September 29th, 2008
There were plenty of new releases on this week's sales chart, nine in fact, but they generally didn't perform as strongly as last week's group. Leading the way was Speed Racer with 406,000 units sold, and $8.40 million in revenue generated, which is relatively better than its theatrical run.
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September 29th, 2008
There were almost as many new releases to reach the top 30 on the rental charts as there were on the sales chart this week, but there were some key differences, including the top spot. The number one rental of the week was Made of Honor, which generated about 20% more revenue than Speed Racer.
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September 23rd, 2008
Aaaahhhhhh! POP! ... That sound you just heard was my head exploding. This week we had a new record for spotlight reviews, and with TV on DVD kicking into high gear and summer blockbusters starting to come out soon, I don't think it will slow down. (Additionally, I have close to a dozen DVDs that arrived late, and I was only able to get to less than half of them for this week. So look for another huge batch next week.) As for the quality releases, there were a few that caught my eye, but none more than The Godfather Trilogy on Blu-ray. Sure, it doesn't push the high definition format, but this is the best these films have looked in decades and any film buff will want to have them in their collection. Meanwhile, last week's release of Duckman - Season One and Two also deserves to be awarded the DVD Pick of the Week. While there are not as many releases this week as last, there are so many spotlight reviews that the list had to be split into to. Part II can be found here.
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September 15th, 2008
We have a big list this week with more than 50 releases. This includes very few top-notch, first run releases, but that weakness is counterbalanced by the strength in the TV on DVD department, including a few contenders for DVD Pick of the Week like Duckman - Season One & Two and Pushing Daisies - Season One on DVD or Blu-ray. If I were to choose just one release this week, it would be the former; however, I think the latter has a better chance at mainstream appeal. As I previously said, this is a huge list this week, so much so that it had to be split into two parts. Part one can be found here.
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September 15th, 2008
We have a big list this week with more than 50 releases. This includes very few top-notch, first run releases, but that weakness is counterbalanced by the strength in the TV on DVD department, including a few contenders for DVD Pick of the Week like Duckman - Season One & Two and Pushing Daisies - Season One on DVD or Blu-ray. If I were to choose just one release this week, it would be the former; however, I think the latter has a better chance at mainstream appeal. As I previously said, this is a huge list this week, so much so that it had to be split into two parts. Part two can be found here.
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September 8th, 2008
TV on DVD is at its peak for the year, just in time for the new season to start. However, because last season was cut short by the writers' strike, and so many studios are not taking that into account in the pricing, there are fewer releases at are contenders for DVD Pick of the Week. But we do have a worthy recipient of the award, Fist of Legend - Buy from Amazon, the latest release from Dragon Dynasty. Also, while the week was slow on top, it was busy overall, so much so that we had to split the week's list into two parts again. Part I can be found here.
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August 10th, 2008
Hancock fell from second to sixth with $12.03 million on 5425 screens in 68 markets, however, it still reached $300 million internationally since last week and now has a running tally of $319.43 million. Its best market of the weekend was Spain where it added $1.92 million on 567 screens over the weekend for a total of $20.56 million after two. Meanwhile, its best market overall remains the U.K. where it has $47.09 million after a month of release, including $900,000 on 318 screens this past weekend. With Japan and Italy still ahead, the film should become Will Smith's second $600 million movie, but it will end well back of Independence Day.
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July 20th, 2008
Kung Fu Panda grew to its biggest yet pulling in $45.32 million on 6314 screens in 49 markets for a total of $221.64 million. This includes openings in France where it placed second with $8.64 million on 743 screens for the full week and in Spain where it topped the charts with $6.29 million on 581 screens. The film's best holdover was The U.K. where it slipped a spot to third with $5.55 million on 456 screens for a two-week total of $21.57 million. It also held well in Germany adding $4.54 million on 838 screens for a two-week total of $11.14 million while it now has $20.38 million in Australia, including $3.17 million on 361 screens during this past weekend. Meanwhile, the film has yet to open in Italy or Japan, as well as a few other smaller markets, and should have no trouble reaching $300 million before long.
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July 1st, 2008
June ended on a high at the box office with the combined ticket sales reaching $185 million. That's close to 30% more than last weekend and nearly 20% more than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2008 was able to extend its lead over 2007, but it is still above last year's pace by less than a percent, $4.52 billion to $4.49 billion. With almost nothing but good news recently, it's hard not to get optimistic about the state of the industry right now.
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June 23rd, 2008
It was another strong weekend at the box office, at least compared to last year, and almost every film matched expectations nearly perfectly. (Get used to reading that phrase.) Overall the box office earned $143 million during the past three days, which is 20% lower than last weekend. On the other hand, it was nearly 9% higher than the same weekend last year and that was just enough to push 2008 into the lead over 2007 at $4.27 billion to $4.26 billion. Ticket sales are still down nearly 3%, but that too could change.
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June 22nd, 2008
Get Smart overcame mediocre reviews to record a stronger-than-expected opening over the weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The spy comedy scored a very respectable $39.2 million weekend, with a per theater average just topping $10,000.
That's a significant advance over Steve Carell's last Summer blockbusting effort, Evan Almighty, which opened with $31.2 million this weekend last year.
This weekend's other comedy opening, however, was more, err, flaccid.
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June 21st, 2008
Slow week for new releases, therefore, it's a slow week for websites. However, at least ever release had a site, and none were below average, while the best was The Love Guru - Official Site.
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June 19th, 2008
The outlook for this weekend is mixed. On the one hand, very few people are expecting this week's two new releases to match last week's openings. However, most expect them to top last year's new entries, which is the more important task. This, along with the better holdovers, could be enough to push 2008 over 2007's pace for the first time in a long time.
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June 1st, 2008
June is filled with top picks, and practically only top picks. The best schedule for the overall health of the movie industry is only two wide releases, the potential blockbuster and the counter-programming release. This month that's exactly what happens; however, almost every week the counter-programming film has a serious shot at $100 million as well. If everything goes well, then we could have 8 films opening this month that crack 9 digits and that would put 2008 back on track. Even a more conservative estimate has four $100 million movies coming out this month, but there's a lot of uncertainty involved here. On the limited front, none of May's limited releases managed to breakout and expand wide, so there's still an opening for sleeper hit of the summer. That role could be filled by The Promotion, which appears to have the best shot at escaping the art hour circuit and reaching multiplexes.
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March 30th, 2008
Another slow week for top-notch websites with only one that could separate itself from the pack. That site is 21 - Official Site and it was the clear winner of the Weekly Website Award. However, there are a few others that are also worth checking out.
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March 28th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Crazy on the Outside, Two Lovers, W., and more!
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September 6th, 2007
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Valkyrie, the Love Guru, and more!
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August 23rd, 2007
This week's round of new cast information contains updates for Day Zero, The Fighter, He's Just Not That Into You and more!
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June 23rd, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Michael Clayton, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Love Guru and more.
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