February 26th, 2012
It's Oscars night. (Actually, it's 3:43 in the morning as I'm typing this, but I thought I would get a jump on the celebration.) As I do every year, I will follow the announcements live and update our list of Oscar winners. However, this year I will be doing it a little differently and the list of nominees below will include the favorites as picked by our readers in Italics and as picked by me in Bold. So you can watch live and tell when I'm out of the running for our Oscar contest. (I figure it will take at least 17 wins out of 24 to come out on top. Maybe even 18 or 19 wins.) So, will The Artist be the big winner tonight as our readers predict? Or will Hugo score the upset? Stay tuned to fine out.
More...
February 9th, 2012
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Animated Feature Film, which is surprisingly competitive this year, especially compared to most years. There's no Pixar film nominated, one of the best-reviewed cartoons was snubbed, the winner at the Golden Globes and PGAs was also snubbed, and two of the nominees were virtually unknown films before they were announced. It could be hard to pick a winner.
More...
January 24th, 2012
Yesterday was one of the biggest days during Awards Season as The Oscar nominations were announced in the morning. It was a two horse race for top spot as far as the big winners are concerned. Hugo earned the most nominations with eleven, while The Artist was right behind with ten. However, one could argue The Artist is the bigger winner, as more of its nominations were in the more prestigious categories.
More...
January 4th, 2012
The nominees for this year's Producers Guild of America were announced and there were not a lot of surprises. For instance, nine of the ten nominees for Theatrical Motion Pictures also earned Golden Globe Nominations for either Best Drama or Best Musical / Comedy. Four of the five Animated films also did the same. It does make the Awards Season picture a lot clearer going forward, but it makes coming up with something to say much harder.
More...
December 16th, 2011
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations and the Awards Season picture started to look a whole lot clearer. The Artist led the way with six nominations, while The Descendents and The Help were right behind with five apiece.
More...
November 23rd, 2011
This weekend is Thanksgiving and as always that means Black Friday and Cyber Monday plus 48 hours of shopping in-between. And as always, I've already done my Christmas shopping, for the most part. (I'm still waiting to see if the B.C.Lions win the Grey Cup. If not, I'll need to look for an alternative gift.) For everyone else who is still searching, we present the first part in our annual Holiday Gift Guide. As usual, the gift guide is divided into several sections, starting with Major Movie Releases. These are first run releases, franchise box sets, etc. However, before we get into the individual titles, we will start with an update on...
More...
August 16th, 2011
It has been more than three months since any DVD has sold more than 1 million units during any given week, but finally that streak is over this week. It should come as no surprise that Rio led all new releases, as it was for a time the biggest hit of 2011. However, the fact that it sold 1.77 million units and generated $26.58 million during its opening week is better than expected.
More...
August 12th, 2011
It was a slow week on the home market, especially on Blu-ray, where it was a rare week suffering from year-over-year declines. But more on that in a bit. The number one selling Blu-ray was Source Code with 189,000 units. It was a little disappointing on DVD and its opening week Blu-ray ratio was just under 33%, acceptable, but not great. It was visual enough that upgrading to High Definition wasn't a bad choice, but second-tier enough that I would understand if a lot of people just didn't want to bother with the extra price.
More...
August 9th, 2011
It was a really slow week on the home market with only two new releases reaching the top 30. One those was Source Code, which led the way with 386,000 units / $5.54 million.
More...
August 3rd, 2011
Rango remained the best selling Blu-ray this week with 317,000 units / $6.34 million for the week and 670,000 units / $13.39 million after two.
More...
August 3rd, 2011
During its first full week on the home market, Rango led the weekly DVD sales chart, holding off a few new releases in the process (very few new releases).It sold an additional 621,000 units / $9.93 million during the week for totals of 1.18 million units / $20.43 million after two. That's very close to Gnomeo & Juliet's running tally, and that DVD was released two months ago.
More...
July 28th, 2011
Despite only going on sale on Friday, Rango led all new releases and took top spot on the Blu-ray sales chart. It wasn't even really close, as it sold 353,000 units and generated $7.05 million. Its opening week Blu-ray ratio of 37% is strong, especially for a kids movie.
More...
July 26th, 2011
Despite only coming out on Friday, Rango was the best new release and led the weekly DVD sales chart. From Friday through Sunday, the film sold 611,000 units while generating $9.77 million in sales.
More...
July 18th, 2011
Looking at the overall strength of the home market releases this week and there's not a lot to look forward to. If you don't count Rango, which came out on Blu-ray / DVD on Friday, then the biggest hit of the week is Limitless. That film is worth picking up on Blu-ray, but it's not exactly Pick of the Week material. In fact, the best release on this week's list is Once Upon a Time in America, which made its Blu-ray debut at the end of May, but the screener arrived very late. Despite this, I'm awarding it the Pick of the Week.
More...
