DVD and Blu-ray Releases for February 11th, 2014

February 11th, 2014

It's a strange week on the home market. If you look at the top ten selling new releases on Amazon.com, there are a couple of first run releases, a catalog title, TV on DVD release, and some limited releases. That's basically every category there is. The biggest release is Ender's Game, a film that failed to find an audience in theaters. It barely earned overall positive reviews and it isn't a contender for Pick of the Week. Some of the other best-selling releases are contenders, like The Jungle Book: Blu-ray Diamond Edition or Sherlock: Season Three on DVD or Blu-ray. There are also a few of the smaller releases that were in consideration, including Doctor Who: Story 33: The Moonbase and G.B.F. on DVD. But in the end, I went with Wadjda on Blu-ray Combo Pack for Pick of the Week. One last note, Dry Spell is coming out on Video on Demand. It's a good chance to support ultra-low-budget filmmaking and the reviews I've read have been positive. More...

International Box Office: Hunger Games Continues to Burn Bright

December 5th, 2013

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire remained in first place on the international chart with $90.0 million in 79 markets for a total of $272.1 million. To put this into perspective, The Hunger Games finished with $276.5 million, so it is likely the sequel has already topped its predecessor internationally. The film opened in first place in France with $12.11 million on 755 screens. In comparison, The Hunger Games made $14.51 million in total in France, including $3.80 million during its opening weekend. The film also earned top spot in Italy with $5.05 million on 651 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.93 million. The original did poorly in that market with $1.29 million during its opening weekend and $3.83 million in total. Holdovers were led by the U.K., where it added $9.04 million on 557 screens over the weekend for a total of $35.36 million, or less than $2 million from its predecessor's total in that market. In Germany, the film pulled in $7.57 million on 670 screens over the weekend for a total of $24.63 million after two. The film film finished with $20.30 million in that market. More...

December Bankability Index: Brad Pitt Up on Slave and Counselor

December 5th, 2013

Brad Pitt is the big gainer in December's update to The Numbers Bankability Index, moving ahead of Adam Sandler and up to 7th place in our Worldwide Bankability Index chart. His move comes on the back of two films, 12 Years a Slave and The Counselor. Meanwhile, in our first extension to the chart since our launch last month, Will Smith makes an appearance in 11th place. More...

International Box Office: World Catches Fire

November 27th, 2013

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire had its first wide weekend on the international chart after debuting in Brazil last weekend. It shot up to first place with $146.1 million in 65 markets, including two weeks in Brazil. The film was very strong compared to The Hunger Games in most markets, this was noticeable in the U.K., where it earned $19.8 million compared to $7.78 million for the first film. Germany's haul was $14 million, more than three times the $4.26 million for the original. It grew in Australia as well, but by a more subdued margin of $11.4 million to $9.48 million. More...

International Box Office: Thor 2 Overtakes Original

November 20th, 2013

Thor: The Dark World completed the hat trick earning first place for the third weekend in a row. It pulled in $52.5 million on 3,841 screens in 69 markets for totals of $332.8 million internationally and $477.9 million worldwide. This is already more than the original Thor finished with and possibly already enough to break even. (It depends on its global P&A budget.) The film had no major market openings this past weekend, but it did debut in first place in Argentina with $1.73 million on 256 screens. Its biggest market so far is China at $41.8 million, while Russia is second with $32.07 million. The film has yet to open in Italy and Japan, so it might hit a few more milestones. On the other hand, it will surrender top spot this weekend to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Bad Grandpa Makes Box Office Look Good

October 29th, 2013

The month long slump 2013 has been on is finally over, thanks in part to Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. However, the overall box office still wasn't that good, as it was down slightly from last weekend to $102 million. Granted, "slightly" in this case means a fraction of 1%, so it isn't troubling. On the other hand, it was 10% higher than the same weekend last year. Unfortunately, year-to-date, 2013's lead over 2012 has shrunk to just $50 million or 0.6% at $8.49 billion to $8.44 billion. In fact, 2013 has not sold less tickets than 2012 had at this point in its run. That's not good and it is unlikely things will turn around in the coming few weeks. More...

