June 7th, 2011
New releases took the top two spots on this week's DVD sales chart with Gnomeo and Juliet leading the way with 666,000 units sold while generating $10.74 million in opening week sales. This is not a bad result, for this time of year.
More...
June 1st, 2011
While The Mechanic had to settle for second place on this week's DVD Sales Chart, it led the way with ease on the Blu-ray Sales Chart with 230,000 units / $3.90 million. Its Blu-ray sales ratio of 37% is strong for a decidedly second-tier release.
More...
May 31st, 2011
It's not like there were no new releases, but Justin Bieber: Never Say Never didn't have a lot of trouble keeping top spot on the DVD sales chart to itself. During its first full week of release it sold an additional 476,000 units, lifting its totals to 967,000 units / $17.26 million after two. Given its target demographic, Fangirls, it's not exactly surprising that it is selling so well on DVD.
More...
May 25th, 2011
As I mentioned at the time, the list of Blu-rays were weak this week, so weak that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I was able to return to top spot. That said, its weekly sales of 94,000 units and $2.16 million was terribly weak for the number one Blu-ray. On the other hand, its totals after five weeks of release are 2.79 million units and $63.26 million, which are the best of the year so far.
More...
May 24th, 2011
Despite coming out a few days later than the rest of the new releases, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never topped the DVD sales chart this week with 471,000 units sold and $7.26 million in consumer spending at retail.
No Strings Attached opened in second place with 315,000 units / $5.41 million, which is not particularly strong, but not too bad, all things considered. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I remained in third place adding 168,000 units / $2.68 million for the week for running tallies of 4.92 million units / $68.61 million after five. It should quickly become the second DVD release of 2011 to sell 5 million units.
More...
May 16th, 2011
It's kind of an odd week for DVD / Blu-ray releases. While it is a busier week than average when it comes to first run releases, none of them did well with critics and I don't think any of them will be big sellers. There are a few limited releases, TV on DVD releases, and catalogue titles that are vying to make up the difference. As far the best, there's not a lot here that can even compete with The Hustler's Blu-ray debut.
More...
May 13th, 2011
I don't think I've ever heard a Justin Bieber song in my life. I might be the only person on the planet able to make that claim. Because of this, I go into this documentary / concert film with more of a sense of curiosity than anything else. Can Justin Bieber live up to the hype?
More...
May 9th, 2011
While summer is the busiest time of year at the box office, it's the weakest time of year on the home market. That said, this week isn't bad with a few high profile releases. Unfortunately for me, I'm still waiting on the screeners for several of these. As far as the best of the best is concerned, there are a few contenders for Pick of the Week, including the pair of Doctor Who releases. But in the end I went with The Illusionist on Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack.
More...
February 22nd, 2011
It was a good news / bad news situation this weekend as a number of films missed expectations. However, the overall box office was still enough for 2011 to secure its first win, topping last year's box office $145 million to $134 million. Granted, this is not exactly a fair comparison, as it was President's Day long weekend this year and it wasn't last year, but when you've had a 14-week losing streak, you will take any win that you can. Year-to-date, 2011 is still behind 2010's pace by nearly $400 million at $1.39 billion to $1.78 billion and there's little you can do to spin that into a positive.
More...
February 15th, 2011
The winners of our There Can Be Only One contest were determined and they are...
More...
February 15th, 2011
On the one hand, we are only six weeks into the year, which means it is far too early to push the panic button. On the other hand, there's everything else. It was yet another disappointing weekend at the box office with the top two films barely earning more than last year's number one movie. In fact, even if you ignored last year's number one movie, this year was still weaker in terms of ticket sales. The total box office was $149 million, which was 71% higher than last weekend, but while that seems impressive, it was still 27% lower than last year. 2011 is already closing in on $400 million behind 2010 at $1.17 billion to $1.54 billion. Maybe this coming weekend we can catch a break and finally turn things around.
More...
February 13th, 2011
Justin Bieber's popularity may not be restricted to Twitter after all.
This weekend's box office race is too close to call on Sunday morning after Justin Bieber: Never Say Never posted an impressive $30.26m opening weekend, enough to put it within striking distance of Just Go With It for top spot.
The Adam Sandler/Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy is pegged at $31m by Sony Pictures, which makes it the favorite to win, but a 2% difference between the two films means that Bieber could still take the title if fans turn out in greater numbers than expected today.
More...
February 10th, 2011
2011 is over a month old and we've only had one film that you could call a mid-level hit, two if you want to be generous. Worse still, none of 2010's holdovers have been big either. $100 million films opening in January are very rare, but films earning $100 million during the month of January are not that unusual. In fact, most years the biggest hit of January is a film released in December. So with no new releases or holdover pulling their weight, 2011 is off to a terrible start. This could be the weekend that changes that. Not only is it Valentine's Day weekend, but we should have the first $100 million hit of the year opening on Friday, plus a couple of potential mid-level hits. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the month, I was expecting two potential massive openings, but that appears less likely now. It also makes keeping pace with last year nearly impossible.
More...
February 4th, 2011
Next weekend there are two massive releases opening, and while Just Go With It will likely be the bigger hit in the end, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, will be a lot more front-loaded, and I believe it has a slight advantage over the weekend. Regardless of whether I'm right or not, it is the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), regardless if they go over or not, will win a copy of Highlander One & Two on Blu-ray Two-Pack.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
More...
February 1st, 2011
January got off to about as bad a start as I feared, and already 2011 is behind 2010 by about $275 million. Even worse, last February was better than expected. Not only did Avatar add another $200 million to its coffers during the month, the new releases collectively topped expectations every week (even if some individual releases failed to do so). What does this mean going forward? It means 2011 will likely continue to lose ground on 2010. By the time March rolls around, the only thing box office watchers will be talking about is the slump.
More...