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...
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October 14th, 2011
Transformers: Dark of the Moon dominated the new releases and the Blu-ray sales chart in a way few films have managed. It sold 1.42 million units generating $29.66 million from Friday through Sunday. Its opening Blu-ray ratio was 64%, which is a record for a first-run release. It also represented 68% of all Blu-rays sold, which is mind-boggling.
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October 5th, 2011
Bridesmaids led the way on the Blu-ray sales chart, just as it did on the DVD sales chart. It was by far the best new release selling 593,000 units and generating $13.30 million in revenue. Its opening week Blu-ray ratio was 30%, which is very high for this type of release and further proof Blu-ray is taking over from DVD.
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September 28th, 2011
There are three major releases on this week's Blu-ray sales chart, including one that was released a little early, and one that was released a little late. Leading the way in terms of units sold is Thor with 799,000 units / $22.00 million. Its opening Blu-ray ratio was just a hair under 50% and that's a figure that will quickly become the norm for blockbuster releases.
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September 13th, 2011
It is an incredibly busy week on the home market with several major releases, including Thor on Blu-ray, as well as Star Wars The Complete Saga, which comes out this Friday. Unfortunately, neither of the screeners have arrived yet, so it is hard to tell if they are pick of the week material. I figured Star Wars would easily take that honor, but the changes made have pissed off enough people that I think it's best that I hold off making a judgment till after it arrives. After spending way too long trying to pick between the two, I'm going with Degrassi: Season Ten, Part Two instead.
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January 31st, 2006
Brokeback Mountain again led the list of nominees as with 8 Oscar nods. There were three films with six nominations a piece,
Crash,
Good Night and Good Luck, and
Memoirs of a Geisha, (although for that last one, they were all the less prestigious technical awards.
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December 5th, 2005
The rush for last minute gift ideas continues with plenty of DVD releases this week. The best movie coming out this week is Cinderella Man - Collector's Edition, but the DVD Pick of the week goes to Star Wars - Clone Wars - Volume 2.
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December 3rd, 2005
War of the Worlds easily won the race on the rental charts with $15.54 million in combined rentals, which is one of the best results of the year.
This is more of a surprise than it may first seem, since people usually buy blockbusters like this and not rent them as much.
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November 19th, 2005
It was a busy week on the home market with three new releases in the top five including
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which came in first. The
re-
adaptation took top spot with a combined total of $8.39 million in rentals; however, there was no breakdown on how much of that was due to people rentign the
Deluxe Edition and how much went to
Single Disc Edition.
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November 12th, 2005
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith was able to take first place on the rental charts this weekend, but its $7.64 million in DVD rentals was rather anemic. However, this is all part of the
Fanboy Effect, those that were interested in seeing the movie bought it instead of renting, which kept the rental figures low but boosted the sales figures. Combined sales for the DVD and game were $210 million worldwide in its first week of release, but there were no breakdowns given either by market or the split between DVD and Game sales.
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November 7th, 2005
Every week Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - Buy from Amazon gets a second chance at... I'm just kidding.
We're moving closer to the busy Christmas shopping season, and because of that there are a lot of prime DVDs worth picking up this week.
Leading the way is Jay and Silent Bob Do Degrassi - Unrated Edition while Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - 2-Disc Special Edition earns a honorable mention.
There are also... what's the philosophical term? ... a Metric Buttload of Christmas DVDs coming out this week, most of which should be ignored.
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October 31st, 2005
Every week, movies (e.g. Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) get a second chance on the home market.
Or, in some cases (unlike, say, Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith), a first chance at success.
Here is a list, including Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and a few from the growing TV on DVD section.
As you can probably tell, Star Wars, Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - Buy from Amazon is this week's DVD Pick of the Week.
Not that there was ever any doubt about that.
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October 2nd, 2005
Red Eye added another $3.7 million on 2,057 screens in 37 markets to its $22 million international total. The film opened in second place in both Spain with $850,000 on 215 screens and in the Netherlands with $250,000 on 59 ($300,000 including previews).
