December 18th, 2020
What will be a long, slow, and painful process of recover at the box office starts this weekend with the wide release of films from two studios that have largely stayed on the sidelines over the past few months, both in terms of releasing films, and in terms of creating headlines. Monster Hunter from Sony Pictures is getting the widest debut, in 1,736 theaters, and is likely to win the weekend. Fatale is Lionsgate’s offering and opens in 1,107 locations. We might not yet be at the “acceptance” stage of grief in the theatrical market, but we do at least now have four major studios releasing films wide, with the two newcomers joining Universal and Warner Bros., who have taken more controversial routes that combine wide releases with early PVOD or streaming debuts for their films.
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January 8th, 2013
There were half-a-dozen new releases to chart on the November 11th edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. This includes The Amazing Spider-Man, which earned first place with 641,000 units / $14.37 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 54%, which is impressive, but one has to assume the studio was hoping for more. Then again, the film is more than profitable enough to ensure a sequel.
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November 13th, 2012
New releases this week are dominated by one title, Brave. The second best selling title according to Amazon.com is Lawrence of Arabia, which is a film that should be in everyone's collection, but as a catalog title, it likely won't sell a huge number of units. The third best selling title according to Amazon.com is Duck Dynasty: Season One. That's not a good sign. Fortunately, Brave is clearly Pick of the Week material with the Blu-ray Combo Pack or 3D Combo Pack battling for that honor.
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November 7th, 2012
The Muppet Christmas Carol came out on theaters 20 years ago and while it was only a midlevel hit in theaters, it has developed a more loyal following on the home market and is a perennial Christmas favorite. This week, it made its Blu-ray debut, but is the film worth picking up in high definition?
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November 6th, 2012
It's a mixed week on the home market. Granted, there are about a dozen Amazing Spider-man releases coming out this week, but not till Friday. The second best selling new release is Arthur Christmas, which missed expectations last year. Another major release of the week is The Muppets Christmas Carol, which is making its Blu-ray debut, but it is a catalogue title and likely won't sell a huge number of units. On a side note, the screener is late, but I've seen the film so many times that seeing it one more time likely won't change my opinion of the film, but I'm not sure if it is Pick of the Week material. On the other hand, I'm very sure Sunset Boulevard's Blu-ray debut is worthy of that title.
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