March 25th, 2014
It is a good, but very shallow week on the home market. The Wolf of Wall Street is leading the pack, with the Blu-ray Combo Pack earning first place and DVD earning second. This is a $100 million hit and a multi-Oscar nominee, so it is not surprising it is earning the top two spots. On the other hand, third place currently belongs to Monster High: Frights, Camera, Action! on DVD. That's a real sign that it is a shallow week. That's not to say some of the smaller releases are not worth picking up. Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIX is certainly a contender for Pick of the Week, but in the end I went with The Wolf of Wall Street. On a side note, Continuum: Season 2 on Blu-ray earned the Puck of the Week, for Best Canadian Release.
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March 12th, 2014
The Grand Budapest Hotel led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $202,792 in four theaters. This is the best per theater average this year and the best per theater average since Frozen's debut last year. It is also the best per theater average for a live action film of all time, beating The Master's old record of $147,262 in five theaters set in 2012. The film will clearly expand wide enough to earn a significant measure of mainstream success, if it doesn't expand truly wide. Particle Fever was next with an average of $14,323 in three theaters over the weekend, while its total since Wednesday is $49,869. The only wide release to top $10,000 on the per theater chart was 300: Rise of an Empire, which earned an average of $13,006. Interior. Leather Bar. was a surprise entrant in the $10,000 club earning $10,902 in one theater.
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February 19th, 2014
Beijing Love Story led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $18,708 in 9 theaters. This is surprisingly strong, given its weak reviews. Next up is the overall box office leader, The LEGO Movie, with an average of $13,204 and the overall second place film, About Last Night, was right behind with an average of $11,384.
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January 15th, 2014
After being in second place for a long time, Frozen finally scored first place with $27.8 million in 50 markets for totals of $394.6 million internationally and $711.9 million worldwide. The film had no major market openings this past weekend, but it opens this weekend in South Korea and in Japan in March.
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January 9th, 2014
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug began 2014 the same way it ended 2013, on top. This weekend it pulled in $58 million in 62 markets for totals of $527 million internationally and $756 million worldwide. The film had no major market openings this past weekend, but did remain in fourth place in Russia with $9.6 million on 1,378 screens for a total of $42 million after three weeks of release. It was able to remain in top spot in Germany for the fourth weekend in a row with $8.6 million on 1,40 screens for a total of $75.1 million there. Granted, the film won't match An Unexpected Journey's debut, but it will end its run with well over $800 million worldwide, possibly even $900 million worldwide. There's no way to look at that figure and not call the movie a smashing success.
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January 1st, 2014
As it has the past couple of weeks, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug topped the international chart earning $99.7 million on 15,782 screens in 61 markets for totals of $424.8 million internationally and $615.1 million worldwide. The film opened in Australia on Boxing Day, but due to the holidays earning first place with a total opening of $12.9 million on 629 screens; however, this was a little behind An Unexpected Journey's debut there. On the other hand, the film set the record for biggest total opening in Poland with $5.6 million on 425 screens.
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December 30th, 2013
Some studios are still closed and won't open till this time next week, so we won't have all of the final numbers for the past two weeks till then. We do have some final numbers, as well as some studio estimates that we can look at now. As for the upcoming week, it will look a lot like last week in terms of stories. We won't have a per theater chart, we might have an international top ten, while prediction, contest, and limited releases will be mostly normal. We might even have a review this weekend. (That's assuming some of the late screeners finally arrive, because at the moment I have nothing to review.)
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December 27th, 2013
It's the final weekend of the year and there are a lot of films fighting for spots in the top five, including five films that opened on Christmas Day. Unfortunately for those films, it looks like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will remain in first place for the third weekend in a row. The Wolf of Wall Street will likely be the biggest of the five new releases, but it is unlikely that it will have a shot at first place; it might only finish fifth. The other new releases are even weaker. Last year there were only three new releases for the final weekend of the year, but none of them bombed, so 2013 might end on a low note. 2013 should still win in the year-over-year comparison, but losing on the final weekend of the year is a bad sign for 2014's debut.
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December 27th, 2013
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was the biggest draw on the international chart last weekend adding $97.4 million on 16,840 screens in 56 markets for totals of $278.4 million internationally and $406.0 million worldwide after just two weeks of release. This includes a first place debut in Russia where it made $16.36 million on 2,125 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $19.11 million. This is more or less the same as the first film opened with. (An Unexpected Journey didn't open on Wednesday, but made $17.89 million on 2,128 screens during its three-day opening weekend.)
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December 19th, 2013
This week there are two wide releases, Anchorman: The Legend Continues and Walking with Dinosaurs, as well as two limited releases expanding wide, American Hustle and Saving Mr. Banks. All four films will have to deal with last weekend's champion, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, as well as Frozen, which should do well thanks to the holidays. This weekend last year was pretty bad for a December weekend. Jack Reacher opened with $15.21 million, which put it a distant second place to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Desolation of Smaug won't make as much as An Unexpected Journey did last year, but Anchorman has a shot at first place and so the combined strength should help the box office grow in the year-over-year comparison.
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December 1st, 2013
We had some good news and some bad news in November. The bad news is the overall weakness at the box office continued and 2013 lost its lead over 2012. Strong runs by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen did help it bounce back in the end, but 2013 is still going to have a tough time topping 2012. Looking forward to December, we find about a dozen wide releases, sort of. There are several films that are opening in limited release that are expected to expand wide by the end of the month, but I'm not sure that will be the case for all of them. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug should be the easy winner this month and if it is a little lucky, it might even top its predecessor at the box office. There is a huge amount of hype surrounding Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and it could double the first film's box office numbers. On the other hand, those two films might be the only two December wide releases to reach $100 million. There are a few that have the potential to get to the century mark, if they are big players during Awards Season. Obviously some of the films coming out this month will win awards, but there's already a lot of competition in theaters before the month begins. There were three $100 million movies last December, led by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, so while it could be close, it looks like December will lose in the year-over-year comparison. This is really bad news, as 2013 can't afford to go out on a losing streak if it wants to top 2012.
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