August 7th, 2012
There was very little activity from the new releases on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, but slightly more than there was on the DVD sales chart. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight remained in the top two spots. Batman Begins added 253,000 units / $2.53 million over the week for totals of 2.1 million units / $26 million. That would be really good for a first run release, for a film that predates Blu-ray, it is awesome. The Dark Knight sold 213,000 units / $4.53 million over the week for totals of 7.5 million units / $121 million. It has likely sold more units than Avatar, but will need a few more weeks like this to top Avatar's total revenue.
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August 7th, 2012
There was only one new release to chart on this week's DVD sales chart this week, and it didn't even reach the top ten. This left The Three Stooges in first place with 182,000 units / $3.62 million for the week, lifting its totals to 601,000 units / $12.02 million.
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July 23rd, 2012
I'm getting tired of saying this, but it is a slow week on the home market. There is one prime release, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season One on Blu-ray, which is currently leading this week's new releases, according to Amazon.com. The second best selling new release is Masterpiece Mystery: Inspector Lewis Series 5 on DVD. It's a good show, but it is a British Import and these rarely make an impact on the chart. Third best selling new release? Game of Thrones. This is the third or fourth time the first season of this TV show has been "released" on the home market. I don't know why they are doing this, but it is getting annoying. There are not a lot of contenders for Pick of the Week either. Jiro Dreams of Sushi on Blu-ray and Star Trek: The Next Generation are the two leading contenders. While ST:TNG became an amazing series, it started out weak, so Jiro Dreams of Sushi is the better choice, but both are easily worth picking up.
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March 19th, 2012
2012's winning streak finally came to a close, but it was close. Overall the total box office was $111 million, which was 17% lower than last week and more importantly, down 3.6% compared to the same weekend last year. 21 Jump Street did hold up its end of the box office numbers, but since the only other new release in the top ten was Casa di me Padre, is wasn't enough. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011's pace by 16% at $2.16 billion to $1.87 billion. That lead will grow next weekend with the release of The Hunger Games, which could be record-breaking at the box office and is just as strong with critics.
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March 12th, 2012
As expected, Doctor Seuss' The Lorax led the way at the box office, but unfortunately, it was on the low end of expectations. Unfortunately, while John Carter did land on the high end of expectations, it really wasn't able to pick up the slack. Overall, the box office fell 21% from last week to $133 million. This was higher than the same weekend last year, but by only 3%. At least the streak is still intact and has now reached ten weeks. Year-to-date, 2012 has reached $2 billion and is now ahead of 2011 by 18% at $2.01 billion to $1.70 billion. Let's hope next week is just as lucrative.
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March 11th, 2012
Although John Carter's opening won't be as bad as the direst predictions, an anemic $30.6 million debut will condemn the film to the record books for all the wrong reasons and (in spite of good international numbers) almost certainly cause a write-down for Disney. Or more immediate embarrassment, the film will fail to win the weekend, coming in second to The Lorax, which is set to post $39.1 million in its second weekend, according to Universal's estimate. That combination of two $30 million plus films will give 2012 another weekend win over last year.
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March 8th, 2012
Three films open wide release this week, but none of them look like they will compete with the Doctor Seuss' The Lorax for top spot. John Carter is the only one with a real shot at first place, but there's a chance it won't make half as much as The Lorax does over the next three days. Silent House is the best-reviewed new release of the week, and if it can remain above 60% positive, it will be the only film in the top ten with overall positive reviews. Finally there's A Thousand Words, but the less said about that film, the better. (It's opening in under 2,000 theaters with zero positive reviews.) Last year Battle: Los Angeles opened in first place with $35 million, a figure The Lorax should top, while the rest of the top ten look about same this year as last. The winning streak should continue.
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March 1st, 2012
February continued 2012's winning streak, which has now reached eight weeks. Will that streak continue in March? I'm not sure it will. There are some very good signs. For instance, last March, only one film reached $100 million, Rango, while there were a couple others that cracked $75 million, Battle: Los Angeles and Limitless. Plus the final weekend of this month lines up with the first weekend of April last year, which also had a $100 million hit, Hop. This time around, things look a whole lot better at the top with a potential $200 million hit, The Hunger Games, and two more that should hit the century mark, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, and Wrath of the Titans. Plus a couple others, 21 Jump Street and John Carter of Mars, that could top $75 million. However, there are a few weeks that look soft when compared with last year. I suspect The Hunger Games will be such a huge hit that overall March 2012 will perform better than March 2011, but I also think there will be a couple weeks of year-over-year declines. On the plus side, very few films feel like filler; in fact, there are very few films, period. Over the next five weekends, only nine films are opening wide, which is odd for this time of year. In fact, it would be slow for the heart of summer, when most weeks have a blockbuster and one counter-programming film. Will this help the overall box office, as no films will be squeezed out? Or will the lack of choices hurt the box office? We will soon find out, but I remain cautiously optimistic.
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