December 29th, 2008
This week is a mess because we are dealing with DVDs released on the 26th, the 27th, and the 30th. Additionally, we are dealing with the latest two waves of Paramount Blu-rays, so there are a lot of spotlight reviews this week. (Although when it comes to those particular Blu-rays, I have previously reviewed nearly half of them previously, and I have seen more than half of the rest, so it was easy to review.) It was so easy, in fact, I was able to get a couple reviews done in advance, which lead to a record number of spotlight reviews. There are more spotlight reviews this week than the previous four weeks combined. Needless to say, the column had to be split into two, with the second part found here. As for the best of the best, Serenity - Blu-ray easily won the DVD Pick of the Week, while Duckman - Season Three and Four is the DVD Pick of Next Week. Also worth grabbing are Event Horizon on Blu-ray, Ghost Town on either DVD or Blu-ray, Greek - Chapter Two, and The Truman Show on Blu-ray
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December 16th, 2008
This week is a confusing one on the home market as there are DVDs coming out on Tuesday the 16th, as usual, and on Friday the 19th, and Sunday the 21st as well. While there are a number of great releases that are spread out over three days, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is the best on any day, and worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week.
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March 23rd, 2008
New releases took the top four spots on the rental chart this week including No Country for Old Men, which earned first place with $10.20 million during its opening week.
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March 17th, 2008
New releases were again plentiful this week with nine reaching the top 30 and three of them sweeping the top few spots. The best of the best was 101 Dalmatians, which sold 1.36 million units during its first week for $21.64 million in revenue.
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March 17th, 2008
There were only four new releases to chart this week, and only one made it into the top five. This left Beowulf with an easy road to first place as it added $9.02 million in rentals for the week and $19.94 million after two.
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March 4th, 2008
The first week of the month, but it's not very strong both in terms of raw numbers and in terms of high-profile releases. (There are a surprising number of spotlight reviews, on the other hand.) There are a few releases worth picking up, like 101 Dalmatians - Two-Disc Platinum Edition - Buy from Amazon and My Kid Could Paint That - Buy from Amazon, but none that screamed to be DVD Pick of the Week.
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February 17th, 2008
Thanks to an opening in the U.K., Juno shoot up the charts nearly reaching the top five with $8.28 million on 1111 screens in 15 markets for a still early total $17.15 million. In the U.K. the film placed second with $3.91 million on 363 screens, but had the best per screen average in the top 10 there. It also opened in France scoring sixth place with $1.22 million on 149 screens, which gave it the second best per screen average in the top ten there. Meanwhile in Spain the film grew by 5% to $1.03 million on 170 screens over the weekend and a total of $2.34 million after two.
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February 17th, 2008
With our annual
Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the
nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role.
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February 10th, 2008
National Treasure: The Book of Secrets slipped out of the top five, again, earning $6.94 million on 2702 screens in 34 markets for a total of $169.62 million. This includes a first place finish in Germany with $3.42 million on 641 screens for a total of $10.03 million after two there. The film opens in the U.K. this weekend and should have little trouble reaching $200 million before long.
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February 4th, 2008
The Italian movie, Scusa Ma Ti Chiamo Amore, opened in first place in Italy with $7.55 million on 491 screens, which was more than double its nearest competition.
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January 27th, 2008
National Treasure: The Book of Secrets fell from second to sixth, but it was relatively close with $8.37 million on 3883 screens in 36 markets for a total of $143.30 million. Even if the film had no more markets left to open in, it would reach $150 million and beyond. However, it has yet to open in Germany, the U.K., and France and should top its domestic total before it is done.
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January 22nd, 2008
The Oscar nominations were announced today and there is no shortage of contenders.
In fact, with no real juggernaut to deal with, the competition is more up in the air that most years.
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January 20th, 2008
Enchanted fell out of the top five but still had a very impressive weekend box office adding $8.12 million on 4348 screens in 43 markets for a total of $151.50 million. This includes a fifth place opening in South Korea where the film earned $1.08 million on 322 screens over the weekend and $1.34 million in total. Meanwhile it also earned fifth place in the U.K. with $1.59 million on 472 screens over the weekend for a total of $29.46 million after a month of release. Its chances at $200 million internationally depend heavily on its run in Japan staring mid-March, but $300 million worldwide is all but assured now.
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January 15th, 2008
The final three guilds handed out their nominations over the past week and while most deal with television, there are a handful of theatrical nominations for each of the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, and the Writers Guild of America.
