2012 - Holiday Gift Guide - Part III

December 15th, 2012

We are getting closer and closer to Christmas and we are getting to the crunch time for gift shopping. After checking out first run releases and franchise box sets in Part I and TV on DVD releases in Part II, this week we look at limited releases, classics, and foreign films. Some are pretty obvious choices, as we had a few limited releases that broke into the mainstream during their theatrical releases, but there are also a few more films that slipped beneath the radar the last time around. The biggest of these is... More...

Awards Season: Lincoln Shows a United Front at the Golden Globes

December 13th, 2012

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations and the same list of films that have been mentioned since the beginning of Awards Season were rewarded today. Lincoln led the way with seven nods, while Argo and Django Unchained were close behind with five. More...

2013 Awards Season: SAG Focuses a Searchlight on Silver Linings

December 12th, 2012

SAG nominations were announced and there were only a few surprises to deal with. Leading the way for total nominations was The Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Les Miserables, all of which earned nominations in four of the six categories. More...

Blu-ray Sales: Indiana Jones Raids Blu-ray Sales Chart

October 2nd, 2012

There was a wide variety of new releases to reach the top ten on the Blu-ray Sales Chart this week. Indiana Jones Blu-ray Box Set opened in first place with 239,000 units / $15.55 million, which is excellent for a box set. More...

DVD Sales: Chihuahua Towers Over Competition

October 2nd, 2012

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 led the contingent of new releases earning first place on the DVD sales chart this week. It opened with 292,000 units / $4.96 million, which is excellent for a direct-to-DVD release. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for September 18th, 2012

September 18th, 2012

It's quite a busy week on the home market front, but most of the new releases are TV on DVD. This includes Modern Family: Season Three on DVD or Blu-ray, which is a contender for Pick of the Week. The best limited release of the week is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel on DVD or Blu-ray, while the Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Blu-ray Box Set is also a contender for Pick of the Week. However, in the end I went with The Cabin in the Woods Blu-ray, which is practically the only first-run release of the week. More...

Celeste and Jesse Kill the Competition on the Per Theater Chart

August 7th, 2012

Celeste and Jesse Forever opened in four theaters and earned just over $100,000 for an average of $26,946. This suggests a strong potential to expand. Killer Joe did expand going from three to fourteen theaters, but its theater average dipped roughly 8% to $11,647. That's an amazing hold and bodes well for the film's future. More...

Weekend Estimates: Ice Age Delivers Cool $46 Million

July 15th, 2012

Ice Age: Continental Drift will deliver a very solid $46 million over the weekend, according to Fox's Sunday morning estimate. While that's down quite a bit from the franchise's high point, The Meltdown's $68 million in 2006, it is up from the $41.7 million debut of Dawn of the Dinosaurs. If word-of-mouth is decent enough, the film should enjoy four weeks of relatively light direct competition, and might become the first title from the franchise to top $200 million domestically. Even more encouragingly for Fox, it's living up to the gigantic performances of its predecessors internationally, having already topped $200 million and broken a number of national records. The franchise as a whole has now cruised past $2 billion in global box office receipts and stands behind only Shrek among animated franchises. More...

Per Theater Chart: Beast is Beautiful

July 4th, 2012

Beasts of the Southern Wild was the latest limited release to have a monster start on the per theater chart. It earned $170,000 in four theaters for an average of $42,426. To Rome With Love was pushed into second place with an average of $23,872 in 29 theaters. Up next was a trio of wide releases starting with Ted with $16,800. Magic Mike and Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection were close behind with $13,354 and $11,749. It's rare for three wide releases to reach the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart. More...

Per Theater Chart: Waning Moon

June 19th, 2012

Moonrise Kingdom has been on the top of the per theater chart for close to a month now. The past weekend it managed an average of $12,571 in nearly 200 theaters. Unfortunately for the box office as a whole, it was the only film to reach the $10,000 market. Your Sister's Sister did come close with an average of $8,402 in thirteen theaters, which is good enough to suggest some potential to expand. More...

Per Theater Chart: Moon Shines Over Wide Releases

June 12th, 2012

For the third weekend in a row, Moonrise Kingdom remained the top film on the per theater chart with an average of $16,247. Again, most limited releases would kill to have an opening week per theater average that high while playing in only a couple theaters. Moonrise Kingdom did it in its third weekend of release while playing in nearly 100 theaters. To call it a success is an understatement. Prometheus finished in second place with $15,032, while the overall box office leader, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, was right behind with an average of $14,166. Dark Horse opened with $13,551 in its lone theater. Safety Not Guaranteed opened in ninety theaters, which is a little high for a limited release, but it still earned an impressive average of $10,862. More...

