June 3rd, 2008
This was a bad week for big movies, with not a single first run release is even worth rating a solid purchase, never mind being a contender for DVD Pick of the Week. There were a few other contenders for the title, including Dirty Harry Collection on DVD or Blu-ray. However, I found it impossible to decide which format was the better deal. Had the Blu-ray provided anything more than High Definition, or been a more reasonable price compared to the DVD, it would have been an easier choice. One of them is the DVD Pick of the Week, I just don't know which one. On a side note, there is an immense flood of Blu-ray releases, including a few I thought were coming out previously.
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May 20th, 2008
This week's list is dominated by Blu-ray releases. This is not surprising as this is the first week Paramount has released Blu-ray discs after dropping the format last August for an exclusive HD DVD commitment. However, it is another Blu-ray release that caught my eye: the National Treasure Blu-ray Two-Pack. This is the best format has to offer this week, but it is not the best movie coming out. If you want the DVD Pick of the Week, you have to grab Night of the Living Dead Buy from Amazon.
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October 7th, 2007
New releases took the top two spots on the DVD rental chart with Knocked Up taking in $10.11 million during its opening week.
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September 30th, 2007
New releases were dominant on this week's rental chart with ten charting, including first place We Are... Marshall and its $4.59 million in rentals.
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September 23rd, 2007
The Fall TV schedule helped boost TV on DVD sales as five of the six new releases to chart this week were from that category. This includes the new number one DVD, Grey's Anatomy - The Complete Third Season - Seriously Extended, which sold 365,000 units for opening week sales of $13.51 million.
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September 23rd, 2007
There was only one new release to reach the top ten this week, but there were a couple of changes in the top five. However, not in first place as Blades of Glory earned the hat trick with $5.49 million for the week and $21.99 million after three.
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September 16th, 2007
With the fall TV schedule about to start, TV shows on DVD dominated both the new release list and the sales chart, including The Office - Season Three taking first place.
That release sold 410,000 units for $13.11 million in sales.
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September 16th, 2007
There wasn't a single new release in the top five this week leaving the rankings identical to last week. This meant Blades of Glory remained in first place with $7.03 million in rental for the week and $16.50 after two.
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September 9th, 2007
New releases were not that plentiful on the sales chart this week, but they did take the top two spots with Blades of Glory leading the way. Over its first week of release, the film sold 905,000 units for a total of $14.48 million in sales.
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September 9th, 2007
There was only one new release to reach the top five this week, or the top ten for that matter, as Blades of Glory opened with $9.47 million in rentals.
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August 27th, 2007
The last week in summer brings with it a mixed bag of DVD releases, very few of which are top-notch releases.
There are a few that are worth picking up though, and two that are clear contenders for DVD Pick of the Week: Heroes - The Complete First Season and Heroes - The Complete First Season - HD-DVD edition.
This is the first time a high definition release has won the DVD Pick of the Week, and while the format war will drag on at least one more year, we should start seeing more and more releases take the top prize before that happens.
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July 29th, 2007
The Transformers held on strong dipping just 7% to $33.77 million on 4626 screens in 41 markets for a total of $192.44 million. This includes an estimated $6.4 million from previews in the U.K. The film's only major opening of the weekend was Mexico where it placed first with $5.46 million on 410 screens pushing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix into second place. The Transformers also continued its amazing run in South Korea adding $3.12 million on 442 screens for a running tally of $46.21 million, which is like making $500 million here given the relative sizes of the two markets.
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July 15th, 2007
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End remained in sixth place with $8.94 million on 5442 screens in 101 markets for a total of $624.93 million. Internationally the film is in fifth place all-time and should top Dead Man's Chest shortly. Worldwide, it is also in fifth place but Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone's $974.56 million seems safe. As for At World's End's individual markets, the U.K. is still ahead of Japan $80.06 million to $77.58 million. However, Japan is catching up $2.28 million on 674 screens compared to just $738,000 on 357 in the U.K. At this pace Japan will need just two weeks to become the film's biggest draw.
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July 8th, 2007
Some very interesting news on the international front this weekend regarding Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. First of all, it fell out of the top five; however, it was still able to pull in more than $10 million over the weekend. Not too long ago it was a chore to find a dozen films that cracked $1 million, while this past weekend we had 6 that earned $10 million or more. Over the weekend the film added $14.02 million on 5775 screens in 104 markets for a total of $608.89 million internationally. It is the sixth film to cross $600 million internationally and is now in fifth place on that chart. Worldwide the film has $906.89 million making it the ninth highest grosser of all time. The U.K. is still the film's best market at $78.51 million compared to second pace Japan where it has made $74.02 million. However, that gap continues to narrow with the film making $3.23 million on 691 screens in the latter and $1.37 million on 401 screens in the former.
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July 1st, 2007
There was a troubling lack of final results this week and this results in a few studio estimates with some of the numbers. However, it appears that Black House was able to place fourth on the international charts after winning the box office race in South Korea The film was able to top its native market with $2.71 million on 325 screens over the weekend and $3.35 million in total.
