April 18th, 2012
This is becoming a pattern on the Blu-ray sales chart. Just like it has been for the past few weeks, new releases were soft. Granted, War Horse did top the Blu-ray sales chart, but with just 314,000 units / $7.84 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 36%, which is about average for the format.
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April 18th, 2012
There were not a lot of new releases to reach the top 30 on this week's DVD Sales Chart, but at least there was some action on top. Hop overtook Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked for first place with 729,000 units / $10.52 million for the week and 2.04 million units / $33.51 million after three. It is now just the third DVD of 2012 to sell 2 million units.
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April 10th, 2012
There were not many new releases on the Blu-ray sales chart and many of the top selling DVDs were family films, which tend to struggle on high definition. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked did grab first place, but with just 270,000 units / $6.29 million. Its opening week Blu-ray Share was just 23%, which is weak for the format as a whole and only average for the genre.
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April 10th, 2012
Family films led the way on the DVD Sales Chart this week taking the top three spots. This included one and a half new releases. The best selling DVD was Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked, which sold 893,000 units / $15.56 million during its first full week of release. This is well below the opening week numbers of its predecessors, but the franchise collapsed at the box office, so this result is not surprising.
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April 4th, 2012
New releases really dominated the Blu-ray sales chart taking the top four spots and five of the top six. Leading the way was The Muppets with 967,000 units / $24.16 million. Its opening week Blu-ray ray share was 52%, which is stunning for a live action family film. In fact, it's would good for a visually impressive action film.
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April 3rd, 2012
New releases dominated the DVD sales chart earning the top three spots and five of the top ten. Leading the way was The Muppets with 884,000 units / $15.05 million. This is a little weaker than I would like, but perhaps it performed better on Blu-ray. I'm not overly optimistic, because live action kids movies tend to struggle on high definition.
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March 26th, 2012
It's not a particularly strong week when it comes to the home market. The biggest box office hit coming out this week is Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked, but that film missed expectations at the box office and was savaged by critics. It should be the best selling DVD and Blu-ray of the week, but that's because it is a slow week overall. As for the best of the best, Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIII is my choice for Pick of the Week. Others might go with South Park: Season 15 instead, while A Dangerous Method would also be the top choice of many. By a strange coincidence, I'm waiting for the screeners for all four of these films.
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March 24th, 2012
Hop hit theaters last year just in time for Easter and follows in the footsteps of the Alvin and the Chipmunks films with live action / digitally animated cast. Those films earned a lot at the box office, but were savaged by critics. This film was not as popular at the box office, but is it the better film?
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March 20th, 2012
It's another week were there are a lot of Awards Season players hitting the home market and a lot of screeners that are late. There are a trio of films that are high on the list of contenders for Pick of the Week. These include two serious drama / thrillers: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on Blu-ray Combo Pack and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on Blu-ray. However, in the end, I went with the extreme other end of the serious scale with The Muppets's Wocka Wocka Value Pack
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May 1st, 2011
After four months fretting about poor box office performance, we finally have an out-and-out success to celebrate. Fast Five has opened with an estimated $83.6 million, according to Universal's figures released on Sunday, which makes it not only the biggest opener of the year (with more than double the debut of the previous record-holder, Rio), but will take the record for the biggest weekend in April, topping the previous entry in the franchise, Fast & Furious (see top April weekends). Perhaps the message in all this is not so much that the industry is dying as that moviegoers haven't had anything to get excited about.
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April 28th, 2011
Analysts are optimistic this week, and for good reason. Not only is one of the most anticipated films of the spring opening this week, it is opening with better than expected reviews and with buzz that is growing at the right time. There's an outside chance that the number one film this year will earn more than the top ten films earned this weekend last year. Even if the top film misses expectations by a 50% margin, 2011 should still earn its third victory in a row in the year-over-year comparison.
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April 27th, 2011
Rio is the first film of 2011 to top $200 million on the international chart, reaching that milestone late in the weekend. It earned $44.27 million on 12,901 screens in 67 markets for a three-week total of $206.01 million internationally and $286.82 million worldwide. The film didn't open in any major markets this past weekend, but that clearly didn't hurt too badly, as the holds were excellent. For instance, the film was down just 10% in Brazil, earning $6.65 million on 971 screens for a total of $31.19 million. To put this into perspective, Avatar made less than $60 million in that market in total, and only had just over $20 million after three weeks of release. At this pace, $300 million internationally and $400 million worldwide is easily within reach.
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April 25th, 2011
That's two wins in a row. This weekend pulled in $136 million, which was 5% higher than last weekend and an impressive 37% higher than the same weekend last year. Granted, Easter landed on a different weekend last year, but this is still an impressive win. Also, it helped 2011 close the gap on 2010 to 17% at $2.84 billion to $3.41 billion. It still going to take a lot just to catch up by the end of the year, but at least there's some reason to be optimistic going into the summer.
