June 8th, 2010
This time of year is normally very slow at the home market. It's too late for the last of the winter blockbusters to find their way onto DVD, while it is too early for the flood of TV on DVD releases coming out to promote the upcoming season. However, thanks to a better than expected spring at the box office, we have another strong week at the top. The best-selling release is Shutter Island. While that movie is good enough to be worth picking up on its own, the DVD and Blu-ray are weak enough to prevent it from being the Pick of the Week. To find the Pick of the Week we have to go a little further down the sales list till we get to Not the Messiah: He's a Very Naughty Boy on Blu-ray from Amazon and Animation Express on Blu-ray.
More...
April 15th, 2007
Wild Hogs had its best performance of its run so far climbing into sixth place with $3.33 million on 817 screens in 8 markets for a total of $18.43 million after a month of release. About half of that came from the film's number one debut in Mexico where it earned $1.33 million on 355 screens over the weekend and $1.67 million including previews while the film did reasonable business in Taiwan with $345,000 on 40. Its best market to date has been Australia where the film has earned $11.30 million, including $907,000 on 263 screens this past weekend.
More...
March 25th, 2007
The French film, Taxi 4, just missed the top five with $3.94 million on 1255 screens in 7 markets for a total of $49.56 million. Obviously, most of that has come from France, $35.70 million in fact, but the film is also doing well in Russia with $10.63 million so far, including $2.22 million on 466 screens over the weekend.
More...
March 18th, 2007
There was quite an international flavor on the charts this past weekend with five local hits charting, and one more just missing that mark. The best of these was Lubov Morkov, which opened in sixth place with $5.38 million on 492 screens in 4 markets over the weekend and $6.28 million in total. Of this amount, $4.90 million on 427 screens was earned over the weekend in Russia while it managed $5.80 million including midweek numbers.
More...
March 11th, 2007
Music and Lyrics remained in sixth place with $5.64 million on 1645 screens in 18 markets for a total of $32.01 million internationally. The film disappointed domestically, but it appears to be making up for that softness on the international scene. The film's best opening of the weekend came from South Korea where it placed second with $2.06 million on 144 screens while it also grabbed second place in Brazil with $490,000 on 140. Holdovers were led by the U.K. where the film earned $1.09 million on 364 screens during its fourth week of release for a total of $15.71 million in that market alone. That's close to a $100 million run here, taking into account the relative sizes of the two markets.
More...
January 28th, 2007
Apocalypto climbed into sixth place despite dropping 13% to $6.72 million on 2072 screens for a total of $37.90 million. Its best market of the week was Spain where it opened in first place with $1.94 million on 283 screens.
More...
January 27th, 2007
New releases dominated both charts on the home market with
Employee of the Month taking top spot on the rental charts with just $5.31 million during its first week of release.
More...
January 23rd, 2007
The
Oscar nominations were handed out today and for the most part they've followed the script written by previous awards committees fairly closely.
More...
January 20th, 2007
There were plenty of
new releases this week, but all but two missed the top 10. However, those two DVDs finished one-two on the charts.
Crank topped
The Illusionist $6.09 million to $5.59 million.
More...
January 8th, 2007
It's a strange week for DVD releases. On the one hand, there's not a big selection of releases coming out this week. On the other hand, half the ones on this list are worth adding to your DVD collection.
Back to the original hand, none are really worthy of DVD Pick of the Week. Idiocracy - Buy from Amazon is a good movie, but has no where near the extras needed.
The Illusionist - Buy from Amazon comes close but still falls just short.
MI-5 - Volume 4 - Buy from Amazon is a great package, but at a price that will scare off casual fans.
In the end, while I rated a lot of DVDs as buys, none are worth the DVD Pick of the Week.
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 29th, 2006
As always, Award Season officially begins with the announcing of the
Independent Spirit Award nominations. While this is the first major awards to announce their nominations, they are one of the last to hand them out so the nominees have a long wait ahead of them.
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...
October 17th, 2006
The Queen led the per theatre charts for the third weekend in a row, taking in an average of $22,228 in its 46 theatres.
Granted, the film has a while to catch up to the more than 50 year reign of Queen Elizabeth II, but this is still a very rare feat for a film to accomplish.
Second place went to newcomer Sweet Land with an unexpected opening weekend average of $20,930.
The only other film to top $10,000 was Little Children as the film held up very well, dipping less than 14% to $16,910.
More...
October 3rd, 2006
The Queen was crowned champion of the per theatre charts this weekend after it earned an astounding $122,000 in 3 theatres for an average of $40,671. Even more impressive is the fact that it earned that in just two days as Friday's debut was actually part of the New York Film Festival and not a theatrical release. Second place went to another regally titled film, The Last King of Scotland; this film brought in $143,000 in 4 theatres for an average of $35,725. Even more impressive is the fact that it opened on Wednesday, which undoubtedly kept its weekend box office lower than it otherwise would have been. Both films seemed poised to earn some measure of mainstream success, which will really help their chances come awards season.
