Sith Steal the Show

May 29th, 2005

Revenge of the Sith dominated nearly every market it opened in and in most of them it was the only new film in the top ten. Because of this there's almost no international details to report and those details that are available are single market releases. More...

Calm Before the Storm

May 22nd, 2005

It was another slow weekend for international details as few studios were brave enough, or foolish enough to try and squeeze in a release between Kingdom of Heaven and Revenge of the Sith. It was hard to find many films that earned more than $1 million over the weekend and most of the activity came from smaller releases in midlevel markets. Next weekend there could be even fewer details as Revenge of the Sith should dominate every market, but after that the summer blockbuster season should be in full swing and things should pick up. More...

Kingdom's Reign Cruel to Competition

May 16th, 2005

The summer got off to a really, really slow start international this week and while Kingdom of Heaven didn't wasn't quite the blockbuster most people were looking for, it did cannibalized what little box office there was. There were a few local films to make noise, including Negotiator: Bayside Shakedown 3, which easily topped the Japanese market with $5,275,685 on just 280 for a huge $18,842 per screen average. More...

Whole Nation Cherishes Treasure

May 14th, 2005

Just one new film managed to finish in the top five on the rental charts, but it easily took top spot. National Treasure was more than 50% higher than its nearest rival with $10.57 million in DVD rentals and $1.46 million in VHS rentals for $12.03 million total. The film also finished first in DVD sales and second in VHS sales, (behind The Incredibles.) More...

Trio Fails to Beat the Fockers

May 7th, 2005

There were three new films in the top five rentals this week but Meet the Fockers held them off taking top spot. The film added $9.39 million in DVD rentals and $1.54 million in VHS rentals for a combined $10.93 million, down just 11% from last weekend. More...

DVD Releases for April 26, 2005

April 25th, 2005

Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases, classics and a few from the growing TV on DVD section. There are quite a few DVDs that piqued my interest this week, but there was only one that jumped out as a must buy: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - 2-Disc Special Collector's Edition More...

Hitch still Connecting with Moviegoers

April 24th, 2005

Hitch is just coasting on holdovers now, and will be until it opens in Japan at the beginning of June. This week it added $5.1 million from 3000 screens in 55 markets to its already impressive $170.4 million international total and with soft week to week drop-offs and a good showing in Japan and it will have a $200 million future. This week the film added $643,359 in its fifth weekend in France for a $12,785,670 total in the market, $110,000 in its second weekend in Argentina, (rising to first place in the meantime) as well as other, smaller markets. More...

International Box Office Busier than Weekend Before

April 17th, 2005

The Pacifier finally debut across Australia after playing in Queensland and Victoria for the past two weeks; the massive expansion allowed the film to climb to first place with $1.125 million on 267 screens. That lifted its total in the market to $3.41 million so far and the film should have strong legs. Add to that its $1.75 million opening in Spain and $590,000 in Belgium and the film managed $4.1 million over the weekend, which doubled its early total to $8.1 million. More...

Cool Reception

April 10th, 2005

It was a slow week at the international box office, the slowest of the year, and without much activity at the box office hit there were little in the way of details published by the studios. Therefore this week's column is much shorter than usual. Leading the best of the rest was Be Cool with an estimated $5 million for a disappointing $12.7 million international tally. Its best single market was the U.K. where the film finished second with $2.2 million on 336 screens after an exclusive engagement last weekend. The film also did well in the Netherlands with $190,000 on 43 screens but really struggles in Germany opening in fifth place with just $930,000 on 321 screens, a result mirrored in Austria, (fifth place, $165,948.) More...

France's $5 Million Baby

April 3rd, 2005

Million Dollar Baby performed brilliantly this week earning $8.8 million for an international total of $60 million, placing fourth on the international box office charts. In France the film dominated the marketplace with $4.94 million on 450 screens and in Germany the film earned $760,000 in semi-limited release (120 screens) for the best per screen average in the market. On the other hand, the film flopped in Slovakia where it missed the top ten in its debut. On the holdover front, the multi-Oscar winning front saw its weekend haul climb by 20% in Spain to $980,000 and it's still doing well in Australia, Italy and South Korea. More...

