February 2nd, 2010
It's still a slow time of year for home market releases. It's too late for the Christmas shopping rush, while it is still too early for Awards Season releases to come out. There are a few limited releases, direct-to-DVD releases, TV on DVD releases, and catalogue titles that are of interest, but the best of the best is Zombieland. While both formats are worth checking out, the Blu-ray is the Pick of the Week.
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March 31st, 2007
A trio of new releases led the sales chart this week, and those three all managed to place in the top five on the rental charts as well. This includes the new number one film, Blood Diamond with $9.00 million.
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March 24th, 2007
There was another new releases to top the rental charts this week as Casino Royale earned $9.20 million during its opening weekend on the home market. This is not particularly strong compared to the film's theatrical run, but it was more dominant on the sales chart.
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March 18th, 2007
There was quite an international flavor on the charts this past weekend with five local hits charting, and one more just missing that mark. The best of these was Lubov Morkov, which opened in sixth place with $5.38 million on 492 screens in 4 markets over the weekend and $6.28 million in total. Of this amount, $4.90 million on 427 screens was earned over the weekend in Russia while it managed $5.80 million including midweek numbers.
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March 17th, 2007
There was only three new releases to chart on the home market this week; however, they included the top rental this week, Borat. While it was absolutely no surprise that the film opened in first place, it was a bit of a surprise that it only managed $9.18 million while doing so.
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March 11th, 2007
Music and Lyrics remained in sixth place with $5.64 million on 1645 screens in 18 markets for a total of $32.01 million internationally. The film disappointed domestically, but it appears to be making up for that softness on the international scene. The film's best opening of the weekend came from South Korea where it placed second with $2.06 million on 144 screens while it also grabbed second place in Brazil with $490,000 on 140. Holdovers were led by the U.K. where the film earned $1.09 million on 364 screens during its fourth week of release for a total of $15.71 million in that market alone. That's close to a $100 million run here, taking into account the relative sizes of the two markets.
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March 10th, 2007
There was only one new release in the top five on the rentals charts this week but that new release was Stranger Than Fiction, which took first place with $6.77 million.
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March 7th, 2007
The Oscars proved to be little help at the box office with no film seeing a real Oscar bounce. Only a handful of films saw any growth in overall box office or per theater average, and none had both. For most films, however, the Oscars came too late in their run to have any effect.
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March 3rd, 2007
New releases dominated the top five including taking the number one spot with Babel. Babel opened with $8.73 million, just a fraction ahead of last week's winner, The Departed, which pulled in $8.58 million during its second week of release.
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February 26th, 2007
Last night's Oscars were a interesting mix of clear favorites and surprising upsets.
There were enough surprises to keep people talking for a while while enough favorites won that most will be satisfied with the overall outcome.
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February 25th, 2007
The Oscars have all been handed out, but that's not the end of our coverage. Tune in tomorrow for more thoughts as well as next week when we look at the Oscar bounce. And later on we'll announce the winners of our contest,
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February 24th, 2007
Despite having seven new releases to chart this week, only one of them made it to the top five. However, that film was The Departed and it dominated both the rental and the sales chart. It took in $9.86 million in rentals during its first week of releases pushing Flags of Our Fathers into second place with $6.33 million.
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February 18th, 2007
Charlotte's Web's return to the international charts was a successful one as it just missed the top five with $6.37 million on 2192 screens in 40 markets. However, its international tally of $32.57 is still a terrible result given the film's production budget, which has been estimated to be north of $100 million. The film has one strong opening this weekend as it earned second place in the U.K. with $3.69 million on 489 screens. On the other hand, the film flopped in France missing the top ten with $762,000 on 347 screens and that was for the full week. It did little better in South Korea with $872,000 on 150 screens over the weekend and $969,000 in total while scoring $218,000 on 54 screens over the weekend in Belgium and $271,000 in total.
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February 13th, 2007
The
Writers Guild of America handed out their awards over the weekend.
While there was a night full of winners, only two were for theatrical releases.
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February 12th, 2007
In terms of raw numbers, this isn't as busy a week as last, but there are a lot more releases worthy of discussing, including several that I rate highly.