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May 27th, 2007
Mr. Bean's Holiday fell one spot out of the top five this weekend despite showing some significant growth. The film did have a few openings, including a third place $165,000 debut on 56 screens in Turkey, but its biggest market was Germany where it grew 44% to $651,000 on 577 screens for the weekend and $22.52 million in total. Overall the film added $3.47 million on 2634 screens in 43 markets for a total of $176.19 million internationally with debuts in South Korea, Japan, and China, yet to come, (and of course it doesn't open here till August).
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May 20th, 2007
The competition is still being pushed down by Spider-Man 3 and although there were half a dozen new releases to chart this week, it was still impossible to fill out a top 30 chart with any real details. For instance, Next had no major openings and its best midlevel was a second place debut in Malaysia with $115,000 on 30 screens. However, it was still able to remain in sixth place with $2.45 million on 1347 screens in 19 markets while its running total has grown to $18.94 million.
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May 6th, 2007
300 was knocked out of the top five this week but still added $3.82 million on 3,537 screens in 52 markets for a total of $223.77 million.
The film has yet to open in Japan, but that's about it at this point and there's little hope that the movie will hit any more milestones from now until then.
However, it is already a massive hit and a huge financial boon for the studio, so everything it does earn will be pure gravy.
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May 1st, 2007
Wow.
That was one of the worst weekends I can remember.
There was almost nothing worth celebrating as the overall box office dipped by 12% from last weekend to $78 million.
That's nearly 24% lower than the same weekend last year and probably the worst weekend in more than a year.
(We'll have more details on that when the box office chart is certified later this week.)
The only silver lining I can think of is a possible reason for this massive dip.
In my opinion, a lot of people who thought about going to the movies this weekend likely said, "Let's wait a week and catch Spider-man 3 instead."
I can't prove this happened, but this time next weekend if Spider-man 3 has broken records, we'll know that it is a likely scenario.
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April 29th, 2007
The Reaping climbed into sixth place this past weekend with $5.98 million on 2634 screens in 39 markets for a total of just $20.38 million. The film had a couple respectable openings including South Korea where it made $1.17 million on 129 screens over the weekend and $1.34 million in total while it took in $335,000 in Brazil. However, in most markets the film stumbled, like in France where is placed seventh with $684,000 or the the U.K. where it placed eighth with $622,000 on 282 screens. The film debuted in ninth place in Australia, ($405,000 on 133 screens); in Russia, ($261,000 on 111); and in Germany, ($247,000 on 201). Mexico became the film's best market as it has pulled in $4.45 million in three weeks, including $589,000 on 350 screens this past weekend; this is just ahead of the $4.25 million the film has earned in Spain, but it only managed $334,000 on 299 screens this past weekend and will quickly disappear there.
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April 23rd, 2007
It was a slow weekend at the box office as most of the new releases, and a couple of the holdovers, were unable to live up to expectations.
How slow was it?
The overall box office dropped below $100 million.
It fell 25% from last weekend to just $89 million and that's a severe 19% drop-off from the same weekend last year.
In fact this was the worst weekend since last September.
However, it is important to note that overall 2007 is still ahead of last year's pace by 5% and most analysts expect many, many records to fall this summer.
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April 22nd, 2007
Sunshine climbed into sixth place with $5.20 million on 1866 screens in 30 markets for a total of $10.20 million. However, while it nearly doubled last week's opening, this was entirely due to the film's expansion. Its biggest market of the weekend was France where it placed fourth with $1.36 million on 339 screens while it placed eighth in its debut in Australia with just $611,000 on 161 screens. On the other hand, the film only managed $508,000 on 192 screens during its debut in Japan and while likely see a sharp drop-off next weekend given its weak per screen average. Meanwhile in the U.K. the film suffered the worst week-to-week drop-off in the top ten down 57% to $879,000 on 409 screens over the weekend and a total of $4.45 million in total.
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April 19th, 2007
Another week, another batch of new movies that are hoping to find a spot in the top ten.
While there are four wide - or wide-ish - releases, none are tracking with any real strength and there's a good chance Disturbia will be a repeat winner this weekend.
However, two newcomers, Fracture and Vacancy, stand a catch of stealing first.
All three films are so evenly matched, we might not know the winner until the final numbers are released on Monday.
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April 16th, 2007
The weekend box office numbers were mixed. On the one hand, there was a small drop in the overall box office numbers with the total ticket sales coming in at $119 million, which was 4% lower than last weekend and 1% lower than the same weekend last year. However, while that's hardly a reason to worry, there were six wide releases meaning the merely average box office numbers had to divided up amongst a crowded field and that really hurt a lot of the new releases. In fact, only one of the six had any real reason to celebrate.