Baby Still Earning Millions

March 27th, 2005

Million Dollar Baby has again slipped off the radar screen, but we do know it hit $52 million internationally, which means it made $9 million during the week. The film didn't earn $1 million in any single market, but is still doing strong in South Korea, ($970,000), Spain, ($840,000), Italy, ($600,000) and Australia, ($350,000.) Best estimate has the film earning just shy of $5 million of that over the weekend and taking sixth place on the international box office charts. More...

Baby Takes Fifth in Close Race

March 20th, 2005

After gathering in all the data the winner for the race for fifth place is Million Dollar Baby, I think. It would need to lost more than 40% from last week's total and that's not taking into account its openings in South Korea at $1,515,672 and second place, its $110,000, third place debut in Finland, $86,000 in Russia, $50,000, second place debut in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, exact weekend totals are unknown but it is estimated at $6 million raising its international total to $43 million so far. More...

Hitch Tops 2005 Charts

March 16th, 2005

Not only is Hitch the undisputed champion of 2005 for the domestic market, it is also the new number one worldwide, topping Howl's Moving Castle $216.5 million to $211.9 million. And with $28.1 million this weekend on 4,600 screens in 40 markets, the film sits at $66.0 million internationally and could become the first film from 2005 to reach the $100 million milestone on the international scene. The film's biggest opening of the weekend came from the U.K., where it racked up $8.1 million including sneak peaks, which represented more than 50% of total box office in the market. Add in first place debuts in Italy with $2.5 million on 300, Belgium with $820,000 on 57, Netherlands with $670,000 on 93 and $225,000 on 16 screens in the U.E.A. The film also performed admirably in South Korea with a third place, $1.4 million weekend on 175 screens. Notable holdovers include its $6.3 million in Germany, down less than 30% to $17.2 million in that market alone and $1.83 million in Australia, down 34% and still first place in both markets. The film was also first place in Scandinavia, but exact numbers are currently unavailable. More...

Swimming with Sharks

March 13th, 2005

Shark Tale finished its international run with a second place $2.08 million opening in Japan on 485 screens. Its $4,296 per screen average it quite low for the market and generally means the film won't have the usual legs films in Japan have. The film performed much better in Italy where it finished first again with $3.0 million, down just 23% during its sophomore stint. Overall it took in $5.2 million to raise its international total to $181 million, but without any more openings it might struggle to hit $200 million. More...

The Aviator Soars Higher than Before

March 6th, 2005

The Aviator beat weekend estimates by a substantial margin leading to a $5.9 million box office on 3000 screens in 34 markets. The multi-Oscar winning movie has hit $86.2 million internationally and will cross $200 million worldwide before too long. The film dropped a spot to fifth place in South Korea with $834,660 for the week and slipped to second in Australia with $798,000. The only market the film opened it was Argentina, where it easily took top spot with $232,000. More...

Twelve Tops the Best of the Rest

February 27th, 2005

Ocean's Twelve may have dropped out of the top five, but it is still going strong with $4.5 million on 1400 screens in 35 markets for an international box office of $225.8 million so far. No new openings means the heist film had to rely on holdovers likes its $2.5 million during its third weekend in the U.K. and $1.4 million during its fifth week of release in Japan, finishing second in both those markets. More...

French Film Finishes Fifth

February 20th, 2005

Iznogoud: Calife a la place du calife, a movie based on a Asterix and Obelix spin off of sorts, dominated the French box office taking in $7.1 million, more than double the second place film and more than a third of the top ten total. It is also enough to push it into the Top Five on the international scene, dropping Finding Neverland into sixth place. Unfortunately, like the several films made in the Asterix and Obelix series, this one is unlikely to make much of an impact outside the French speaking markets. More...

