Home Market Numbers: Massive Update: May 5th, 2013

June 22nd, 2013

New releases for this week were a little bit stronger than last week earning the top three spots on the DVD sales chart and three of the top four spots on the Blu-ray sales chart. Unfortunately, those three releases were the only new releases to chart. Additionally, while they finished higher than last week's new releases, they didn't sell that much more. The Silver Linings Playbook opened in first place with 379,000 units / $6.36 million on DVD and on Blu-ray with 210,000 units / $4.82 million. This is weaker than I was hoping for. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 36%, which is great for a dramedy. Since then, the film has sold 727,000 units / $12.04 million on DVD and 375,000 units / $8.57 million on Blu-ray. The film made more than $100 million domestically and earned an Oscar, so I was hoping for much more. More...

Contest: Ironing Out the Details: Winning Announcement

May 8th, 2013

The winners of our Ironing Out the Details contest were determined and they are... More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for April 30th, 2013

April 30th, 2013

Like I mentioned last week, this week the biggest release on the home market is Silver Linings Playbook, while there are a couple other sizable releases, like Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Three on Blu-ray. However, you quickly run into filler as you look down the list. Fortunately, Silver Linings Playbook is such a great movie that the Blu-ray Combo Pack would be Pick of the Week material, even during a busy week. It is not the only contender for that title. Even sight unseen, Kyatto-Ninden Teyandee Complete Series Megaset comes a close second, while Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Three earned that title last week. More...

Contest: Ironing Out the Details

April 25th, 2013

May finally begins, which is good news for a year that has struggled at the box office. (At least it would normally be good news, except last year was record-breaking.) Iron Man 3 is the only film opening wide and given the buzz and the reviews, it should be a monster hit. It is the only choice for the target movie for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Iron Man 3. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Broken City on Blu-ray. 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 a copy of Broken City on Blu-ray.

Broken City Blu-ray Special Features include:

• Alternate Ending
• Five Deleted / Extended Scenes
• Putting It All Together Documentary – A Behind-the-Scenes look including Cast Profiles, Anatomy of a Thriller, a “Black List” script and more

Broken City releases on Blu-ray and DVD April 30 and I hope to get a screener for a full review soon.

Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

Contest: Rather Remain Oblivious: Winning Announcement

April 25th, 2013

The winners of our Rather Remain Oblivious contest were determined and they are... More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: New Releases Become the Hunted

January 28th, 2013

January ended, and we should all be glad it did. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters did beat modest expectations, but most of the rest failed that test with Movie 43 crashing worse than even my low expectations. The overall box office fell 20% from last weekend to $112 million. This was 11% less than the same weekend last year; fortunately, this was the first miss of 2013 and the year still has a lead of 10% over 2012 at $797 million to $721 million. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Mama Mia!

January 22nd, 2013

Mama easily won the box office race over the Martin Luther King, Jr. long weekend, with Zero Dark Thirty earning a solid second place. Unfortunately, the other two new releases, Broken City and The Last Stand, were weak and weaker. The overall box office was on par with last week, down less than 1% to $139 million, over the three-day weekend. This was 6% higher than the same weekend last year, over the same period. Adding on Monday, and the total weekend was $165 million, or about 1% higher than last year. It is still way too early to pay real attention to the year-to-date stats, but 2013 is ahead of 2012 by a 7.0% margin at $658 million to $615 million. More...

Weekend Estimates: Mama Wins MLK Weekend

January 20th, 2013

For all the Oscar hype, moviegoers are voting with their feet this MLK weekend for a more straightforward entertainment bang for their buck. Mama is set to win the weekend by a large margin, with Universal estimating a $28.1 million three-day weekend and about $33 million over four days. With the film playing in a relatively modest 2,647 theaters, that translates into a per theater average of $10,625, comfortably ahead of any other wide release. Jessica Chastain has dual reasons to celebrate, with Zero Dark Thirty set to finish second for the weekend with $17.6 million. Fellow Oscar-hopeful Silver Linings Playbook will be third with about $11.35 million over three days in its first weekend in wide release. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Zero Remain Number One?

January 17th, 2013

There are a trio of new releases opening on Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, but it looks like Zero Dark Thirty has a good chance to remain in first place. Mama is earning pretty good buzz, even if its reviews are only mixed. The Last Stand is the widest release of the week and the reviews are positive, but the buzz is mixed, to be kind. Finally, there's Broken City, which has the quietest buzz and the weakest reviews. Last year, Underworld: Awakening opened with just over $25 million and there's almost no chance that will happen again this year. Then again, we might have better depth. More...

