Blu-ray Sales: Jack and Blu

August 21st, 2013

There were five new releases to reach the chart on the June 23rd, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart, but most of them missed the top five. Jack the Giant Slayer earned first place with 234,000 units / $5.42 million, giving it an opening week Blu-ray share of 42%. This is acceptable, but not great. More...

DVD Sales: Jack's Regular-Sized Opening

August 21st, 2013

New releases were rather sparse on the June 23rd, 2013 edition of the DVD sales chart. Granted, Jack the Giant Slayer did earn first place, but it was the only new release in the top five. It sold 319,000 units and generated $4.79 million in revenue, which is weak given the film's production budget. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for June 18th, 2013

June 18th, 2013

It's another typical summer week on the home market. That is to say, it's a bad week on the home market. There are several first-run releases, the biggest of which was Jack the Giant Killer, which bombed at the box office. There are some limited releases that help the overall quality, but it is still a bad week. As far as Pick of the Week candidates go, Quartet on DVD or Blu-ray is the best choice. One could argue it is the only choice, but there are three Criterion Collection releases that are worth checking out, as well as some horror films, both old and new, that should please genre fans. On a side note, there are six Disney Channel releases on this week's list. That's a little strange. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Oz Was as Great as Expected

March 12th, 2013

Oz the Great and Powerful matched predictions perfectly with close to $80 million. The rest of the box office was well back, but there was still reason to celebrate, as the overall box office grew 28% from last weekend to $140 million. More importantly, it rose 5.4% from last year. Even so, 2013 is still way behind 2012's pace at $1.72 billion to $1.97 billion. I don't think 2013 can recover from this deficit, especially with 2012's biggest hits yet to come. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Oz Be Great or Just Good?

March 7th, 2013

There are two wide releases opening this week, but their relative box office potentials could hardly be more different. Oz the Great and Powerful is opening in nearly 4,000 theaters and could make more than the rest of the box office combined. Dead Man Down, on the other hand, is opening in barely more than 2,000 theaters and on the low end of expectations, might not make the top five. The main competition for Oz is The Lorax, which opened last year with just over $70 million, while it made close to $40 million this weekend last year. If Oz fails to match that lower number, then the box office is in world of trouble. Let's be honest, the box office is already in a world of trouble, but if Oz bombs, then it is as good as dead. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Jack Was Just Average-Sized

March 4th, 2013

The box office was mostly disappointing over the weekend. Jack the Giant Slayer was able to match expectations, more or less, but this was bad news because its expectations were really low compared to its production budget. The other two wide releases, 21 and Over and The Last Exorcism Part II both struggled and failed to live up to the low end of expectations. There was a fourth film that was supposed to open wide, but in the end, Phantom opened in barely more than 1,000 theaters and didn't even come close to the Mendoza Line. The overall box office did grow by 6.0% from last weekend to $109 million. However, that was 35% lower than the same weekend last year. This is several layers of disaster. Year-to-date, 2013 has pulled in $1.55 billion, but that is 7.9% lower than 2012's pace. I don't see it getting better going forward and for the most part, the rest of the month is really bad in the year-over-year comparison. More...

Weekend Estimates: Jack No Giant

March 3rd, 2013

The year's first big-budget special effects extravaganza is headed for a decidedly weak opening weekend. Jack the Giant Slayer will earn about $28 million, according to Warner Bros., which is only a fraction of its reported $195 million production budget. Even with international numbers expected to be better, the film will struggle financially. The weekend's other openers are posting even more modest numbers, but benefit from having much, much lower budgets. 21 and Over is set for $9 million for Relativity and The Last Exorcism Part II will post about $8 million for CBS Films. Phantom, from new distributor RCR Media Group, will pick up a very weak $460,000 or so (they have not shared an official number with us) from 1,118 theaters, highlighting once more the challenge for new distributors in establishing a place in the market. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will There Be Any Giants at the Box Office?

March 1st, 2013

There are four wide releases this week, but only one of them, Jack the Giant Slayer, has a real shot at first place. I think 21 and Over and The Last Exorcism Part II should be in a close race for second place, but not everyone agrees. As for Phantom, most think it won't even reach the top ten. As for this weekend last year, The Lorax led the way with just over $70 million. There's no real chance any film will earn that much this weekend. In fact, there's a small chance Jack the Giant Slayer won't match Project X's opening of $21 million. It's going to be a bad weekend at the box office. More...

2013 Preview: March

March 1st, 2013

February is over, and for the most part, we should be very happy it is done and buried. The biggest hit of the month turned out to be Identity Thief, which will cross $100 million shortly. There were also a couple of impressive midlevel hits, like Warm Bodies and Escape from Planet Earth, but for the most part, it was miss after miss. This is bad news for March, which is not only dealing with a slumping 2013 box office, but will be compared with a strong March of 2012. Last March started with The Lorax, which earned more than $200 million. There's a good chance no March release this year will reach this milestone. Last March was also the month The Hunger Games opened, which earned more than $400 million. There's a chance the top three films opening this month won't earn that much combined. 2013 is going to take a beating in the year-over-year comparison and it is already $100 million behind last year's pace. More...