May 25th, 2011
As I mentioned at the time, the list of Blu-rays were weak this week, so weak that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I was able to return to top spot. That said, its weekly sales of 94,000 units and $2.16 million was terribly weak for the number one Blu-ray. On the other hand, its totals after five weeks of release are 2.79 million units and $63.26 million, which are the best of the year so far.
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May 24th, 2011
Despite coming out a few days later than the rest of the new releases, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never topped the DVD sales chart this week with 471,000 units sold and $7.26 million in consumer spending at retail.
No Strings Attached opened in second place with 315,000 units / $5.41 million, which is not particularly strong, but not too bad, all things considered. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I remained in third place adding 168,000 units / $2.68 million for the week for running tallies of 4.92 million units / $68.61 million after five. It should quickly become the second DVD release of 2011 to sell 5 million units.
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May 18th, 2011
Few new releases were able to make a real impact on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, but we did have a new number one. The Green Hornet earned top spot by selling 291,000 units and generating $5.82 million in opening week sales. By units, 38% of its market share was in High definition, which is quite strong.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I slipped to second place with 166,000 units for the week and 2.70 million after a month of release. It remains the best-selling Blu-ray of the year, so far.
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May 17th, 2011
As expected, there were not many new releases to reach the top 30 on this week's DVD sales chart. However, in an unexpected twist, this weakness in the new releases allowed The King's Speech to climb into top spot with 531,000 units over the weekend for totals of 1.66 million units / $23.93 million after three. Maybe its word-of-mouth is helping out.
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May 3rd, 2011
Historically, this is the weakest time of year for DVD releases. The last of the winter releases have already been released. It's too early for the flood of TV on DVD releases for the upcoming season in the fall. And studios are too worried about competing with blockbusters in theaters. There's really only one first run release that's generating any buzz, The Green Hornet, but while the 3D Blu-ray / Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack is worth picking up, the sales potential quickly declines from that point and by the time you reach the bottom of the top ten, you are really struggling to find any release that will have any real impact on the home market. As for the best release, as opposed to the biggest, there are two TV on DVD imports that are worth checking out: Being Human: Season 3 on DVD and Murdoch Mysteries: Season 3 on DVD or Blu-ray. (The Blu-ray release for Being Human is too pricey.) Both are worth picking up, but for Pick of the Week, I'm going with Murdoch Mysteries.
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March 15th, 2011
Mars Needs Moms opened in 211 IMAX screens over the weekend, but given its box office struggles, to be polite, it should come as no surprise that no official numbers were released for its IMAX run. On the other hand, it was announced that Tron: Legacy reached $60 million worldwide, while The Green Hornet hit $10 million, also worldwide. Up next for IMAX is Sucker Punch at the end of March, while in April IMAX theaters will play host to Born to be Wild 3D.
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February 16th, 2011
Black Swan rose to top spot with $19.41 million on 3041 screens in 34 markets for a total of $72.90 million internationally. The film is about to cross $100 million domestically, and it looks assured at repeating that feat internationally, which is very impressive for an art house film. It opened in France scoring second place with $4.58 million on 300 screens, giving it the best per screen average in the market. It also opened in Russia earning fourth place with $1.34 million on 329 screens over the weekend and $1.73 million in total. Over the weekend, it earned twice as much as True Grit opened with, despite opening in fewer theaters. On the other hand, even including Wednesday and Thursday, it made less than The Eagle made from Friday to Sunday. This makes it hard to judge its opening. In the meantime, the film added $1.71 million on 481 screens in the U.K. for a total of $20.47 million in that country. It will have little trouble overtaking Dawn Treader in that market, possibly as early as this time next week.
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February 9th, 2011
Tangled's international run is coming close to an end, but it has a couple of major milestones left to reach. Over the weekend it added $23.90 million on 5186 screens in 42 markets for a total of $288.33 million internationally and $479.40 million worldwide. At this point next week it will have $300 million internationally and $500 million worldwide. In order to reach profitability before it hits the home market, it will need to get past the $600 million mark worldwide, which is likely out of reach. However, assuming it does well on the home market, reaching profitability is inevitable at this point. This week it opened in Spain with $5.61 million on 650 screens, which was enough for first place over the weekend and the third best Disney debut in that market. Meanwhile, the film was down just 11% during its second weekend of release in the U.K., adding $7.38 million on 448 screens over the weekend for a running tally of $17.35 million. And, it has yet to open in Japan, so it is not done yet.
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February 7th, 2011
The Super Bowl turned out to be a rather good game and it broke ratings records with 111 million people turning in to watch at least part of it. On the other hand, the box office was anything but record-breaking. Overall the box office was down 20% from last weekend to $87 million. Even worse, that was 24% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2011 is already $310 million behind 2010 with a total of $988 million. 2011 is almost two full weeks behind 2010's pace, and I don't think things will get a whole lot better next weekend.