The short-lived series Grosse Pointe - The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon gets its wide release after being an Amazon exclusive since November.
Half Nelson - Buy from Amazon comes up just in time for Oscar buzz to reach its peak.
Meanwhile, ... So Goes the Nation - Buy from Amazon should get the political junkies all worked up.
However, the clear winner of the DVD Pick of the Week is The Departed - 2-Disc Special Edition.
My only concern is the likelihood of a super special edition coming out after it wins several Oscars.
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February 11th, 2007
Babel just missed the top five this past weekend and showed that
Oscar nods still meant something at the box office, at least internationally. The film added $5.16 million on 1467 screens for a total of $61.31 million so far. It was aided by a first place, $1.23 million opening on 256 screens in Russia, but that is one of the film's last significant openings.
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February 4th, 2007
The
Directors Guild of America handed out their awards this weekend but while there were plenty of awards handed out, only two were for theatrical releases.
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February 4th, 2007
For the second weekend in a row
Apocalypto earned sixth place on the international charts, this time pulling in 7.03 million on 2308 screens for a total of $47.42 million. Its best market of the weekend was Mexico where it had an easy first place finish with $2.43 million on 502 screens over the weekend and $2.66 million including previews. It was also strong during its second weekend in Spain as it was down 40% to $1.17 million on 284 screens for a total of $3.64 million.
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January 28th, 2007
Apocalypto climbed into sixth place despite dropping 13% to $6.72 million on 2072 screens for a total of $37.90 million. Its best market of the week was Spain where it opened in first place with $1.94 million on 283 screens.
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January 23rd, 2007
The
Oscar nominations were handed out today and for the most part they've followed the script written by previous awards committees fairly closely.
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January 23rd, 2007
The
Golden Globes were handed out last week, but the real winners were rewarded this weekend as the Golden Globe Bounce was in full effect.
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January 21st, 2007
The Holiday slipped out of the top five this week, but still has plenty of reason to celebrate as the film hit $100 million on the international scene. Over the weekend it added $8.16 million on 3104 screens in 45 markets to its running tally of $102.54 million. This includes Mexico where the film opened with a respectable third place earning $711,000 on 230 screens while it took fourth place in Argentina with $153,000 on 40.
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January 16th, 2007
Only two films were repeat winners on tonights
Golden Globes,
Dreamgirls with three wins and
The Queen with two. There were a few surprises along the way and some troubling signs for Oscar hopefuls.
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January 15th, 2007
Apocalypto was the best of the rest this weekend pulling in $8.3 million over the weekend for a running tally of $20 million on the international scene. Its biggest single market was the U.K. where the film opened in third place with $2.62 million on 385 screens, (including very limited previews), which was a record for a
foreign language film. It did even better in Italy with $3.17 million on 316 screens placing second. Given the film's R-rating, it should outperform its domestic total giving it a target box office of over $100 million worldwide.
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January 12th, 2007
The
Writers Guild of America is the last of the guilds to hand out nominations, which they did so this week. And while there are 20 or so categories, only two of them are theatrical.
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January 7th, 2007
Since New Years Eve fell on a Sunday this year, there was precious little in terms of international box office numbers released this week. We have some studio estimates, some box office information for major markets, and some updated totals. But for the most, there's little to share.
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January 5th, 2007
The
Screen Actors Guide handed out their nominations yesterday and of the 5 theatrical categories, there were more than a dozen films to pick up at least one nomination.
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January 4th, 2007
The
PGA announced their nominations today, two of which deal with theatrical releases.
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December 23rd, 2006
Curse of the Golden Flower started its international run in its native
China with a record breaking $12.27 million on 826 screens. That was almost enough to reach the top five falling just short to
Arthur & the Invisibles and its $12.47 million.
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December 15th, 2006
Babel led the way when the
Golden Globe nominations were announced today with seven nominations while
The Departed was close behind with six.
