January 11th, 2011
Only two new releases charted this week, and only one of them could lay claim to top spot. That DVD was Resident Evil: Afterlife, which sold 576,000 units and generated $9.86 million in opening week sales. On the other hand, Despicable Me could also legitimately claim first place with $9.98 million in revenue from 565,000 units. So far that film has sold 5.73 million DVDs for $96.82 million in total sales.
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December 28th, 2010
There were seven new releases to chart this week, including the new number one. In fact, that new number one dominated in a surprising way and none of the other new releases managed to make much of an impact at the box office. Despicable Me led the way with 3.75 million units sold and $62.70 million. If there were any doubts about a sequel, this ended them, as the film is already in the top ten for the year.
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December 27th, 2010
It's the last week of the year and despite some choices for Boxing Week sales, there's not a lot interesting on this week's list of DVD and Blu-ray releases. There are barely more than a dozen releases, and some of those I wouldn't have mentioned had it been busier. As for Pick of the Week, there's only one contender, Archer: Season One. It's a very funny, and very demented show and even though I'm not 100% happy with the extras, it is definitely worth picking up.
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December 25th, 2010
The A-Team is a show that a lot of children of the 80s grew up on. These same kids are probably the right age to be making major decisions at studios, so it should come as no surprise that it was adapted into a movie. A-Team should have been a sure hit this this past summer, but it never really caught on with audiences here, finishing with just over $75 million on a $110 million budget. It performed only marginally better internationally, while it will need strong home market numbers to break even. Does it deserve to find an audience on the home market? And is the Blu-ray worth picking up over just renting?
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December 13th, 2010
This week we have the last of the major summer blockbusters hitting the home market, and not only did Despicable Me earn $250 million domestically and more than $500 million worldwide, it also earned amazing reviews. This makes it an obvious contender for Pick of the Week. Unfortunately, the screener is late, and I hate to award that honor to a release when this is the case. As far as its competition is concerned, there are two main releases vying for that title: The Quintessential Guy Maddin! on DVD and The Town on Blu-ray. Despite my well-documented pro-Canada bias, I'm giving it to the latter.
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August 8th, 2010
Over the past weekend, Toy Story 3 fell to second place on the international chart with $38.69 million on 7806 screens in 42 markets. However, it rose to second place for 2010 on the international chart with $436.65 million overtaking Shrek Forever After. The only 2010 release that has made more internationally is Alice in Wonderland. Worldwide it now has $826.41 million and it has very likely already surpassed Finding Nemo to become Pixar's biggest hit. The film's only major release of the week came in Germany over the weekend, where it made $4.03 million on 740 screens, bringing the total to $4.35 million. While this is a good result, its not great, and prior to this the film had been doing great. It also remained in the top spot in the U.K. over the weekend, with $12.81 million on 564 screens, for a two week total of $62.82 million. It has likely overtaken Alice in Wonderland to become the biggest hit of 2010 released in that market. As for the film's future, it has yet to open in South Korea and Scandinavia. If it does well in those markets, $1 billion worldwide is still within reach.
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July 11th, 2010
In an age of day-and-date global releases, Shrek Forever After is taking the slow route. This week it opened in a number of major markets, which propelled it into second place with $42.57 million on 4,484 screens in 25 markets for a total of $137.12 million internationally and $369.40 million worldwide.
In the U.K. it opened with $13.56 million on 539 screens, which was easily enough for first place.
However, its predecessor made $33.45 million during its opening three years ago. Ouch. In France it made $10.77 million on 842 screens, down from $13.05 million. South Korea produced $6.37 million on 627 screens, including midweek numbers, down from $10.74 million. Finally, in Germany it made $5.11 million on 767 screens, down from $7.84 million. The film is still a major hit and will have no trouble earning a profit; however, it is still the weakest in the franchise when you look at ticket sales.
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July 4th, 2010
Knight and Day started its international run in second place with $12.42 million on 2241 screens in 12 markets. It opened in first place in Russia with $3.33 million on 949 screens, while it also took top spot in South Korea with $3.04 million on 565 screens over the weekend and $3.76 million in total. Next up for the film is the U.K. this weekend, while it has major market openings right till October when it debuts in Japan.
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June 28th, 2010
It was no surprise that Toy Story 3 was able to remain on top of the box office chart for the second weekend in a row. Also, the new releases combined did about as well as expected. Unfortunately, "as well as expected" still left the box office down 17% from last weekend at $165 million. Coincidentally, it was also down 17% from last year. 2010 is still leading 2009, but its margin is slipping and, as of the end of the weekend, it is just 2.1% ahead at $5.22 billion to $5.11 billion.
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June 26th, 2010
The A-Team climbed to second place with $13.97 million on 4929 screens in 48 markets for a total of $34.74 million. New openings this past weekend include France, where it made $3.05 million on 621 screens. On the one hand, that was enough for first place. On the other hand, that's not a particularly strong start, especially for a summer blockbuster. It was only half has much as Prince of Persia opened with, for instance. In Italy it had a similar result with a first place, $1.11 million opening on 354 screens. That said, if it can earn half of what Prince of Persia does, then The A-Team will end its run with more than $100 million internationally and close to $200 million worldwide. As long as it is a hit on the home market, that will be enough to show a profit eventually, particularly if you take into account increased DVD sales for the TV series it is based on.