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September 25th, 2005
Marrying the Mafia 2 again led its native market of
South Korean with $4.81 million over the weekend and $12.78 million during its two-week run. And like
last week, this was enough for the film to secure a place in the top five overall just beating out
Pride and Prejudice.
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September 18th, 2005
Marrying the Mafia 2 is the latest local film to lead the South Korean box office as it opened with $5.555 million on 449 screens, $7.515 million including Thursday.
Not only was that easily enough for first place in its home market, but also put the film in third place on the overall international box office charts.
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September 11th, 2005
The 40-Year Old Virgin topped the U.K. marked with an impressive $3.26 million on 394 screens in the U.K., but this is probably not indicative of its potential in other international markets. The film should do well in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, but will likely struggle in non-English speaking markets. (Germany may be an exception.)
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September 4th, 2005
War of the Worlds opened in its last international market over the weekend making $3.0 million on 583 screens in China. That's about 10% more money that
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith earned, but
War of the Worlds needed nearly double the number of screens. Overall the film added $4.5 million to its $345 million international total, easily the second best of the year so far.
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August 28th, 2005
The Skeleton Key opened in 10- more markets over the weekend and in now playing on 1400 screens, however, it still hasn't found the success the studio was hoping for. It did open in first place in Germany, but it still had a very soft opening with $1.6 million. It also opened in first place in Russia with $625,000 over the weekend and $780,000 since Thursday, but in Australia and New Zealand it had to settle for a distant second place with $760,000 and $110,000 respectively.
The Skeleton Key also open in Austria with $230,000 for the week, but its placing is unknown at the moment. Add in holdovers in France, ($250,000 for $2.2 million) and the U.K., ($130,000 for $4.5 million) and you have roughly $4 million for the weekend and $16.5 million so far.
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August 21st, 2005
Mr. and Mrs. Smith opened in first place in both the Czech Republic with $180,000 on 20 screens and in Slovakia with $50,000 on 8 screens. The film also remained in first place in France with $2.675 million, Belgium with $635,000, The Netherlands with $490,000 and Poland with $266,000. Strangest of all, the film stayed in second place for the fourth weekend in a row in Germany adding $2.12 million to its $20.6 million running tally in the market. Overall the film has made $143 million in markets where
Fox is handling the distribution and may have hit $200 million overall, but there's no conformation on that yet.
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August 14th, 2005
Mr. and Mrs. Smith opened in Belgium with $1.7 million on 80 screens, easily enough for first place and had a similar result with $480,000 in Poland. It also remained in first place in France with $2.88 million, (despite falling 54% there) and in the Netherlands with $740,000. In Germany the film remained in second place for the third straight week with $3.06 million for a $17.06 million running tally. The film now have $140 million in territories where
Fox is handling the distribution and $192 million overall.
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August 7th, 2005
The Island managed a couple of first place finished over the weekend, but the results were still less than impressive. In Australia the film opened with $1.404 million for a close victory while in Hong Kong it earned a disappointing $490,000 over the weekend and $520,000 including previews. It's best market continued to be South Korea with $3.167 million, down 38% from last weekend dropping to second place along the way. On the other hand, no wide openings and a mere 23% drop-off allowed the film to rise to first in New Zealand. Overall the film added $7.64 million to its $24.1 million running tally on the international scene and will opens in several markets this weekend including the U.K., Germany and Spain.
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August 5th, 2005
Due to a pretty last minutes scheduling change,
The Dukes of Hazzard is the only new film to open wide this weekend. And while this should help its opening box office, it's too soon to tell how it will affect the overall box office. On a positive note, this time
last year was really soft so the box office should recover on a year-to-year comparison.
