November 13th, 2005
Chicken Little started its international run with day-and-date debuts in 9 markets earning $5.54 million on 900 screens, just missing the top five in the process. Its best market was kid-friendly Mexico with $3.1 million on 600 screens, which is about on par with its opening domestically. On the other hand, the film broke records in Malaysia with $477,000 on 40 screens. Other results include a first place debuts in Russia with $1.1 million on 197 screens and in Taiwan with $463,000 on 18 screens, (including previews).
More...
November 6th, 2005
With
The Legend of Zorro earning a nearly worldwide release this past weekend, and the imminent release of another
juggernaut, there was little room for other releases this weekend on the international scene.
More...
July 30th, 2005
Constatine captured top spot on the home market taking first place on the DVD rentals, ($9.23 million); VHS rentals, ($930,000); and DVD sales, (no numbers announced.) And while the film's combined rentals of $10.17 million was a strong performance, the rest of the top five weren't so lucky.
More...
July 24th, 2005
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opened in three French speaking markets over the weekend and while it didn't finish first, it still had a great start.
In France the film earned $3,741,793 in 670 theaters for the best per theater average in the top ten.
The result was similar in Belgium ($250,000) and Switzerland ($190,000), giving the film $4.2 million for the weekend.
More...
July 23rd, 2005
To call Million Dollar Baby's debut on the home market a knockout is very apt.
Perhaps too apt.
Not only did the film easily win the week with $12.42 million in combined rentals, every other film in the top five saw serious drop-offs, sending the overall market sharply downwards.
More...
July 17th, 2005
Mr. and Mrs. Smith continues its excellent run in Asia with a $2.2 million opening in 450 theatres in China. The film also added $1.8 million in South Korea for an $18 million running total in that market, (although it was pushed out of the top spot in that market. Overall the film made $4 million pushing its total to $117 million internationally and $275 million worldwide.
More...
July 16th, 2005
It looks like the home market is starting to recover from its extended slump as
Hide & Seek was the number one with $11.71 million in combined rentals, $10.55 million from DVDs and $1.16 million from VHS. The film was also the number one selling DVD this week, but no figures were released.
More...
July 10th, 2005
With the last of this summer's worldwide releases opening last weekend, the international details are once again dominated by smaller films. And to compound matters, most of those are only making noise in one of two markets. However, over the next few weeks there are plenty of big films opening in big markets and the International Details column should start showing signs of life soon.
More...
July 9th, 2005
The Pacifier took the lead on the Rental Charts on the Home Market and was the only new release in the to five.
Vin Diesel's first foray into
comedies led the DVD charts with $9.48 million, the VHS charts with $1.29 million, and the combined charts with $10.77 million. It was also the best selling DVD for the week, but as usual there were no sales numbers released.
More...
July 3rd, 2005
Summer blockbusters continue to squeeze out the competition, so much so that the only real news is about such blockbusters. For instance,
War of the Worlds managed $13.35 million during its first day of release on the international scene, which is good, but below expectations. On the other hand,
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith broke another record earning $4.96 million during its preview in Japan.
More...
June 27th, 2005
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases, classics and a few from the growing TV on DVD section. Yet another bad week for first-run releases, in fact, there's not a single wide release I'll be picking up till August. This week the best of the bunch is again from the TV on DVD selection, but surprisingly it isn't a full season set. Normally I refuse to buy TV on DVD, but I'll make an exception for The Daily Show with
Jon Stewart - Indecision 2004 -
Buy from Amazon, which is easily the DVD pick of the week.
More...
June 26th, 2005
The international box office is suffering even more than the domestic box office is. In Germany the first six months of 2005 are down 14% compared to the same period in 2004 and Australia also saw double digit decline slipping by 12%. In Spain the total box office is down 8% and it was little better in France at 6%. The U.K. also fell, but at a much more reasonably 1.9%.
More...
June 15th, 2005
We have a new champion atop the International Box Office charts as
Mr. and Mrs. Smith overtook
Revenge of the Sith with $32 million on 3,600 screens in 35 markets. The film best market was the U.K. at $7.1 million on 448 screens, which was slightly below
Hitch's debut earlier in the year. In Australia it brought in $4.7 million on 356 screens, as well as $3.6 million in both Mexico and Taiwan. Other million dollar markets include Brazil, ($1.6 million on 401 screens); Hong Kong, ($1.2 million on 68) and Thailand, ($1.2 million on 250.)
More...
June 12th, 2005
The Longest Yard opened in second place in Australia with $2.5 million. On the other hand, the film could only manage $750,000 on 260 screens in Mexico, not surprising since
Adam Sandler has never been a big draw internationally, especially outside English speaking markets.
More...
June 1st, 2005
Revenge of the Sith saw massive drop-offs in nearly every market, but still managed an easy first place finish with $61.5 million on 10,586 screens, The film now has $246.2 million internationally and $501.8 million at the end of Sunday. The film's only opening this week came in South Korea where the film earned an impressive $3.8 million at 306 screens, but its biggest single markets continue to be the U.K. with $9.9 million on 485 screens, more than 7 times its nearest competitor.