Fockers are Fabulous

February 9th, 2005

A higher than expected opening in Spain and a lower than expected decline in the U.K. allowed Meet the Fockers to retain top spot on the international charts. The film opened first in a handful of markets, including a $4.7 million opening in Spain on 356 screens, $377,000 in Denmark, $352,000 in Taiwan and $275,000 in Israel. Its most prolific market continues to be the U.K. where the film brought in $8.5 million during its second weekend there; that's a 42% drop-off, which is a little high for the market, but not as high as expected given its huge start last weekend. That one market represented more than half of its weekend total of $16.3 million on 1700 screens in 28 markets for a running tally of $82.9 million. More...

Fockers Flatten Competition

February 2nd, 2005

Meet the Fockers open in the U.K. over the weekend with an astounding $14.8 million on 456, which is more than four times the original's earnings there in 2000. That figure was also more than 8 times the second place film , and more than half the market's total box office. Add in a handful of openings in other, mostly smaller markets and the film brought in $19.2 million on 1,700 screens in 15 markets for a $58.8 million total so far. More...

Ocean Steals International Box Office Crown Back

January 26th, 2005

The International Box Office Race is certainly interesting, as Ocean's Twelve recaptured the lead this weekend with $14.4 million on 4,600 screens in 58 markets and now sits at $170.4 million internationally and $292.8 million worldwide. A large chunk of that total came from Japan, where the film earned $6.8 million (including sneak peaks) on 510 screens, while ending Howl's Moving Castle's nine week reign on top. While this was a strong performance, it was 20% lower that the original's debut in the same market. More...

Twelve Takes Top Spot

January 12th, 2005

The race for first in the international marketplace continued to be close with three films within a couple million of each other. Leading the way was Ocean's Twelve with $17.5 million on 5200 screens in 54 markets; the film's international total now sits at $137 million, slightly more than half of what Ocean's Eleven finished with. The heist film did open well in several markets, which mostly balances out severe drop-offs due to the post-holiday. For instance, the film opened well in South Korea with $2.1 million on 150 screens and debuted in first place in Argentina, ($500,000), Portugal, (with $720,000) and in the Philippines, ($370,000.) More...

International Box Office Stolen!

December 22nd, 2004

For the first time in many weeks there was a real race for top spot on the international charts, also, for the first time in many weeks The Incredibles didn't win that race. Boosted by debuts in 22 additional markets, Ocean's Twelve took top spot with $28.9 million on 3900 screens in 27 markets for a early total of $35.2 million. Compared to the original the results are mixed. IN many places it is a lot lower when compared in local currency, but thanks to the Dollar's extended losing streak, it's much higher in American funds. For instance, the film opened in first place in France with 5.7 million Euros, down 16% from its predecessor, however, that's $7.5 million in American funds, a increase of 28%. Other highlights include $5.3 million in Germany, $3.5 million in Spain, $2.2 million in Italy and $1.4 million in both Holland and Switzerland and just shy of $1 million in Sweden. The film remained in first place in Australia despite dropping 50% at the box office to just $1.8 million. More...

Theatre Owners want the Rings to Return

December 20th, 2004

This weekend was the first year anniversary of the last of the Lord of the Rings movies, and the box office really missed its impact. The weekend was almost exactly flat with last weekend, but down 24.6% from last year. However, if you discount the top movie for each, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events this year and Return of the King for last year, then 2004 is up by more than 11%. The year-to-date comparisons have 2004 up by a mere 1.4% at $8.66 billion. More...

Not an Unfortunate Weekend for Moviegoers

December 17th, 2004

The look for this weekend is much different than it was at the beginning of the month as a few films had their release dates shuffled. That won't change what film will take first place, but the rest of the top five might be affected. More...

Competition Can't Stop the Supers

December 15th, 2004

Several films made their international debuts this weekend, but that didn't stop The Incredibles from taking top spot on the international box office, again. This weekend the film brought in an addition $32.1 million on 6,343 screens in 37 markets to lift its international tally to $152.1 million so far. The films busiest weekend in terms of raw dollars was the $5.7 million it earned in Germany, but with a theatre count of more than 1000, that wasn't as strong as the studio would have liked. The film did break the record for biggest opening for an animated movie with $1.7 million in Brazil. The film also opened first in Switzerland with $1.2 million, Austria with $931,000 and South Africa with $310,000. More...

