March 17th, 2009
There were half-a-dozen new releases to reach the top 30 on the sales chart this week, including a new number one movie, Beverly Hills Chihuahua. That film sold 1.61 million unites generating $28.40 million in sales, which was enough to put it in sixth place on the 2009 sales chart after just a week of release.
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March 11th, 2009
A combination of terrible new releases and two massive store sales (including the Circuit City Going out of Business sale) meant this week's sales chart was dominated by some of the biggest hits from last year. However, the number one DVD remained High School Musical 3 - Senior Year, which sold an additional 543,000 units for the week to give it a total of 2.05 million units sold and $36.14 million in consumer retail spending.
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March 3rd, 2009
Six new releases reached the top 30 on this week's sales chart, and four of those six reached the top five. This includes High School Musical 3 - Senior Year, which sold 1.50 million units while generating $26.55 million in consumer spending for the second fastest start of the year.
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March 3rd, 2009
There were seven new releases to chart this week, and a few others that just missed that mark. The winner was Body of Lies with roughly 20% more revenue than second place Changeling.
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February 17th, 2009
This felt like a slow week to me, but looking at the list there were 15 spotlight reviews, which is a huge amount for one week. There are a large number of DVDs worth checking out, but looking at the top of the list, I think Christopher Titus - Love is Evol is the best DVD coming out this week, and the winner of the DVD Pick of the Week. As has happened pretty much every week this year, there are so many DVDs on this week's list that is had to be split into two. The second part can be found here.
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February 15th, 2009
Bride Wars continues its bridesmaid run just missing the top five this week after just missing the top ten last week. It did ad $5.88 million on 2485 screens in 30 markets for a total of $32.11 million after a month of release. Openings this week include Germany, where the film placed second with $1.62 million on 455 screens, which is a mixed debut.
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February 10th, 2009
One of the busier weeks in the past several weeks, but there's little in the way of top-notch releases. The biggest box office hit was Nights in Rodanthe, which struggled to become a mid-level hit. The best release in my opinion is My Name is Bruce on Blu-ray, but only if you are a Bruce Campbell Fanboy. I am, and I'm awarding it the DVD Pick of the Week. While there were not as many top-notch releases, there were still more than enough bulk to force this column to be split into two. The second part can be found here.
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December 28th, 2008
It turns out studio estimates were highly accurate, and the only real change from Wednesday's column involves a surprise $10 million film. If You Are The One opened in first place in China and fourth place internationally with $11.68 million on 1010 screens.
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December 21st, 2008
No new openings left Bolt out of the top five with $4.94 million on 1916 screens in 11 markets for a total of $28.69 million. Its best market was Russia where it slipped to second place with $1.20 million on 570 screens for a three-week total of $10.73 million, while it added $1.06 million on 412 screens over the weekend in Spain for a total of $3.96 million after two. The film has yet to open in most major markets, and won't until the new year, but when it is done it should surpass its domestic total while aiming for $250 million worldwide.
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December 14th, 2008
There were nine international releases making their debuts on the charts this week, as well as several holdovers. The best of these films was Forever Enthralled, as the Chinese film took first place in its native market and sixth place internationally with $6.15 million on 1375 screens.
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December 7th, 2008
Bolt started its run on the international charts in sixth place with $7.90 million on 1417 screens in 4 markets. This includes a second place, $4.30 million opening on 570 screens in Russia, while it Italy it also placed second with $2.19 million on 467 screens. Meanwhile in Poland, it topped the charts with $855,000 on 120 screens, but this is par for the course as films of this nature tend to do very well in Poland.
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November 30th, 2008
Body Of Lies opened in a quartet of major markets, the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Russia, and that helped it climb into second place with $10.17 million on 2837 screens in 32 markets for a total of $33.62 million. It earned second place in both the U.K. with $1.48 million on 393 screens and in Germany where it scored $1.43 million on 427 screens. On the other hand, it earned more in Italy with $1.64 million on 357 screens, but had to settle for third place. Meanwhile in Russia it struggled landing in eighth place with $500,000 on 142 screens.
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November 23rd, 2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year fell below $10 million this past weekend, but we still able to remain in second place internationally earning $8.65 million on 4642 screens in 34 markets for a total of $123.01 million internationally and $207.178 million worldwide. The only opening of note this weekend came in Russia, however, the film struggled there placing sixth with $353,000 on 128 screens. Its best market was the U.K. where it added $1.46 million on 483 screens over the weekend for a total of $31.76 million.