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December 14th, 2006
A busy week for new releases didn't stop
Casino Royale earning its fourth first place finish in a row with $35.68 million on 4688 screens in 63 markets for a total of $246.65 million. The film opened in 10 new markets (and setting
franchise records in each). This included Australia where the film's $5.42 million on 401 screens was more than the rest of the market combined and was equally dominate in New Zealand with $827,000 on 92 screens. The film wasn't as fortunate in Mexico where it had to settle for second place with $1.49 million on 564 screens, which was just $30,000 behind the by
box office champ. Speaking of close races, the film was knocked out of top spot in the U.K. with $5.39 million on 495 screens, also falling victim to
Happy Feet in a very close battle. So far the film has made $82.52 million in that one market, and with Christmas on its way it is heading for $100 million and the year's best box office there. Overall the film is rapidly closing in on
Die Another Day international final tally of $271 million; in fact, it should get there by this time next week. However, it is also likely that this time next week it will no longer be in top spot on the international charts.
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December 6th, 2006
A slow week for
Casino Royale with only four openings, and only one of those in a major market. In Japan the film had to settle for second place with $2.34 million on 443 screens over the weekend and $3.25 million in total; this was a tiny margin behind local film, Love and Honor. The film also opened in a trio of African markets: South Africa with $509,000 on 77 screens, Kenya, $59,000 on 8, and Nigeria with $44,000 on 4. (Although I've received an e-mail saying the movie made $25 million there and I can earn 12.5% of that if I help a certain theatre owner smuggle it out of the country.) The film's best market remains the U.K. where it added $10.51 million on 506 screens for a total of $73.45 million. The film has already topped
Die Another Day in that markets and is gunning for
Dead Man's Chest, which ended its run in the market with $98.63 million. Overall, the film earned an easy first place with $43.73 million on 6728 screens in 53 markets for a total of $194.65 million. And with openings in Australia, South Korea, Italy, Mexico and other significant markets left to go, it should have no trouble topping $300 million before long.
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November 29th, 2006
Casino Royale's dominance of the worldwide box office continued as it opened in 18 new markets scoring first place in every one of them. In fact, it was number one in 40 of the 50 markets it is currently playing in. Overall the film earned $64.94 million on 6460 screens in 50 markets for a two-week total of $129.06 million. The biggest opening of the weekend was in Germany where it crushed the competition with $12.84 million on 839 screens, more than 10 times its
nearest competition. France was also a major contributor to its weekend success with $8.4 million on 823 screens while it captured $3.90 million on 500 screens in Spain, and a combined $8.02 million on 392 screens in the four Scandinavian markets. Not surprisingly, holdovers were led by the U.K. where it dipped just 25% to $16.51 million on 506 screens for a total of $53.96 million, which is nearly what
Die Another Day earned in total in that market. Next up for the film is Japan this weekend, Australia the weekend after and South Korea the weekend after that. As for the film's long term potential, it is likely to crack the $500 million milestone worldwide with $600 million being a tough but achievable goal.
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November 23rd, 2006
Casino Royale dominated the weekend box office earning $42.2 million on 3,063 screens in 27 markets, only one of them a true major markets. The film's biggest was the
U.K., no surprise there, but the magnitude of the opening caught a lot of people off guard. Its weekend total of $21.55 million on 505 screens was the third biggest opening of all time behind just
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Add in Thursday and the film earned $25.33 million, roughly 47% more than the previous best opening for a
Bond film in the market, and
Goldeneye had 5 days to earn its $17.2 million. The second biggest market was Russia where the film took in $4.55 million on 540 screens, which was more than four times the
nearesst competition and the highest opening ever for a non-
Russian film there. It had a similar result in Indian earning $3.2 million on an unprecedented 427 screens beating
Spider-man 2's record for a non-
Indian film by 87%. Other million dollar markets include Greece with $1.34 million on 111 screens, Thailand with $1.1 million on 154 and Taiwan with $1 million on 116. The film opens in most of the rest of Europe next weekend and should have no trouble remaining on top of the charts.
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November 15th, 2006
Borat was again the top box office draw on the international scene taking in $15.37 million on 1147 screens in 20 markets for a total of $43.16 million after two weeks of release. The film opened in three markets, but they were of the smaller variety earning $287,000 on 17 screens in Greece, $51,000 on 10 in Bulgaria and $29,000 on 4 in Serbia. The vast majority of the film's weekend total came from the U.K. where it repeated in first place with $8.62 million on 430 screens for a two-week total of $27.13 million. Meanwhile in Germany the film grew by 2%, but was still stuck in second place with $2.76 million on 310 screens for a total of $6.35 million in that market. This week the film opens in France, Spain, and other smaller markets, but it will have a lot of competition from
Bond and it will take a minor miracle for the film to not be knocked out of top spot.
