June 1st, 2009
Summer might be the busiest time of the year at the box office, but it is the slowest on the home market. This week we have a couple of Summer TV series coming out on DVD, a few late stragglers from Awards Season '08, and an early surprise at the '09 box office.
However, while there are a few worth picking up, none jump out at me as obvious contenders for the DVD Pick of the Week.
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October 23rd, 2007
Wow. What a week for DVD releases. There are roughly 50 releases on this week's list but strangely not many that were in contention for the DVD Pick of the Week. In a few cases the price-tag was just too high, or the extras were a little light. In the end I went with Fido - Buy from Amazon. Some might think this is my pro-Canada bias showing through... and I really can't argue with that. Still, it is a fun movie and deserves to be seen by more people.
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September 9th, 2006
A ton of
new releases to chart this week led by
The Sentinel with $8.34 million. That's a reasonable start compared to its theatrical total, but weak given its production budget.
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September 2nd, 2006
It was a relatively slow week for
new releases, but without much competition there were two newcomers finishing atop the standings. In first place was
Poseidon as the
disaster flick hopes to save its run on the home market; the $8.97 million it was able to bring in put it in first place comfortably, but it won't be enough to help it show a profit any time soon.
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August 26th, 2006
This week's batch of DVDs managed to place a handful of new releases on the chart, including the top two films.
R.V. opened in top spot with $9.08 million, a reasonable start given its domestic total and its target audience.
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August 7th, 2006
According Amazon, there are nearly 900 DVDs being released this week, half of which are episodes of Charlie Rose. Even if we ignored those releases, it was still a busy week, especially at the high end with several contenders for DVD Pick of the Week. In the end I could narrow it down to three selection,
Brick -
Buy from Amazon,
CSA: The Confederate States of America -
Buy from Amazon and
Inside Man -
Buy from Amazon. But I couldn't decide between those so all three earn the title: DVD Pick of the Week.
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June 18th, 2006
Trick 2 opened in its native
Japan finishing in a close second with $3.83 million on 282 screens. That was enough for sixth place on the overall charts and the best per screen average in the top 30.
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June 4th, 2006
The one major change from the studio estimates was in fourth place as the
Spanish film,
Volver, grew by 15% to $4.55 million on 835 screens in 5 markets for a total of $21.33 million. The big surprise came in France where the film was up a massive 41% from its opened taking in $2.64 million on 333 screens for a two-week total of $5.53 million. Meanwhile, in Italy is was down a mere 16% to $1.11 million on 309 screens for a total of $3.30 million.
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May 28th, 2006
Mission: Impossible 3 was knocked out of first place by
The Da Vinci Code, but that was not a surprise to anyone. What was a surprise is the lack of staying power
Mission: Impossible 3 has exhibited so far; this week the film fell a further 43% o $23.22 million on 6392 screens in 57 markets for a total of $164.32 million. Its best market of the weekend was the U.K. where it added $3.44 million on 445 screens to its total of $23.70 million. However, South Korea is close behind with $3.19 million on 330 screens for a total of $23.22 million. The film only as a few openings left and Japan is the only major player out there so unless a minor miracle happens
Mission: Impossible 3 won't reach the heights that its
predecessors did.
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May 21st, 2006
Silent Hill's weekend numbers were better than earlier estimates and that helped place the film fourth overall with $4.99 million on 1398 screens in 11 markets. The film finished first in Russia with $1.45 million on 213 screens over the weekend and $1.61 million in total while it had to settle for second in Germany with $1.10 million on 308 screens. It also opened in second place in Hong Kong with $462,000 on 34 screens and $580,000 including the previews mentioned last week. So far the film has earned $18.92 million at the international box office, the largest single chunk coming from the U.K.; in that market the film has made $6.32 million including $439,000 on 285 screens this week.
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May 14th, 2006
With
Mission: Impossible 3 dominating the international charts, most films saw a serious drop-off and those that didn't were able to climb the charts, or at least remain stable. For instance,
Eight Below fell 27% to $3.67 million on 1951 screens in 27 markets, but despite there being two new releases in the top five, it was able to remain in sixth place on the overall charts. The film was not able to crack $1 million in any single market, but did perform well in Spain with $587,000 on 225 screens and that lifted its total box office to $2.15 million in the market, $30.35 million internationally, and $111.42 million worldwide.