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November 18th, 2008
As expected, Quantum of Solace became the biggest opener in the history of the James Bond franchise over the weekend by a huge margin.
In fact, the $67.53 million it earned over the past three days was $20 million more than the previous record holder, Die Another Day, and 65% more than Casino Royale opened with in 2006.
Even if it has a multiplier of just 2.48 it will become the biggest domestic hit in the franchise, and it has already made more worldwide than all of the pre-Pierce Brosnan Bond films.
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November 17th, 2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year remained in second place with $14.63 million on 4413 screens in 30 markets for a total of $110.38 million internationally. This is more than it will make domestically by the end of its run, and at this pace hitting $200 million worldwide will not be an issue, as it has openings in Russia, Australia, and Japan still to go. Its biggest market of the weekend was Italy where it made $2.60 million on 487 screens over the weekend for a total of $9.02 million. Meanwhile, its biggest market overall was the U.K. with $31.44 million, including $2.39 million on 470 screens over the past weekend.
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November 13th, 2008
We only have one new release this week, which should help it maximize its box office potential. It also helps that the one new release, Quantum of Solace, is the latest film is arguably the most successful movie franchise of all time. (It wins with total number of movies released in the US* and worldwide gross, but not on a per movie box office.) Quantum of Solace should win the weekend with ease and will make more than the number one movie from this weekend last year. In fact, it could make more than the top four films from this weekend last year combined.
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November 11th, 2008
After Halloween basically cut last weekend by a third, this weekend bounced back, and did it with a vengeance. Not only did the number one film beat expectations, the overall box office did as well. Total tickets sales were $142 million, a stunning 62% more than last weekend, which is impressive, even after taking into account Halloween falling on a Friday last weekend and the beginning of November this weekend. Even more importantly, this weekend was 26% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2008 has earned $7.96 billion, which is higher than 2007's pace, but by less than 1% as last year at this time the running tally was $7.94 billion.
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November 6th, 2008
The winter holiday season used to start on Thanksgiving long weekend, but now it starts the first weekend of November. And this year it starts with a sequel that has great expectations associated with it. Some good news, this weekend last year was weaker than expected and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa should have no trouble earning more than all three wide releases from last year combined. In fact, it should earn more than the two top films from last year did.
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November 5th, 2008
Two of the top five films on this week's international chart opened in advance of their domestic debuts, including the new number one film, Quantum of Solace. The film broke records during its opening in Britain with a phenomenal $25.01 million on 540 screens, which was more than two thirds of the entire box office. It also opened in first place in France with $12.65 million on 807 screens an in Sweden with $2.38 million on 149 screens over the weekend for an opening total of $2.70 million. Overall it made $40.04 million on 2,114 screens over the weekend and $40.36 million in total. The film has started faster than Casino Royale, the only question is whether it can hang on as strongly as that film did.
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November 4th, 2008
With Halloween falling on a Friday, the box office practically lost one day out of three over the weekend, which explains why the overall box office was down 34% to $87 million. Coincidentally, the box office was down a nearly identical 35% from the same weekend last year. However, not only did Halloween cut into the box office, this time last year was the beginning of November, which is historically a much more lucrative month at the box office, and both of these are mitigating factors. Year-to-date, 2008 has brought in just under $7.79 billion, compared to 2007, which earned just over $7.79 billion during the same time period.
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November 2nd, 2008
High School Musical 3 recovered from a very poor performance on Friday evening to win the weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday morning.
The teen musical picked up another $15 million, which, while down 64% from its opening, can be considered a very healthy result given that it had to contend with both a huge opening weekend and Halloween on Friday.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno finished second with an estimated $10.7 million -- director Kevin Smith's second best opening weekend ever.
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October 30th, 2008
It's Halloween tomorrow, and let me tell you something, Halloween sucks when you are on a diet. However, this year I get to share my pain, as the only thing worse than Halloween without Tootsie Rolls, is Halloween at the box office. With so many kids out trick or treating, they won't be heading to the movie theaters. Neither will their parents, or people who want to stay at home and hand out candy, or those who just want to avoid dealing with all of the pedestrian traffic. It is such a headache that the last time Halloween fell on a Friday, which was 2003, no movies opened wide that day. (Although Brother Bear expanded wide the next day.) This time around we have two movies opening wide (Zack and Miri Make a Porno and The Haunting of Molly Hartley) and two films are expanding wide (RocknRolla and Changeling). Perhaps these risky moves will pay off. However, there is almost no chance it will keep up with last year's pace, since this time last year was the beginning of November instead of the end of October.
