January 25th, 2011
While there were not many new releases on this week's sales chart, one of them, The Social Network, dominated the sales chart with 1.08 million units / $14.06 million during its opening week.
More...
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.
More...
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.
More...
September 22nd, 2010
It took just two weeks for Resident Evil: Afterlife to become the first film in the franchise to reach $100 million on the international scene. It earned $39.61 million on 6235 screens in 47 markets for a total of $103.58 million internationally and $147.48 million worldwide. Its biggest opening came in Germany where it earned $5.38 million on 434 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.85 million. It also took top spot in Mexico with $4.38 million on 658 screens, in South Korea with $3.88 million on 367, and in Brazil with $2.96 million on 298. It did fall 62% during its second weekend in Japan, which is tragic for that market; however, it still managed $5.00 million on 634 screens over the weekend for a total of $27.71 million after two. With debuts in France, Australia, and other markets still ahead of it, this film will have no trouble getting to $200 million worldwide, while $200 million internationally is a solid goal.
More...
September 7th, 2010
There was some good news and some bad news this weekend. On the one hand, none of the new releases were able to live up to expectations, which resulted in a 6% drop-off from last weekend to $106 million. On the other hand, that was over 7% more than the same weekend last year. Throw in Monday's numbers and Labor Day 2010 earned $133 million, 6% ahead of 2009. Year-to-date, 2010 extended its lead over 2009 to 4.2% at $7.71 billion to $7.37 billion.
More...
August 30th, 2010
There was an upset at the box office with Takers pulling out a last minute win. However, it wasn't enough for the overall box office, as that sunk 12% from last weekend to $113 million. More importantly, it was down nearly 10% from last year. 2010 still has a $300 million lead over 2009 at $7.53 billion to $7.23 billion and I'm not concerned about the big picture, yet.
More...
August 26th, 2010
The last weekend of summer is actually the Labor Day long weekend, which is next weekend. So that makes this weekend the penultimate weekend of summer, which is one of the worst weekends of the year to open a film. Last year was a bit of an exception with The Final Destination opening with $27.41 million. There's almost no chance The Last Exorcism will perform that well; in fact, if it matches Halloween 2's opening, I think the studio will be happy.
More...
August 23rd, 2010
If it wasn't for The Expendables, there would be very little good news to report this weekend. None of the five new releases were major hits at the box office, but on the other hand, none were complete bombs either and even the weakest of them had some reason for optimism. The overall box office was down 11% from last weekend to $128 million, but that was close to 1% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2010 has a $300 million lead on 2009 at $7.36 billion to $7.05 billion.
More...
August 16th, 2010
Two of the three wide releases that opened this past weekend were able to score at the box office and that was enough to lift the total box office to $144 million. This was 8% higher than last weekend and 1% higher than the same weekend last year. Granted, that 1% improvement is well below the rate of inflation, but a win is a win. Year-to-date, 2010 has earned $7.15 billion compared to 2009's pace of $6.85 billion. As we transition into fall, we are in an excellent position to top $10 billion for the second year in a row and set yet another record. Granted, the lack of a Avatar-like megahit coming out could be an issue, but I think 2010 has built up enough of a lead that it won't prevent the yearly box office from reaching 10 digits.
More...
August 12th, 2010
The winners of our The Other Prizes contest were determined and they are...
More...
August 12th, 2010
There are three wide releases this week, but fortunately they are all aimed at widely different audiences, which means they might all reach their potential.
However, that potential might not be enough for the market as a whole to keep pace with last year.
More...
August 9th, 2010
The first weekend of August was mixed. The top film did well for this time of year, as did the counter-programming. Plus the holdovers did their part, more of less. That said, the overall box office was still down 8% from last weekend and 9% from last year, thus ending 2010's winning streak. However, looking at the big picture, 2010 is still up on 2009 at a score of $6.93 billion to $6.63 billion
More...
August 8th, 2010
After three weekends at the top, Inception finally slipped to second place this weekend, thanks to an impressive debut from The Other Guys.
The Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg comedy posted a very solid $35.6 million, with a per theater average within touching distance of $10,000.
That's the second-best opening weekend for both actors (behind Talladega Nights and Planet of the Apes respectively), and should set the movie up for a good late Summer run.
More...
August 5th, 2010
It's August and box office analysts are debating whether or not Summer will continue for another week.
If the new releases as big as some expect, then it will continue.
On the other hand, both new releases could bomb, leaving Inception in top spot, in which case summer will definitely be over.
Even if the more bullish predictions come true, it might be tough for 2010 to maintain pace with last year and the five-week winning streak could be over.
More...
August 1st, 2010
July started out rather well, and while there was a little weakness in the end, four films surpassed $100 million, and another could join them soon.
That said, there don't appear to be any $100 million movies opening in August; in fact, there is a chance none will come close.
Worse still, August of last year saw three $100 million movies open in the first three weeks.
There's almost no chance that will happen this year, so 2010 will likely lose ground to 2009 in the yearly box office race.
More...
July 30th, 2010
August begins with only one saturation level release, The Other Guys, which should lead the way at the box office and 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 Other Guys.
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 Brooklyn's Finest on Blu-ray.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a copy of Brooklyn's Finest on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
More...
