Blu-ray Sales: March 3rd, 2013: Dawn Not as Bright on Blu

April 19th, 2013

A pair of new releases led the way on the March 3rd, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. Or perhaps there was only one. It depends on how you look at things. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 earned first place with 649,000 units / $12.96 million. However, second place went to the Breaking Dawn double-shot, which sold 173,000 units / $3.77 million. Technically those are two different releases, but one could count them as one movie. Individually, they have opening week Blu-ray shares of 23% and 29%, which is pretty bad for a first-run release. However, this franchise has always pulled in more women than men, and movies aimed at women tend not to do as well on Blu-ray. More...

DVD Sales: March 3rd, 2013: Breaking Dawn Breaks 2013 Record

April 19th, 2013

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 dominated the new releases and easily took first place on the March 3rd, 2013 edition of the DVD sales chart. It sold 2.12 million units and generated $31.64 million, and did so during a shortened sales week. (It came out on Friday.) Second place went to a Breaking Dawn double-pack, which was an exclusive release. The double-shot sold an additional 418,00 units and generated $16.70 million more in sales. Add them together, and this film is already the best selling DVD of 2013, at least so far. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for February 26th, 2013

February 26th, 2013

It's a good week on the home market with not only one of the biggest films of the last year coming out, but also one of the best. The biggest is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2, which should be the best selling DVD and Blu-ray for the week, but it isn't a contender for Pick of the Week. For that honor, we go back a few weeks to Frankenweenie. The screener arrived late, but it was worth waiting for and the 3D Combo Pack, while a little pricey, is worth picking up. Also in contender for Pick of the Week is Rocko's Modern Life: The Complete Series. More...

2013 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Original Screenplay

February 21st, 2013

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we will look at the two writing categories, finishing with Best Original Screenplay. There are actually three films that could win that and it wouldn't be a total shock if they did. That said, there is still a favorite to contend with. More...

2013 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Lead Actor

February 21st, 2013

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, continuing with Best Lead Actor. This category is not truly competitive, but I'm supporting an underdog. More...

2013 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Supporting Actor

February 21st, 2013

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, continuing with Best Supporting Actor. This category is more competitive than Best Supporting Actress, but even so, it is mostly a two horse race. More...

2013 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Supporting Actress

February 21st, 2013

With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, starting with Best Supporting Actress, which is again not a very competitive category this year. I'm not saying it is impossible for upset to happen here, but it is very, very unlikely. More...

2013 Awards Season: Lincoln Oversees a Divided Group of Nominees

January 10th, 2013

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and there's certainly a lot to talk about. There are some nominations that should surprise no one. For instance, Lincoln led the way with twelve nominations, and it has been seen as the major contender for a long time. However, there were also a few surprise nominations and some major snubs. Here are the list of nominations, and some reactions. More...

2013 Awards Season: WGAs Leaves Analysts In the Dark

January 7th, 2013

Surprises seems to be the word of the day, as the WGA nominations included a number of them. Granted, Zero Dark Thirty and a lot of the other films that have earned Awards Season success thus far were here, but there were almost as many surprises as there were obvious choices. More...

Awards Season: Lincoln Shows a United Front at the Golden Globes

December 13th, 2012

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations and the same list of films that have been mentioned since the beginning of Awards Season were rewarded today. Lincoln led the way with seven nods, while Argo and Django Unchained were close behind with five. More...

2013 Awards Season: SAG Focuses a Searchlight on Silver Linings

December 12th, 2012

SAG nominations were announced and there were only a few surprises to deal with. Leading the way for total nominations was The Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Les Miserables, all of which earned nominations in four of the six categories. More...

Per Theater Chart: Session In, New Releases Out

October 30th, 2012

The Sessions was the only film to top $10,000 on the per theater chart with an average of $10,868 in 20 theaters. Earning some measure of mainstream success is very likely at this point. More...

Per Theater Chart: Taken to the Top

October 9th, 2012

Taken 2 was the only film to top the $10,000 mark on this week's per theater chart earning an average of $13,525. The best new limited release was The Paperboy, which came very close with an average of $9,337 in eleven theaters. More...