Ocean Runs Deep, Blade Franchise Staked

December 13th, 2004

The two wide openings fell short of expectations, but by a combined margin just several million dollars, even so, this weekend was nearly 23% ahead of last weekend. And comparing it to last year's trio of disappointing wide releases results in a 19% increase. And while 2004 now sits 2.4% ahead of 2003 with $8.52 billion, that margin could evaporate as there's no sure thing, $300 million monster hit left to be released this year. More...

Sequels Start off Lucrative Holiday Season

December 10th, 2004

Two movies open wide this weekend, both looking to attract the same audience. In the end both films will suffer because of this, but both films should also do well enough to earn a profit while jumpstarting the box office. More...

Movie Websites Launches for December 3 - December 9

December 9th, 2004

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 In Good Company - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

Blade Ambushes Audiences

December 8th, 2004

The final installment in the Blade Trilogy, aptly sub-titled Trinity, gets a jump on the weekend opening tonight. More...

Movie Websites Launches for November 26 - December 2

December 2nd, 2004

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 Ocean's Twelve - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

2004 Preview: December

December 1st, 2004

December is a huge month at the box office, but also a very unique one. Massive blockbusters are released side by side with smaller films with only Oscar on their minds. More...

Movie Websites Launches for November 12 - November 18

November 18th, 2004

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 Electra - Official Site . If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

DVD Releases for November 9, 2004

November 8th, 2004

Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section, including the nominees for the DVD Pick of the Week, which we'll get to in a second. This was a strange week, there was only one first run release, a few limited releases, several nearly re-releases complete with ads for upcoming movies and more than a couple really old movies mostly sold in sets. Even the best of the bunch is going to have a really narrow appeal, so instead of naming a Pick of the Week, I'll name the best of each group. Best Limited Release: Ju-On: The Grudge - Buy from Amazon. Best Ad for A Sequel: Bridget Jones's Diary - Collector's Series - Buy from Amazon. Best Box Set Containing Movies Made Before I was Born: Fritz Lang Epic Collection - Buy from Amazon. More...

Movie Websites Launches for October 29 - November 4

November 4th, 2004

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 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

Movie Websites Launches for October 15 - October 21

October 21st, 2004

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 Blade: Trinity - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

Movie Websites Launches for September 24 - September 30

September 30th, 2004

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 Shark Tale - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

Movie Websites Launches for September 17 - September 23

September 23rd, 2004

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 I ♥ Huckabees - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

Movie Websites Launches for September 10 - September 16

September 16th, 2004

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 Shaun of the Dead - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

Movie Websites Launches for July 30 - August 5

August 5th, 2004

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 the winner for the week, Saints and Soldiers. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

Movie Websites Launches for June 25 - July 1

July 2nd, 2004

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 the winner for the week, Spider-Man 2 - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

Movie Websites Launches for June 18 - June 24

June 24th, 2004

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 the winner for the week, Suspect Zero - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details. More...

For a Screenwriter, Sometimes There is no Better Director than Yourself

February 28th, 2004

Screenwriter David S. Goyer wrote the first two movies of the Blade Trilogy. But a couple of scenes he wrote were cut for time and budgetary reasons. But now that he's writing and directing Blade Trinity, he's able to put those scenes back in. More...

Territory	Release Date	Opening Weekend	Opening Weekend Screens	Maximum Screens	Theatrical Engagements	Total Box Office	Report Date
Australia	12/24/2004	$886,606	184	184	908	$5,296,853	9/10/2020
North America	12/8/2004	$16,061,271	2,912	2,912	13,499	$52,397,389	8/8/2017
Rest of World						$73,658,923
Worldwide Total						$131,353,165	9/10/2020