October 12th, 2008
New releases did better on the rental chart than they did on the sales chart with six films placing in the top 30, including Iron Man, which topped the charts generating 25% more revenue than a fellow new release, Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
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October 6th, 2008
New releases were plentiful on the sales chart this week, but after the new number one release, they were not that strong. That new release was Sex and the City, which sold 1.72 million units raising $38.56 million in opening week revenue.
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October 6th, 2008
Sex and the City led a group of five new releases on this week's rental chart, pulling in 25% more revenue than the second place Leatherheads.
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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 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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July 13th, 2008
Kung Fu Panda saw its weekend numbers climb by close to 70%, and its weekend haul of $40.16 million on 5325 screens in 40 markets was the best of its run so far. A run that has brought in $154.13 million so far. However, it still remained in second place thanks to the opening of Hancock. The film had a pair of second place openings including the U.K. where it made $8.63 million on 446 screens over the weekend for a total of $11.96 million. Meanwhile in Germany it was not as strong with $4.48 million on 831 screens, but it still managed second place. The film also slipped to second place in Australia, but it held well down just 24% to $3.83 million on 363 screens over the weekend for a total of $13.63 million.
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July 6th, 2008
Sex and the City fell more than 40% this past weekend, but still eared $12.94 million on 5991 screens in 53 markets over the weekend for a total of $198.97 million after a month of release. The film had no major, or even midlevel openings, in fact, it's only market of note where it hasn't opened in yet is Japan, where it does make its nationwide debut at the end of August. However, it still did well in a number of markets cracking $1 million in Australia ($1.58 million on 365 screens), Russia ($1.50 million on 496), U.K. ($1.18 million on 388), and Spain ($1.08 million on 359). In fact, in the U.K. the film has earned $49.24 million after a month of release, which is even better than it managed domestically, if you take into account the relative size of the two markets.
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June 29th, 2008
The Happening fell from first to fifth with just $14.05 million on 5579 screens in 65 markets for a total of $56.40 million after two weeks. Good news, it was able to remain in first place in France despite falling 60% to $1.93 million on 550 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.68 million after two. On the other hand, it fell from first to third in Spain down 65% to $1.20 million on 387 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.41 million after two. Even worse, it was down just under 80% in Italy and just over 80% in South Korea earning $367,000 on 338 screens and $206,000 on 293 screens respectively. Its totals of $2.77 million in the former and $2.18 million in the latter are hardly impressive, and well below its domestic run. This is a shocking decline, especially since films tend to have better legs internationally than they have domestically. And while it should earn more on the international marketplace, there's little hope of reaching $200 million worldwide now.
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June 22nd, 2008
Sex and the City was knocked out of top spot with $23.71 million on 5591 screens in 44 markets for a total of $136.00 million after three weeks of release. Its biggest opening came from the Netherlands, which is a midlevel market at best, but it earned $810,000 on 108 screens over the weekend and $1.23 million in total. This is a very strong opening and the film will have little trouble topping Iron Man in the market and will even come relatively close to Indiana Jones And The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull's total. Additionally, the film earned $4.29 million on 452 screens during its second weekend in Australia for a total of $14.88 million while in the U.K. it pulled in $3.50 million on 470 screens over the weekend lifting its total of $39.80 million after three.
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June 15th, 2008
Kung Fu Panda started its international run in third place with $20.46 million on 1521 screens in 9 markets. The film reportedly set records in a number of its smaller, Southeast Asian debuts while its brought in an impressive $8.26 million on 821 screens in Russia and $7.84 million on 632 screens in South Korea (including midweek numbers). Next up for the film is Australia and Mexico next weekend while it has major market opening throughout the summer.
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June 8th, 2008
Sex and the City made its international debut this past weekend, and while it wasn't able to top the charts like it did domestically, it still managed a fantastic $32.77 million on 3590 screens in 14 markets over the weekend for a total of $37.52 million. Its biggest opening came in the U.K. where it dominated the market with $17.22 million on 460 screens, which is equivalent to an $80 million to $100 million opening here. It also finished first in Germany with $7.41 million on 836 screens. It also did very well in France with $6.12 million on 551 screens and in Italy with $2.74 million on 552 screens, finishing second in both markets. The film opened in Australia and South Korea this past weekend, while it doesn't end its run till late August with Japan and it should reach several major milestones before then.
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June 1st, 2008
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian slipped 21% during its sophomore stint adding $19.35 million on 3681 screens in 13 markets for a still early total of $51.26 million. This includes a first place, $5.34 million opening on 782 screens over the weekend in Japan, while the film has $7.81 million including midweek numbers. This was below the original's opening in that market of $8.92 million, which is troubling. More troubling news came in Mexico where it was down 51% to $3.05 million on 842 screens over the weekend for a total of $11.58 million while in Russia it was down 55% to $3.03 million on 735 screens over the weekend for a total of $11.54 million after two.
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May 25th, 2008
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian opened in second place on the international charts with $23.31 million on 3037 screens in 12 markets giving it the best per screen average on this week's list. The film only opened in three major markets, but it finished first in all of them. This includes Russia where it managed $6.73 million on 735 screens and Mexico where it earned $6.27 million on 842 and in both cases it opened significantly higher than the original. On the other hand, while it managed first place in South Korea, its opening of $3.42 million on 670 screens over the weekend and a total of $3.90 million is significantly lower than the originals opening of $3.94 million on 262 screens over three days and $5.22 million in total. Next up for the film is its debut in Japan this weekend, while it has major openings all the way till late August.