Per Theater Chart Perks Up

September 25th, 2012

The Perks of Being a Wallflower easily topped the per theater chart with an average of $57,090 in four theaters. This combined with its 81% positive reviews suggests a potential for significant expansion and long legs. Diana Vreeland - The Eye Has to Travel was also strong with an average of $21,233. This is an excellent start, but documentaries rarely expand significantly beyond the art house circuit. Occupy Unmasked just managed to top $10,000 on the per theater chart with an average of $10,238 in four theaters. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: End Starts on Top

September 24th, 2012

It was another terrible week at the box office with only one of the four wide releases matching pre-weekend predictions. End of Watch was able to come out on top and it was only the second time an Open Road release was able to do that. The rest of the films ranged from a little disappointing to, 'Please don't make me talk about this; it's depressing.' The overall box office rose by 5.1% from last week to $90, but that's a staggering 23% lower than the same weekend last year. Yes, year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011, but its lead continues to shrink reaching just 2.5% at $7.92 billion to $7.73 billion. Ticket sales are just 1.3% higher than last year's pace and the upcoming releases don't seem particularly strong, so by the end of October, we could officially be in trouble. More...

Weekend Estimates: Three-Way Tie on Another Slow Weekend

September 23rd, 2012

Moviegoers have delivered a split verdict this weekend, with any one of three films in the running for top spot as of Sunday morning. End of Watch and House at the End of the Street are tied at $13 million, according to projections from Open Road and Relativity, but Trouble with the Curve is right behind them with a projected $12.72 million, according to Warner Bros., and the eventual winner is still anybody's guess. In fact, Trouble with the Curve may have a slight edge, since it is likely to have better legs on Sunday. For all the intrigue at the top, September continues to be a very sluggish month at the box office, and there's little that this weekend's new releases will do to change that. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will the New Releases Be in Trouble?

September 20th, 2012

This weekend there are four wide releases, which is too many. The odds are at least one, more likely two films will miss reaching their full potential. That's under normal circumstances. The box office is clearly sub-normal at the moment. The widest release of the week is Trouble with the Curve, but its Tomatometer Score has fallen from close to 90% to barely more than 60%. At this pace, by the time the weekend starts, it will be below the overall positive level. House at the End of the Street has good buzz, but still no reviews, and that is troubling. Dredd's reviews are shockingly good, but the film has had trouble escaping the remake stink. Finally, End of Watch is also earning great reviews, but its studio has a really bad track record at the box office. By comparison, last year there were four wide releases, none of which earned more than $20 million; however, three of them did earn more than $10 million and the fourth came close, while The Lion King won the weekend with more than $20 million. I think it will be another loss for 2012 in the year-over-year comparison. It likely won't be close. More...

Per Theater Chart: Mastering the Per Theater Chart

September 19th, 2012

We had a monster hit on the per theater chart, as The Master earned close to $750,000 in five theaters for an average of $147,262. This is unbelievably strong; however, one does have to take into account the particulars. The Master was released on 70mm and because this is such an unusual event, the tickets were sold at a premium price. The only other film to top the $10,000 mark was Arbitrage, which made just over $2 million in just under 200 theaters for an average of $10,163. More...

Weekend Estimates: Resident Evil Conquers Nemo

September 16th, 2012

Resident Evil: Retribution will post a solid opening weekend to top this weekend's box office, according to studio estimates released on Sunday morning. With $21.1 million projected by Sony, it will be the fourth consecutive film in the franchise to open between $20 million and $27 million -- an impressive level of consistency. In second place, Finding Nemo 3D is expected to post about $17.5 million, which is a significant disappointment compared to the $30 million debut enjoyed by The Lion King this weekend last year. But the real plaudits this weekend will go to a film playing in just five theaters. More...

Limited Releases: The Master of Limited Releases

September 14th, 2012

There are ten films on this week's list, including three that are opening in more than 100 theaters each. There are also three films earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. Amazing, one of these films is in both groups: Arbitrage. I think the theater count will hurt it more than it will help, so it might struggle on the per theater chart. On the other hand, The Master could have incredible success. More...

2012 Preview: September

September 1st, 2012

August is over and let's just be glad we never have to talk about that month again. It is too early to tell how a couple of the wide releases from the month will do, but of the other fourteen we have solid numbers for, none of them were a pleasant surprise. There were a few that were mildly disappointing, but likely still profitable. There were also a few that were "What were they thinking?" level of box office bomb. This September, there about a dozen films opening wide, depending on your definition of wide. (Plus, For A Good Time, Call might expand wide on the 14th, while The Master is opening in limited release on the 14th, but might expand wide before the end of the month. "Might" is the key here. I don't think either will get it done.) None of the dozen films are likely to get to $100 million. In fact, there's a good chance no film opening this month will get to $75 million in total. The biggest film of the month could be Finding Nemo, which is getting a 3D Re-release. As long as the movie going public hasn't tired of 3D re-releases, it should be a hit, but there are signs that the trend might be ending soon. There are a few others that should become midlevel hits, but most will struggle to find an audience. Last September was not terrible with one $100 million film and a few other midlevel hits. For 2012 to come out ahead, it will have to rely on depth, and I'm more than a little worried in that regard. More...