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July 31st, 2005
Early numbers had
Mr. and Mrs. Smith taking fifth place on the overall international box office charts, but better than expected results has
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory overtaking them $6.7 million to $5.4 million. It's biggest single market continues to be France where the film dipped just 6% during its second weekend there earning $3,533,857 for a $9,034,141 running tally. But it was even more impressive in Belgium where the film shot up by 68% to $400,000 for the weekend and $785,000 in total. The film also opened in first place in three markets, Brazil with $1.1 million on 200 screens, Holland with $625,000 on 124 screens, and South Africa with $275,000 on 41 screens.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has $13.3 million so far and opens in a couple of important markets this weekend, (The U.K. and Mexico.)
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July 27th, 2005
It was a close race for top spot on the international charts this weekend but
Madagascar just managed to pull ahead when the final figures were announced. The film added $24.6 million this weekend to its $190 million international total, including an incredible performances in both Germany and South Korea. The film was down just 14% during its second weekend adding $7.5 million to its $20.5 million running tally, if the film continues to show strong legs is could beat
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith in the market. In south Korea the film rose by 14% to $2.65 million for the week and $5.41 million during its tun. Things weren't quite as rosy in the U.K. where the film dropped by 40% to $5.7 million for a total of $19.7 million so far. The film remained in first place in both Hong Kong, ($574,000) and Taiwan, ($375,000) while its only opening was in Venezuela where the film earned $360,000.
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July 20th, 2005
Unlike so many day-and-date worldwide openings, Madagascar went the few markets at a time route, but still managed to reach the top of the international charts this weekend with $31 million on 5,100 screens. Most of that came from openings in both the U.K. ($9.7 million on 505 screens) and Germany ($8.5 million on 800).
The film also opened in South Korea, but failed to topple War of the Worlds, finishing second with $2.375 million in 301 theaters over the weekend and $2.69 million overall.
The film led in a couple of other Asian markets, taking in $1.35 million on 80 screens in Taiwan and in Hong Kong it brought in $1.2 million on 50 screens since its release on Thursday.
Overall the film now has brought in $143 million internationally and $327 million worldwide.
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July 18th, 2005
The weekend box office was even busier than expected, despite the incredible competition on Saturday from the release of the latest Harry Potter novel.
Every film in the top ten topped Sunday estimates and landed within a couple million of predictions, leading to a 10.5% increase from last week, and more importantly, a 7.1% increase from last year.
Year-to-date things are not as rosy: 2005 is still down 8.1% from last year with $4.751 billion, while the summer is down by 10.5% at $2.25 billion.
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July 15th, 2005
Now that The Slump is over, the movie industry is looking to
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to make sure the box office doesn't start a new slump.
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July 13th, 2005
War of the Worlds again finished on top of the international charts this weekend, but fell further than one would expect in many markets, mostly major markets. In the U.K. it dropped 51% to $7.49 million, down 49% in Spain to $2.9 million, down 47% in Australia to $2.68 million, 46% in Italy to $2.3 million, and down 44% in Germany to $3.7 million. The film also fell 37% in Japan to $5.2 million, which is very high for the market even taking into account the
new competition.
War of the Worlds also had a few new releases this weekend and overall they were very impressive, especially in South Korea where the film made $8.5 million in 300 theatres since its release on Thursday; compare that to the $3.8 million
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith opened with. On the other hand,
War of the Worlds only brought in $11 million in 848 theatres in France, less than half the $22.3 million
Sith made and the same was true in Sweden, ($2.7 million on 130 screens vs. $1.1 million on 88.) The film also opened in Belgium with $1.5 million in 85 theatres and Portugal earning $750,000 in 70, both on par with the summer's other blockbuster. Overall
War of the Worlds added $60.5 million in 6,300 theatres pushing its international total to $201 million.
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July 11th, 2005
The Slump is dead.
After 19 weeks, it has finally ended.
It has been more than four months since the last time 2005 topped 2004 in the yearly comparison, but that's just what happened this weekend.
Before we start celebrating too much, note that the margin of victory was tiny at just over $500,000.
But at this point a victory is a victory and the movie industry will take them anyway they can get them.
