January 15th, 2016
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The Oscar nominations were announced at 5:30 am Pacific time. Nothing is good that early in the morning. Worse still, this was a terrible year for snubs, especially when it comes to diversity of the nominees. The voters for the Oscars are 94% white and 77% male... but that's still more diverse than the list of nominees. The Revenant led the way with 12 nominations and it is expected to win a few of those, while it is a serious contender in most of the categories it was nominated in.
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December 10th, 2015
The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning and we are already beginning to see a trend for this year's Awards Season. For the most part, the same films are coming up over and over again. Carol led the way with five awards, while there was a three-way tie for second place with The Big Short, The Revenant and Steve Jobs each picking up four.
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June 14th, 2015
The week ending May 31 was a terrible week for new releases with only one that sold more than 50,000 units on the combined home market chart. Fortunately, American Sniper held on a lot better than most releases do, and was down just 27% to 844,000 units/ $16.01 million in consumer spending for the week, giving it totals of 1.99 million units / $37.40 million after two weeks of release. It is now in fifth place on the 2015 combined chart, but again, given its box office, it should be higher.
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June 8th, 2015
It was a very shallow week for new releases with only one release that made any real impact. American Sniper dominated the combined home market chart selling ten times as many units as the second place film. During its first week of release, it sold 1.20 million units and generated $22.57 million in sales for an opening week Blu-ray share of 42%. The film is nearly in the top ten on the 2015 combined chart, but given its box office, it should have sold twice that. Also, its Blu-ray share is lower than expected for an action film.
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June 4th, 2015
The second major change in news articles this week is the consolidation of the home market columns and using the Combined DVD and Blu-ray Sales Chart. It is kind of a bad week for this change, as the new releases were a disappointment; 50 Shades of Grey remained on top on both the Blu-ray sales chart and the DVD sales chart. It sold an additional 896,000 units and generated $15.82 million for the week giving it totals of 2.27 million units / $40.20 million.
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May 30th, 2015
There were a lot of new releases to reach the top twenty on the Blu-ray sales chart this week. This includes 50 Shades of Grey, which is already the fifth best selling Blu-ray of 2015. Needless to say, this meant the overall Blu-ray sales were a lot stronger than last week. There were 89% more units sold and 77% higher revenue. Compared to last year, there were 72% more units sold and 47% higher revenue. The overall DVD market also grew, but not as much as much as the Blu-ray market rose and this helped the overall Blu-ray share rocket to 45%.
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May 30th, 2015
There were six new releases to reach the top 30 of the DVD sales chart this week. We also have a new number one DVD, 50 Shades of Grey, which opened with 573,000 units / $8.59 million for the week.
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May 30th, 2015
There were only four new releases on this week's Blu-ray sales chart, but three of them reached the top five. This includes a new number one Blu-ray, 50 Shades of Grey, which sold 852,000 units and generated $16.74 million in sales. This represents 73% of total Blu-rays sold this week, while the film's opening week Blu-ray share was just under 60%. This is a shockingly high opening week Blu-ray share, especially given the target demographic.
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May 27th, 2015
It was a busy week on the home market with a seven new releases that charted this week, including Paddington. It led the Blu-ray sales chart helping the overall market grow when compared to last week, by 9.9% in terms of units and 4.4% in terms of revenue. The market was mixed when compared to last year, as 3.3% more units were sold, but 10% less revenue was generated. This is better than the overall DVD market performed, which helped the overall Blu-ray share rise to 37%. I would like this to be 40%, but it is close enough that I'm not worried.
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May 6th, 2015
While summer is the worst time of year for the home market, there are actually two big first-run releases coming out this week, plus a handful of TV on DVD releases that are worth checking out. The biggest release is 50 Shades of Grey, but while it made more than $500 million worldwide, its reviews are just bad. On the other hand, Selma, the second biggest new release of the week, is clearly the best new release of the week and the DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack is the Pick of the Week.
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April 12th, 2015
With little in the way of direct competition, Furious 7 will maintain a comfortable lead at the box office this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday morning. Universal is projecting a $60.6 million weekend, for a total of $252.5 million after 10 days in release. That will make the film the 9th-fastest to the $250 million mark (see current list here). With the film’s international box office total rushing to $548 million so far, it will have topped $800 million globally by the end of the weekend, moving it past Fifty Shades of Grey to become, by a healthy margin, the top-grossing movie worldwide in 2015.
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March 18th, 2015
Cinderella led the way on the international box office, but it can't be described as a Cinderella opening, as every one expected it to earn first place. The film pulled in $62.4 million in 31 markets during its first weekend of release. This includes $25.01 million during its first weekend in China, which was easily enough for first place. It also earned first place in Russia with $2.62 million on 1,550 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $7.06 million. The film placed first in Mexico ($5 million) and Italy ($4.6 million). It is still too early to tell where it will finish, but this is a strong start. By this time next week, it will likely have pulled in enough to cover its entire production budget.