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June 24th, 2010
Two new wide releases look to unseat Toy Story 3 this weekend, including one that got its start on Wednesday.
There's good news, at least for Pixar, as it appears Toy Story 3 will walk away with the win.
There's bad news for the industry, as it appears both new releases could struggle to match earlier expectations.
And then there's the ugly news.
This time last year saw the release of Revenge of the Fallen, so the year-over-year comparison could be... well... ugly.
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June 21st, 2010
It has been 15 years since Pixar essentially created the digital animation market.
In that time, it has proven to be the most consistent studio both in terms of quality and box office success.
That was reinforced this weekend, as Toy Story 3 easily won the box office race, setting a few records along the way.
Overall, the box office brought in $199 million, which was the best weekend of 2010 since the first weekend of the year (when Avatar was still dominating the chart). Box office was up nearly 32% from last weekend, and more importantly, up just over 32% from last year. 2010 has now earned an impressive $4.95 billion, which is is 4% higher than last year's pace. However, a lot of this is due to the inflated 3D ticket prices and attendance is still down more than 2% from last year.
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June 17th, 2010
Pixar releases its eleventh feature-length film this weekend. And considering its previous ten have all opened in first place (assuming you discount prestige limited releases) this is reason for Disney to celebrate.
In fact, it could be reason for the industry as a whole to celebrate, considering more than 10 million tickets could be sold for this movie, which means more than 10 million people watching trailers for upcoming releases, seeing posters for new movies, etc.
Compared to last year, Toy Story 3 could make more than the top five combined, which should help boost 2010's lead over 2009.
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June 16th, 2010
There were no new releases that dominated the international box office, which allowed Sex and the City 2 to remain in first place with $23.86 million on 7204 screens in 58 markets for a total of $133.04 million internationally and $217.70 million worldwide. The film opened in South Korea, but bombed with just $676,000 on 303 screens over the weekend and $856,000 in total. On the other hand, it remained in first place in the U.K. with $2.19 million on 542 screens over the weekend for a total of $25.59 million after three weeks of release. This film might not make as much worldwide as the original made internationally, but $250 million at the global box office should still be enough to show a profit sometime during the home market. However, don't expect the franchise to be stretched to a trilogy.
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June 14th, 2010
The winners of our A-List Prizes contest were determined and they are...
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June 14th, 2010
It turns out that the battle of the 80s superstars was a one-sided affair, as The Karate Kid easily took the top spot. Overall, the box office brought in $151 million over the weekend, which was 18% higher than last weekend and nearly 10% higher than the same weekend last year. It will take a few more weekends like this before the exuberance from earlier in the year returns, but this is a welcome result. Year-to-date, 2010 has now made $4.68 billion compared to last year's running tally of $4.53 billion, but its lead is due to much higher ticket prices. Attendance is down by 3%.
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June 13th, 2010
The Karate Kid won the battle of the '80s revivals over the weekend with a solid $56,000,000, well ahead of The A-Team, which could only manage $26,000,000.
In what has been a very disappointing Summer so far, a $50 million plus opening for a franchise revival has to be considered a success, and it will almost certainly give Sony their first $100 million hit of the year.
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June 10th, 2010
It's The A-Team vs. The Karate Kid in a battle of 1980s cultural icons. Analysts seem to be evenly split on which of these will spawn the box office champion this weekend, but most expect both of them to at least be mid-level hits. Almost all of them expect them to both top last year's two new releases, probably combined. They might even do well enough to help 2010 end its slump.
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June 4th, 2010
There are two saturation level releases coming out next week, but while The Karate Kid is likely going to be the wider release, I think The A-Team will top the charts and it is therefore 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 The A-Team.
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 Family Guy: Volume 8 on DVD, as well as American Dad!: Volume 5 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 also win a copy of Family Guy: Volume 8 on DVD, as well as American Dad!: Volume 5 on DVD.
Finally, one additional person will be chosen at random and they will win the final copy of Family Guy: Volume 8 on DVD, as well as American Dad!: Volume 5 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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June 1st, 2010
So far this summer the disappointments are outnumbering the pleasant surprises by a disturbing margin. Granted, we've only just finished May, but none of the May wide releases met expectations. None. Iron Man 2 was still a massive hit, but no film since then has come close to matching its box office prowess and we are coming close to hitting the panic button at the box office. Worse still, June of 2009 was better than expected with two massive hits that came out of nowhere. Plus, there was the release of the Revenge of the Fallen, which for much of the year looked like it would be the biggest hit of 2009. So, do we have any films likely to do as well as Revenge this June? Maybe. And hopefully we will have more depth, because outside those three films, the rest of June 2009 struggled.
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March 25th, 2008
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
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March 23rd, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Cry, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The A-Team and more!
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March 20th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for The Grand, The Proposal, The Legend of Secret Pass, and more!
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