November 16th, 2010
It's getting really close to Black Friday, which is sometimes reported as the busiest shopping day of the year. (It's not. That would be Christmas Eve.) So it should come as no surprise that there's a prime release this week, or should I say re-release. Avatar: Extended Collector's Edition on Blu-ray is the biggest, and arguably the best, release of the week and it is the Pick of the Week. However, there was some competition from The Kids Are All Right on DVD or Blu-ray.
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February 24th, 2007
Despite having seven new releases to chart this week, only one of them made it to the top five. However, that film was The Departed and it dominated both the rental and the sales chart. It took in $9.86 million in rentals during its first week of releases pushing Flags of Our Fathers into second place with $6.33 million.
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February 17th, 2007
There were seven
new releases to chart this week including the new number one rental,
Flags of Our Fathers, which pulled in $7.66 million during its first weekend of release.
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February 10th, 2007
Open Season led a large group of
new releases this week, at least on the sales chart. On the rental chart it had to settle for a close second behind
The Marine $6.32 million to $6.00 million.
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January 29th, 2007
I'm still waiting for the first "Must Have" DVD of the year (the first one of those doesn't show up until mid-February), but at least there are more that nearly make the grade this week than so far this year.
Flyboys - Collector's Edition is better than the reviews would indicate, as long as you are in the right frame of mind.
Lucky Louie - The Complete First Season is a great show but a little demented for a mainstream audience, and the same can be said for Viva Pedro - Pedro Almodovar Classics Collection - Buy from Amazon.
But in the end I went with Red Doors - Buy from Amazon as the DVD Pick of the Week.
Perhaps an unexpected choice, but it's a movie that should be seen by more.
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January 21st, 2007
The Holiday slipped out of the top five this week, but still has plenty of reason to celebrate as the film hit $100 million on the international scene. Over the weekend it added $8.16 million on 3104 screens in 45 markets to its running tally of $102.54 million. This includes Mexico where the film opened with a respectable third place earning $711,000 on 230 screens while it took fourth place in Argentina with $153,000 on 40.
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January 15th, 2007
Apocalypto was the best of the rest this weekend pulling in $8.3 million over the weekend for a running tally of $20 million on the international scene. Its biggest single market was the U.K. where the film opened in third place with $2.62 million on 385 screens, (including very limited previews), which was a record for a
foreign language film. It did even better in Italy with $3.17 million on 316 screens placing second. Given the film's R-rating, it should outperform its domestic total giving it a target box office of over $100 million worldwide.
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January 7th, 2007
Since New Years Eve fell on a Sunday this year, there was precious little in terms of international box office numbers released this week. We have some studio estimates, some box office information for major markets, and some updated totals. But for the most, there's little to share.
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December 23rd, 2006
Curse of the Golden Flower started its international run in its native
China with a record breaking $12.27 million on 826 screens. That was almost enough to reach the top five falling just short to
Arthur & the Invisibles and its $12.47 million.
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December 17th, 2006
Open Season solidified its chances to reach $100 million with a first place debut in Italy. Over the weekend the film just managed to beat
Happy Feet $1.68 million to $1.66 million over the weekend, (with midweek numbers
Open Season earned $1.82 million on 430 screens). The film was not as successful in Japan with just $968,000 on 441 screens; with such a small per theatre average, it will likely disappear quickly from charts. Overall it earned $4.97 million on 3451 screens in 51 markets for a total of $87.16 million; and even with no major markets left to open in, it does have a great shot at $100 million before its run is over.
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December 11th, 2006
Saw III slipped another spot to sixth with $4.46 million on 1518 screens in 29 markets for an international total of $54.27 million. Its best opening of the weekend came in South Korea where it placed third with $1.08 million on 144 screens, which is the last major opening for the film this year.
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December 3rd, 2006
Open Season only has a few more markets to open in and is starting to shed screens and markets; however, it sill managed sixth place with $4.08 million on 3489 screens in 49 markets for a two-month total of $76.58 million. This week the film opened in first place in both South Africa with $257,000 on 77 screens and in the Czech Republic with $79,000 on 23 screens.
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November 23rd, 2006
Casino Royale dominated the weekend box office earning $42.2 million on 3,063 screens in 27 markets, only one of them a true major markets. The film's biggest was the
U.K., no surprise there, but the magnitude of the opening caught a lot of people off guard. Its weekend total of $21.55 million on 505 screens was the third biggest opening of all time behind just
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Add in Thursday and the film earned $25.33 million, roughly 47% more than the previous best opening for a
Bond film in the market, and
Goldeneye had 5 days to earn its $17.2 million. The second biggest market was Russia where the film took in $4.55 million on 540 screens, which was more than four times the
nearesst competition and the highest opening ever for a non-
Russian film there. It had a similar result in Indian earning $3.2 million on an unprecedented 427 screens beating
Spider-man 2's record for a non-
Indian film by 87%. Other million dollar markets include Greece with $1.34 million on 111 screens, Thailand with $1.1 million on 154 and Taiwan with $1 million on 116. The film opens in most of the rest of Europe next weekend and should have no trouble remaining on top of the charts.