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May 3rd, 2006
For the fifth week in a row,
Ice Age: The Meltdown top the international charts earning a still impressive $30.01 million on 8374 screens in 57 markets for an international total of $379.61 million after a month of release. The film is starting to lose both theatres and markets and won't be able to top the charts next weekend, but it has already managed more than enough to show a very healthy profit and should reach $600 million worldwide within a couple of weeks. Its best market of the weekend was Italy where it was down a mere 4% to $5.17 million on 544 screens over the weekend and already has $15.31 million in that market. Its best market overall is Germany where the film has earned $54.00 million in four weeks, including $3.47 million on 1093 screens this past weekend.
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April 26th, 2006
Ice Age: The Meltdown continues its international run adding another $40.23 million on 9034 screens in 60 markets to its total of $333.06 million on the international scene and $501.41 million worldwide. The film in now 43rd on the
All-Time Charts and is climbing the charts very quickly. It had a trio of openings in major markets taking first in Italy with $5.25 million on 538 screens but had to settle for second in South Korea with $1.41 million on 234 screens over the weekend and $1.55 million in total. In Japan the film was even weaker finishing in fourth place with $1.28 million on 465 screens, which is well below the $5000 per theatre average that separates the hits from the missing, so even with Golden Week holidays,
Ice Age: The Meltdown won't have much legs in the market. Its best market overall was Germany where the film remained first despite a post-East drop-off of 57% falling to $5.35 million on 1109 screens for a total of $48.60 million after three weeks there.
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April 19th, 2006
Ice Age: The Meltdown added another $60.34 million on 8303 screens in 57 markets for a total of $263.19 million in internationally and $410.42 million worldwide as of Monday. This means it took less than three weeks for the film to top the
original's totals on both the international and worldwide box office, and that's with three more major markets left to open in, (South Korea, Italy, and Japan). The film added a dozen markets this weekend, but most of those were smaller in nature but did include $829,000 on 45 screens in Hong Kong and $516,000 on 110 in Thailand. Holdovers include an outstanding $12.37 million on 1111 screens in Germany for a two-week total of $37.07 million there while in the U.K. it added $6.40 million on 503 screens to its total of $34.58 million in the market. It was even more impressive in Mexico given the relative size of the market, it remained in first place for the third weekend in a row with $2.54 million on 912 screens for a $24.72 million total. On the other hand, the film fell 60% during the weekend in Russia falling out of first place with $1.35 million on 397 screens for a three-week total of $15.92 million.
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April 12th, 2006
Ice Age: The Meltdown was even more unstoppable during its second weekend of release scoring $94.7 million on 8,216 screens in 45 markets, which was one of the greatest three-day weekend on the international charts ever. It was another weekend of record openings with the film taking the number one opening for an
animated film in several markets. Including in that list was Germany where the film opened with $14.16 million on 1061 screens over the weekend and $17.15 million including previews and the same can be said for its opening in Switzerland, ($2.76 million on 139 screens, $3.17 million including previews), and Denmark, ($1.27 million / $1.58 million on 92). Other huge openings include the U.K. with $17.02 million at 502 screens including previews, which was nearly 10 times its nearest
competition and France with $12.5 million on 858. It also opened in first place in Australia taking in $3.87 million on 388 screens, which is not as strong as most other markets it has opened in. The best holdover for the film was Mexico where it dropped just 39% to $5.31 million on 1012 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $18.05 million. The film now has $156 million internationally and should break $300 million worldwide before the weekend. It goes without saying that both those totals are the best 2006 has had to offer so far.
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April 10th, 2006
Only one film mentioned in Friday's preview was able to beat expectations to any real degree, and this pushed this week's box office down 19.5% from last weekend.
However, at $114 million it was still 31.5% higher than last year, which is more important.
Even better news, 2006 has moved ahead of 2005's pace, albeit by a narrow 1% margin, meaning ticket sales are still slower than a year ago.
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April 7th, 2006
There's little doubt that Ice Age: The Meltdown will repeat as box office champion, the real question is how far will it fall. Also of interest, which of the new releases will come in second and how many of the four newcomers will finish in the top five?