There were two other films to top $10,000 on the per theatre charts, Old Joy at $13,029 and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints at $11,848.
More...
September 26th, 2006
The Science of Sleep started its theatrical run atop the per theatre charts with nearly $350,000 in 14 theatres for an average of $24,852. The studio hopes to expand the film into 200 theatres this weekend but it is too soon to tell if the film will be able to attract an audience outside the art house circuit.
Second place went to American Hardcore as the documentary took in $18,102 in its lone theatre. Next up were a pair of holdovers with Old Joy earning $17,556 in one theatre, which is more than it made during its entire, nearly month-long release. Finally, Keeping Mum fell just 25.67% to just over $20,000 in 2 theatres for an average of $10,077.
More...
September 19th, 2006
After struggling nearly everywhere it played, including its native U.K., Keeping Mum led the way on the per theatres charts with an average of $13,556 in two theatres. This could be enough for it to earn some measure of mainstream success, but that's far from guaranteed. The U.S. vs John Lennon opened with nearly $70,000 in 6 theatres for an average of $11,524, which was just ahead of the only holdover to top $10,000, Man Push Cart with $11,002 in its lone theatre.
More...
September 12th, 2006
Red Doors earned top spot on the per theatre charts after starting its theatrical run with just over $35,000 in its two theatres for an average of $17,525. Hopefully this will allow the film to expand in the coming weeks. Man Push Cart was the only other film to top $10,000 as it took in $13,694 in its lone theatre.
More...
September 12th, 2006
The second weekend in September is quite often the slowest weekend of the year, and that appears to be the case here. Overall the total box office was a mere $71 million.
To put that into perspective, if that was earned by just one film this weekend, it would only place fourth on the list of 2006's biggest openings.
Needless to say, the overall box office was down this weekend, by a massive 31.3% from the last weekend.
Compared to the same weekend last year the decline was smaller at 18.2%, but that was a more devastating result in the overall scheme of things.
More...
September 7th, 2006
This week we have a trio of new releases opening wide, but only one of them managed a theater count above 2,000.
I suppose the studios for the other two films are hoping to earn high per theater averages and expand in the coming weeks based on strong word-of-mouth.
But that almost never works.
More...
September 6th, 2006
This Film is Not Yet Rated started its run with a first place finish on the per theatre charts as it took in $30,664 in 2 theatres for an average of $15,332. The only other film to top $10,000 was Mutual Appreciation with $13,142 in its lone theatre.
More...
September 6th, 2006
Labor Day long weekend is the official end of the movie summer season and this year it ended on a high note. While the 3-day total was 1.4% lower than last weekend, the $102 million it earned was 8.7% better than the same weekend last year. Adding in Monday and the box office reached $129 million, up 9.2% from last year.
More...
September 4th, 2006
It's the Labor Day today, which means there will be a one day delay in a few regular columns including the weekend wrap up and the per theatre charts. The DVD release column will be published late tonight, very late tonight. Perhaps even in the early morning hours of tomorrow. In the meantime, here are the studio estimates for the weekend numbers...
More...
September 1st, 2006
It's the Labor Day weekend, the weakest long weekend in the movie business.
There are a trio of new releases trying to take on Invincible's undefeated record (current winning streak: 1), but the odds of there being a new winner this weekend are 50 / 50.
More...
August 29th, 2006
The Illusionist was able to climb to the top of the per theatre charts this week despite seeing its theatre count nearly triple. The film's average of $12,745 was significantly, but not overwhelmingly ahead of second place Suicide Killers, which earned $10,601 in its lone theatre. Half Nelson, which led the charts the previous two weeks, slipped to third but still managed to maintain its $10,000 per theatre average with nearly $211,000 in 21 theatres for an average of $10,036.
More...
August 22nd, 2006
Half Nelson was able to remain on top of the per theatre charts, barely, with an average of $18,755 in three theatres.
That was less than $1,000 ahead of the second place film, The Illusionist and its $18,195 average; that figure is made even more impressive by the film's 51 theatre count, which is very high for a limited release and usually causes serious problems because the distributor can't do national advertising, but local advertising in lots of markets becomes very expensive.
For the third weekend in a row, The Wedding Curse's average topped $10,000 as it earned just over $50,000 in 3 theatres for an average of $17,271. Another holdover rounded out the list of $10,000 films as Viva Pedro saw its box office dip less than 24% to $10,227 in its lone theatre.
More...
August 1st, 2006
July finally brought us the year's first truly monster his with
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, but outside that film, most of the month disappointed. With August being a bit of a dumping ground for films that didn't work out, the weakness in the box office should continue. Add in a few surprise hits last year and 2006 may have trouble keeping up with last years pace.
More...
July 7th, 2006
After the busiest week in more than a month, we have the slowest. While there are several good sites on this week's list, they are either a bit below the award-worthy level, or they are all award winners. So the Weekly Website Award is taking a vacation this week.
More...