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November 14th, 2006
There were four new releases opening in varying degrees of wideness this past weekend, but none of them could live up to lowered expectations.
This left the overall box office at $127 million, which was down about 2% from last weekend while up less than 1% from the same weekend last year.
That's not a large enough increase to keep up with ticket price inflation, but any good news is still welcome at this point.
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November 12th, 2006
Desu Noto 2, a.k.a., Death Note 2: The Last Name opened in two market last weekend taking in a total of $7.29 million on 393 screens including finishing first in
Japan with $6.50 million on 342 screen over the weekend and $10.33 million in total. In the mean time, the film opened in second place in South Korea with a respectable total of $1.37 million, which includes more than just the weekend, obviously.
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November 7th, 2006
To call this weekend unpredictable is an understatement as there was a surprise number one film and records fell.
But despite this, the overall market was only mixed. Sure, week-to-week the box office was up roughly 24% from last weekend, but Halloween tends to depress the box office, even when it doesn't hit on the weekend. Compared to the same weekend last year, the $130 million total box office was 4% lower.
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November 2nd, 2006
It's the first week of the winter / holiday season and this weekend alone we have two films coming out that are aimed at the family market.
While the time of the year is great for these films, the direct competition will keep both from becoming more than mid-level hits.
On the other hand, neither look likely to bomb either.
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November 2nd, 2006
Not too
long ago I said that
The Devil Wears Prada had no chance to match its domestic total on the international scene. Well, I was wrong. This week the film added $17.62 million on 4352 screens in 47 markets to its international total, a total that now stands at $130.38 million. This week the film opened in first place, in a very, very close battle in South Korea with $2.9 million on 241 screens while it was the clear winner in Belgium earning $640,000 on 60 screens over the weekend and $869,000 in total. As for holdovers the film remained in second place in Germany with $2.89 million on 605 screens over the weekend and $13.69 million after three. The film has yet to open in Japan, China, and the Middle East and should have no problem hitting $150 million internationally before long.
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October 31st, 2006
The final weekend before Halloween was as predictable as they come with every film in the top five finishing within a rounding error of expectations.
Even the weekly and year to date comparisons were dull -- down 2% week-to-week but up 2% from the same weekend last year -- hardly noteworthy changes.
But I guess no surprises are better than bad surprises.
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October 27th, 2006
There's only one true wide release of the week, Saw III.
But it has a small chance of earning more this weekend than all four wide releases earned last weekend.
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October 26th, 2006
It was a $100 million weekend for The Devil Wears Prada as its $18.6 million haul lifted its international total to $104 million.
The film's only opening of note was Sweden where it topped the charts with $606,000 on 66 screens.
Most of the film's box office this weekend came from holdovers like Italy where it was down a tiny 7% to $3.33 million on 420 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.50 million while it held on nearly as strong in Germany down 21% to $3.36 million on 598 million for a two week total of $9.23 million.
The film still has openings in South Korea and Japan, although I'm unconvinced the film will be a hit in either country.
But the film has already earned twice what it needed to show a profit, so the studio has no reason to complain regardless of what happens from now on.
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October 24th, 2006
There was no breakout hit this week with even the pleasant surprises merely able to match expectations. This left the overall box office down 5% to $106 million over the weekend; however, that was still 18% more than the same weekend last year when all four new releases flopped to one degree or another.
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October 19th, 2006
It's a busy week for wide releases with four such films aiming for a spot in the top ten.
However, none of them look likely to set the box office on fire and will have to rely on strong legs to make a big impact.
Fortunately, all fours film are earning good reviews with the weakest still cracking the 50% positive mark.
Quite a turnaround from last weekend when none could top 25% positive.
