August 5th, 2007
There was a close race on the DVD Sales Chart this week, with The Number 23 topping Zodiac 387,000 units to 352,000 units sold.
Premonition fell to third place with 190,000 units sold and 791,000 in total.
The Hills Have Eyes 2 placed third with 134,000 units sold for the week and 536,000 in total.
Rounding out the top five was Shooter with 109,000 units sold for the week and 1.90 million after a month of release.
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July 23rd, 2007
It's the busiest week in a long time and not only do we have more than three dozen films on this week's list (and six spotlight reviews), but we have plenty of releases worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week.
Hard Boiled - 2-Disc Collector's Edition, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law - Volume 3, The Host - 2-Disc Special Edition... and those are just the ones beginning with the letter H. All three of those deserve to be added to your DVD collections, as well as a few others, but I'm trying to limit the DVD Pick of the Week to one selection and that's The Host - 2-Disc Special Edition.
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April 8th, 2007
Norbit saw its weekend haul sliced neatly in half landing in sixth place with $4.09 million on 2270 screens in 39 markets for a total of $49.38 million. The film wasn't able to crack $1 million in any single market, but Italy came the closest with $940,000 on 263 screens for a two-week total of $3.19 million.
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April 1st, 2007
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started its international run this past weekend and just missed the top five on debut.
It did manage $3.92 million on 1,004 screens in 8 markets over the weekend and $4.53 million including previews.
Of this box office, nearly half of it came from a pair of third place openings in England ($1.27 million on 368 screens over the weekend and $1.86 million in total), and Australia ($379,000 on 58 screens).
The film also opened in Russia where the strong mutant demographic helped the film capture second place with $1.38 million on 360 screens.
(That was a Chernobyl joke, by the way.)
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February 13th, 2007
Discussion about the Best Foreign Language Oscar has so far been dominated by Pan's Labyrinth, but this weekend The Lives of Others made the case that it shouldn't be ignored.
The film opened with more than $200,000 in 13 theaters for an average of $16,430.
It is still a long shot to expand beyond 100 theaters, but this is a good beginning.
In second place was the overall box office leader, Norbit, which pulled in an average of $10,904 in more than 3,000 theaters, much to the chagrin of movie critics everywhere.
Finally, last week's winner, Factory Girl placed third, earning an average of $10,872 in its 18 theaters.
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February 4th, 2007
For the second weekend in a row
Apocalypto earned sixth place on the international charts, this time pulling in 7.03 million on 2308 screens for a total of $47.42 million. Its best market of the weekend was Mexico where it had an easy first place finish with $2.43 million on 502 screens over the weekend and $2.66 million including previews. It was also strong during its second weekend in Spain as it was down 40% to $1.17 million on 284 screens for a total of $3.64 million.
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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.
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January 21st, 2007
The Holiday slipped out of the top five this week, but still has plenty of reason to celebrate as the film hit $100 million on the international scene. Over the weekend it added $8.16 million on 3104 screens in 45 markets to its running tally of $102.54 million. This includes Mexico where the film opened with a respectable third place earning $711,000 on 230 screens while it took fourth place in Argentina with $153,000 on 40.
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January 17th, 2007
Seven films made it into the $10,000 club at the weekend, but none of them were able to earn much more than $11,000.
Pan's Labyrinth continues to show very strong legs on the per theater chart despite expanding ever wider.
This weekend the film earned nearly $2.2 million in 194 screens for an average of $11,180.
Comedy of Power grew by nearly 9% to $10,945 in its lone theater, placing it second, less than $20 ahead of God Grew Tired of Us.
Next up was Guru, which earned an estimated $760,000 in 71 theatres for a preliminary average of $10,704.
The overall box office leader, Stomp the Yard, was next with an average of $10,645 in its 2,051 theaters.
Long-term resident, Letters from Iwo Jima saw its first expansion this past weekend, growing from 5 theaters to 35 while its average remained strong at $10,464.
Venus grew by more than 11% this week to reenter the $10,000 club with an average $10,079.
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January 4th, 2007
The last weekend of the year normally brings with it several Oscar contenders, and this year it was no different. With the sheer number of high profile Oscar hopefuls, there's no surprise that so many were able to top $10,000 on the per theater.
Leading the way was Pan's Labyrinth with more than $500,000 in just 17 theaters for an average of $33,449.
Children of Men was just behind with an average of $31,313 during its first full weekend of release.
Notes on a Scandal was well back but still performed very well with more than $400,000 in 22 theaters for an average of $18,840.
Letters from Iwo Jima slipped a mere 1.31% to $17,586 and is shaping up to be a bigger hit than its companion film, Flags of Our Fathers.
Dreamgirls expanded into a semi-wide release and earned more than $14 million in 852 theaters for an average of $16,549; this is better than Chicago ever did, but that film showed better legs.
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer did well with an average of $12,360; it expands into more than 250 theaters this Friday, but that could be as far as it goes if it shows any sign of weakness at the box office.
The final film to top $10,000 was Venus, which dipped less than 4% to $11,443.
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January 2nd, 2007
It is the beginning of a new year. A time to start fresh. So why do most of the new releases smell so stale? It's the January dumping ground, home to films that looked promising on paper but just didn't pan out.
That doesn't mean there are no films that could be worth checking out.
Out of the twelve new films opening wide this month (that's opening, not expanding), Smokin' Aces looks great and so does ... no, that's about it.
Almost all of the new releases are likely to struggle at the box office and with critics alike.
And to make matters worse, six of these new releases are going wide on the same weekend.
This is complete madness and guarantees that at least two films that would otherwise succeed are going to fail.
On the other hand, there are nearly a dozen films that have previously opened and are expanding wide (Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth, for example), or are being re-released to grab some last minute Oscar buzz,
(The Queen and The Last King of Scotland, among others).