July 11th, 2011
After one of the worst weeks on the home market I've seen, there's an uptick of first run releases this week. This includes the first release of 2011 to reach $100 million at the box office, Rango. However, that film doesn't hit the home market till Friday, so this Tuesday is even weaker. There are a few other midlevel releases coming out this week to bolster the overall strength of the market, but while it is better than most third quarter offerings, I'm still itching for the fall to start. As for the best release of the week, Rango's Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack is the clear winner there and it is our Pick of the Week.
More...
July 11th, 2011
So far, it's been a rough year for digitally animated films with none reaching $200 million at the box office. This time last year, there were four such films that had either already reached that milestone, or were racing towards it. Rango wasn't the first CG film released this year, but it was the first to hit $100 million. But even hitting this milestone wasn't enough to match expectations. Did it struggle due to some weakness in the overall market? Or is there something wrong with the film itself?
More...
April 6th, 2011
Just Go With It reached first place on the international chart with $10.84 million on 2,791 screens in 40 markets for a total of $76.26 million after 8 weeks of release. It opened in first place in Australia with $2.44 million on 311 screens, but it struggled in Italy with just $732,000 on 248. So far the film has $9.09 million in Russia after just two weeks, including $2.87 million on 544 screens this past weekend.
More...
March 30th, 2011
Battle: Los Angeles remained in first place on the international scene with $16.32 million on 7,746 screens in 55 markets for a total of $79.63 million after three weeks of release. It didn't have many new openings. It did add $1.12 million on 331 screens during its second weekend in Australia for a total of $4.39 million so far. It has already made more internationally than it has domestically, and with openings in Spain, Germany, and Italy, it should have no trouble getting to $200 million worldwide. I think the studio should be happy with that, but I'm not sure they will be happy enough to go with a sequel.
More...
March 28th, 2011
Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules opened on the high end of expectations while Sucker Punch opened on the low end of expectations, which meant there wasn't a really tight race for top spot at the box office this weekend. The overall box office was healthy with a total haul of $121 million, which was close to 6% higher than last weekend, but it was also close to 6% lower than the same weekend last year. On the one hand, this is arguably the best performance 2011 has had so far, as the only time we've won on the year-over-year comparison was when 2011 has a holiday that didn't line up with 2010. On the other hand, 2011 is still half a billion dollars behind 2010's pace at $2.18 billion to $2.69 billion.
More...
March 24th, 2011
Predicting the winner at the box office this weekend could be tough, as there appears to be no real consensus on which film has the advantage. This is mostly due to uncertainty with one of the films, with just as many analysts predicting Sucker Punch will win with ease as are predicting that film will really struggle. On the other hand, there is a pretty strong consensus with regards to the overall box office when compared to last year and there's almost no chance 2011 will keep pace with 2010. Worse case scenario has Sucker Punch and Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodick Rules combined opening with less than How to Train Your Dragon opened with. This means March will end on a low note, which has happened far too often this year.
More...
March 23rd, 2011
The international box office is as weak as the domestic box office is with very few films worth talking about. We do have a new number one, as Battle: Los Angeles earned first place with $28.74 million on 8,384 screens in 52 markets for a running tally of $51.70 million after just two weeks of release. The film debuted in first place in Australia with $2.58 million on 328 screens, while it also placed first during its debut in Brazil with $1.51 million on 263 screens. On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in France with $2.07 million on 295 screens. The number one film was a local hit, so there is a mitigating factor. As for its long-term chances, it was down 51% in the U.K. to $1.42 million on 417 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.61 million after two. This is not a great start there and will likely ends its run with the equivalent of $50 million to $60 million here.
More...
March 21st, 2011
It was another poor weekend at the box office and none of the new wide releases were blockbusters, but on the plus side, none were bombs either. The overall box office was down 11% from last weekend to $115 million, which was 9% lower than the same weekend last year. However, that was actually much better than 2011 has managed for most of the year. Year-to-date, 2011 is still off of 2010's pace by 20% at $2.52 billion to $2.02 billion and that likely won't change till Memorial day. Hopefully it won't be too late to turn things around by then.
More...
March 20th, 2011
The North American box office showed further glimmers of hope this weekend, with no less than five movies vying for top spot on the chart, and Limitless handily beating expectations to finish first. Its $19 million debut is the best so far for Relativity Media's fledgling distribution organization. Overall, however, box office will be down around 10% from last year, continuing a losing streak that will almost certainly extend to cover the entire first quarter.
More...
March 17th, 2011
Three wide releases come out this week, all of which have the potential to reach first place, and there's a slim chance they will finish one-two-three. On the other hand, there are also two holdovers that have a reasonable shot at first place as well, meaning the new releases could be fighting for scraps at the box office. Regardless, there's little hope that the total box office will match last year's pace, as Alice in Wonderland was still dominating the chart. Best case scenario, there's a close race for top spot with a couple of the new releases pulling in $30 million, or close to it. Worst case scenario has no new release earning half that. Unfortunately, the low end seems more likely.
