Contest: Out of the Fire: Winning Announcement

December 12th, 2013

The winners of our Out of the Fire contest were determined and they are... More...

Contest: Spin the Wheel

December 6th, 2013

Next week there are two wide releases, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas. The Desolation of Smaug is clearly going to be the winner and it is the only real choice for 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 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

On the other hand, there's no clear prize for this week's winner. We have something a little different this time around. 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 random Blu-ray from the following list...

• The Little Mermaid - Diamond Edition
• Monsters University
• Rise of The Guardians
• Despicable Me 2
• White House Down
• Pacific Rim

Just look at the app...

There are 21 possibly Blu-rays on that list, and the winner won't know which one they won till it arrives. I think this is kind of fun. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

Contest: Out of the Fire

November 29th, 2013

Next weekend is the weekend after Thanksgiving day, and like it is nearly every year, it's a really weak week for new releases. In fact, there's only one film that might open wide, Out of the Furnace, and I'm not 100% sure it will. Additionally, it is opening on the Wednesday, while we only look at the Friday through Sunday numbers. Regardless, we need a target film for our box office prediction contest and this is the only choice. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Out of the Furnace. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Rise of the Guardians Holiday Edition with Marching Elf 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 win a copy of Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness - Good Croc, Bad Croc on DVD. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

DVD Sales: March 31st, 2013: Lincoln Leads and Holdovers Soar

May 19th, 2013

The week of March 31st, 2013 was a strange week on the home market, as it contained Easter weekend. Easter sales helped a lot of older releases rise on the DVD sales chart. Even so, a new release, Lincoln, led the way with 818,000 units / $15.62 million. More...

Blu-ray Sales: March 24th, 2013: Hobbit Reaches its Expected Destination

May 9th, 2013

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was one of three new releases to finish in the top three spots on the March 24th, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. It sold 1.36 million units and generated $31.34 million for an opening week Blu-ray share of 56%. It wasn't that long ago that reaching the 50% mark would have been record-breaking, but here it was expected. More...

DVD Sales: March 24th, 2013: Hobbit Travels to the Top

May 9th, 2013

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey dominated the new releases and easily won first place on the March 24th edition of the DVD sales chart. The film sold 1.07 million units and generated $13.05 million in opening week sales, putting it in the top ten of the year after just one week of release. More...

Home Market Numbers: March 17th, 2013: Guardians Can't Protect Winning Streak

April 29th, 2013

While there were lots of new releases boosting the Blu-ray sales chart, including top ranked Rise of the Guardians, it wasn't enough to keep the Blu-ray ahead in the week-over-week comparison. Granted, it only declined 12% in terms of units and 21% in terms of revenue, which isn't too bad. Year-over-year, Blu-ray sales skyrocketed up 102% in terms of units and 79% in terms of revenue, which is fantastic. The overall Blu-ray share was again very strong at 36% in terms of units and 44% in terms of revenue. More...

Blu-ray Sales: March 17th, 2013: Lively Starts for Guardians and Pi

April 29th, 2013

New releases did better on Blu-ray than they did on DVD with eight films charting on the March 17th, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. They were led by Rise of the Guardians, which sold 584,000 units / $11.77 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 42%, which is strong, for a kids movie. More...

DVD Sales: March 17th, 2013: Guardians Golden, Pi Rather Lifeless

April 29th, 2013

There were not a lot of new releases on the March 17th, 2013 edition of the DVD sales chart, but one of them took top spot. Rise of the Guardians sold 804,000 units and generated $12.45 million in sales. This is a solid opening for this type of release. More...

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for March 12th, 2013

March 13th, 2013

There are not many first run releases coming out on the home market this week, but two of them, Life of Pi and Rise of the Guardians, rose to Pick of the Week status. For that honor, we have to turn to an older release, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which celebrated its 25th Anniversary by coming out on Blu-ray for the first time. Yes, it is shovelware, but it is still the best movie on this week's list. If you don't have the DVD already and really don't like Pan & Scan, you might want to wait till Disney fixes the mix-up with the DVD portion of the Combo Pack. More...

Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Rise of the Guardians

March 12th, 2013

Rise of the Guardians is a family friendly film that came out right around Thanksgiving. That's a recipe for box office success. It didn't bomb, but it also didn't live up to expectations, while it will need a little help from the home market to break even. Did it struggle for a reason? Or will the Blu-ray sales push it over the top into profitability? More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: New Releases Become the Hunted

January 28th, 2013

January ended, and we should all be glad it did. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters did beat modest expectations, but most of the rest failed that test with Movie 43 crashing worse than even my low expectations. The overall box office fell 20% from last weekend to $112 million. This was 11% less than the same weekend last year; fortunately, this was the first miss of 2013 and the year still has a lead of 10% over 2012 at $797 million to $721 million. More...

International Box Office: Pi Living the High Life

January 10th, 2013

Life of Pi rose to first place with $59.30 million on 10,027 screens in 64 markets for a total of $302.04 million internationally and $393.08 million worldwide. The film reportedly dominated the Russian box office with $14.2 million on 1,600 screens. It had to settle for second place in Australia with $5.18 million on 545 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.36 million. It managed third place in South Korea with $3.06 million on 392 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.35 million. This film has yet to open in Japan and a few smaller markets, so it isn't done yet and it should have no trouble getting to $500 million worldwide. More...

2013 Awards Season: PGA Produces a Few Surprises

January 6th, 2013

Producers Guild of America announced their nominations this week, including the three theatrical categories. There were a number of films on the list that have been mentioned time and time again this awards season, like Zero Dark Thirty, but there were also a few surprises. More...

International Box Office: Hobbit is Smaller in Stature This Week

December 27th, 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey remained on top of the international chart with an estimated $96 million on 18,417 screens in 59 markets for a total of $288.5 million. This includes a first place, $17.8 million opening on 2,115 screens in Russia. It also had an amazing hold in Germany down just 6% to $14.2 million on 1,408 screens over the weekend for a total of $36.7 million after two. The film's best market remained the U.K. where it has made $38.4 million, including $9.8 million on 1,546 screens this past weekend, but that is a pretty steep drop-off. More...

Christmas Weekend Wrap-Up

December 27th, 2012

This year, Christmas fell on a really awkward day and compounded with the smart decision for some studios to close the entire week, dealing with the weekend box office numbers is a little trickier this year. We are still stuck with a mixture of final numbers and studio estimates, but since we won't get absolute final numbers till likely January 2nd, we should at least talk about the numbers we have. We won't be able to compare the full weekend to last week or last year, because we don't have the full weekend numbers. But since most of the films failed to match expectations, things look grim. More...

International Box Office: Hobbit Travels Around the World

December 20th, 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey entered the international chart in first place with $138.0 million on 18,165 screens in 56 markets. Leading the way was the U.K. with $18.80 million on 598 screens, while it also cracked $10 million in Germany with $15.13 million on 877 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $17.19 million. It also came very close in France with $9.77 million on 958 screens. The film had similar strong openings in Spain with $7.98 million on 1,052 screens and in South Korea with $7.29 million on 1,028 screes over the weekend, although it had a total opening of $8.50 million. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Hobbit Stands Tall

December 17th, 2012

In a result that surprised absolutely no one, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey earned first place on top of the chart this weekend. It earned more than the entire box office earned last weekend leading to a 70% increase week-over-week to $136 million. Compared to last year, the box office was 15% higher, as The Hobbit made more than last year's three wide releases opened with combined. Year-to-date, 2012 has earned $10.19 billion, which is 6.1% higher than last year's pace. Additionally, the year is about $100 million away from topping 2011's final tally. It should have no trouble surpassing that total some time over the weekend. On the other hand, it is still far behind the record set by 2009. More...

Weekend Predictions: The Hobbit Looks to Tower Over Competition

December 13th, 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens this weekend and it will clearly be the biggest hit of the month and likely the biggest hit of the winter. There is roughly a 100% chance that The Hobbit will earn first place and nearly all analysts think it will earn more than the entire box office earned last week. It might even earn more than the entire box office made last year. Last year, the box office was led by Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which made just under $40 million, while second place went to Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked with just over $23 million. If The Hobbit doesn't make more than those two films made combined, then the box office is in serious trouble. 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...