Full Moon on the Per Theater Chart

June 5th, 2012

Moonrise Kingdom remained on the top of the per theater chart with an outstanding average of $54,805 in 16 theaters. If it had opened with that average in four theaters, it would have been considered a huge hit, so this is a fantastic sophomore stint. Snow White and the Huntsman was the only other film in the $10,000 club with an average of $14,900. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Snow White and the Holdovers

June 4th, 2012

Snow White and the Huntsman not only earned first place on the weekend box office chart, it did so with ease, topping all but the most bullish predictions. In fact, it even topped last year's opening of X-men: First Class, which means the film nearly helped 2012 back in the winning circle. The overall box office did fall 7% when compared to last weekend, but it was the post-Memorial Day weekend, so that's a very strong finish. The year-over-year decline was 11%, which normally would be really disappointing, but the previous weekend, the decline was over 30%, so this represents a huge recovery and bodes well for the next few weeks. 2012's lead over 2011 has shrunk to just under 10% at $4.47 billion to $4.07 billion, but even if the overall box office is flat for the rest of the year, a $400 million increase over the full year would be worth celebrating. More...

Weekend Estimates: Very Fair Start for Snow White

June 3rd, 2012

After a disastrous start for Battleship a few weeks ago, Universal execs will be breathing a lot easier this morning thanks to an impressive debut for Snow White and the Huntsman. The fantasy adventure is projected to earn $56.26 million, according to the studio's Sunday estimate, which will give it a good shot at matching its production budget (which reportedly ended up at more than $170 million). More...

Weekend Predictions: Black and White

May 31st, 2012

Snow White and the Huntsman is the only new wide release of the weekend and it is looking to overthrow Men in Black 3 on the top of the chart. It should have a pretty easy time winning, if not, the box office is in serious trouble. It is more important to compare its opening to that of X-men: First Class, which opened this weekend last year. Asking Snow White to make $55 million is probably asking too much, while the holdovers won't be able to match last year's crop, so June will likely start off on a low note when compared to last year. After an amazing start to the year, 2012 is starting to really struggle. Hopefully it is just a minor bump in the road. More...

Per Theater Chart: Moonrise is Intouchable

May 30th, 2012

To call Moonrise Kingdom's opening impressive would be an understatement. The film earned more than $500,000 in just four theaters for an average of $130,749. ... I looked up three different sources to make sure that wasn't a typo. That's the ninth best per theater average of all time, and the best for a live action film. (Disney used to release the animated tentpole releases in one or two theaters for a prestige release a week before their wide releases and these films fill the top eight spots.) Les Intouchables placed second with an average of $25,263 in four theaters, which is excellent and suggests potential for expansion. The overall box office leader, Men in Black 3, was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $12,851. More...

Weekend Estimates: Men in Black Finally Topples Avengers

May 27th, 2012

The Avengers vice-like grip on the top reaches of the box office chart will finally be loosened, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Men in Black 3 is set for a 3-day haul of about $55 million according to Sony Pictures, which will comfortably give it the crown over Avengers' fourth weekend $37 million. The superhero pic will pass $500 million in the process and set a new record as the fastest film to reach that landmark, ahead of Avatar's 32 days. More...

Per Theater Chart: Nothing Left to Avenge

May 23rd, 2012

The Avengers was the only film to reach the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart earning an average of $13,096. Elena probably would have earned a spot in the $10,000 club had it not opened on Wednesday. It earned $9,035 in one theater over the weekend, but $13,240 over its five-day opening. More...

Weekend Estimates: Avengers Sink Battleship

May 20th, 2012

The Avengers will continue as the undisputed hit of the Summer this weekend, as it has proved to be too much competition for another contender. After defeating Dark Shadows last weekend, the superhero movie has crushed Battleship in its domestic debut. The nautical action movie will earn an estimated $25.35 million this weekend, according to Universal, a drop in its $209 million (according to the studio) production budget. With $55 million, Avengers will pass $450 million in its 17th day in release, marking another record. More...

Per Theater Chart: New Releases Are Overshadowed

May 15th, 2012

No new releases managed to earn a spot in the $10,000 club on this week's per theater chart. That doesn't mean it was empty, as The Avengers remained potent with an average of $23,696 during its second weekend of release. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was arguably even more impressive, as it expanded into more than 150 additional theaters, but its per theater average only fell to $15,012. It did well enough to grab eighth place overall, and with this average, it will certainly expand more. On the other hand, the best new release was Dark Shadows with an average of $7,906. This is good, but not great. The best limited release was Girl in Progress. That was was playing in more than 300 theaters and managed an average of $4,298. That's a good start, but I don't think it will expand greatly. More...