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April 24th, 2011
After a typically topsy-turvy Easter weekend, with Friday the best day at the box office, it looks as though Rio will top the chart with an estimated $26.8 million 3-day weekend. Madea's Big Happy Family still stands a small chance of finishing first, but is currently projected to end the weekend about $1 million back with $25.75 million. Both those figures are about in line with expectations, but Water for Elephants did slightly better than expected with $17.5 million for third place.
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April 21st, 2011
The box office is looking to extend its winning streak to two this weekend. There is some great news regarding that goal, as this time last year was really poor, with the three new releases earning less than $30 million combined. I would be shocked if Madea's Big Happy Family opened with less than that. With the Easter holiday, Rio and Hop should hold on well and 2011 should finally start digging itself out of the huge hole it is in.
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April 20th, 2011
Rio has become the biggest hit on the international box office so far this year after just two weeks of release. This past weekend it made $56.34 million on 13,754 screens in 63 markets to lift its total to $131.78 million. This is just a couple of million above The Green Hornet, although it is extending that lead very rapidly. The film was aided by a pair of first place openings in major markets, scoring $4.92 million on 667 screens in France and $2.38 million on 626 screens in Italy. It really shone in a number of holdover markets as well, including Brazil, where it was down a mere 14% to $7.22 million on 1,025 screens over the weekend for a total of $18.75 million after two. At this pace, it will top the final box office of Toy Story 3, Harry Potter and Tangled by next weekend. It added $5.70 million on 1,297 screens in Russia to lift its running tally to $18.94 million. It did drop by 39% from its opening weekend, which was higher than in most major markets, but still very strong for Russia. It grew by 33% in Australia to $3.22 million on 467 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.97 million after two. It was up 12% in the U.K. to $2.76 million on 531 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.97 million. Rio doesn't have a lot of markets left to expand into, but even so, at this pace it should hit $200 million internationally and $300 million worldwide with relative ease.
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April 19th, 2011
Woo hoo! 2011 finally won a week without having to rely on a misaligned holiday. Granted, the overall box office was about $20 million lower than expected, but I don't care. At this point I will take any win we can get. The overall box office was $130 million, which is 12% higher than last weekend and 8% higher from the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2011 is still down by a tragic amount, 19% to be precise at $2.65 billion to $3.29 billion, but at least we are moving in the right direction and if we can add a couple more wins before summer starts, it would be great.
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April 17th, 2011
At the 19th attempt, 2011 finally has a legitimate winning weekend at the box office, thanks to a better-than-expected opening for Rio (and, to be fair, a weak comparison weekend last year). With a $40 million estimated debut, Rio lays claim to having the best opening of the year so far, and the fifth-best April weekend of all time (nudging out Hop debut two weeks ago). While that's undoubtedly good news, the rest of the chart is something of a mixed bag.
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April 14th, 2011
While 2011 has been a year to forget, we could see that turn around this weekend with two potentially massive hits, at least compared to the average April release. Historically, April has the fewest $100 million hits over the past several years, but this year should buck that trend with Hop well on its way to that milestone, and both wide releases this weekend could also get there. Scream 4 and Rio are both tracking head of Hop's opening and by Monday could both be in the top five April openings of all time. Will that be enough to help 2011 finally earn an uncontested win in the year-over-year comparison? The total box office this time last year was $120 million, while the top two films should earn more than $40 million each. If the rest of the box office can't at least earn another $40 million, we are in serious trouble.
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April 13th, 2011
Did summer start already? I ask because we have a summer-like result at the international box office this weekend. Rio crushed the competition with $54.94 million on 11,714 screens in 45 markets. Opening on more than 10,000 screens is usually a feat reserved for summer blockbusters. The film earned first place in nearly every market, although its individual results did vary considerably. For instance, it was stunning in Russia earning $9.28 million on 1,297 screens over the weekend for a total of $11.31 million. Perhaps more impressively, the film earned $8.77 million on 1,024 screens in Brazil. While Brazil is a very large country, it's still an emerging market and this is a great result there. The film was also strong in Mexico with $4.90 million on 1,521. On the other hand, it was more average in a number of other major markets. For instance, it earned $2.63 million on 724 screens in Germany, which is mediocre for a potential blockbuster. The same was true in the U.K. with $2.48 million on 522, in Australia with $2.42 million on 459, and in Spain with $2.21 million on 390.
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April 11th, 2011
Ugh. It's time to break out the thesaurus to look up different ways of saying, "disappointing". This past weekend three of the four new releases missed expectations, while the holdovers were not able to compensate. This led to a 7% drop-off from last weekend to $116 million, which was 9% lower than the same weekend last year. 2011 continues its depressing pace and is now behind 2010 by 21% at $2.49 billion to $3.13 billion. Hopefully things will turn around next weekend. We need at least one win going into summer, or we could be in desperate trouble.
