April 20th, 2010
The week ending April 11 was one of the weakest weeks in a long time for new releases, with not a single one reaching the top five on the DVD sales chart. Only three reached the top 30. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel remained the best selling DVD with 394,000 units sold for the week, pumping its total sales to 2.93 million units after two.
More...
April 9th, 2010
The widest release of next week is Kick-Ass, which is the film I'm looking forward to the most this month. More importantly, it's the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Kick-Ass.
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 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans on DVD, as well as a signed copy of The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell. Patricia Cornwell is the author of many books, including At Risk and The Front, the first of which airs on Lifetime tomorrow, while the second airs next week.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
More...
April 6th, 2010
There is not a single first-run wide release on this week's list. The biggest new release of the week is Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which made less than $2 million in theaters. The biggest selling release of the week is the Lord of the Rings - The Theatrical Trilogy on Blu-ray, but the extended edition has already been announced. After those two releases there is practically nothing of interest. In all honesty, many of the releases on this list would have been ignored had this been a busy week. The release I'm looking forward to the most is Yesterday Was A Lie, but the DVD is late, so I don't know if it is merely worth buying or if it is worthy of the Pick of the Week honor.
More...
April 5th, 2010
The original Bad Lieutenant came out in 1992. It was directed by Abel Ferrara, who is not known for his commercial success, and it featured Harvey Keitel in what is perhaps his most powerful performance. The very nature of the film precluded it from mainstream success, but among certain art house fans it is held in very high regard. So when it was revealed that a remake was planned, a lot of people were upset, not the least of which was Abel Ferrara. A funny thing happened: despite the animosity toward this film, it earned better reviews than the original film. Despite that, this movie still managed to make less at the box office. Strange. So is this a case of this being a film that only a critic could like? Or was it unfairly overlooked by moviegoers?
More...
December 15th, 2009
Lovely Bones defied critics to open on top of the per theater chart with $38,872 in three theaters.
Up in the Air remained in second place with an average of $33,255 in 72 theaters, while it nearly reached the top ten on the overall chart.
A Single Man opened with more than $200,000 in 9 theaters for an average of $24,148.
Broken Embraces spent its fourth weekend in the $10,000 club with an average of $18,255 in six theaters.
It is starting to expand, so it should start hitting major milestones soon.
More...
December 2nd, 2009
As always, the Independent Spirit Awards represent the unofficial start of Awards Season with the announcement of their nominations.
This year The Last Station and Precious topped the list of nominees with five each.
For the former, it should help build buzz for its 2010 release.
For the latter, it is the first step towards possible Awards Season glory and further enhances its already lofty box office potential.
More...
November 24th, 2009
Broken Embraces opened on top of the per theater chart with an impressive average of $53,556 in two theaters, while The Fantastic Mr. Fox was in a close second place with an average $50,878 in four theaters. The overall box office leader, The Twilight Saga - New Moon, placed third with $35,497 in more than 4,000 theaters. Precious saw its best numbers of its run so far, pulling in nearly $11 million in just over 600 theaters for an average of $17,300. The Sun opened with $11,588 in one theater while The Blind Side opened with an average of $10,971 in more than 3,000 theaters.
More...
November 20th, 2009
Normally it is very hard for a limited release to score breakout success.
On a typical weekend, none of the films opening in exclusive engagements go on to a real measure of mainstream success.
However, this week there are three films that could be able to do just that: Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call New Orleans, Broken Embraces, Red Cliff.
It will be interesting to see which one manages to be the biggest of the three.
More...
November 1st, 2009
October was not a month to remember, as only two films really beat expectations. (Although Paranormal Activity was the most unexpected hit during the October, it actually opened in September, so one could argue it's not really an 'October hit'.) This month we have a massive collection of potential blockbusters, some potential Oscar contenders, as well as a few unfortunate films that might be squeezed out by the competition. Compared to last November, we might have the same number of $100 million hits, assuming all movies match expectations (fat chance); we have a limited release from this month become the Awards Season darling and reach that milestone (monstrously unlikely); and we count The Princess and the Frog as a November releases (intellectually dishonest). That said, if three or four legitimate November releases reach that milestone, then 2009 will be on pace to tie or break the record for most $100 million released in one calendar year. But overall, 2009 will likely see its lead over 2008 shrink during the next 30 days.
More...
July 5th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Appaloosa, Bad Lieutenant, Night at the Museum 2, and more!
More...
June 24th, 2008
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
More...
June 19th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for 2012, Public Enemies, Transformers 2, and more!
More...