May 27th, 2009
Taken wasn't the only new release to chart this week; in fact, there were nine that reached the top 30.
However, it was comfortably the best-selling with 2.31 million units and $37.96 million in consumer spending at retail.
It is already the tenth best-selling DVD of the year.
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May 27th, 2009
Just as it did on the sales chart, Taken led all new release and placed first overall.
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May 19th, 2009
There was only one major new release on DVD this week, and it comes as no surprise that it topped the sales chart. The movie was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and it sold 1.48 million units to generate $24.60 million in consumer spending at retail.
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May 19th, 2009
Just two new release charted this week, led by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which had three times as many rentals as the second place Bride Wars.
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May 16th, 2009
There was some confusion on top of this week's sales chart, as there were two new releases that could claim top spot on. Leading the way, at least in terms of units sold, was Bride Wars, which just managed to reach seven figures with sales of 1.00 million units and $16.04 million.
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May 16th, 2009
Two new releases lead the way on this week's rental chart with Bride Wars beating Hotel for Dogs by roughly 33%.
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April 27th, 2009
We are about to enter the summer blockbuster season, which is great for box office numbers, not so good for the home market. In fact, it is arguably the weakest time of the year for DVD sales. Looking at this week's list, that's not a huge surprise. There are no first run releases that are must haves, nor are there are lot of smaller releases to pick up the slack. The clear DVD Pick of the Week is Star Trek - The Original Series - Season One - Blu-ray, which is better than the previous HD DVD release. Also worth picking up is One-Eyed Monster on DVD, but that has a more limited target audience. While there's not a lot on the top, there's plenty of bulk, so much so we need a second page, which can be found here.
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March 8th, 2009
Pink Panther 2 may have climbed a spot to sixth place, but it is hard to be happy with its run so far. The film opened in second place in both Spain and Mexico with $1.95 million on 360 screens and $750,000 on 375 screens respectively, which is better than the film has managed in most major markets. However, overall it only managed $6.33 million on 3186 screens in 53 markets for a total of $22.26 million so far. It does open in Italy this weekend, and still has Germany, Japan, and a few other markets to go, but I can't see it turning its fortunes around at this point.
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March 1st, 2009
Confessions Of A Shopaholic expanded this past weekend jumping into sixth place with $6.13 million on 1365 screens in 10 markets for a total of $10.05 million. This includes a second place, $2.80 million opening on 424 screens over the weekend in the U.K., for a total of $4.14 million there. The film also held well in Russia down just 42% with $1.04 million on 415 screens over the weekend for a total of $3.41 million after two.
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February 22nd, 2009
Recep Ivedik opened in its native Turkey and a few other markets scoring sixth place with $8.32 million on 483 screens in 4 markets. Of that total, $6.10 million was earned on 390 screens during a first place opening in its native market, which is above the pace of its predecessor. The film managed fourth place in Germany with $1.75 million on just 75 screens. An excellent start for the film.
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February 15th, 2009
Bride Wars continues its bridesmaid run just missing the top five this week after just missing the top ten last week. It did ad $5.88 million on 2485 screens in 30 markets for a total of $32.11 million after a month of release. Openings this week include Germany, where the film placed second with $1.62 million on 455 screens, which is a mixed debut.
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February 8th, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire slipped to sixth place with $7.67 million on 1275 screens in 12 markets for a total of $42.46 million. The film had no major openings this past weekend, but it added $3.02 million on 416 screens during its fourth weekend on top of the charts in the U.K. for a total of $18.21 million in that one market.
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February 2nd, 2009
The Very Best Film 2, the sequel to The Very Best Film opened in Russia and a handful of other markets this past weekend. It scored first place in its native land with $8.38 million on 948 screens, while it earned sixth place in total with $9.29 million on 1072 screens in 4 markets. This is a serious decline from its predecessor's opening weekend, but still a strong start otherwise.
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January 25th, 2009
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa fell from second to sixth with $9.07 million on 5601 screens in 48 markets for a total of $380.42 million. No openings hurt the film this past weekend, and its only $1 million markets this past weekend were South Korea at $1.20 million on 432 screens and Poland at $1.09 million on 130. The film has made $3.76 million after two weeks in the former and $7.72 million after three weeks in the latter.
