2012 - Holiday Gift Guide - Part I

November 23rd, 2012

This weekend is Thanksgiving and as always that means Black Friday and Cyber Monday plus 48 hours of shopping in-between. Unlike most years, I'm only halfway done with my Christmas shopping. So what recent, and not so recent releases are prime candidates for the perfect gift this year? Over the next month, we will go over several dozen possibilities with our annual Holiday Gift Guide, which is divided into into four sections. This week we start with Major Movie Releases. These are first run releases, franchise box sets, etc. However, before we get into the individual titles, we will start with an update on... 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...

Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: The Cabin in the Woods

September 17th, 2012

One of the worst parts of my job is the amount of research I have to do for films before they hit theaters. It is rather rare for me to see a trailer and not already know a lot about the film. Sometimes, this is extremely bad. Very early on, I read stories that it was best to see The Cabin in the Woods without any prior knowledge of the film. In fact, I was told to avoid the trailer. That bit of advice came too late, but that was the last story I read about the film. So was it worth the willpower to avoid any spoilers? More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Moviegoers were Very Thoughtful

April 23rd, 2012

Every single film in the top five either matched or exceeded expectations, Think Like a Man more than doubled its predictions, but it still wasn't enough to match last year's total. Granted, there was still reason to celebrate, as the box office soared 18% when compared to last week reaching $135 million over the weekend, while the box office fell short of last year's total by less than 0.5%, so it is hardly a reason to panic. Additionally, 2012 is still ahead of 2011 by a massive 17% margin at $3.14 billion to $2.69 billion. Next weekend will be a disaster, but the weekend after that is the start of summer, and analysts are bullish on the overall box office chances. More...

Contest: Do Go Into the Woods: Winning Announcement

April 20th, 2012

The winners of our Do Go Into the Woods contest were determined and they are... More...

Weekend Predictions: Will New Releases Finally Get Lucky?

April 19th, 2012

It has been nearly a month since we've had a new release top the box office chart, but it looks like The Hunger Games is finally going to be pushed from top spot. It looks like The Lucky One will be the film that breaks The Hunger Games winning streak, as it is the only saturation level release. On the other hand, Think Like a Man and Chimpanzee are barely opening wide. Fortunately, the three wide releases this year appear about as strong as the three wide releases from last year. Unfortunately, last year was led by Rio during its second weekend of release, so 2012 has about a $25 million hole it will need to plug if it is to avoid the first three-week slump of the year. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: It's All Fun and Games Till the Box Office Falls

April 16th, 2012

The overall box office went about as well as expected over the weekend; however, that's not particularly good news, as expectations were low to begin with. The Hunger Games remained on top of the box office for the fourth time, making it the first film since Avatar to accomplish that feat. However, there wasn't a lot of celebrate over the weekend, as the box office fell 8% from last weekend to $114 million. More importantly, this was 12% lower than the same weekend last year, making this the worst year-over-year decline of 2012. That said, 2012 still has a massive lead on 2011 up $2.98 billion to $2.50 billion and if the summer is as good as the first part of the year was, that lead will be even greater by the time the Fall rolls around. More...

Weekend Estimates: Hunger Games Wins for Fourth Weekend

April 15th, 2012

The Hunger Games will enjoy a fourth straight weekend at the top of the box office chart, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With a $21.5 million weekend, the film moves to about $337 million in total, by far the biggest hit of 2012 so far. The Three Stooges and The Cabin in the Woods will both post decent openings, with $17.1 million and $14.85 million respectively, but neither has broken out of their core demographics enough for a win. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will New Releases Finally Satisfy Box Office Hunger?

April 12th, 2012

After a fantastic three-month run in which 2012 only lost once in the year-over-year comparison and built a 20% lead over 2011, it looks like the box office is returning normal. This weekend there are three films opening wide: The Cabin in the Woods, Lockout, and The Three Stooges. However, despite the number of new releases, there are many who think The Hunger Games will remain on top for the fourth weekend in a row. This would be terrible news for everyone, with the possible exception of Lionsgate, which is the distributor for both The Hunger Games and The Cabin in the Woods, as it is a sign of profound weakness at the box office. How weak is the box office? There is a chance that all three films combined won't open with as much as last year's number one film, Rio, opened with. And there's a chance none of the new wide releases will open with as much as the second place film, Scream 4, opened with. There's little hope 2012 will walk away with a win this time around. More...

Contest: Do Go Into the Woods

April 6th, 2012

There are three films opening wide next week and I think The Cabin in the Woods will be the biggest hit. I hope The Cabin in the Woods will be the biggest hit. It will certainly earn better reviews than Lockout or The Three Stoogers will. Regardless if I'm right, it is the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for The Cabin in the Woods. 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 The Descendants 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 The Descendants on Blu-ray. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2012 Preview: April

April 1st, 2012

There's good news / bad news going forward into April. First the good news, aside from one week where we saw a minor dip, March was fantastic. There were a number of films beating expectations and the overall the month was even stronger than predicted. As of this weekend, the box office is now 20% higher than the same pace last year. The bad news? That winning streak will certainly come to an end in April. Last year, there was one film that reached $200 million, Fast Five, plus two others that reached $100 million, Hop and Rio. Granted, due to the shifting calendar, Hop is actually being compared to the last weekend in March, so this April only needs one $200 million hit and a $150 million hit to keep pace. But even so, there's almost no chance that will happen. In fact, there's a chance that we might not have one film topping $100 million this year. Only three films have a real shot at this milestone: American Reunion, Five-Year Engagement, and Titanic 3D. And quite frankly, only the first one has a 50/50 chance of getting there. We will likely see 2012 shed some of its lead over 2011, but it should still end the month with a solid year-over-year lead. More...

New Movie Announcements, Stars and Directors - August 26, 2008

August 26th, 2008

This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive! More...

New Movie US Release Dates - August 24, 2008

August 24th, 2008

This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The International, Youth in Revolt, Fame and more! More...