December 10th, 2007
Only one new releases managed to reach the top five leaving Live Free or Die Hard with a clear number one finish adding $10.26 million to its total of $22.68 million after two weeks of release.
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December 3rd, 2007
Like on the sales chart, Live Free or Die Hard led the way in rentals with $12.42 million during its first week of release, which makes it one of the best renting new releases of the year.
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December 2nd, 2007
It's the first of December. (At least it was when I was writing this intro the first time. I was only going to do a dozen or so releases, but the list ballooned well out of control.) This week kicks off our second annual Holiday Gift Guide with a look at some high definition releases, because nothing says holidays like a format war.
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November 25th, 2007
Shrek the Third was the second digitally animated film to debut on top of the sales chart in two weeks. Preliminary numbers have the DVD selling 4.10 million units for $62.42 million in sales. The Thanksgiving holiday delayed full numbers and this could change when final updates are in, although they won't change by enough to drop it out of first place.
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November 25th, 2007
There were only four new releases to chart this week on the DVD rental chart, including Shrek the Third, which opened in top spot with $11.01 million in rentals.
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November 12th, 2007
Another week, another $300 million hit comes out on DVD, along with a few dozen other films and TV series.
While this week wasn't quite as busy as it has been for a few weeks, we still had plenty of contenders for DVD Pick of the Week.
This includes this week's winner, Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition - Blu-Ray, while a release from last week, Ratatouille - Blu-Ray, earns a belated honor.
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September 9th, 2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix may have fallen out of the top five, but it was able to cross $900 million worldwide since last week making it only the tenth film to do so. Over the weekend the film added $7.08 million on 4486 screens in 53 markets for a total of $626.30 million internationally, which places the film sixth place on that chart just $16 million behind Dead Man's Chest. There's not much to report for individual markets with the film down 43% during its second weekend in Greece adding $612,000 on 129 screens for a total of $2.91 million. Its best market remains Japan at $1.67 million on 605 screens over the weekend for a total of $75.18 million after seven weeks. Meanwhile, the film continues to march towards $100 million in the U.K. and after earning $796,000 on 306 screens over the weekend it now sits at $97.89 million in total.
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September 2nd, 2007
Knocked Up went from barely making the top 30 to nearly hitting the top five after adding $6.89 million on 1628 screens in 19 markets. The film now has a total of $25.54 million internationally while its worldwide total hit $173.34 million. To put this into perspective, The 40-Year Old Virgin earned $177.34 million and Knocked Up has yet to open in France, Spain, Italy, and many other significant markets. This week it did open in two major markets, the U.K. and Germany. In the former it had to settle for second place with $3.08 million on 423 screens while in the later it topped the charts with $2.11 million on 597 screens. In both markets this represents a small drop-off from The 40-Year Old Virgin, but the movie has already covered its total cost, so there's little reason to complain.
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August 26th, 2007
The Transformers fell out of the top five but still cracked 8 digits with $11.10 million on 54.92 screens in 52 markets for a total of $354.33 million. The film is mostly coasting on holdovers at the moment, but it did top the Polish market with $664,000 on 106 screens while its best market was Japan where it added $2.49 million on 592 screens over the weekend for a total of $23.98 million.
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August 19th, 2007
D-War slipped to sixth place overall, but remained in first place in South Korea with $10.19 million on 623 screens over the weekend and $37.81 million in total.
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August 12th, 2007
Live Free or Die Hard was knocked out of the top five but still earned $7.15 million on 317 screens in 29 markets for a total of $192.83 million. The film opened in first place in four markets, with the biggest being Brazil at $1.60 million on 352 screens over the weekend and $2.07 million in total. At this pace the film would hit $200 million this weekend, even if it didn't open in Australia, while it will top Die Hard with a Vengeance's worldwide total shortly.
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August 5th, 2007
No, this is not a repeat, May 18 is the name of a South Korean film that opened last weekend with $7.40 million on 534 screens over the weekend and $9.66 million in total. This was enough for first place finish in its native market and a sixth place finish internationally.
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July 29th, 2007
The Transformers held on strong dipping just 7% to $33.77 million on 4626 screens in 41 markets for a total of $192.44 million. This includes an estimated $6.4 million from previews in the U.K. The film's only major opening of the weekend was Mexico where it placed first with $5.46 million on 410 screens pushing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix into second place. The Transformers also continued its amazing run in South Korea adding $3.12 million on 442 screens for a running tally of $46.21 million, which is like making $500 million here given the relative sizes of the two markets.