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March 12th, 2015
Jupiter Ascending returned to the international chart in first place with $25.3 million in 53 markets for a month-long total of $107.0 million internationally. This includes a first place, $23.08 million debut on 7,028 screens in China. If the film can have even middling legs in China, it will overtake its production budget on the global box office. However, it needed to make twice that to break even.
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March 5th, 2015
For the third weekend in a row, Fifty Shades of Grey ruled the international box office, this time pulling in $36 million in 59 markets over the weekend for totals of $337.00 million internationally and $484.40 million worldwide. It will reached $500 million early this weekend [ Copy Ed: Just heard it crossed $500 million today with $352 million internationally and $150 million domestically for a worldwide total of $502 million]. The film opened in South Korea, but struggled earning fourth place with $1.25 million on 510 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $1.80 million. It might have struggled in South Korea, because by the time it opened there, the word-of-mouth has overtaken the hype. Its biggest single market is the U.K. where it has made $46.27 million, including $3.43 million on 545 screens this past weekend.
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March 3rd, 2015
As expected, Focus led the way at the box office, but sadly did so with a much lower opening weekend result than predicted. The rest of the top five were a little stronger than predicted each earning between $10 million and $12 million. That said, the overall box office was still weak, down 10% from last week to $107 million. It was also down 13% from last year. This caused 2015's lead over 2014 to drop. Granted, 2015 is still ahead of 2014 by $110 million or 6.8% at $1.74 billion to $1.63 billion, so it would take a while to lose that lead at this pace.
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February 26th, 2015
The month ends with two wide releases: Focus and The Lazarus Effect. Neither film is expected to be a big hit, but at least Focus is expected to earn first place overtaking Fifty Shades of Grey. Overall, I think the box office will drop when compared to last week. Worse still, the box office looks weak when compared to last year. Last year, the box office was led by Non-Stop, while three films earned more than $20 million over the weekend. This year, there's a chance no film will earn $20 million. 2015 is very likely going to lose in the year-over-year comparison ending 2015's winning streak.
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February 25th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey remained in first place internationally with $68.1 million on 10,323 screens in 58 markets for totals of $280.5 million internationally and $409.7 million worldwide. The film had no major market openings this weekend, but it does open in South Korea this weekend. It is already the biggest hit of the year after just ten days of release and it has made enough to justify a sequel. However, its legs are definitely weak and I'm don't think the sequel will match its box office dominance.
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February 24th, 2015
While there were three new releases to reach the top ten, the top three spots were held by holdovers. As expected, Fifty Shades of Grey won the box office race, but it did so with a much lower number. McFarland, USA was the strongest of the three new releases, while The DUFF earned the best per theater average. The less said about Hot Tub Time Machine 2's debut, the better. Overall, the box office fell 45% to $119 million compared to last weekend. At first glance, this is a disaster; however, this is a post holiday weekend and last week's number one film was artificially inflated at the box office due to hype and Valentine's Day. Compared to last year, the box office was 7% higher. This helped push 2015's lead over 2015 to 8.5% or $1.60 billion to $1.48 billion.
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February 22nd, 2015
A 73% second-weekend drop won’t be enough to keep Fifty Shades of Grey out of its top spot on the weekend box office chart, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With another $23.25 million in the bank, the erotic drama has amassed $130 million after two weekends domestically, and has now taken over $400 million worldwide.
This relative weakness in Fifty Shades' second outing isn’t a big surprise given its fervent fanbase, who are more likely to attend on the first weekend, its mediocre reviews, and the fact that last weekend was a holiday, which can increase the box office take substantially. Perhaps more to the point, taking the top spot twice and reaching $400 million is enough. Universal already has every incentive to continue the franchise.
Second and third places this weekend go to two other returning films that are also set to fall more than 50% from last weekend’s totals: Kingsman: The Secret Service will post $17.5 million for $67 million after two weekends, and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water adds $15.5 million to take its tally to $125 million after three. While it is a substantial decrease, this is a more typical second-weekend drop.
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February 20th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey will again win the weekend box office race. In fact, it could make more than the three new wide releases make combined. The biggest of these three wide releases is Hot Tub Time Machine 2, but it is unfortunately earning terrible reviews. The DUFF's reviews were amazing, but it has since settled on merely good. McFarland, USA is earning the best reviews, but unfortunately its buzz is really quiet. Granted, its target audience doesn't tend to get hyped about movies, but this still isn't a good sign. This weekend last year, The LEGO Movie remained in first place with just over $30 million. This is about the same as Fifty Shades is expected to earn. If 2015 is to win, it will need to rely on depth. Since we could have seven films earning $10 million or more, that won't be an issue.