On a week-to-week basis we actually saw pretty good growth, rising by 5.2%, which is strange for a post-holiday weekend.
Year-to-date, 2005 is still off by 8% $4.523 billion to $4.934 billion while the summer is down 11% $2.023 billion vs. $2.281 billion.
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July 8th, 2005
The Fantastic Four battle Dr. Doom and
invading aliens this weekend. But the real competition comes from
last year when
Spider-Man 2 took home $45 million during its second weekend of release. And while no film will top that figure, the combination of strong starts and healthy holdovers could stop The Slump, but I wouldn't bet on it.
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July 6th, 2005
War of the Worlds made its worldwide debut on Wednesday bringing in $13.35 million on that day alone and $102.5 million on 8000 screens in 78 markets in its first five days. Compared to
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith,
War of the Worlds made almost 30% less over the same period, and nearly 20% lower than the earlier 5-day record of $125.7 million set by
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Its best single market was Japan where the film made $15.5 million on 765, but the U.K. was close behind with $15.2 million on 507 screens.
War of the Worlds beat
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith in a few markets, (Hong Kong, $1.7 million vs. $1.2 million) Taiwan, ($1.0 million vs. $500,000) and Russia, ($3.7 million vs. $3.2 million.) However, in many other major markets the film was far behind including Spain ($9.7 million vs. $7.7 million), Australia, ($10.4 million vs. $5.9 million), and Germany, ($17.8 million vs. $7.3 million.)
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July 5th, 2005
It was a very predictable weekend at the box office as four of the top five films finished within $1 million or so within expectations, at least over the first 3 days.
Monday was another story as several films missed predictions.
And as expected, the overall box office was down again on a year-to-year comparison -- and that's now for 19 weeks in a row.
But first some good news, the 3-day portion of the weekend saw an 11.1% increase from last weekend, which is not all that great taking into account the holiday on Monday.
On a yearly comparison the 3-day weekend was down 14.6% while the 4-day weekend was down an incredible 23%.
Year-to-date 2005 has now brought in $4.313 billion, 8.4% behind 2004, while the summer is down 11.7% at $1.813 billion so far.
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July 4th, 2005
As with all long weekends, July Fourth will cause a one day delay in both Weekend Wrap-up and the Per Theatre Charts. They will be published on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. In the meantime, here are the studio estimates for the Top Ten, both over the 3-day weekend and the 4-day weekend.
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July 3rd, 2005
Summer blockbusters continue to squeeze out the competition, so much so that the only real news is about such blockbusters. For instance,
War of the Worlds managed $13.35 million during its first day of release on the international scene, which is good, but below expectations. On the other hand,
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith broke another record earning $4.96 million during its preview in Japan.
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July 1st, 2005
The Independence Day long weekend is one of the most important weekends on the calendar.
However, there will likely be little celebrating once the numbers start coming in.
Simply put, the target needed to break The Slump is too high and there's almost no chance of breaking it this weekend.
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June 29th, 2005
Batman Begins didn't see the sharp drop-off many had feared after its soft opening
last weekend slipping by a reasonable 36%. Its best market continued to be the U.K. where the film added $5.1 million on 516 screens to its $16.7 million running tally. Other strong holdovers include Australia at $2.1 million, France at $1.96 million, and Mexico with $1.94 million. The film had a few openings over the weekend managing second place in South Korea with $2.1 million on 201 screens, $430,000 in Indonesia, and $388,000 in Portugal. Overall
Batman Begins made $26.7 million on 8,350 screens in 85 markets for an international tally of $83.4 million, while its worldwide box office climbed above $200 million. That's not up to initial expectations, but still impressive.
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June 27th, 2005
The slump continued this weekend, marking the 18th weekend in a row that the overall box office was lower than the same weekend last year.
That's the longest such slump since detailed box office data was kept (1982).
To add insult to injury, it wasn't even close; the yearly comparison showed a 14.5% drop-off from the last year.