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July 22nd, 2007
As expected, The Transformers fell to second place this week, what wasn't expected was how well it held on. The film was down a mere 23% to $36.13 million on 3667 screens in 31 markets for a total of $146.66 million internationally. The film opened in China with a record-setting $12.6 million on 300 screens over the first five days while it earned $498,000 on 71 in Greece and $258,000 from 28 in Israel. The film's best market so far has been South Korea where it has taken in $39.52 million in three weeks, including $5.76 million on 540 screens this past weekend. This is a record for a non-South Korean film and an unexpectedly strong performance. Additionally, the film has yet to open in a number of major markets including the U.K., Japan, France, and Mexico and should hit $300 million internationally and $600 million worldwide, if not more.
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July 11th, 2007
The Transformers climbed into top spot with $47.17 million on 3381 screens in 29 markets for a total of $97.21 million. The film opened in nearly 20 markets, and did extremely well in a number of them, but it was a holdover that led the way. In South Korea the film grew by 5% to $11.83 million on 617 screens for a two-week total of $31.02 million, which is nearly what Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will earn there in total. Its biggest opening came in Russia where it made $6.81 million on 700 screens over the weekend and $7.19 million in total while in Spain it took in $3.57 million on 565 screens over the weekend and $4.87 million in total. These two totals are probably better indicators of the film's international drawing power, but it should still do very well overseas.
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July 5th, 2007
For the third weekend in a row, Shrek the Third led the international box office this time growing substantially to $60.98 million on 5810 screens in 41 markets for a total of $262.00 million. Almost all of the growth came from Britain where it scored a record-opening of $33.45 million on 535 screens, sort of. This includes more than $10 million in previews that was earned over three days and that, plus a weakened American dollar, helped it over the top. On the other hand, the film struggled in Japan placing third with $2.97 million on 543 screens; that was less than Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End earned in its sixth week there. Holdovers were led by Spain where the film dipped just 33% to $5.16 million on 672 screens for a $17.24 million total while Germany was nearly as strong down 38% to $4.42 million on 857 screens for a total of $14.67 million.
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June 28th, 2007
Shrek the Third managed to grow, albeit by a tiny amount, adding $47.29 million on 5,737 screens in 45 markets for a total of $170.44 million. The film opened in a pair of major markets scoring first place in Germany with $7.84 million on 861 screens and a nearly identical $7.77 million on 687 screens in Spain. While these numbers are impressive, they are not up to the same level as Shrek 2 managed. On the other hand, it had the best openig of the year and the franchise in Belgium with $2.47 million on 125 screens, including midweek numbers. Holdovers continue to be a problem as the film was down 42% in France, the second worst in the top ten, adding $7.62 million on 8750 screens for a $22.22 million running tally. In Mexico is was even worse down 56% to $3.82 million on 417 screens over the weekend and $17.23 million in total
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June 25th, 2007
The box office was off last year's pace, again, this time it is mainly due to the box office struggles of the overall box office leader, Evan Almighty, which missed lowered expectations. Overall the industry added $132 million over the weekend, which was down 9% from last weekend and 6% from the same weekend last year. It is not time to panic, yet, but if we don't see the box office rebound over the next few weeks, industry talk will switch from the big hits to the misses, and that tends to worsen a depressed market even more.
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June 21st, 2007
A trio of new releases this week are led by Evan Almighty, but while that film has a clear shot at first place, the real question is whether the overall box office can avoid falling behind last year's pace. Last year's top 10 pulled in just under $125 million, which is certainly within reach, but far from a sure thing.
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June 20th, 2007
Not only did Shrek the Third climb to top spot this weekend, it also crossed $100 million internationally while hitting $400 million worldwide. Over the weekend the film added more than 10 new markets earning $46.64 million on 3564 screens in 32 markets for a total of $108.27 million, double its haul at this point last week. Its biggest new market of the week was France where it earned $12.5 million from 850 screens, 20% more than Shrek 2 opened with. The film was also tops in Mexico with $9.12 million on 418 screens and in Brazil with $5.9 million on 280. That last figure represents a record for animated films and is nearly triple what Shrek 2 opened with. On the other hand, the film fell nearly 50% in Australia to $4.41 million on 476 screens for a total of $16.78 million while its decline was even steeper in South Korea down 69% to $2.7 million over the weekend and $15.2 million in total. That said, it is still tracking for a $500 million international total and $800 million worldwide. On the other hand, poor critical reception and shorter legs suggest the franchise peaked with Shrek 2 and Shrek 4 and Shrek 5 might be pressing the studio's luck.
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June 19th, 2007
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer set a record for best Father's Day opening and overall the box office reached just over $145 million, which was 7% more than last weekend. But that's still lower than the same weekend last year by just over 4%. On the one hand, the box office is still healthy and undoubtedly more records will fall this year. On the other hand, there are some troubling signs and perhaps the irrational exuberance is starting to wear off.