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April 15th, 2007
Wild Hogs had its best performance of its run so far climbing into sixth place with $3.33 million on 817 screens in 8 markets for a total of $18.43 million after a month of release. About half of that came from the film's number one debut in Mexico where it earned $1.33 million on 355 screens over the weekend and $1.67 million including previews while the film did reasonable business in Taiwan with $345,000 on 40. Its best market to date has been Australia where the film has earned $11.30 million, including $907,000 on 263 screens this past weekend.
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April 12th, 2007
There's six new wide releases this weekend, but the overwhelming thought I have when checking them out is, "ZZZZZzzzzzzzz." There are two reasons for this. Firstly, there's not much here to get excited about; most are opening in less than 2,000 theaters and most are earning reviews that are terrible.
Because of this, none look to be runaway hits at the box office; in fact, there's talk that Blades of Glory will again win the weekend box office race.
The second reason for the snores above, last night was the start of the NHL playoffs and the Canucks played their first two games.
Or at least that's how long game one lasted.
Four overtime periods.
So tired.
Oh so tired.
At least they won.
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April 9th, 2007
No new release made much noise at the box office this weekend and, even with the holdovers holding on better than expected, the overall box office still slipped to $124 million.
That's roughly 3% lower than last weekend, but still 8% higher than the same weekend last year. Hopefully the new releases going 0 for 4 this weekend is a momentary blip and not a sign of weakness in the marketplace.
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April 5th, 2007
While there are four wide releases opening this Easter weekend, only one of them, Grindhouse, is given much of a shot at first place. The rest of the new releases are tracking for a middling start, a weak opening and a disastrous debut.
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April 2nd, 2007
March ended on a similar tone as it began, but not as strong as recent weeks.
Overall the weekend total gross was $128 million, down 5% from last weekend.
That is also down 10% from the same weekend last year.
However, it is important to note that was the weekend Ice Age: The Meltdown opened with nearly $70 million and 2007 is still 6% ahead of 2006's pace.
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April 2nd, 2007
Blades of Glory made an impressive entrance over the weekend, earning $33 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
Its total was very much in line with our prediction on Friday, as it benefited from wide audience appeal.
Meet the Robinsons, meanwhile, also had a good weekend, earning $25.1 million, as it drew in family audiences.
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March 31st, 2007
Awesome. We are finally getting some major updates to the summer blockbuster movies. The ones people are watching to see if they break records. This includes the first half of the massively interactive website for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Official Site. And while the site isn't done yet, it is still more than enough to win the Weekly Website Award.
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March 29th, 2007
March started like a lion when Wild Hogs opened to nearly $40 million and was even more ferocious the weekend after that when 300 broke records. It is folklore that if March starts like a lion, it ends like a lamb. So what does this mean for this week's box office? Nothing, it's just folklore. The box office looks very vigorous this weekend with two top-tier releases opening at saturation level (3,000 or more theaters).
As an added bonus, both films are aimed at different target demographics, so both could be big hits.
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March 24th, 2007
Good week for trailers with several on the list, including a trio of major summer blockbusters. However, while those site will obviously generate the most traffic, they are not award-worthy sites, (at least not yet). The best site this week is Pathfinder - Official Site.
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March 17th, 2007
We are starting to get some serious updates on the websites for the summer blockbusters, however, it will be a few more weeks before this list is dominated by such films. In the meantime, it is a website for a new release, Dead Silence - Official Site, that is the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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March 2nd, 2007
Just an average week in terms of updates, but there are a couple sites of note including the winner of the Weekly Website Award, Wild Hogs - Official Site.
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March 1st, 2007
March, a month without a holiday. In fact, It's the only month without any holidays to help boost the box office and this prevents studios from releasing big blockbusters. However, it is not the weakest month either and there are a few midlevel hits coming out over the next four weeks and even a couple that could top $100 million
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February 23rd, 2007
Big week in terms of flash sites launching, but a tough one when it comes to picking a winner. There were several sites that were contenders, and a few that will likely be winners after a few more updates, but none that stood out as the best for the week. It's almost like there were so many that were so close to winning the award that none were able to stand out and get me excited. However, there was one site that was updated this week that did, The Simpsons Movie - Official Site. This site did get a new look, but the real draw here is the first full trailer, to go along with the three previous teasers. Is that enough to make it award worthy? No. But while my rational side was distracted by a game of Sudoku the Fanboy in me made that decisions, and all Fanboy freak-outs are legally binding. Hopefully the final site will live up to the award. I have a feeling it will.
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January 20th, 2007
Another slow week, but its been that way for a while. I'm hoping that will change when the summer blockbusters start launching their full sites soon, in fact,
Spider-Man 3's
Official Site did go live this week, but it is mostly marked coming soon and too soon to give it the award just yet.
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January 13th, 2007
A slow week, but that's not surprising. The movie industry is seasonal with peaks and valleys throughout the year. With movie websites, there tends to be the same peaks and valleys, just a few months earlier. (The same is true for DVDs, just a few months later.) While there are a few sites on this week's list that show promise, there are none that are really award-worthy.
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