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January 20th, 2009
One film on Thursday's prediction column missed expectations; just one. This explains while, despite the fact that the number one film this year was well behind the number one film last year, the overall box office saw amazing growth to $193 million over three days, and $231 million over four. This was ahead of last year's Martin Luther King Jr. day long weekend by 25% and 24% respectively. Year-to-date, 2009 had brought in $668 million, which represents a 24% increase over last year's pace of $539 million.
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January 18th, 2009
Australia reached a major milestone this past weekend as it topped $100 million internationally. Over the weekend the film added $12.33 million on 4901 screens in 55 markets for a total of $103.30 million internationally and $151.06 million worldwide. Additionally, with openings in Italy, Brazil, China, Russia, and Japan still ahead, the film has a shot at $200 million worldwide. That would be enough to cover the film's production budget, after taking into account Australia's generous tax incentives.
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January 15th, 2009
A busy week with four films opening wide, all of which have widely different target demographics. Hotel for Dogs is going for families, My Bloody Valentine is going for hardcore horror fans, Paul Blart: Mall Cop is going for fans of SitCom comedy, while Notorious is going for fans of rap. Add in a couple of holdovers, and it's a crowded marketplace. It is unlikely that any of these films will top last year's number one film, Cloverfield, but perhaps combined they will keep pace with last year's box office.
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January 15th, 2009
The winners of our Two Brides Go To War contest were determined and they are...
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January 12th, 2009
Just like this weekend last year, the number one film was a limited release expanding wide. However, while that movie, and indeed practically every new release was a pleasant surprise, the holdovers fell faster than expected to leave the box office down 4.4% from last week at $146 million. That is still a whopping 13% more than the same weekend last year, and that gives 2009 an early 25% lead over 2008. The key word is "early." It is far too soon to tell if 2009 is going to finish ahead of 2008, while any expectations that it can maintain this pace are completely unreasonable.
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January 11th, 2009
Gran Torino made an impressive start in wide release over the weekend, picking up $29 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
That will give Clint Eastwood his biggest weekend in terms of absolute dollars as either an actor or director.
Arguably, this is a record that goes back to 1995's Casper, which opened with $22.1 million, but if we ignore Eastwood's cameo in that movie then Space Cowboys' $18.1 million opening in 2000 takes the prize.
However, adjusted for inflation, Eastwood's biggest weekend may remain Every Which Way But Loose, which opened with $10.3 million over a five day weekend in 1978.
That's equivalent to $41.8 million in 2009 dollars, but the numbers reported at the time include Wednesday and Thursday numbers. (We'll be checking our archives this week to see if we can find more information on Every Which Way...'s opening.
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January 10th, 2009
Not much in terms of websites this week, in fact, half of the new releases do not even have websites, or their website is not working. The best of what's left was Bride Wars's Official Site, which is good, but not great, and not award worthy.
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January 8th, 2009
2009 hopes to build on last week's success and has three new releases and a wide expansion with which to do so. Bride Wars seems to be the odds on favorite to win, but don't count out Gran Torino. Also, both films have a shot at topping last year's number one film, The Bucket List.
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January 2nd, 2009
Next week the first new releases of 2009 hit the theaters, and it looks like Bride Wars will be the only saturation level release, which makes it the perfect choice as the latest target film in our ongoing box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of Bride Wars.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win Ghost Town on DVD, as well as Affinity on DVD.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win Ghost Town on DVD, as well as Pulse 3 on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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January 1st, 2009
Happy New Year!
If it's January 1, it must be time to take a look at this month's releases, and analyze how 2009 at the box office will compare to 2008.
2009 is looking to get off to a fast start, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. For one thing, 2008 stumbled down the stretch, which means the box office is relatively soft at the moment. Also, 2008 got off to a great start, which means it will be harder for 2009 to keep pace early on. (On a side note, if the box office is sluggish as expected, it could set the tone for the box office coverage and bad news tends to beget more bad news.) While there are a few films that are aiming for $50 million or more, none have the advance buzz that Cloverfield had, and it is unlikely that any will match its box office.
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June 29th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Pride and Glory, Final Destination 4, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and more!
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April 17th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Mardi Gras, The Uninvited, A Thousand Words, and more!
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April 10th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Bride Wars, I Love You Phillip Morris, New York, I Love You, and more!
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April 9th, 2008
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
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