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October 30th, 2008
The winners of our Music to my Ears contest were determined and they are...
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October 29th, 2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year opened in first place on the international chart with an impressive $40.68 million on 3,165 screens in 19 markets.
This includes first place openings in a number of markets, including the U.K. where it pulled in $9.13 million on 493 screens over the weekend for $12.92 million in total.
Other first place openings include Germany with $5.69 million on 529 screens and in Spain, where it pulled in a hair under $5.00 million on 402 screens. The film also did well in France to place second with $4.3 million, while it also pulled in more than $1 million in Brazil ($1.7 million) and Poland ($1 million). Next up for the film is Italy this weekend, while it doesn't end its run until Japan in February, so it could be in the charts for a long time.
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October 28th, 2008
Changeling's weaker than expected reviews didn't hurt it at the box office, at least not its opening weekend. The film topped the per theater chart with an impressive average of $32,601 in 15 theaters. Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom placed a close second with a surprisingly strong average of $30,336 in five theaters. Synecdoche, New York also opened better than expected despite weaker than expected reviews with an average of $19,133 in nine theaters. Let the Right One In did something no horror film has been able to do in a while: survive in limited release. It opened in four theaters with nearly $50,000 for an average of $12,324. Now all it has to do is maintain this momentum as it expands. The final film in the $10,000 club was the overall box office leader, High School Musical 3, which opened with an average of $11,601 in saturation release.
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October 27th, 2008
The weekend proved profitable, with the overall box office $133 million, which was more than 33% greater than last weekend. More importantly, it was more close to 33% greater than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date 2008 has increased its lead over 2007, but it is still up by less than 1% at $7.67 billion to $7.63 billion. However, next weekend could be tricky as Halloween lands on a Friday, and Halloween is one of the worst days at the box office.
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October 26th, 2008
High School Musical 3 made movie history over the weekend, breaking the record for the biggest opening by a musical, according to Disney's figures released on Sunday morning.
Its estimated Friday-Sunday tally was $42 million, which easily tops the previous record holder, Mamma Mia!, which set the record as recently as July, with $27.8 million.
High School Musical is also the third-biggest opener in October, behind Scary Movie 3 and Shark Tale (see complete chart).
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October 25th, 2008
Not only will High School Musical 3 - Senior Year break records at the box office this weekend, it also has the best Official Site on this week's list. Granted, it wasn't a particularly strong week for movie websites, but it was still the best.
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October 23rd, 2008
One of the most unpredictable weekends in recent memory opens today, with the debut of High School Musical 3, but it is not the only new release of the week. There are two other wide releases, plus a re-release that could challenge for a spot in the top ten. Overall the box office compares very well to last year and unless something unexpected happens, 2008 should extend its lead over 2007.
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October 16th, 2008
We are a week away from the opening of High School Musical 3 - Senior Year, which could either be the biggest hit of the month, or a massive, massive bomb. The margin of error on all predictions it practically 100%. This should make for an interesting week when it comes to the weekly box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of High School Musical 3 - Senior Year.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a poster for Happy-Go-Lucky, Lou Reed's Berlin on DVD, Legendary Performers - Tammy Wynette on DVD, and finally Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus - Best of Both Worlds Concert on DVD.
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 poster for Happy-Go-Lucky, as well as Legendary Performers - Marty Robbins on DVD, and finally, Camp Rock 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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October 1st, 2008
September ends, and for that we are all very grateful. However, while we are entering the final push for 2008 at the box office, things don't look too rosy for the upcoming month. First of all, there are way too many films opening, including eight that are opening or expanding on the first weekend. Of those two, maybe three will thrive. Most will sink without being noticed, which could negatively affect the overall box office going forward. On the other hand, there are a few films opening this month that could be players come Awards Season, which is just around the corner. Perhaps this will help a few mid-level hits rise above the crowd.
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February 24th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Hoodwinked 2, Shanghai, and more!
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January 29th, 2008
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
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January 27th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Night Watchman, High School Musical 3, Toy Story 3 and more!
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January 17th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Public Enemies, The Road, Whip It, and more!
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