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February 3rd, 2011
It's a new month and the industry is hoping for a fresh start, as January was not a month that will remembered fondly. Unfortunately, a fresh start likely won't be the case. There are two wide releases coming out this week, but they are best described as middling. Conversely, this time last year, Dear John opened with more than $30 million, and there's almost no chance that will happen this weekend, so 2011 will fall further behind 2010.
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February 3rd, 2011
Tangled opened in first place in the U.K. and that helped it climb back into first place internationally this weekend. In the U.K., it earned $8.11 million on 445 screens, which is roughly equivalent to its opening here. It's a little complicated comparing the two, as it opened on a Wednesday domestically, and it also opened on a major holiday. It was a better opening than Despicable Me, and that film earned just over $30 million in the U.K. along and almost $300 million internationally. Overall Tangled added $17.34 million on 4,534 screens in 37 markets for totals of $256.54 million internationally and $446.12 million worldwide. At this pace, $500 million worldwide is practically a lock.
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January 31st, 2011
Twelve. The year-over-year slump has reached twelve weeks, and it won't be long before that story becomes the biggest news in the industry. (Thank goodness for Oscars, otherwise that would already be the case.) The final weekend of January pulled in $109 million, which was 6% higher than last weekend, but it was also 13% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2011 has managed $872 million, but that pales compared to the $1.15 billion 2010 had earned at this point. 2011 is already nearly $300 million behind last year's pace after just one month. And sadly, I'm not seeing a lot of reason for optimism over the next month either.
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January 27th, 2011
It's the last weekend of January, so it's one last chance for 2011 to avoid a catastrophic start. At the beginning of the month I thought that if January 2011 was 20% lower than January 2010, it would be bad news.
As of the end of last weekend, that figure was closer to 30%.
This weekend, there's almost no chance things will improve, as this time last year Avatar earned more than $30 million, while this year the top two films combined likely won't earn that much.
Hopefully the two wide releases this weekend will be competitive with last year's two wide releases, but even that doesn't seem particularly likely.
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January 26th, 2011
Thanks to a combination of solid openings and better than expected holds, The Green Hornet was able to climb into top spot with $18.53 million on 4706 screens in 43 markets for a total of $37.55 million after just two weeks of release. In Australia, the film earned first place with $2.99 million on just 289 screens for a very impressive per screen average. It was also the biggest hit in Mexico with $2.55 million on 439 screens. On the other hand, it struggled in Japan opening in third place with $1.80 million on 459 screens. With a per screen average of well under $5000, it will likely disappear quite quickly in that market. On the up side, the film held well in most major markets down just 30% in France to $1.37 million on 495 screens over the weekend for a total of $3.66 million after two. In Germany it was down just 35% to $2.69 million on 612 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.81 million, also after two. While it was down 37% in the U.K. to $1.90 million on 431 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $6.11 million. With openings in South Korea, Italy, Russia, and Brazil ahead, it could top $100 million internationally and $200 million worldwide. That would be more than enough to be considered a success.
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January 24th, 2011
It's getting harder and harder to to spin the weekend numbers, as this time around the overall box office was down significantly, even if you ignore Avatar. The total box office was $103 million, which was 21% lower than last weekend and a stunning 29% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date 2011 is already almost $250 million behind $2010 at $730 million to $979 million. Granted, it's far too early in the year to panic, but we haven't seen year-over-year growth for nearly three months.
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January 23rd, 2011
A decent $20.3 million estimated opening for No Strings Attached and some surprisingly good holds in the top four wasn't enough to halt 2011's early box office slump.
Overall, the weekend's box office take looks like it will be about $35 million below last year's total, once more uncannily close to the haul of Avatar in the equivalent period.
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January 20th, 2011
There's only one wide release this week, and it has a clear path to first place at the box office. However, while No Strings Attached will have little trouble winning, the real question box office watchers are asking is: How well will 2011 do compared to 2010? So far the answer to that question as been, "Disastrously." That trend will continue. This weekend last year, Avatar earned close to $35 million, while no new release will make that much. In fact, the top two films will barely earn more than that. If both No Strings Attached and The Green Hornet can earn more than Legion opened with last year, then I'll be willing to call it a victory, of sorts. Not a true victory, but at least we can look at things with some optimism.
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January 20th, 2011
There were a trio of news items relating to IMAX this past week, starting with box office numbers for The Green Hornet, which were good, but not great. The film managed $3.0 million on 173 screens over four days, which gave it a per screen average significantly higher than in regular theaters, but not by as much as some other releases. I think this was because it was a better than expected marginal release. There were likely two groups of people who were on the fence about this movie: those that wanted to see it, but weren't willing to pay IMAX prices, and those who wanted to see it, but were willing to wait for the home market. Better than expected reviews are more likely to change the minds of the latter group than the former, resulting in a higher than expected overall box office, but not as much change in IMAX. That said, this is still a good result, especially for this time of year.