More...
May 29th, 2005
Revenge of the Sith dominated nearly every market it opened in and in most of them it was the only new film in the top ten. Because of this there's almost no international details to report and those details that are available are single market releases.
More...
May 17th, 2005
Kingdom of Heaven couldn't maintain its opening weekend numbers as it plummeted 49% to $27.2 million on 6700 screens in 98 markets for a two week total of $88.9 million. Had the film earned that during its first weekend of release its future would have looked rather rosy, but as it is now it was have a real hard time making back its production budget. The film's biggest market continues to be Germany, where the film fell 46% to $3.4 million on 848 screens, it fell 40% in the U.K. to $2.9 million on 446 screens and 33% in Spain to $3.3 million on 435 screens.
Kingdom of Heaven had only one opening over the weekend, a $2.4 million debut in Japan on 492 screens and only has one more opening to go in China. The film's international run is a lot closer to
Van Helsing's than
Troy's, which should result in a $150 million to $200 million international total.
More...
May 11th, 2005
The summer box office season got off to a decidedly ambivalent start this weekend with the nearly worldwide launch of Kingdom of Heaven; the film opened in 100 markets on 6,500 screens and pulled in a middling $53.8 million.
The obvious comparison is with fellow historical epic, Troy; that film brought in $54.7 million 6,722 screens in 47 markets in its first foray on the international scene. Kingdom of Heaven's biggest debut came in Germany where the film earned $6.4 million on 842 (including sneak peaks), while the film also did solid business in Spain ($4.9 million on 435 screens), U.K. ($4.8 million on 443), France ($4.5 million), South Korea ($4 million on 333 screens) and Italy ($3.1 million on 616).
While the film will almost assuredly repeat as international champion next weekend (there are no massive openings scheduled), the future isn't that rosy for Kingdom of Heaven. It only has two significant markets left to open in, China and Japan, and should quickly fall down the charts as more summer blockbusters hit the international markets. The film needs about $350 million worldwide to show a profit for its theatrical release, but that seems unlikely at this point. Not out of the question, just unlikely.
More...
May 4th, 2005
While XXX: State of the Union easily took top spot on the international charts, its numbers were clearly lower than anticipated. The film opened in 64 markets, finishing first in 20 of them, but its per screen average was tiny at $14.8 million on 4,800 screens.
It did have a few bright spots, mostly in Asia.
For instance, the film's best single market performance came in South Korea where it brought in $1.3 million on just 174 screens, but was still a distant second to a local flick. The film did finish first in Thailand with nearly $390,000 on 60 screens ($500,000 including sneak peaks), $240,000 from 50 in the Philippines, $225,000 on 30 in Singapore and $170,000 on 19 in Taiwan.
The rest of the film's run was nearly uniformly awful.
XXX: State of the Union finished first in Spain with $950,000 on 400 screens, which was a pyrrhic victory at best. The film managed $1.8 million in the U.K. on 493 screens finishing a distant second to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the result was the same in Australia where the film took in $930,000 on 246 screens. Worst of all, the film opened in second place in Germany with $1.19 million on 598 screens, nearly 80% lower than the original managed.
The film had similar results in Latin America, $540,000 in Mexico, off more than 75% from the original; Brazil at $360,000 lower by more than 70%, etc. No one was expecting the film to reach the same level as the original, but at this pace the film won't hit $100 million worldwide.
More...
April 27th, 2005
The Interpreter climbed into top spot on the international with $12.6 million on 2,378 screens in 35 markets, nearly doubling its total international box office to $25.7 million. And while the film was number one overall, it only had a few number one openings; one such opening was in Germany where the film earned $2.0 million on 400 screens. Other number ones include Hong Kong, ($240,000 on 33) and Singapore, ($150,000 from 15.) The film also had a string of second place debuts in South Korea, ($790,000 on 90 behind Truth About Love, which stars
Jennifer Love Hewitt), Brazil, ($560,000 on 120 behind
Guess Who) and Austria, ($240,000 on 48 behind
The Pacifier.) Holdovers were also impressing with the film staying in the premiere position in both the U.K. and Australia with $2.3 million and $1.1 million respectively. With openings that are good for this time of year and holdovers that are mostly stellar, this film should hit $100 million internationally and $200 million worldwide.
More...
April 20th, 2005
The Pacifier shot to the top of the international box office in part due to it's number one position in 14 of the 22 markets it is currently playing in, but mostly due to the lack of competition. The film led with $9.1 million on 1908 screens in 22 markets showing the international box office is in a slump just as bad as the domestic one. Its biggest single market was in Germany where the film managed first place with $2.2 million on 602 screens. The film also debuted in number in first place in Russia with $1.1 million on 157 screens, Austria with $469,000 on 91 screens, Thailand with $462,000 on 82, and Hong Kong and Malaysia, ($325,000 and $170,000 respectively.) However, its best performance continues to come from Australia where the film rose 18% this weekend to $1.33 million; the film has made $5.8 million of its $20 million international total in that one market alone.
