International Round Up: The Eight Hundred Lights Up Chinese Theaters

August 27th, 2020

The international markets were dominated at the weekend by The Eight Hundred’s blockbuster release in China. It was expected to do well, but a a seven-day opening “weekend” of $113.4 million ($115.4 million including previews) is beyond expectations, given the 50% capacity restrictions in Chinese theaters. It is actually more than Hobbs & Shaw earned this time last year, and helped the box office more than triple compared to last week. Granted, Hobbs & Shaw only had four days at the box office and not seven, but this is still a spectacular opening.

Performance around the rest of the world was more mixed, but there are some hopeful signs as Tenet starts its long-anticipated rollout. More...

International Round Up: Harry Potter Puts a Spell on China, Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide

August 20th, 2020

The slow march to recovery at the box office continued in international markets at the weekend as theaters opened up and moviegoers continued to return. Progress is being slowed by the lack of new films, particularly from US studios, but catalog titles are filling the void. China took advantage of an opportunity to release a movie from the Harry Potter archive for the first time in the territory, and Australian film fans got a chance to enjoy some original Star Wars. Some local films are also doing well, partly thanks to the lack of competition.

Here’s a round-up of what’s playing around the world, and how markets are recovering. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for September 4th, 2012

September 3rd, 2012

This week is again loaded with TV on DVD releases, including several in the top best sellers according to Amazon.com. The best TV on DVD release in terms of comedy is 2 Broke Girls: Season One on DVD or Blu-ray, while Person of Interest: Season One on DVD or Blu-ray is the best TV on DVD release as far as the dramas are concerned. Both are contenders for Pick of the Week, but neither quite gets there. The Five-Year Engagement on Blu-ray Combo Pack comes a little close, but in the end I went with Headhunters on DVD or Blu-ray. Just keep an eye on the price of the Blu-ray. More...

Blu-ray Sales: Finding the Source of the Problem

August 12th, 2011

It was a slow week on the home market, especially on Blu-ray, where it was a rare week suffering from year-over-year declines. But more on that in a bit. The number one selling Blu-ray was Source Code with 189,000 units. It was a little disappointing on DVD and its opening week Blu-ray ratio was just under 33%, acceptable, but not great. It was visual enough that upgrading to High Definition wasn't a bad choice, but second-tier enough that I would understand if a lot of people just didn't want to bother with the extra price. More...

Analysis: Harry Potter and the Big Pile of Money

July 21st, 2011

With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 off to a record-breaking start, the biggest-earning franchise at the worldwide box office is nearing its end. A few records are still to fall (notably, it will overtake Star Wars in a day or two to become the biggest domestic franchise), but we thought now would be good time to look back at how Harry Potter has shaped the movie industry, and the financial records it has broken along the way. For each film, we look at both the box office receipts and domestic spending on DVD, Blu-ray and video rentals. Warning: some readers may find the large numbers presented disturbing. More...