Weekend Estimates: Jackass Brings Gravity to Earth

October 27th, 2013

As anticipated, Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa will end Gravity's run at the top of the chart this weekend, with the hidden camera comedy set to earn about $32 million according to Paramount Pictures, somewhat less than Jackass 3D, but very much in line with the other films in the Jackass franchise. The 32% decline for Gravity, meanwhile, is its steepest fall so far, but topping $20 million in its fourth weekend is an impressive performance (only 24 other films have done it), and it will end the weekend within a whisker of $200 million. More...

Weekend Predictions: How Bad Will the Box Office Be?

October 25th, 2013

So far October has been a bad month at the box office. Granted, Gravity should crack $200 million over the weekend; however, week after week after week we've seen declines in the year-over-year comparison. Will that losing streak finally end this weekend? We do have some good news. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa should earn $30 million, more or less, easily topping the chart this weekend and earning much more than last year's number one film Argo. In fact, it might earn more than all four new releases from last year. Additionally, The Counselor isn't expected to be the biggest hit, but it still could earn more than Argo did this time last year and should earn more than the best new releases, Cloud Atlas, did. Are we finally going to see 2013's slump end? I really hope so, because 2013 is not that far ahead of 2012's pace and if the slump doesn't end soon, it could find itself slipping behind last year's pace. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Another Orbit for Gravity

October 22nd, 2013

As expected, Gravity remained on top of the weekend box office chart for the third weekend it a row. It became the first film released in 2013 to earn the hat trick, and very likely the last. Unfortunately, two of the three wide releases missed expectations, which hurt the overall box office numbers. Compared to last week, the overall box office was down by 11% to $103 million. Compared to last year, the box office was down 35%. Ouch. 2013 is still ahead of 2012's pace, but by less than 1% at $8.36 billion to $8.29 billion. More...

Contest: Born to be Bad

October 18th, 2013

Next week there are two wide releases, but let's be frank, only one of them has a real shot at first place. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa should finally end Gravity's reign on the box office charts and will likely crush The Counselor, the only other wide release of the week. It is the easy choice for the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), regardless if they go over or not, will win a copy of Pacific Rim on Blu-ray Combo Pack.

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

2013 Preview: October

October 1st, 2013

October is an awkward month. It sits between the dumping ground that is September and November, the unofficial start of Awards Season / holiday blockbuster season. For the most part, September was stronger than average for the month and there's reason to be optimistic going forward. After all, box office success tends to feed on itself, as does box office struggles. That said, there are not a lot of sure hits over the coming four weeks. Of the nine or ten films opening wide this month, only Gravity has a better than 50/50 chance at $100 million. Captain Phillips could have a shot at the century mark, but only if it becomes a serious Awards Season player. Its early reviews suggest that could be a possibility. Last October, there were two films to reach the $100 million mark, Taken 2 and Argo. On the other hand, pretty much everything else that opened that month crashed and burned. While this October doesn't have as strong a top end, it will hopefully have much better depth. More...