International Box Office: Rise Rose to the Top

December 13th, 2012

Rise Of The Guardians reached first place on the international chart with $26.71 million on 9,620 screens in 58 markets for a total of $91.33 million. The film had no major market openings, but it did rise to first place in the U.K. with $2.57 million on 495 screens over the weekend for a total of $6.51 million after two. It also remained in first place in France with $2.86 million on 649 screens, giving it a two-week total of $7.79 million. The film does have a few more markets left to open in, including Australia this coming weekend, so it should earn enough to break even sooner rather than later. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Box Office Falls as Moviegoers Wait for The Hobbit

December 10th, 2012

Skyfall returned to the top of the box office chart, which is fitting, because it was the last film released that truly beat expectations at the box office. The only wide release this week, Playing For Keeps, barely remained above the Mendoza Line and failed to reach the top five. The overall box office fell 30% to just $80 million. Ugh. There are a couple of pieces of good news we should focus on. Firstly, $80 million is still 7% higher than this weekend last year. Secondly, it was enough to push 2012 over the $10 billion market. At the moment, the total box office for 2012 is $10.02 billion, which is 6% higher than 2011 had managed at the same point in the year. By this time next week, 2012 might be ahead of 2011's final figure of $10.28 billion. More...

Weekend Predictions: Will Holdovers Keep Control of the Box Office?

December 7th, 2012

For the third weekend in a row, holdovers are expected to dominated the box office. In fact, there are many analysts that think Playing For Keeps won't even reach the top five. That doesn't mean there won't be a race for top spot, as Skyfall, Lincoln, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 were within $100,000 of each other on Wednesday. Will Lincoln finally gets its place at the top? Or will Skyfall return to the clouds? Meanwhile, how will the overall box office compare to last year, which was led by the one-two punch of New Year's Eve and The Sitter. That was a pretty weak effort from 2011, so 2012 does have an opening for a victory, despite the lack of significant new releases. More...

International Box Office: Twilight Tops $700 Million, Nears Franchise Record

December 6th, 2012

We are still stuck with studio estimates for the international numbers, but we can confidently say The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 is in top spot. The film pulled in $48.8 million on 11,800 screens in 73 markets for totals of $447.8 million internationally and $702.40 million worldwide. It has likely already become the biggest hit in the franchise. The film had no major market openings, but it has yet to debut in Japan, but it will likely get past $800 million before then, which will be its last major milestone. More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Dawn Still Breaking Bank

December 3rd, 2012

It was a close race for top spot as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 just held off Skyfall by less than $1 million. Unfortunately, the best new release, Killing Them Softly, failed to match low expectations, while The Collection barely managed a spot in the top ten. The overall box office fell 45% to $114 million. However, as sharp as that decline was, it was still 41% higher than the same weekend last year and December begins with 2012 ahead of 2011 by 5.9% at $9.91 billion to $9.36 billion. More...

Weekend Predictions: Holdovers are Killing New Releases

November 30th, 2012

Like last weekend, holdovers will again dominate the new releases this weekend. However, one could argue the headline is inaccurate, as Killing Them Softly is really the only new film opening truly wide, so it should be "release", singular. The Collection is opening in more theaters than originally anticipated, perhaps enough to grab a spot in the top ten, but it is not opening truly wide. That said, there are some who think The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 will relinquish top spot at the box office with some thinking Skyfall will regain the title, while others think Lincoln will climb to first place. This weekend last year was a total disaster with the best new release playing in just 10 theaters. This year we should be a little stronger at the top and with a lot more depth. More...

International Box Office: More Milestones for Twilight

November 29th, 2012

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 held firm in first place with $104.21 million on 12,818 screens in 73 markets for a two-week total of $365.46 million intentionally and $592.83 million worldwide. By this time next week, it should be the biggest hit in the franchise. This past weekend, the film opened in Germany earning first place with $12.82 million on 765 screens for a total opening of $16.67 million. Its best holdover was in the U.K. where it made $8.56 million on 559 screens over the weekend for a total of $43.22 million. This is a strong result, but it was down 66%, which is troubling. It was better in Russia down 62% to $8.30 million on 1,380 screens for a total of $36.28 million after two. A 62% decline is actually average for the market, more or less. The film has very few markets left to open in, but it is already profitable, so the studio should be very happy. More...

Contest: Bedeviled and Befuddled: Winning Announcement

November 28th, 2012

The winners of our Bedeviled and Befuddled contest were determined and they are... More...