This makes for an incredibly busy month, but not one that will likely produce many hits.
Two additional notes...
Firstly, Letters from Iwo Jima is expanding throughout the month but likely won't go wide until February.
Secondly, The Dead Girl has a planned expansion on the 19th, but after struggling in limited release since opening last weekend, this seems unlikely.
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December 30th, 2006
Another abridged list with just the sites for movies opening this week, and two others. While there is less than a dozen films on this week list, the first one,
Arthur and the Invisibles -
Official Site, is worthy of the Weekly Website Award.
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December 29th, 2006
Another busy week for new releases with eight films coming out, more than half that were obviously made for Oscar glory. While it is unlikely that any will be the big winner on Oscar night, I could see four of the films at least earning some nominations.
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December 23rd, 2006
Curse of the Golden Flower started its international run in its native
China with a record breaking $12.27 million on 826 screens. That was almost enough to reach the top five falling just short to
Arthur & the Invisibles and its $12.47 million.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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December 2nd, 2006
Good week with plenty of strong site, but there was not a whole lot of competition at the very top as
The Good Shephard -
Official Site took home the Weekly Website Award.
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November 12th, 2006
Desu Noto 2, a.k.a., Death Note 2: The Last Name opened in two market last weekend taking in a total of $7.29 million on 393 screens including finishing first in
Japan with $6.50 million on 342 screen over the weekend and $10.33 million in total. In the mean time, the film opened in second place in South Korea with a respectable total of $1.37 million, which includes more than just the weekend, obviously.
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November 11th, 2006
There was a clear winner amongst this week's batch of websites as
Stranger than Fiction -
Official Site took home the Weekly Website Award.
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November 5th, 2006
Barnyard: The Original Party Animals saw impressive growth this week up 52% to $4.26 million on 2035 screens in 20 markets for an international total of $16.58 million. The film opened in a handful of markets including placing first in Mexico with $927,000 on 310 screens, but that's a little low for this type of film in that market. Also, it missed the top five in Spain opening in sixth place with $651,000 on 220 screens. The film's biggest market of the weekend was the U.K. where it was down just 27% to $1.41 million on 446 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.66 million after two.
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October 30th, 2006
Not much in terms of international details this week and what little details there are, are based on studio estimates.
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October 22nd, 2006
The
German soccer film, Deutschland. Ein Sommermarchen, remained in first place in Germany and sixth overall this weekend. It managed this feat by falling just 25% to $5.41 million on 671 screens for a two-week total of $14.67 million.
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October 14th, 2006
With more and more Oscar contenders getting ready to start their theatrical runs, it is fitting that a satire of such films,
For Your Consideration -
Official Site, takes home the Weekly Website Award.
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October 11th, 2006
There was not a single new release in the top five, for that matter, all five films were in the top five last weekend as well. However, we still had a surprise number one as
The Devil Wears Prada claimed the crown with $19.37 million on 2975 screens in 33 markets for a total of $42.16 million so far. That is almost 60% higher than it earned last weekend. Almost all of this growth can be attributed to the film's first place, $6.11 million opening on 447 screens in the U.K. but the film also took first place in Russia with $2.32 million on 299 screens and in Spain with $2.15 million on 301 screens. As for holdovers, it remained in first place in Australia down just 27% to $1.88 million on 321 screens and now has $7.02 million in the market while it fell 35% in France to $2.99 million over the weekend and $7.63 million in total.
Comedies tends to be very cultural and usually they don't translate well. Perhaps the experience of having a
bad boss is universal, (not that I would know anything about that), or perhaps the film's
darker edge it helping it overseas.
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October 4th, 2006
World Trade Center had its widest expansion of its run so far an that helped it climb into first place in a very tight race. Over the weekend the film made $12.83 million on 2765 screens in 19 markets for an international total of $22.55 million after three weeks of release. The film opened in three major markets including its biggest markets, the U.K.. There it was in a close, three-way battle for first place but in the end it finished third with $3.12 million on 411 screens. The film also placed third in Germany with $1.68 million on 496 screens. In Spain, on the other hand, it handily took first place with $2.40 million on 325 screens and also finished first in Taiwan with $734,000 on 57 and in second in Brazil with $618,000 on 85. Next up for the film is Australia and Japan this weekend, as well as a series of midlevel European markets.
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September 27th, 2006
The
German film,
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, was the surprise winner at the international box office, taking in $10.79 million on 1,600 screens in 6 markets for a total of $31.62 million.
Its best market remained Germany where it was down just 32% to $6.72 million on 773 screens; that was half the total box office in Germany, more than four times its
nearest competition, and enough to lift its running tally in the market to $20.22 million.
The film also managed to top $1 million during its second weekend in Russia (first place with $1.59 million on 310 screens for a $6.43 million total), and in its debut in Italy (third place with $1.05 million on 335).
The film opens in France next weekend, in Spain at the end of November and in the U.K. at the beginning of December.
One must assume the studio is happy with its run so far.
However, with a production budget of 50 million Euros (about $65 million American), it is the most expensive German film ever and will need a strong run in several non-German speaking markets to show a profit.
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September 20th, 2006
A record-breaking opening in Italy pushed
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest into first place for the tenth time in 11 weeks. The film easily finished first with $9.49 million on 877 screens over the weekend and $12.13 million in total, which was more than six times what its
nearest competition earned. That was the majority of the film's $18.39 million weekend haul, a haul that was earned on 4361 screens in 42 markets and that pushed its international total to $613.26 million. This made
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest just the sixth film to cross the $600 million mark internationally and by the end of the weekend put it ahead of
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for fifth place on the all-time chart.
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August 13th, 2006
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Emilio Estevez' Bobby, Frank Miller's 300 and more.
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