Contest: Coming Home

January 11th, 2013

Next week there are three films opening wide: Broken City, The Last Stand, and Mama. All three of them appear to be on track for a $15 million to $20 million opening, and none of them appear to be runaway favorites for top spot. To pick the target film for this week's box office prediction contest, I flipped a coin and Mama came out on top. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Mama. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie 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 a copy of Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie on DVD. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2013 Preview: January

January 1st, 2013

December ended on a positive note with 2012 topping 2011 with a week to spare. Hopefully this will translate into strong box office numbers going forward. There are several January releases that actually look very interesting, but you always have to ask, if the films are as good as they look, why are they opening in January? The biggest hit on this list will likely not be a January release, but a limited release from December that is expanding wide in January. Zero Dark Thirty opened in limited release the Wednesday before Christmas and right away it got off to an incredible start. If it can turn some of its Awards Season nominations into wins, which seems very likely at this point, it should be the biggest hit of January. If it can earn some major Oscars, then it might crack $100 million. Unfortunately, no other film on this release list is likely to come close to the $100 million mark. Last January was unseasonably strong with three films opening with $20 million or more and four films finishing with $50 million or more. It is possible that none of the new releases will reach those relatively weak standards. More...

Territory	Release Date	Opening Weekend	Opening Weekend Screens	Maximum Screens	Theatrical Engagements	Total Box Office	Report Date
Argentina	2/28/2013	$151,714	39	39	102	$309,064	12/30/2018
Australia	3/7/2013	$473,977	139	141	405	$1,292,547	12/14/2015
Austria	4/19/2013	$32,647	20	20	40	$54,888	12/14/2015
Belgium	3/6/2013	$101,207	21	21	97	$368,486	12/14/2015
Brazil	3/15/2013	$426,479	133	133	254	$860,837	12/14/2015
Colombia	3/15/2013	$0	0	14	55	$179,809	12/30/2018
Croatia	2/28/2013	$22,588	13	14	70	$78,540	12/30/2018
Czech Republic	4/25/2013	$19,268	50	50	50	$19,268	12/30/2018
Egypt	2/20/2013	$24,003	7	7	40	$129,569	12/30/2018
Finland	4/26/2013	$24,989	17	17	17	$25,536	12/14/2015
Germany	4/18/2013	$312,278	175	176	351	$632,797	12/14/2015
Greece	3/28/2013	$11,653	98635	98635	98635	$98,635	12/14/2015
Hungary	2/7/2013	$40,077	21	21	62	$89,663	12/30/2018
Iceland	3/15/2013	$5,914	3	3	9	$19,732	12/30/2018
India	1/18/2013	$117,556	70	70	70	$117,556	12/14/2015
Italy	2/7/2013	$827,813	273	273	495	$1,323,979	12/14/2015
Lebanon	2/7/2013	$44,642	11	11	19	$86,646	12/30/2018
Malaysia	4/18/2013	$60,423	15	15	28	$92,436	12/14/2015
Mexico	1/25/2013	$377,017	209	209	567	$1,091,976	12/14/2015
Netherlands	3/14/2013	$128,084	45	45	117	$378,624	12/14/2015
New Zealand	3/14/2013	$78,899	38	38	113	$290,737	12/14/2015
North America	1/18/2013	$8,268,908	2,620	2,622	8,146	$19,701,164	2/3/2021
Philippines	2/6/2013	$36,583	42	42	42	$36,583	12/30/2018
Poland	3/15/2013	$109,307	60	68	280	$416,216	12/30/2018
Portugal	2/21/2013	$51,155	25	25	69	$150,399	12/14/2015
Romania	2/8/2013	$121,438	33	33	97	$253,016	12/30/2018
Serbia and Montenegro	4/4/2013	$7,226	10	10	40	$20,313	12/30/2018
Singapore	4/18/2013	$83,813	20	20	30	$133,146	12/14/2015
Slovakia	4/25/2013	$8,097	23	23	23	$8,097	12/14/2015
Slovenia	2/28/2013	$11,021	9	9	45	$36,535	12/14/2015
Spain	2/15/2013	$864,724	261	269	1165	$2,722,608	12/14/2015
Switzerland	4/18/2013	$143,988	34	34	63	$277,809	12/14/2015
Taiwan	1/18/2013	$145,356	42	49	94	$483,617	12/14/2015
Thailand	4/18/2013	$42,655	25	25	46	$76,542	12/14/2015
Turkey	1/18/2013	$116,446	55	55	128	$272,216	12/30/2018
United Arab Emirates	2/7/2013	$289,487	38	38	54	$528,167	12/30/2018
United Kingdom	3/1/2013	$750,822	317	317	681	$1,741,726	12/14/2015
Uruguay	4/12/2013	$19,585	4	4	12	$58,482	12/30/2018
Vietnam	2/22/2013	$9,129	12	12	23	$22,084	12/30/2018
Rest of World						$2,634,932
Worldwide Total						$37,114,977	2/3/2021