This weekend the box office really should have stopped the streak, and now it looks like it could continue until August, and possibly longer.
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June 24th, 2005
Three new films aim to break the box office out of its 17-week slump this weekend.
It's been more than four months since the box office gained any ground on 2004, and the chances of breaking the slump this weekend are not that bad.
This time last year wasn't a particularly strong weekend, but none of this year's three opening films are all that strong either.
In fact, it is unlikely that Batman Begins will be dethroned over the next three days.
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June 22nd, 2005
Batman Begins opened worldwide in a day-and-date release but it's international fortunes were no better than its domestic. The film was easily the number one movie on the international scene with $41.7 million on 8,000 screens in 73 markets. Compared to other international hits this year,
Batman Begins' debut is softer than
Kingdom of Heaven, ($53.8 million on 6500 screens in 100 markets) and not that much above
last week's champ,
Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which wasn't even a worldwide release, ($32 million on 3,600 screens in 35 markets.) It's best market was the U.K. at $7.8 million, but the film also did well in Mexico, ($4.2 million over five days) and France, ($3 million.) On the other hand, in Australia the film finished in second place to
Madagascar, ($3,223,600 to $3,578,000) and the same happened in both Spain and Holland, but box office numbers from those markets are unavailable at the moment. Overall the film performed below expectations, but well enough that it should show a profit before it reaches the home market.
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June 20th, 2005
With both new films failing to live up to expectations, we saw yet another weekend with lower box office numbers.
The total box office was down by 5.67% compared to last weekend.
Early predictions had the comparison to the same weekend last year almost too close to call, and final results didn't clear matters up.
Right now, we have this weekend down from the comparable weekend last year by a mere 0.82%.
However, late numbers from limited releases that are not tracked by the big companies will push this weekend's number higher, but probably not the $1.2 million it needed lift it above last year.
That makes this the 17th weekend in a row of declines on the year-to-year comparison, a new and dubious record. Year-to-date, 2005 has brought in $3.841 billion in box office revenue, down 6.6% from the same time last year.
The Summer numbers are even worse at $1.34 billion; that's the worst start since 2001 and down 8.1% from last year.
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June 17th, 2005
It looks like the near universal enthusiasm for this weekend's box office needs to be toned down a bit after Wednesday's disappointing opening by Batman Begins. Even so, the weekend should still be strong enough to break the slump the year-to-year comparisons are struggling with.
Which means for the first time in nearly four months 2005 will gain ground on 2004.
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June 15th, 2005
We have a new champion atop the International Box Office charts as
Mr. and Mrs. Smith overtook
Revenge of the Sith with $32 million on 3,600 screens in 35 markets. The film best market was the U.K. at $7.1 million on 448 screens, which was slightly below
Hitch's debut earlier in the year. In Australia it brought in $4.7 million on 356 screens, as well as $3.6 million in both Mexico and Taiwan. Other million dollar markets include Brazil, ($1.6 million on 401 screens); Hong Kong, ($1.2 million on 68) and Thailand, ($1.2 million on 250.)
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June 13th, 2005
Despite the number one film beating expectations by $10 million, the box office is still struggling.
First the good news: the weekend numbers were 9.6% higher than last weekend.
But more importantly they were 9.7% lower than the same weekend last year.
Overall 2005 is 10.3% lower for the Summer at $1.121 billion, and 7.2% lower for the year at $3.621 billion.
One bit of good news: should Batman Begins meet market expectations we should see the first weekend of yearly growth in almost four months.
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June 10th, 2005
It's another crowded weekend with four wide releases, well, four if you stretch the definition of wide slightly.
There's only one saturation level release (3,000 or more theaters), and two of the new films couldn't crack 2,000.
To top things off, at the moment not one of these films is earning overall positive reviews.
Even so, we should see a significant increase in the total box office compared to last weekend, but there is likely going to be another drop-off on a year-to-year basis.