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May 19th, 2008
The weekend box office was ... mixed, to be generous. The box office leader, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, missed expectations by $30 million, give or take, while the overall box office numbers was also well below expectations at $132 million. At least this was above last weekend's box office tally by about 5%, but below last year's pace by a flabbergasting 27%. Year-to-date 2008 lost even more ground and is now behind last year's pace by nearly 4% $3.21 billion to $3.09 billion. Things need to turn around soon lest the narrative becomes the slumping box office, however, I don't see that happening.
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May 18th, 2008
Like it did domestically, What Happens in Vegas... managed to open in second place on the international charts. It was able to do so in part because it opened in nearly every major market over the past weekend earning solid openings in many of them. This includes second place in both the U.K. ($2.47 million on 398 screens), in France ($2.36 million on 304 screens), and in Australia ($2.33 million on 335). It also placed first in Spain with an impressive $3.77 million on 398 screens and also topped the charts in both Russia and Germany with $3.70 million on 476 screens $1.85 million on 500 screens respectively. Overall it managed to pull in $24.86 million on 3904 screens in 36 markets during its opening weekend on the charts, and should have little difficulty matching its domestic total.
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May 15th, 2008
There's little doubt which film will come out on top this weekend, as The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is the only film opening wide this weekend. The real competition are three other films that opened earlier, sometimes much earlier. The first is the film that started this summer, Iron Man, the second is the biggest hit from the same weekend last year, Shrek the Third, and the final one is the film that started the franchise, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Prince Caspian will be judged a success or a failure not whether or not it can finish first, but how it does in comparison to these other films.
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May 12th, 2008
It was a good news / bad news weekend, but let's focus on the good first. Iron Man beat expectations and that helped the overall box office top $125 million over the weekend. This was 21% lower than last weekend, but, more importantly, it was 18% more than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2008 is still behind, but it is cutting into 2007's lead and is now down just $2.93 billion to $3.01 billion.
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May 11th, 2008
The release of Iron Man hit The Forbidden Kingdom knocking it into second place with $9.63 million on 2062 screens in 11 markets for a total of $40.51 million. The film had no major openings, but it did make $1.10 million on 398 screens over the weekend in South Korea for a total of $5.63 million.
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May 8th, 2008
Speed Racer tries to maintain 2008's momentum; however, there's little chance it will match Iron Man's opening, or even its sophomore stint. In fact, many pundits don't think it will be able to match Iron Man's opening during its entire run. That said, the combined weight of the new releases and the holds could lift this weekend over last year's total, which is the real goal at this point.
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May 5th, 2008
Summer started with a bang, and a whimper... it depends on what you compare it to. Over the weekend, the box office totaled $159 million in ticket sales, which is 75% more than last weekend. However, it is also 16% less than the same weekend last year when Spider-man 3 smashed the record for biggest opening weekend. Compared to expectations, this was a great start; compared to last year, 2008 continues to struggle.
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May 4th, 2008
Iron Man is heading towards $100 million, the 2nd-biggest opening by a non-sequel and the 10th-biggest opening weekend of all time, according to Paramount's estimates, released on Sunday.
The current estimate stands at $100.75 million, which leaves some uncertainty over whether Iron Man will top the magical $100 million level, but either way the performance is incredibly impressive for a movie with less of a built-in audience than the likes of Harry Potter or Spider-Man.
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May 3rd, 2008
Iron Man kicks off the summer blockbuster season this weekend, and since it scared award most of the competition at the box office, there's little competition when it comes to movie websites. Its Official Site was the only one really in contention for the Weekly Website Award and it was the easy winner.
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May 3rd, 2008
After attracting an estimated $5.1 million from previews on Thursday, Iron Man opened in all theaters on Friday and earned a giant $34.5 million, according to our estimates.
That's going to make it about the 25th-biggest day of all time (see complete list) and either the second- or third-best performance by a non-sequel.
Spider-Man holds the record in that category with a $39.4 million opening day back in 2002, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone made $33.5 million when it opened in 2001.
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May 1st, 2008
Summer unofficially starts this weekend with the release of Iron Man, which actually opened on Thursday night. There is little doubt that it will finish on top of the box office chart this weekend. The real question is how far up the all-time chart it will go.
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May 1st, 2008
2008 has stumbled pretty badly recently, but, with the past two weekends beating their 2007 counterparts, it looks like it is getting back on track. Hopefully this can continue in May. On the one hand, the start of the Summer should reinvigorate the box office numbers with a few potential $300 million hits opening over the five weekends and two more films that should reach $100 million. Here's the problem: Last year, there were three monster hits that opened in May and they earned a combined box office close to $1 billion. If any of the big three this month (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and Iron Man) stumble, then there will be almost no way 2008 can keep pace with 2007.
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May 20th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Game Plan, Prom Night, Ice Age 3 and more.
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April 8th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Mr. Bean's Holiday, The Other Boleyn Girl, 21 and more.
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March 4th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Wendell Baker Story, Made of Honor, Star Trek XI and more.
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