Territory	Release Date	Opening Weekend	Opening Weekend Screens	Maximum Screens	Theatrical Engagements	Total Box Office	Report Date
Argentina	11/14/2013	$0	0	58	185	$740,373	12/30/2018
Australia	11/7/2013	$0	0	218	302	$2,826,855	12/13/2015
Austria	11/28/2013	$112,037	40	40	161	$343,450	12/13/2015
Belgium	11/13/2013	$0	0	45	161	$1,156,632	12/13/2015
Bolivia	11/28/2013	$13,485	8	8	20	$40,579	12/30/2018
Brazil	10/25/2013	$0	0	14	20	$1,412,252	12/13/2015
Bulgaria	11/15/2013	$0	0	26	94	$235,378	12/30/2018
Chile	10/31/2013	$0	0	5	7	$166,892	12/30/2018
Colombia	11/15/2013	$0	0	42	79	$296,446	12/30/2018
Croatia	11/14/2013	$0	0	16	61	$168,582	12/30/2018
Czech Republic	11/28/2013	$58,998	74	74	141	$133,116	12/30/2018
Denmark	11/14/2013	$0	0	58	95	$333,795	12/13/2015
Ecuador	11/1/2013	$0	0	31	31	$101,082	12/30/2018
Estonia	11/15/2013	$0	0	5	13	$125,474	12/13/2015
Finland	11/15/2013	$0	0	33	81	$209,864	12/13/2015
France	11/13/2013	$0	0	409	999	$5,383,009	12/13/2015
Germany	11/28/2013	$921,524	259	278	1130	$2,968,759	12/13/2015
Greece	11/21/2013	$252,123	45	45	115	$606,408	12/13/2015
Hong Kong	11/14/2013	$0	0	36	42	$327,677	12/13/2015
Hungary	11/14/2013	$0	0	34	170	$280,557	12/30/2018
Iceland	11/15/2013	$0	0	6	11	$33,600	12/30/2018
Indonesia	12/4/2013	$23,384	85	100	202	$442,897	12/30/2018
Israel	11/14/2013	$0	0	19	39	$283,650	12/30/2018
Japan	11/15/2013	$0	0	469	1190	$4,542,384	12/13/2015
Kenya	11/29/2013	$0	0	7	7	$15,477	12/30/2018
Latvia	11/15/2013	$0	0	6	16	$97,785	12/30/2018
Lebanon	11/14/2013	$0	0	12	15	$137,861	12/30/2018
Lithuania	11/15/2013	$0	0	9	22	$117,124	12/13/2015
Mexico	11/15/2013	$0	0	363	755	$1,963,762	12/13/2015
Netherlands	11/14/2013	$0	0	68	227	$1,314,297	12/13/2015
New Zealand	11/7/2013	$0	0	28	49	$211,725	12/13/2015
North America	10/25/2013	$7,842,930	3,044	3,044	8,015	$16,973,715	12/11/2014
Peru	12/5/2013	$69,521	24	24	61	$202,051	12/30/2018
Philippines	11/13/2013	$0	0	62	69	$197,856	12/30/2018
Poland	11/15/2013	$0	0	104	410	$1,033,626	12/30/2018
Portugal	11/21/2013	$237,341	58	58	210	$641,667	12/13/2015
Romania	11/15/2013	$0	0	29	103	$526,436	12/30/2018
Russia (CIS)	10/31/2013	$0	0	74	74	$5,402,238	12/30/2018
Serbia and Montenegro	11/21/2013	$17,874	14	14	56	$81,818	12/30/2018
Singapore	11/28/2013	$145,224	27	27	57	$262,842	12/13/2015
Slovakia	11/28/2013	$59,087	45	45	87	$140,169	12/13/2015
Slovenia	11/14/2013	$0	0	8	48	$61,646	12/13/2015
South Africa	12/20/2013	$39,546	20	20	20	$39,546	12/13/2015
South Korea	11/14/2013	$0	0	97	97	$865,103	12/13/2015
Spain	11/29/2013	$1,510,384	396	396	1353	$4,035,345	12/13/2015
Sweden	11/15/2013	$0	0	57	139	$579,785	12/13/2015
Switzerland	11/13/2013	$0	0	67	185	$744,585	12/13/2015
Thailand	11/21/2013	$56,570	49	49	90	$136,651	12/13/2015
Turkey	11/29/2013	$176,295	83	83	193	$498,163	12/30/2018
Ukraine	11/14/2013	$0	0	97	230	$619,174	12/30/2018
United Kingdom	11/15/2013	$0	0	347	514	$3,006,040	12/13/2015
Uruguay	11/28/2013	$16,409	3	6	16	$35,028	12/30/2018
Rest of World						$7,908,108
Worldwide Total						$71,009,334	12/30/2018