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January 14th, 2008
The WGA strike meant the Golden Globes ceremony was cancelled last night and the winners were instead announced during a half-hour press conference. For people who think the awards have become bloated, this was welcome news.
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December 23rd, 2007
The Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced this week, but again there were no clear front runners for the six theatrical categories.
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December 13th, 2007
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their Golden Globe nominations this week, but there were no truly dominate films out of the 14 theatrical categories.
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November 27th, 2007
Starting Out in the Evening earned first place on the per theater chart with and average of $10,888 in seven theaters. This should be enough for it to expand over the holidays, but probably not enough to get noticed during award season.
Margot at the Wedding was in second place with and average of $10,767 after increasing its theater count to 35.
Finally, the re-re-re-release of The Polar Express added just over $150,000 in 15 theaters for an average of $10,024 and a total of $338,000 during its latest round in theaters.
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November 6th, 2007
The overall box office leader, American Gangster, was also the champion on the per theater chart with $14,265. The only other film to crack $10,000 was Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten with an average of $10,440 in two theaters.
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October 23rd, 2007
While there were plenty of new releases this past weekend, most failed to make an impact at the box office and that left Control an opportunity to capture first place with $19,121. This represents a drop-off of only 30% in its per theater average despite doubling its theater count.
Meanwhile, Wristcutters: A Love Story opened in second place with an average of $14,269 in three theaters. Finally, Blade Runner managed more than $10,000 on the per theater chart for the third weekend in a row with $13,004.
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October 16th, 2007
Blade Runner climbed into first place on the Per Theater Chart with an average of $32,681 in two theaters during its second week of re-release. Control debuted in second place with $27,674 in its one theater. Lars and the Real Girl opened with just over $90,000 in 7 theaters for an average of $12,917. This is a good start, better than most limited releases can hope for, but less than I was expecting. The Darjeeling Limited continues to perform marvelously as it expands as it earned an average of $11,425 in nearly 100 theaters. The overall box office leader, Why Did I Get Married? opened with an average of $10,618.
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October 9th, 2007
As has been the case for the past few weeks, we had a limited release with a monster start.
This time it was Michael Clayton and its $700,000 opening in just 15 theaters for an average of $47,994; this bodes very well for the film's wide expansion this weekend.
Second place went to the re-release of Blade Runner, which earned just under $90,000 in 2 theaters for an average of $44,575; this bodes very well for the sales of the Five-Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition, which comes out this December on DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD.
Last week's winner, The Darjeeling Limited, showed strong resilience in the face of expansion, earning an average of $29,559 during its first full weekend.
The same can be said of Lust, Caution as the film went from a single theater to 17 while averaging $21,342.
Finally, Finishing the Game was a surprise entrant into the $10,000 club with $11,903 in its lone theater.
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October 2nd, 2007
The Darjeeling Limited was the top pick for limited releases over the weekend, earning nearly $140,000 in just two theaters for an average of $67,469.
This is the best opening for a Wes Anderson film since The Royal Tenenbaums, at least in terms of raw dollars, and this film still earned a better average.
Second place went to Lust, Caution with $63,918, which is one of the best averages we've seen all year.
Into the Wild performed marvelously during its expansion this past weekend, earning an average of $19,135 in 33 theaters.
On the other hand, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford fell nearly 40% without any expansion; it still earned an average of $18,470 in five theaters, but I was expecting more given its start.
Finally, Itty Bitty Titty Committee opened with $11,505 in its lone theater.
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September 25th, 2007
Into the Wild took top prize on the per theater chart earning an average of $53,110 in four theaters. The only other film to top $10,000 was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with nearly $150,000 in 5 theaters for an average of $29,562.
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September 21st, 2007
We are starting to see award season heat up with not only a couple of potential award season players opening this week, but several others expanding wide. However, with a lot of competition, some might get lost in the shuffle.
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September 6th, 2007
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Valkyrie, the Love Guru, and more!
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September 1st, 2007
After a record-breaking summer, we come to the worst month of the year. There are a few films that look promising, but for the most part the month is filled with projects that should probably never been given the greenlight to begin with. September is a dumping ground for failed projects, and like most similar times of the year, it is crowded with 20 movies that at least have a shot at opening or expanding wide over a period of just four weeks. Five new releases a week is far too many, even if they were all high quality at least half will fail just due to the competition.
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January 9th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains the announcement for Indiana Jones 4 and more.
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November 19th, 2006
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Charlotte's Web, Speed Racer, The Dark Knight and more.
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