More...
March 16th, 2011
Rango climbed into first place on the international chart this weekend adding $24.05 million on 5214 screens in 46 markets to its two-week total of $47.18 million. It opened in first place in Australia with $2.73 million on 296 screens, while it finished a very close second in Brazil with $1.75 million on 330 screens over the weekend for a total opening on $2.75 million. As far as holdovers go, it was down just 6% in the U.K. to $2.48 million on 471 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.82 million after two. It was able to remain in first place in Mexico with $2.13 million on 927 screens over the weekend and $5.82 million after two. With debuts in Russia, France, Italy, Japan, and other markets still ahead, it should have little troublen hitting $100 million internationally and $250 million worldwide making it the biggest hit of the year, so far.
More...
March 14th, 2011
While Battle: Los Angeles easily won the race at the box office this weekend, that was practically the only bit of good news, as it was the only film in the top five to top expectations. Overall the box office pulled in $129 million, which was 3% lower than last weekend and 12% lower than the same weekend last year. On the other hand, this is actually better than average for the year so far. Year-to-date, 2011 is just over 20% behind last year's pace at $1.85 billion to $2.33 billion.
More...
March 13th, 2011
Battle: Los Angeles posted an estimated opening of $36 million to win the weekend, and give the market another boost after Rango's solid debut last week.
With Rango itself dropping only 40% to a shade over $23 million the total weekend box office should be about 12% below last year, which is actually an improvement over recent weeks, although it continues a months-long slump.
And the weekend brought some very bad news for Disney, whose Mars Needs Moms had a catastrophic $6.8 million opening weekend, on a budget reported at $150 million.
More...
March 10th, 2011
Three films open at saturation level theater counts this weekend, and last weekend's number one film is still playing in over 3,000 theaters, so we could have a lot of depth in terms of box office strength. This time last year we had four wide releases, none of which were major hits. On the other hand, there was also Alice in Wonderland, which made more than $60 million during its sophomore stint alone. There's no film opening this weekend that can match that figure. In fact, all three films combined might not match that figure and 2011 will again lose ground against 2010.
More...
March 10th, 2011
This week is was Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Wednesday, and now it's the beginning of Lent. Because of this, a lot of international numbers were not as timely as I would like. And we are still stuck with a lot of studio estimates. Leading the way was The King's Speech with $18.9 million over the weekend for a total of $183.5 million internationally and just over $300 million worldwide. It grew by 31% in Japan to $1.61 million on 124 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.32 million after two. Meanwhile it was down just 11% in the U.K. to $1.76 million on 470 screens over the weekend for a total of $68.45 million after two months of release.
More...
March 9th, 2011
The winners of our (Un)stop and (Ran)go contest were determined and they are...
More...
March 7th, 2011
There's very little good news at the box office this weekend, but we will start with some happy thoughts. Rango had the best opening weekend of the year, which helped the box office climb 23% from last weekend to $134 million. On the other hand, this time last year Alice in Wonderland opened with $116 million by itself, which means 2011 lost the year-over-year comparison by 32%. Year-to-date, 2011 now has $1.69 billion compared to last year's pace of $2.13 billion and it's not like it's going to get better over the coming weeks.
More...
March 3rd, 2011
So far 2011 has been a bit of a bust with only one weekend winning the year-over-year comparison and not a single film opening with more that $40 million. Hopefully one of those records will change this weekend, as Rango looks to become the biggest hit of the year so far. Unfortunately, this time last year saw the release of Alice in Wonderland, the biggest March opening of all time. I can't imagine a scenario where 2011 doesn't lose even more ground on 2010.
More...
March 1st, 2011
This is going to suck. February wasn't exactly a banner month at the box office and 2011 is already roughly $400 million behind 2010's pace. To make matters worse, last March broke records starting with the release of Alice in Wonderland. There is no movie coming out this month that will come close to Alice in Wonderland's performance; in fact, the number one film this March will likely not do as well as the second best film from last March. The best case scenario has the month producing three $100 million movies, plus a number of midlevel hits, while still failing to match last year's pace by about $100 million. The worst case scenario has two of the three potential $100 million hits missing that mark, plus the midlevel hits also struggling. In that case, we could end March about $300 million further behind 2010's pace. (Hopefully things will start to turn around in April.)
More...
February 25th, 2011
March begins and hopefully it will start with massive opening by Rango. That film should win the weekend with relative ease; in fact, it should earn more than the rest of the wide releases combined. Plus, it is this week's target film in our Box Office Prediction Contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Rango.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), regardless if they go over or not, will win a copy of Unstoppable on Blu-ray.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
More...
October 2nd, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Paper Man, Sherlock Holmes, Kung Fu Panda 2, and more!
More...
September 30th, 2008
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
More...