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November 15th, 2006
Borat was again the top box office draw on the international scene taking in $15.37 million on 1147 screens in 20 markets for a total of $43.16 million after two weeks of release. The film opened in three markets, but they were of the smaller variety earning $287,000 on 17 screens in Greece, $51,000 on 10 in Bulgaria and $29,000 on 4 in Serbia. The vast majority of the film's weekend total came from the U.K. where it repeated in first place with $8.62 million on 430 screens for a two-week total of $27.13 million. Meanwhile in Germany the film grew by 2%, but was still stuck in second place with $2.76 million on 310 screens for a total of $6.35 million in that market. This week the film opens in France, Spain, and other smaller markets, but it will have a lot of competition from
Bond and it will take a minor miracle for the film to not be knocked out of top spot.
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November 8th, 2006
Borat beat the competition with relative ease this week earning $18.64 million on 995 screens in 17 markets. In fact, the $11.87 million the film made on 428 screens in
Sacha Baron Cohen's native
United Kingdom was more than the
second place film earned in total. The film's second biggest opening was in Germany where the film had to settle for second place with a still fantastic $2.67 million on 234 screens. The film also had first place openings in smaller markets like Holland, ($731,000 on 64 screens); Sweden, ($717,000 on 39); and Denmark, ($366,000 on 36).
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November 2nd, 2006
Not too
long ago I said that
The Devil Wears Prada had no chance to match its domestic total on the international scene. Well, I was wrong. This week the film added $17.62 million on 4352 screens in 47 markets to its international total, a total that now stands at $130.38 million. This week the film opened in first place, in a very, very close battle in South Korea with $2.9 million on 241 screens while it was the clear winner in Belgium earning $640,000 on 60 screens over the weekend and $869,000 in total. As for holdovers the film remained in second place in Germany with $2.89 million on 605 screens over the weekend and $13.69 million after three. The film has yet to open in Japan, China, and the Middle East and should have no problem hitting $150 million internationally before long.
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October 31st, 2006
The final weekend before Halloween was as predictable as they come with every film in the top five finishing within a rounding error of expectations.
Even the weekly and year to date comparisons were dull -- down 2% week-to-week but up 2% from the same weekend last year -- hardly noteworthy changes.
But I guess no surprises are better than bad surprises.
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October 27th, 2006
There's only one true wide release of the week, Saw III.
But it has a small chance of earning more this weekend than all four wide releases earned last weekend.
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October 26th, 2006
It was a $100 million weekend for The Devil Wears Prada as its $18.6 million haul lifted its international total to $104 million.
The film's only opening of note was Sweden where it topped the charts with $606,000 on 66 screens.
Most of the film's box office this weekend came from holdovers like Italy where it was down a tiny 7% to $3.33 million on 420 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.50 million while it held on nearly as strong in Germany down 21% to $3.36 million on 598 million for a two week total of $9.23 million.
The film still has openings in South Korea and Japan, although I'm unconvinced the film will be a hit in either country.
But the film has already earned twice what it needed to show a profit, so the studio has no reason to complain regardless of what happens from now on.
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October 24th, 2006
There was no breakout hit this week with even the pleasant surprises merely able to match expectations. This left the overall box office down 5% to $106 million over the weekend; however, that was still 18% more than the same weekend last year when all four new releases flopped to one degree or another.
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October 18th, 2006
The Devil Wears Prada remained on top of the international charts as it added $24.61 million on 4217 screens in 42 markets. This lifted its international total to $75.43 million and its worldwide total to $199.75 million. Germany was the film's biggest market as it took in $4.24 million on 559 screens, but a local film kept it out of first place while another local film did the same in the Netherlands where it opened with $631,000 on 80 screens over the weekend and $816,000 in total. It did earn first place in Italy with $3.56 million on 417 screens and in Taiwan with an estimated $1.2 million on 98. Meanwhile, the film performed amazingly in several holdover markets adding $3.47 million on 446 screens in the U.K. to its two-week total of $12.53 million while it remained in first place in France with $1.9 million on 507 screens for $10.1 million after three weeks. As for further milestones, the film has obviously already crossed $200 million worldwide and $100 million internationally won't be far behind.
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October 17th, 2006
It is reported that Friday the 13th costs the American economy $500 million as there are some people so afraid of that day that they are too scared to leave the house.