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June 14th, 2007
After an amazing May, June has shown a bit of weakness and the summer has fallen off its record-setting pace.
Things look to turn-around thanks to a super-hero sequel and the buzz suggests Fantastic Four franchise should be up to the task of rescuing a slumping box office, again.
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June 13th, 2007
Weaker than expected competition helped Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End maintain its stranglehold on first place, despite losing more than 50% at the box office. Over the weekend the film added $50.70 million on 12,591 screens in 103 markets for a total of $495.16 million meaning it should crack $500 million internationally by this time this column in published while $600 million is still the target number. However, due to weaker than expected domestic numbers $1 billion worldwide is out of reach. The film hit $50 million in Japan over the weekend after earning $7.68 million on 842 screens, down just 20%. That was the film's biggest single market over the weekend, but its total there of $50.41 million is second place to the U.K.'s $66.22 million running tally. However, in that market the film is fading fast and Japan could eventually become At World's End's most lucrative market.
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June 12th, 2007
La Vie en Rose won the race to the top of the per theater chart, earning $180,000 in 8 theaters for an average of $22,481.
Brand Upon the Brain! continued its tour and jumped into second place with an average of $12,223 in its three theaters.
12:08 East of Bucharest was close behind with $11,586 in its lone theater while overall box office winner, Ocean's Thirteen was the last film to cross $10,000, earning an average of $10,136.
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June 12th, 2007
After three monster hits, it appears moviegoers might be undergoing some type of blockbuster fatigue.
All three new releases wilted under the pressure at the weekend.
Overall, the box office still increased from last week, but it was up less than 1% to $136 million and compared to the same weekend last year it was down 11%.
Worse yet, 2007 has fallen below 2004's record setting pace for the summer season and that year wasn't as front-loaded as this year.
On the bright side, we still have a tremendous number of potential $100 million movies and that's one record that is still within reach.
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June 9th, 2007
There are a lot of movies on this week's list, but many have just the synopsis, image gallery, and the trailer, and many don't even have that. There were very few that stood out, but at least Speed Racer - Official Site got off to a great start. Perhaps it will win the award before it hits theaters.
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June 7th, 2007
Moviegoers craving originality this weekend might have to look somewhere other than the wide releases.
We have the third movie in a trilogy, a sequel, and the second digitally animated penguin picture to open within a year.
Even so, all three have enough strength that the overall box office should maintain its strong pace when compared to last year.
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June 4th, 2007
The record-setting pace continues this weekend with two potential $100 million movies opening up this weekend (that's $100 million in total, not $100 million openings).
The one with the best shot at that milestone, Ocean's Thirteen, is also the target film for this week's box office prediction contest.
To win one must simply predict the box office opening for Ocean's Thirteen.
Both the person who comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going over, and the person who comes the closest to the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going under will win copies of the Cynthia Rothrock films, Shanghai Express and Above the Law. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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June 1st, 2007
With the irrational exuberance of May over, June promises to be a solid month with a number of big hits opening. In fact, every week there's at least one film being released that has a legitimate shot at $100 million at the box office and two films that should hit $200 million. If both Ratatouille and Evan Almighty make it there, we will have six $200 million films so far this year, just two back of 2005's record. On the other hand, there are also a number of films on this month's list that may or may not open wide, and for most of these becoming a midlevel hit will be a chore.
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May 6th, 2007
Among the more than two-dozen films on this week's list, there were a few that came very close to winning the Weekly Website Award. Of the three, Spider-Man 3 - Official Site was probably the closest to winning, but in the end was brought down by high expectations.
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April 21st, 2007
There were a few new flash sites to launch this week, but while there might be a couple future winners among those sites, it was a long time resident on this week's list that walked away with top honors. That site was Hot Fuzz - Official Site, which probably could have won several weeks ago if the features were added all at once. However, it's much better to spread the updates out in order to get people coming back week after week.
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March 31st, 2007
Awesome. We are finally getting some major updates to the summer blockbuster movies. The ones people are watching to see if they break records. This includes the first half of the massively interactive website for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Official Site. And while the site isn't done yet, it is still more than enough to win the Weekly Website Award.
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March 24th, 2007
Good week for trailers with several on the list, including a trio of major summer blockbusters. However, while those site will obviously generate the most traffic, they are not award-worthy sites, (at least not yet). The best site this week is Pathfinder - Official Site.
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December 22nd, 2006
An abridged list with just the sites for movies opening this week, and maybe one or two others. Because it is such a short list, there's no real strong choice for Weekly Website Award.
Rocky Balboa -
Official Site comes the closest, but it doesn't quite get there.
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