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April 10th, 2011
It's looking like another disappointing weekend at the box office, with Arthur performing well below expectations with a weak $12.6 million opening to leave Hop as the clear winner for a second consecutive weekend. The bunny movie posted an estimated $21.7 million, down 42% from its opening, which isn't bad, and it will be helped by Easter, one suspects. There were also some signs of life from two other openers: Hanna and Soul Surfer.
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April 7th, 2011
So far 2011 has been a disappointment and the industry is desperate for a win before we get into the lucrative summer blockbuster season. We don't want to start summer with a slump hanging over our heads. Last weekend Hop got off to a faster than expected start, and if one or two of this week's new releases do the same, we could have our first legitimate win in the year-over-year comparison. That's not likely. Last Year we had three films earn more than $20 million, while this year Hop's the only one likely to do the same. We do have some good news, as three of the four new releases have a good shot at topping original expectations and perhaps the depth further down the box office chart will be enough.
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April 6th, 2011
Just Go With It reached first place on the international chart with $10.84 million on 2,791 screens in 40 markets for a total of $76.26 million after 8 weeks of release. It opened in first place in Australia with $2.44 million on 311 screens, but it struggled in Italy with just $732,000 on 248. So far the film has $9.09 million in Russia after just two weeks, including $2.87 million on 544 screens this past weekend.
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April 6th, 2011
The winners of our Hopping Mad contest were determined and they are...
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April 5th, 2011
The Four Times led a group of three films that topped the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart this week with $16,192 in its lone theater. My Perestroika was next with $13,498, also in one theater. Meanwhile, the overall box office leader, Hop, was the final member of the $10,000 club with an average of $10,490.
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April 4th, 2011
It was mostly a good news start to the month as the top film, Hop, beat expectations with ease and nearly became the fastest opening film of the year. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the top five at least came close to matching expectations. This helped the box office grow 3% from last weekend to $125 million. Unfortunately, this was nearly 30% lower than the same weekend last year. This means 2011 continues to lose ground on 2010 and it is now off last year's pace by just over 20% at $2.34 billion to $2.93 billion. Things need to turn around very soon.
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April 3rd, 2011
Universal have a shot at posting the biggest opening of 2011, thanks to a stronger than expected opening for Hop, which is currently estimated to open with $38.118 million. If that number holds up, it would just beat the $38.079 million opening enjoyed by Rango at the beginning of March. Encouraging as that performance is, it also highlights the overall weakness of the market in 2011, as four movies had opened over $40 million by this time last year, and Clash of the Titans debuted with $61 million the first weekend of April, making for another tough year-to-year comparison. The weekend as a whole will likely be down around 27% from last year, continuing the industry's losing streak into the second quarter.
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April 1st, 2011
Another month has gone by and 2011 has slipped further behind 2010's pace. March was a bit of an improvement over the first two months, but only in the most generous of terms. It still lost ground to 2010, but not at the same disastrous pace as January and February did. There is some good news, as last April was rather weak and there's a chance 2011 could actually gain ground. After all, only Clash of the Titans earned $100 million last year (although Date Night came awfully close). This year, there are three or four films that could hit the century mark. That would be welcome news indeed. On a side note, April is usually a bit of a dumping ground as studios fear going head-to-head with summer blockbusters opening in May. However, I get the feeling that this year they are hoping to extend summer by having it open a couple of weeks early. Maybe they'll succeed.
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March 31st, 2011
It's a new month and we are hoping for reasons to celebrate. So far 2011 has not brought a lot of big hits with it. Only once in three months did 2011 top 2010 in the year-over-year comparison, and even then it was due to a misalignment in holidays. Sadly, that won't turn around this weekend, as it is very likely that all three new releases combined won't make as much as Clash of the Titans opened with last year. On the other hand, perhaps Hop and the others will be bigger than expected hits and we can build on that success.
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March 28th, 2011
Diary of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules opened on the high end of expectations while Sucker Punch opened on the low end of expectations, which meant there wasn't a really tight race for top spot at the box office this weekend. The overall box office was healthy with a total haul of $121 million, which was close to 6% higher than last weekend, but it was also close to 6% lower than the same weekend last year. On the one hand, this is arguably the best performance 2011 has had so far, as the only time we've won on the year-over-year comparison was when 2011 has a holiday that didn't line up with 2010. On the other hand, 2011 is still half a billion dollars behind 2010's pace at $2.18 billion to $2.69 billion.
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March 25th, 2011
April begins next month and with it the hope of something better at the box office. The widest release of the week is Hop, and while the buzz isn't as strong as I would like, it could be the biggest hit of the weekend. Even if it is not, it is 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 Hop.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), regardless if they go over or not, will win a copy of Dennis the Menace: Season One 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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