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January 20th, 2011
International numbers were a day late due to the holiday, but there were some interesting stories to report. Firstly, Tangled climbed to top spot with $16.01 million on 4187 screens, in 38 markets, for a total of $214.02 million internationally and $395.03 million worldwide. It was able to climb to the top, despite no major market openings. It did add $3.33 million on 432 screens during its second weekend in Australia. That was enough for second place in that market over the weekend, while it lifted its total there to $13.23 million. In Brazil it remained in first place with $2.69 million on 447 screens over the weekend and $12.98 million after two. Up next is the U.K., while it has yet to open in Spain, Scandinavia, and Japan and by the time its done, it could have $500 million worldwide.
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January 19th, 2011
The winners of our Choices, Choices contest were determined and they are...
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January 18th, 2011
2011 continues its trend of performing pretty well against 2010, if you ignore Avatar. This time last year, Avatar earned just over $40 million at the box office over the three-day weekend. This weekend 2011 was behind 2010 by just under $40 million over the same period. (You get a similar result if you look at the four-day numbers.) One could look at this as a small victory, as Avatar is such a rare commodity that it is unfair to expect the box office to compensate for that. However, there are a number of points that makes that thinking dangerous. First of all, even taking out Avatar, 2011's growth is not enough to keep pace with inflation. Secondly, without Avatar as competition, The Book of Eli probably would have earned at least a few million more, as would the rest of the box office. Thirdly, 2011 lost over the four-day weekend by a margin of $210 million to $159 million, which means there were about 7 million fewer people at theaters this weekend, which means there were 7 million fewer people seeing trailers, posters, etc. for upcoming films, and the box office can hardly afford missing out on that much free advertising. Finally, already 2011 is behind 2010 by nearly $200 million, at $798 million to $601 million, and if the conventional wisdom becomes, "2011 will be a disaster at the box office", it will take something special to overcome that negative buzz. And quite frankly, I don't see anything really special hitting theaters till the fall, and by then it will be too late.
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January 16th, 2011
An estimated $34 million opening for The Green Hornet (a fractional improvement on the debut of The Book of Eli this time last year) wasn't enough to pull 2011 out of its early box office slump.
Total box office for MLK weekend looks as though it will be down about 20-25%, or $40 million, from last year.
Its no coincidence that Avatar grossed about $40 million in the same frame in 2010, which suggests that the industry will have a hard job closing the gap over the next couple of months.
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January 13th, 2011
Two wide releases this week look to bring in the green and return the overall box office to the black. The wider of the two, The Green Hornet, is even looking to earn more than Avatar did this time last year, which would be a major victory for 2011. I'm not saying its going to, but it is a real possibility. And if it can't, it appears it is more likely than not that it will match The Book of Eli's opening from last year, which would at least be some positive news for the box office.
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January 7th, 2011
There could be a real race for top spot next week, which makes choosing the target film for this week's box office prediction contest a little trickier. The Dilemma will probably be the bigger hit in the long run, but The Green Hornet could open faster before collapsing. As such, I'm picking the latter as this week's target film. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for The Green Hornet.
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 Spongebob Squarepants: Season Six, Volume Two on DVD and iCarly: iSpace Out on DVD.
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 iCarly: Season Two, Volume Two on DVD and Yo Gabba Gabba!: Let's Visit the Doctor on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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January 4th, 2011
IMAX released their 2010 numbers and they had a lot of reasons to celebrate, more than 500 million of them. Total worldwide revenues doubled from their previous record of $270 million in 2009 to $546 million in 2010. This is partially due to increased market penetration, especially internationally (international revenue tripled from $70 million to $212 million) but their per theater revenue also grew by an impressive 50%. Revenue for the fourth quarter was also up compared to last year, but by a tiny margin at $102 to $101 million. However, this should be considered a solid result, as last year was boosted by Avatar, and there was nothing that came close to matching its box office this year.
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January 1st, 2011
Well, 2010 is over and while it started amazingly, it ended on a real down note. I'm not saying December was a disaster. ... Actually I am. There were only ten wide releases, and of those, eight missed expectations, some by very wide margins. Despite having a $200 million lead going into the month, 2010 still managed to lose out to 2009. The bad news continues in 2011, as Avatar made $300 million during January alone. With no strong holdovers to help power the box office, and only one or two potential solid hits among the new releases, 2011 will likely get off to a very weak start.
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June 21st, 2010
Toy Story 3's record-breaking opening included its run on IMAX, opening with $8.4 million on 180 IMAX screens. That's the record for an animated film. Additionally, it earned $1.2 million on 47 IMAX screens internationally for a worldwide opening of $9.6 million, with scheduled openings in 29 more theaters on the international scene yet to come.
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October 2nd, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Paper Man, Sherlock Holmes, Kung Fu Panda 2, and more!
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June 15th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Transporter 3, Hoodwinked 2, The Green Hornet and more!
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July 21st, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Big Stan, Valkyrie, Monsters vs. Aliens and more.
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