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June 8th, 2005
Revenge of the Sith's drop-offs were much shallower this weekend, which helped the film reach another milestone. Overall the added $38.5 million on 10,586 screens in 105 markets, pushing its international number to $308.4 million, virtually tied with its domestic total. The film is now in the Top 40 on the all-time international charts and Top 30 on the all-time
worldwide charts. Compared to the rest of the
Star Wars films,
Revenge of the Sith is already ahead of
Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi and should top
Attack of the Clones by this time next week. It has a reasonable shot at eventually toppling
A New Hope, but unless something freaky happens
The Phantom Menace will remain the highest grossing entry in the
franchise. (Which is ironic, since it is widely regarded as the weakest film.)
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June 6th, 2005
This past weekend was arguably the worst weekend at the box office all year, maybe not in terms of raw dollars, but certainly in terms of drop-offs. None of the new films could match expectations, which helped lead to a 28.38% drop-off from last weekend. Now a post-holiday drop-off is expected, but 28.38%! Even worse, the weekend was down 30.25% from the same time last year. 30.25%! Year-to-date, 2005 has brought in $3.43 billion at the box office, which is 6.7% behind 2004 during the same time frame. And with the later half of 2005 looking weaker, there's little hope it will turn things around.
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June 4th, 2005
The
multi-Oscar winning movie,
The Aviator won the week at the home market, which really surprised no one. The film topped both the DVD rentals with $10.14 million and the VHS rentals with $1.21 million for a combined total of $11.36 million. On the other hand, it came in second on the sales charts to the record breaking The
Chappelle Show
Season 2.
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June 3rd, 2005
Three new wide releases enter a crowded marketplace this week, but it's unlikely any of them will unseat current champ, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
The biggest box office hit of the year has more to worry about from fellow holdover Madagascar than any of the new films.
On a sad note, despite the number of strong contenders at the box office, analysts expect another drop-off from this time last year when Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban set records.
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June 1st, 2005
Revenge of the Sith saw massive drop-offs in nearly every market, but still managed an easy first place finish with $61.5 million on 10,586 screens, The film now has $246.2 million internationally and $501.8 million at the end of Sunday. The film's only opening this week came in South Korea where the film earned an impressive $3.8 million at 306 screens, but its biggest single markets continue to be the U.K. with $9.9 million on 485 screens, more than 7 times its nearest competitor.
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June 1st, 2005
Repeating on top on the Per Theater Charts is tough, especially for a saturation level release like Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
This week the overall chart topper earned an average of $15,071 in its 3,663 theaters, which put it ahead of the third place film, The Longest Yard, which managed $13,100.
The only limited release to crack the $10,000 club was Saving Face with $75,000 in 6 theaters for a $12,517 average. Lastly, we have Madagascar with $11,432.
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May 31st, 2005
It was a good Memorial Day Long Weekend.
Good, but not great.
The four-day weekend saw $230 million in total ticket sales, 7.2% below the record $248.7 million sold last year.
The three-day weekend was even worse at $183 million, 12.5% below 2004.
Year-to-date 2005 has brought in $3.248 billion in total box office revenue, which is 5.6% behind 2004's pace.
On a positive note, weekday numbers are ahead of last year, which is mitigating the problem.
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May 28th, 2005
For the third weekend in a row National Treasure come out on top spot on the combined rental charts. It was a much closer race this week and the film fell 28% to $7.72 million in combined rentals, lifting its three week total to $30.45 million.
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May 27th, 2005
Ah, Memorial Day Long Weekend, the busiest weekend at the movies in the whole year. Last year nearly a quarter of a billion dollars were spent on tickets during the four days and its economic impact is even greater. More than 30 million people will check out a movie this weekend, and each and every one of those will be inundated by ads for upcoming movies, trailers, posters, standees, ads on the popcorn bucket, ads on the drinks, etc. All that advertising will be a huge boost to upcoming films and will undoubtedly help jumpstart the summer.
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May 26th, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner,
Cinderella Man -
Official Site.