Avengers are the Best on the Per Theater Chart

May 8th, 2012

The Avengers opened on top of the per theater chart with a record-breaking average of $47,698. This is the highest ever for a number one film. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was in second place with an average of $27,298 in 27 theaters. It should have little trouble expanding. Last week's winner, Bernie, slipped to third place with an average of $17,568 in five theaters. It too should expand. More...

Weekend Estimates: Avengers Shatters All-Time Record

May 6th, 2012

Marvel's The Avengers will shatter the all-time weekend record, according to Disney's Sunday estimate. Based on current sales, the film is projected to earn an extraordinary $200.3 million Friday-Sunday, setting a new benchmark for what's possible in the space of three days. It has also already broken the record for best-ever Saturday, with $69.7 million, per Disney, and they project it will have the best ever Sunday too, at around $50 million. That last figure is $7 million ahead of The Dark Knight, which is the only film previously to make over $40 million on a Sunday. That number is not a huge stretch, but could prove to be a bit high, and a final weekend figure just shy of $200 million is definitely still a possibility. Either way, the film will reach $200 million in three or four days, handily beating the five days taken by Deathly Hallows: Part II, The Dark Knight and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The exact number isn't too much to worry about though, this is a great weekend.

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The Best Exotic Limited Releases

May 4th, 2012

It's a good week for limited releases, mostly because it is the week The Best-Exotic Marigold Hotel comes out. Given its international run, its chances at success on the domestic front are very strong. There are a couple other new releases that I'm cautiously optimistic about: Death of a Superhero and First Position. Perhaps summer will get off to a strong start on the limited release front as well as the wide release front. More...

2012 Preview: May

May 1st, 2012

There's good news / bad news going forward into May. First the bad news, April was really weak. It was weak compared to the previous month and weak compared to last year. For the first time all year, we had losses for a month on the year-over-year comparison. As for the good news... it could have been worse? Maybe there wasn't good news with regards to April, but there is certainly good news going forward. Every weekend in May has at least one film with the potential to hit $100 million, while there are a couple that could hit $200 million, and one that, pie in the sky, could reach $400 million. That one film is The Avengers, or as it is officially called, Marvel's The Avengers. I guess they don't want people reminded of the 1998 TV adaptation. While there are four films that should reach $100 million, there are only three other films opening wide, maybe two, maybe four. (More sources have Chernobyl Diaries opening wide than in limited release, but it is not a sure thing either way. Meanwhile, the opposite is true for LOL.) Additionally, there are a couple films opening in limited release this month with a real potential to expand wide: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and God Bless America. By comparison, last year had no film reach $300 million, but it had five films reach $100 million. If we are going to earn the win this year, we need strength from the top. More...

International Box Office: Wrath Fills Up on International Sales

April 5th, 2012

In a reversal of what happened domestically, Wrath of the Titans won the race on the international chart with an estimated $78 million in 60 markets. This includes some powerhouse results, like $12.66 million on 1,164 screens in Russia, which is more than The Hunger Games has made in two weeks. However, Russia tends to reward fantasy films over most other genres. It also did very well in Mexico ($5.09 million on 1,494 screens) and in Brazil ($4.05 million on 517). On the other hand, it struggled in the U.K. placing second with $3.52 million 466 screens. That's a weaker opening than it had here, given the relative size of the two markets. With a production budget of $150 million, it will likely need close to $400 million to break even before the home market. Anything more than $300 million will be enough to cover expenses, eventually, but probably won't be enough to greenlight a third installment in the franchise. More...

International Box Office: Hunger Not as Filling Internationally

March 28th, 2012

The Hunger Games opened in first place internationally, but it wasn't as dominant as it was domestically. The film earned $59.25 million on 7,700 screens in 67 markets. That's a strong start for a film that cost $80 million to make, but it is a weak start for a film that opened with $152 million domestically. It open in first place in a number of major markets and did very well in Australia with $9.48 million on 471 screens. By comparison, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 made more than $12 million when it opened there last year. In the U.K. it made $7.77 million on 511 screens, compared to nearly $22 million for Breaking Dawn. It also opened in first place in Russia with $6.62 million on 1,165 screens, in Germany with $4.24 million on 613, in Mexico with $3.57 million on 1,362, in France with $3.55 million on 706, and in Brazil with $2.98 million on 636. These results are all good, but nowhere near as potent as its domestic opening. The film has yet to open in South Korea, Spain, Italy, and a few other markets, so it should earn about $200 million internationally and about $500 million worldwide. More...