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October 18th, 2006
The Devil Wears Prada remained on top of the international charts as it added $24.61 million on 4217 screens in 42 markets. This lifted its international total to $75.43 million and its worldwide total to $199.75 million. Germany was the film's biggest market as it took in $4.24 million on 559 screens, but a local film kept it out of first place while another local film did the same in the Netherlands where it opened with $631,000 on 80 screens over the weekend and $816,000 in total. It did earn first place in Italy with $3.56 million on 417 screens and in Taiwan with an estimated $1.2 million on 98. Meanwhile, the film performed amazingly in several holdover markets adding $3.47 million on 446 screens in the U.K. to its two-week total of $12.53 million while it remained in first place in France with $1.9 million on 507 screens for $10.1 million after three weeks. As for further milestones, the film has obviously already crossed $200 million worldwide and $100 million internationally won't be far behind.
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October 17th, 2006
It is reported that Friday the 13th costs the American economy $500 million as there are some people so afraid of that day that they are too scared to leave the house.
That doesn't seem to be true for the movies, as Friday was the only day to outpace last weekend.
Overall the box office managed $110 million, 1% lower than last weekend.
However, that was 25% more than the same weekend last year when all three new releases bombed.
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October 15th, 2006
The
German Film, Deutschland. Ein Sommermarchen, which could translate into English as Germany, A Summer March, but I wouldn't bet money on it. ... Moving on, The film took top spot in its native market with $7.19 million on 584 screens and that was enough for sixth place overall.
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October 12th, 2006
There's little doubt which film will take top spot this weekend as there is almost no serious competition for
The Grudge 2.
However, analysts are divided on exactly how much it will earn on its way to the top.
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October 10th, 2006
October officially washed away the stench that is September with the overall box office beating expectations at a total of $110 million.
That is just shy of 10% higher than last weekend and 5% higher than the same weekend last year.
Almost all of this growth can be attributed to The Departed, helped by its amazing reviews.
The question now is whether it will have better legs than last year's number one film?
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October 7th, 2006
Good week for websites, but most were smaller updates or new sites with just a few features. Two sites,
Happy Feet -
Official Site and
The Prestige -
Official Site, stood out above the crowd, but both will need a few more update to take home the Weekly Website Award.
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October 6th, 2006
Martin Scorsese begins his latest campaign to win that elusive Oscar as The Departed looks to take first place over the weekend. The other new releases this weekend are unlikely to win any awards, but with total production budgets just a fraction of The Departed's, they could be more profitable.
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October 2nd, 2006
We have one of our biggest selections of prizes ever for our box office prediction contest this week with a total of six posters, two T-shirts, and 2 DVDs being given away.
Prizes come from The Departed, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, I Am a Sex Addict, and more.
To win, you need to predict the opening weekend for The Departed.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going over will win posters from both The Departed and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, a Police T-shirt from The Departed, and I Am a Sex Addict.
Meanwhile the person who comes the closest to the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win posters from both The Departed and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, an Irish T-shirt from The Departed, and Windy City Heat on DVD.
In addition, two other lucky winners will be chosen at random and each will receive an additional The Departed poster.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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October 1st, 2006
It's October, that means there's more hits, more Oscar hopefuls, and more horror films being released. But more importantly, it means September is over. September seemed weaker than normal in terms of top box office draws, but even though October is bound to produce more hits, the box office potential still seems soft. I only see one $100 million movie, but a least a few more might come within striking distance.
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September 16th, 2006
High quantity on sites this week, but many of them were for new releases, most of which haven't had any updates in a while. Those that did have updates were generally quite small, but one site stood above them all,
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny -
Official Site, which is easily the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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August 26th, 2006
It's another busy week with nearly three dozen films being represented here. Taking top prize is
Invincible -
Official Site, although there were a few others that could take that claim before all is said and done.
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August 11th, 2006
The torrid pace of website updates continues with more than 30 films on this week's list. There were a few sites that really caught my eye, but it was
Trust the Man -
Official Site and its interactive map of New York City and its more than 2 dozen clips that won the Weekly Website Award.
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August 4th, 2006
Third week in a row where the number of sites featured on this list has topped 30. With such a busy week it would take something different to win the award, and that's something
Michel Gondry excels at delivering giving
The Science of Sleep -
Official Site the Weekly Website Award.
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