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May 25th, 2005
As expected,
Revenge of the Sith dominated the international box office this past weekend setting more than a few records alone the way. Since its debut on Thursday, the final film in the
Star Wars saga raked in $144.7 million on 10,000 screens in 114 markets, breaking the previous record of $125.7 million held by
Return of the King. Worldwide the film now was $303 million after just five days, also a record.
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May 24th, 2005
It's been a while since the overall box office champion topped the Per Theater Charts, but that's just what Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith did this weekend. The film fell just short of setting a record for highest per theater average for a saturation level release (3,000 or more theaters), as its per theatre average of $29,619 was just below the $31,768 earned by Spider-Man. The only other film to reach the $10,000 level was Mysterious Skin with $13,300; the film has now reached that milestone for the third weekend in a row, very impressive.
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May 23rd, 2005
Wow, what a difference a week makes. What could have been the slowest summer in many, many years finally turned around thanks to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. The total box office was more than $160 million, up 60% from last weekend, but with the 13th week in a row there was a year-to-year decline, this time at 4.8%. Year to date, 2005 has now brought in $2.951 billion, which is 6% lower than the same time last year.
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May 21st, 2005
Three new films in the top five and two more than just missed could push
National Treasure out of top spot. The film fell just 11% this week for $9.40 million in DVD rentals and $1.30 million in VHS rentals for a combined rentals of $10.70. The film also held up well in DVD dropping to second place.
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May 19th, 2005
Fox is estimating a stunning $16.5 million to $17 million box office for last night's midnight screenings of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
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May 18th, 2005
Summer finally begins tonight at midnight with the release of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, which should be the biggest movie of the year. The real question is how big will the movie be?
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May 18th, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner, New Police Story -
Official Site.
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May 17th, 2005
I, like millions worldwide, suffer from a debilitating disease call...
Sith Flu. This will leave me completely unable to work from Wednesday at midnight till sometime on Friday, depending on if the midnight shows are sold out in my area and how many times I need to seek treatment before I'm cured. This has caused some changes in this week's schedule.
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May 1st, 2005
May! The beginning of the lucrative Summer Box Office Season! I know what you're thinking, summer doesn't really begin till mid-June, but for the movie industry summer official begins on the Memorial Day long weekend, and just between you and me, it unofficial begins on the first full weekend of the month. So that means every weekend there's a monster release - one that has people excited since it was first announced.
This month such films include
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and ... hold on a second, I'll think of another ... Nope. That's pretty much the only monster film being released this May. Don't get me wrong, every week there's a potential $100 million hit being released, but that's nothing compared to
2003 when 4 films released in May hit $200 million and two others made $100 million.
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April 30th, 2005
As expected, Meet the Fockers was the top draw at the home market, earning the trifecta in the process.
The film took in $10.46 million in DVD rentals as well as $1.86 million in VHS rentals.
The movie also sold 3 million combined in DVD and VHS units on its opening day alone, one of the better sellers of the year.
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March 21st, 2005
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section including this week's winner, Star Wars - Clone Wars, Vol. 1 - Buy from Amazon, although Being Julia - Buy from Amazon and Finding Neverland - Buy from Amazon are also worthwhile films.
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March 17th, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner, Ice Princess - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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March 11th, 2005
There really no doubt about what film will take top spot this weekend, as Robots could triple the second place film. However, after number one there are some interesting stories at the weekend box office race.
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May 20th, 2004
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates. It was another deceptively slow week as there are lots of site on the list, but none stood out as an award winning site. Many were simple placeholders, others had just minor updates, and the only three flash sites to launch were mostly marked coming soon. I was even tempted to not give out an award or maybe even bring in a
ringer. But in the end I went with
The Incredibles -
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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January 3rd, 2004
The New Year makes for an interesting time to look at how last year's blockbusters have affected our All Time Top Box Office Stars list.
As usual, there are some familiar names doing well, and some surprise new entries.
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