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February 19th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey dominated the international box office with an opening weekend of $158 million in 58 markets over the weekend for a total opening of $173.56 million. Worldwide, the film took $258.73 million during its opening weekend, which puts it just behind Taken 3 for the year. It became the biggest hit shortly after the weekend ended. The film's biggest market was in the U.K., where it made $20.90 million in 586 theaters. This is better than it opened with here, relative to the size of the two markets, so we can blame the U.K. for the success of this film. It also did incredibly well in Germany ($15.2 million on 741 screens); France ($12 million on 785); and Russia ($10.68 million on 1,105). Obviously the film is going to be turned into a franchise.
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February 19th, 2015
The winners of our Sticky Situation contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Fifty Shades of Grey opening weekend were...
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February 18th, 2015
What We Do in the Shadows dominated the per theater chart earning an average of $41,778 in two theaters. This is high enough to suggest the film will be able to expand significantly. Additionally, its reviews are stunning, so its chances at box office success are even better. However, the comedy stylings of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi are not really mainstream and that might hurt its chances. The second place film on the per theater chart was the overall number one film, Fifty Shades of Grey, which earned an average of $23,360. The Last 5 Years was next with an average of $17,158 in three theaters. Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem opened with an average of $12,105 in two theaters. Meanwhile, the second wide release of the week, Kingsman: The Secret Service, was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $11,300.
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February 18th, 2015
As expected, Fifty Shades of Grey dominated the weekend box office, while Kingsman: The Secret Service was strong in its own way. Overall, the box office earned $214 million over the three-day weekend and $247 million including Monday. Its three-day number is 41% more than last weekend. It is also 21% more than the same weekend last year. The four-day box office was 19% higher than the same weekend last year. 2015 has now opened up a 6.0% lead over 2014 at $1.45 billion to $1.37 billion.
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February 15th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey has overcome poor (although generally not disastrous) reviews and unusually risque material to dominate at the box office over Valentine’s Day weekend. Universal is projecting a $81.67 million three-day weekend as of Sunday morning, the second-biggest February weekend at the box office, just behind, ironically, The Passion of the Christ. Passion’s weekend was $83.8 million, and Fifty Shades could still overtake it for the best weekend of all-time in the month. Watching people suffer is apparently a thing in February.
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February 13th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey will win the weekend box office race and then aliens will come down to Earth and eliminate us as a species. Okay, that second part is just wishful thinking on my part. Kingsman: The Secret Service will open in a distant second place, despite earning reviews that are really good, for this time of year. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water will fit somewhere in-between the two new releases. Last year, The LEGO Movie remained in first place with $49.85 million. Fifty Shades of Grey will crush that figure, leading 2015 to an easy victory.
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February 8th, 2015
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is wiping out the competition this weekend with a dramatic $56 million debut, enough to give it the 5th biggest weeked in February, with a chance of 4th place if it does well today. After the success of The LEGO Movie this weekend last year, there’s a good bet we’ll be seeing the first weekend in February becoming a regular landing spot for animated films. (Perhaps The Nut Job 2 will move back a few weeks next year in response?)
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February 6th, 2015
Next weekend, Fifty Shades of Grey opens and while Kingsman: The Secret Service looks like the better movie, Fifty Shades of Grey is going to crush it at the box office. As such, 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 Fifty Shades of Grey.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Frankenprize, featuring Syrup on DVD, among other prizes.
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 Frankenprize, this time featuring Tasting Menu 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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February 1st, 2015
It was a record-breaking January thanks entirely to American Sniper, which set records, both during its limited release run and especially when it expanded wide. There were a couple of other films that did well, but for the most part, it was a typical January. The question is, will American Sniper boost the overall box office, which would help February, or will its effects fade as it does? There are ten wide releases in February; there are a few films that may or may not open in the top ten. Of these, there are only two that have a real shot at true box office success. The biggest film in terms of buzz is Fifty Shades of Grey, which looks so, so bad. Personally, I would rather watch The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water a hundred times than sit through just the trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey. If Fifty Shades of Grey becomes the biggest hit of the month, it will mrean the end of civilization. Because. I. Will. End. Civilization. Last February was mostly mediocre, except for The LEGO Movie which was a huge early year hit. There's no chance any film opening this month will match The LEGO Movie; the top two films likely won't match The LEGO Movie. Because of this, 2015 will need to rely on depth to come out ahead. I'm not sure how likely that will be.
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