That doesn't seem to be true for the movies, as Friday was the only day to outpace last weekend.
Overall the box office managed $110 million, 1% lower than last weekend.
However, that was 25% more than the same weekend last year when all three new releases bombed.
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October 15th, 2006
The
German Film, Deutschland. Ein Sommermarchen, which could translate into English as Germany, A Summer March, but I wouldn't bet money on it. ... Moving on, The film took top spot in its native market with $7.19 million on 584 screens and that was enough for sixth place overall.
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October 12th, 2006
There's little doubt which film will take top spot this weekend as there is almost no serious competition for
The Grudge 2.
However, analysts are divided on exactly how much it will earn on its way to the top.
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October 10th, 2006
October officially washed away the stench that is September with the overall box office beating expectations at a total of $110 million.
That is just shy of 10% higher than last weekend and 5% higher than the same weekend last year.
Almost all of this growth can be attributed to The Departed, helped by its amazing reviews.
The question now is whether it will have better legs than last year's number one film?
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October 6th, 2006
Martin Scorsese begins his latest campaign to win that elusive Oscar as The Departed looks to take first place over the weekend. The other new releases this weekend are unlikely to win any awards, but with total production budgets just a fraction of The Departed's, they could be more profitable.
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October 3rd, 2006
Open Season became the latest film to take advantage of the really big screen experience.
Over its first weekend, the film earned an estimated $1.4 million on just 65 IMAX screens for an average of $21,500.
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October 3rd, 2006
The weekend box office was a little softer that expected, but not so much so that one needs to worry about a continuing slump.
In fact, the overall box office hit $100 million over the weekend and that was slightly higher than last weekend (by slightly, I mean less than 1%).
However, that was up a huge 12.1% from the same weekend last year and that is the much more significant number.
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September 30th, 2006
It's a very, very short list this week with only the movies opening this weekend on the list. The reason for this is simple, I have come down with a rather nasty cold and after four or five days of cold medication have taken their toll. Fortunately, although the quantity is low, the quality is high including this winner of the Weekly Website Award:
Open Season -
Official Site.
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September 29th, 2006
This week we have three films opening wide. Not only are they opening wide, but they are all opening at saturation levels (3000 or more theatres).
Fortunately, the three films share little in the way of target demographics, but even so, at least one of them is going to be squeezed out by the competition.
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September 25th, 2006
This week's box office prediction contest asks you to predict the opening weekend for Open Season, which should have a pretty easy time taking top spot this coming weekend.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going over will win Beowulf & Grendel on DVD.
The person who comes the closest to the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win "Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses" on DVD.
In addition, both winners will take home a copy of The Looking Glass Wars, both the novel and the CD soundtrack. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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September 2nd, 2006
Another busy week with plenty of top-notch films to chose from In the end, however, it was a two-way race between
The Black Dahlia -
Official Site and
Stranger than Fiction -
Official Site with the former site winning out by a narrow margin.
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September 1st, 2006
I've said it before and I'll say it again, September is the worst month of the year for movies.
Not only are there usually very few hits released at this time of year, but the average is dragged way down by the large number of movies simply dumped on the market.
This year the September dumping ground doesn't look quite as bad as years past.
In fact, several low-level hits and maybe even an Oscar contender are opening wide.
However, those few bright spots will be buried due to the sheer number of releases -- an average of 3 and a half films are opening wide each week.
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August 26th, 2006
It's another busy week with nearly three dozen films being represented here. Taking top prize is
Invincible -
Official Site, although there were a few others that could take that claim before all is said and done.
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August 4th, 2006
Third week in a row where the number of sites featured on this list has topped 30. With such a busy week it would take something different to win the award, and that's something
Michel Gondry excels at delivering giving
The Science of Sleep -
Official Site the Weekly Website Award.
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June 30th, 2006
It seems a lot of people are starting their holidays early, but not this column as it's the busiest it's been in more than a month. Including in this list are a few newly released teaser trailers and a handful of flash sites, most of which are worth checking out. But the best of the best is the
Running With Scissors -
Official Site.
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June 9th, 2006
It was a slow week it terms of major updates and that allowed the
Fanboy in me to grant
The Transformers -
Official Site the gloriously premature Weekly Website Award. Let's hope the full site lives up to this title.
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February 9th, 2006
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. It was the busiest week in more than a month, but there weren't many big launches or massive updates, so it is the slow-growing
V For Vendetta -
Official Site that earns the Weekly Website Award.
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November 17th, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, however, it was a slow week for updates and I've decided not to award any site with the Weekly Website Award.
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June 16th, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner,
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -
Official Site.
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June 9th, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner,
Stealth -
Official Site.
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February 3rd, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner, Dear Wendy -
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to
e-mail me with the details.
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