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April 5th, 2006
Ice Age: The Meltdown was nearly as impressive during its international debut as it was domestically with a weekend haul of $47.37 million on 4605 screens in 29 markets. The film set records in a couple of markets, include Mexico with an outstanding $8.85 million on 1083 screens, which was more than 20 times more than the next highest debuting film in that market. Other record setting openings came in Argentina with $1.2 million on 134 screens, Venezuela with $531,000 on 80, Ecuador with $278,000 on 30. It also has huge openings in Russia with $7.6 million on 460 screens and in Spain with $6.47 million on 449. Probably its most impressive numbers came in the U.K. where the film brought in $4.1 million in previews alone. Look for the film to open huge there next weekend.
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April 3rd, 2006
For the first time in a long, long time we have a bona fides hit topping the charts. Not only did
Ice Age: The Meltdown beat almost all expectations, but it single-handedly brought the 2006 box office out of its slump. The overall box office was $142 million, nearly half of which came from that one movie. This represents a 29.7% increase from last weekend and a 34% increase from last year. Year-to-date, 2006 is still behind 2005, but the deficit was cut in half to just 1%.
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March 31st, 2006
We have the first event movie of the year coming out this weekend. Yes, I realize I said that when V for Vendetta came out, but this time I mean it. In all seriousness, if Ice Age: The Meltdown doesn't have the best opening of the year, then the 2006 box office is pretty much sunk.
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March 29th, 2006
The Inside Man started its international run on top of the charts with $10.27 million on 1,588 screens in 19 markets. Its biggest market was the U.K. where it easily finished first with $3.15 million on 355 screens while Germany wasn't that far behind with $2.17 million on 297 screens. Other first place finishes came in Holland ($414,000 on 65 screens), and in Switzerland ($310,000 on 30) while the film had to settle for second in Mexico with $812,000 on 230 screens.
On the other hand, the film finished fourth in both Australia ($390,000 on 178 screens), and in Poland ($224,000 on 40).
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March 28th, 2006
Thank You for Smoking was again able to lead the way on the per theatre charts despite expanding from 5 to 54 theatres. In those 54 theatres, the film earned just over $1 million for an average of $18,591.
Second place went to the only other film in the $10,000 club and the overall box office leader, The Inside Man, with $10,275.
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March 27th, 2006
The number one film of the weekend got off to a much stronger start than expected, and that helped the overall box office climb to $109 million over the weekend, which was 2.4% higher than last weekend.
It was also 9.8% higher than last year, stopping a five-week slump of year-to-year drop-offs, but 2006 is still behind 2005's pace by 2%
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March 24th, 2006
Three wide releases this weekend, and of those
two are not being screened for critics, which likely means the streak of terrible movies will continue. Fortunately, the
third wide release is earning the best reviews of any prospective number one the whole year. It could also beat
last year's weekend chart topper, but the overall market still seems weak and that will lead to yet another year-to-year drop-off.
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March 23rd, 2006
This week's list is shorter than expected, but at least there's a site that clearly deserves to be the winner of the Weekly Website award:
The Inside Man -
Official Site.
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March 20th, 2006
Seeing as how it's Spike Lee's birthday today, the latest edition in our weekly box office prediction contest features The Inside Man, which opens this Friday in wide release. Whoever comes closest to predicting that film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going over will win the prize, which this week is... let us spin the wheel of prizes here... and this week's prize is Beast Machines Transformers: The Complete Series. Entries must be received by 10am, Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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March 16th, 2006
Pretty average week with all best sites being previous award winners. The best of the rest was
Silent Hill -
Official Site, and even though this week's update wasn't huge, it was enough to make the overall site award-worthy.
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March 1st, 2006
This is a not as busy a month as it initially looks. Granted, there are 18 movies on this month's list, but there are five weekends, or at least five Fridays. Also, every week there's at least one film that may or may not be getting a truly wide release. Considering the level of competition, I'm leaning against any of five such films opening in more than 2000 theatres. On the plus side, we should see the
first $100 million movie of 2006 open this month, and perhaps even see
two movies reach that milestone.
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January 26th, 2006
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. The winner this week was
Curious George -
Official Site, which was extremely well done, although it is aimed at a very young audience.
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December 8th, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Despite being there being two weeks between updates, this was not a very strong week. Sure, there were plenty of websites updated, but not a lot that really stood out as being award worthy. In the end it was
Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks -
Official Site that was the best of the bunch and hopefully it will continue to grow and earn that award.
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