August 3rd, 2009
A rather slow week for new releases with very few real first run releases that stand out. The best releases on this week's list are Dollhouse - Season One on DVD or Blu-ray, as well as Watchmen - Three-Disc Director's Cut Blu-ray, but both of those came out in weeks past and are on this list because the screener arrived late. The best from this week is Flight of the Conchords - Season Two, which is the DVD Pick of the Week. However, if you are Canadian, you have to grab Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy on DVD; it's your patriotic duty.
More...
December 23rd, 2008
For the second weekend in a row, all three wide releases missed expectations, and unlike last week, the holdovers were not able to compensate. This caused the overall box office to slip to just $89 million; that's down 3% from last weekend, and more troubling, 44% from the same weekend last year. This two-week slump has been so bad that 2008 has lost its lead vs. 2007 and is now behind $9.25 billion to $9.23 billion. Unacceptable. If the Christmas releases are not stellar, we will see a decline in the yearly number for the first time in three years, while we are nearly guaranteed to see a drop in ticket sales for the fifth time in six years.
More...
December 17th, 2008
Gran Torino opened on top of the Per Theater Chart with an outstanding average of $45,287 in six theaters. Wide expansion seems inevitable at this point. Likewise, Doubts debut of just over $500,000 in 15 theaters gave it an average $33,815 making expansion almost assured. Che - The Argentine was close behind with $30,535 in two theaters. The Reader opened with an average of $21,006 in 8 theaters, which most weeks would be enough to score top spot; however, given the competition, without continued success during Awards Season, it could struggle to expand. There were only two holdovers in the $10,000 club with Frost/Nixon earning an average of $16,061 and Slumdog Millionaire earning $12,873. The final $10,000 film was Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, which opened with $10,985. However, both My Name Is Bruce and Wendy and Lucy came relatively close with averages of $9,119 and $9,109 respectively.
More...
December 15th, 2008
It was a rough week for new releases as none of the three debut films managed to live up to expectations, in dramatic fashion in some cases. However, holdovers did pick up some of the slack to help the overall box office to $92 million over the weekend. That was 11% higher than last weekend, but 43% lower than the same weekend last year when I Am Legend opened. Or you could compare it to the weekend when The Golden Compass opened, in which case it was nearly 12% higher. Either is acceptable. As for the year-to-date numbers, 2008 extended its lead over 2007 to 1.4% at $8.96 billion to $8.84 billion. It appears that 2008's lead is safe this late in the year, at least in terms of raw dollars. Ticket sales, on the other hand, will decline.
More...
December 14th, 2008
The Day the Earth Stood Still topped the weekend chart with $31 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
That's a strong start, helped in particular by $3.8 million on 123 IMAX screens, and gives Fox a nice lead-in to the holidays, with no competitive film coming out until Christmas Day.
However, weak reviews and tepid word of mouth will not help it, and a $100 million run is far from assured at this stage.
Four Christmases had an impressive week-to-week drop of just 20% to earn an estimated $13 million and finish second.
Its success probably dampened the opening weekend for Nothing Like the Holidays, which pulled in $3.5 million from 1,671 theaters.
More...
December 14th, 2008
One of the busier week's in a while when it comes to new releases, and there's a mix of wide releases and smaller Oscar hopefuls. It's the former category that has the best sites, with the widest release of the week, The Day the Earth Stood Still, having the best Official Site. On a side note, we also have a previous winner of the Weekly Website Award, Delgo - Official Site, and since the format of this column has changed since then, that will be the last time that happens.
More...
December 12th, 2008
There are three wide releases this week, including the only action film in the month of December, The Day the Earth Stood Still. There's no doubt it will be the biggest hit of the week. The only real question is if it can open better than I Am Legend did this week last year and help 2008 keep pace with 2007.
More...
December 1st, 2008
We end the year with a winning streak, one that will hopefully continue right through the New Year holiday. It seems nearly every film released this month is either an Oscar contender or a potential $100 million hit. Sometimes both. If all six films with box office potentials of $100 million or more reach that milestone, and Bolt and Four Christmases have the legs to make it there as well, we could set the record for most $100 million released in a single year. (It is currently at 29 films set in 2003.)
More...
August 24th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The International, Youth in Revolt, Fame and more!
More...
July 4th, 2008
The long weekend didn't result in a long list of limited releases. That said, there are a few releases that have a shot at succeeding in limited release, even if I wouldn't be willing to wager any of them will escape to the multiplexes.
More...
March 17th, 2007
We are starting to get some serious updates on the websites for the summer blockbusters, however, it will be a few more weeks before this list is dominated by such films. In the meantime, it is a website for a new release, Dead Silence - Official Site, that is the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
More...
April 13th, 2006
Back to normal levels of traffic on this list, but like last week there's not an over abundance of huge sites on this week's list. I hope that changes soon as the summer box office season is just around the corner. The best of the bunch this week is
Hard Candy -
Official Site, which has been slowly growing for months.
More...
June 11th, 2003
