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win Bringing Balanchine Back on DVD and The Singing Revolution on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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November 1st, 2008
October was weaker than expected with only a few films living up to expectations, and none earning $100 million at the box office. (And only one even came relatively close.) This month, there are three films that should hit $100 million for sure this month, and all three have at least a shot at $200 million. That's good news because 2008 will to close strong to keep its lead over 2007. Top of the list for anticipated films is Quantum of Solace, but there are two kids movies, Bolt and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, that are also worth paying attention to. Additionally, Awards season is starting to heat up, so look for limited releases that could earn Oscar Buzz and become breakout hits.
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August 17th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Bolt, Valkyrie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and more!
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April 10th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Bride Wars, I Love You Phillip Morris, New York, I Love You, and more!
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January 3rd, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Bolt, Snow Angels, The Trial of the Chicago 7, and more!
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June 8th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Death Race, Prince of Persia, Narnia 3 and more.
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