More...
April 17th, 2005
The Pacifier finally debut across Australia after playing in Queensland and Victoria for the past two weeks; the massive expansion allowed the film to climb to first place with $1.125 million on 267 screens. That lifted its total in the market to $3.41 million so far and the film should have strong legs. Add to that its $1.75 million opening in Spain and $590,000 in Belgium and the film managed $4.1 million over the weekend, which doubled its early total to $8.1 million.
More...
April 11th, 2005
It was another weak weekend at the box office as no film was able to break $20 million for the first time since the first weekend in February and Sahara had the worst box office for a number one film for the entire year. This pushed the box office down an incredible 17.8% from last week and an even more troubling 25.0% from last year. (This time last year was Easter, so that mitigates the situation somewhat.) Year-to-date, 2005's box office now sits at $2.134 billion, down 4% from 2004. Considering how poor box office receipts were at this time last year, 2005 is in serious trouble if things don't turn around soon.
More...
April 3rd, 2005
Million Dollar Baby performed brilliantly this week earning $8.8 million for an international total of $60 million, placing fourth on the international box office charts. In France the film dominated the marketplace with $4.94 million on 450 screens and in Germany the film earned $760,000 in semi-limited release (120 screens) for the best per screen average in the market. On the other hand, the film flopped in Slovakia where it missed the top ten in its debut. On the holdover front, the multi-
Oscar winning front saw its weekend haul climb by 20% in Spain to $980,000 and it's still doing well in Australia, Italy and South Korea.
More...
March 28th, 2005
It was not a strong weekend at the box office as we saw significant drop-offs from last weekend (14.7%), last year (17.35%) and last Easter (14.7%).
The reason for this decline is simple: not one film in the top five beat expectations by a significant margin. Year-to-date 2005 has racked up $1.87 billion in ticket sales, 1% lower than the same time last year, but this April looks stronger than last year so 2005 should regain the lead before too long.
More...
March 24th, 2005
It's been a while since there was a wide release that received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and this weekend the streak continues as neither of the wide releases managed even 50% positive. Even so, both should battle for top spot as last week's champion looks like it will tumble this weekend.
More...
March 21st, 2005
With neither of the new films meeting expectations and the holdovers falling short too, all in all it was a rather disappointing weekend at the box office.
Week-to-week the box office was essentially flat - up less than 0.9% - while compared to last year it was down 2.2%.
And at $1.72 billion, 2005 is now almost 1% behind 2004.
But 2004 entered a prolonged slump at this point, so 2005 should have ample opportunity to regain a sizeable lead.
More...
March 18th, 2005
It's a model weekend for releases, as we have one high profile release and a counter-programming film.
They shouldn't interfere with each other's box office, as their target audiences don't overlap in any significant way.
More...
March 14th, 2005
The best word to describe this week's predictions is "Overcompensation."
After getting skunked underestimating how well certain films have done in the past many, many analysts overestimated their appeal this weekend. This in part led to a 6.3% drop-off from last weekend and more importantly, a 1.7% drop-off from last year. After sporting a double digit lead just a couple of weeks ago, the Year-to-Date race is a virtual tie at $1.56 billion each.
More...
March 11th, 2005
There really no doubt about what film will take top spot this weekend, as Robots could triple the second place film. However, after number one there are some interesting stories at the weekend box office race.
More...
March 8th, 2005
No film was able to reach the $10,000 club on the per theater charts this week, but at least two films were close. Leading the way was the overall box office leader, The Pacifier, which opened with an average of $9,758.
In second place with $9,020 was last week's winner, Downfall.
More...
March 7th, 2005
Overall it was a good weekend as every movie in the top five matched expectations, or at least came very close, and the number one film topped predictions by a wide, wide margin. However, the news was not all good, as the weekend was relatively flat from last week with just a 1.1% increase. Compared to last year the figure was much worse at 14.5% decrease.
2005's lead over 2004 evaporated to just 1%, $1.427 billion to $1.413 billion.
More...
March 4th, 2005
Three new films open in wide release (or, in the case of one of the films, semi-wide release), one more film expands at the box office, while another could be propelled back into the top five thanks to a significant Oscars bounce. All in all, it's a very busy weekend for moviegoers.
More...
March 3rd, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates, including this week's winner, Tidelands - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
More...
March 1st, 2005
March is a transitional month that lacks the huge hits that get people excited, and also lacks the real obvious train-wreck movies that get released during the various dumping grounds during the year.
Because of that, it's a month that's hard to predict - the releases all seem so average.
There are three films that have a reasonable shot at $100 million, but probably only one of those films will make it there.
And that will be helped out dramatically by the Easter holidays, which falls in March this year.
More...
February 17th, 2005
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and a few updates, including this week's winner, Sin City - Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
More...