Weekend Wrap-Up: Moviegoers Fill Up on Leftovers

November 26th, 2012

The Thanksgiving long weekend was stronger than anticipated with nearly every film topping predictions, some by pretty big margins. In fact, some earned more over three days than they were expected to earn over five days. Despite this, the box office was actually down 17% from last weekend to $208 million over the three-day portion of the weekend. This was 26% higher than the three-day portion of last year's Thanksgiving long weekend. Over five days, the box office pulled in $291 million, which is the most ever for a Thanksgiving weekend and 25% higher than last year. Year-to-date, 2012 has pulled in $9.75 billion, which is 5.5% higher than last year's running tally of $9.24 billion. If 2012 can simply match 2011 the rest of the way, then we will set a new all-time yearly box office total with about $10.7 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Twilight and Bond Lead Record-Setting Thanksgiving

November 25th, 2012

As expected, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 and Skyfall are dominating the Thanksgiving charts, and, with some help from three new releases and two strong holdovers, will produce the most lucrative Thanksgiving holiday in history. All told, we should see something a little over $200 million in revenue for the three-day portion of the weekend, placing it in the top 20 weekends of all time. Breaking Dawn, Part 2 is tracking about in line with Part 1 at this point in its run. In contrast, Skyfall is well ahead of James Bond's previous outing, and has become the first Bond movie to top $200 million domestically (before adjusting for inflation). More...

Weekend Predictions: New Releases Fight for Table Scraps

November 21st, 2012

It's the beginning of Thanksgiving long weekend tonight, which means it is a busy day for new releases. There are three new releases opening wide, plus another film that is expanding wide enough that is has a shot at the top ten. Unfortunately for the new films, there's little hope any of them will top The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 over the weekend. In fact, there's a chance none of them will top Skyfall for second place. Rise of the Guardians is the only one with a real shot at second place, while Life of Pi and Red Dawn will be in a tough battle for fifth place. Finally, Silver Linings Playbook is expanding to more than 400 theaters and could grab tenth place. The box office last year looks very similar to the box office potential this year. With a little luck, there will be mostly pleasant surprises rather than serious disappointments and 2012 will have another solid win. More...

Contest: Bedeviled and Befuddled

November 16th, 2012

Next week is Thanksgiving long weekend, which makes things a little more confusing than usual on our weekly Box Office Prediction Contest. There are three wide releases coming out, but they all debut on Wednesday rather than Friday. (Although we still are only concerned with the Friday through Sunday numbers.) Of the three films, Life of Pi is earning the best reviews of the weekend, but it's only hope to be a $100 million hit is if it earns enough Awards Season buzz to still be in semi-wide release in January. It certainly won't have a monster opening. The oft-delayed Red Dawn finally comes out, but the buzz is just as weak as its early reviews. This leaves Rise of The Guardians as the only real choice for the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Rise of The Guardians. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Bedeviled on Blu-ray. Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a copy of Fire with Fire on DVD. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2012 Preview: November

November 1st, 2012

October was pretty good with a few films really crushing expectations, which made up for the few duds that opened at the end. 2012 gained about $100 million over 2011 during the month of October. We really needed this success and hopefully November will continue this push forward. However, November is a bit of a weird month. There are five weekends, but only eight true wide releases, half of which open on the Thanksgiving long weekend, leaving the other four weeks with just one true wide release each. There are a couple others opening in the semi-wide level and another opening in limited release with a planned wide release, but even so, it is not a busy month. That said, it is a case of quality over quantity. There are four films that are pretty much guaranteed to reach $100 million, one of which should reach $300 million. By comparison, last November only produced one $100 million film. Granted, that film was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, which made nearly $300 million, which is a huge number no matter how you look at it. But this year, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 should top that number and with the other $100 million movies pulling in more than $400 million combined, it should be a very profitable month at the box office. More...

Territory	Release Date	Opening Weekend	Opening Weekend Screens	Maximum Screens	Theatrical Engagements	Total Box Office	Report Date
Argentina	11/22/2012	$711,142	135	135	805	$3,753,699	9/8/2019
Australia	12/13/2012	$2,615,619	520	520	1313	$13,767,196	4/1/2024
Austria	11/30/2012	$232,956	74	74	528	$1,255,007	12/14/2015
Belgium	11/28/2012	$447,529	120	120	796	$2,734,414	12/14/2015
Bolivia	11/29/2012	$67,950	14	14	83	$469,382	12/30/2018
Brazil	11/30/2012	$2,325,154	549	560	2040	$12,470,793	12/14/2015
Bulgaria	11/30/2012	$109,569	25	27	200	$635,923	12/30/2018
Chile	11/29/2012	$452,059	84	88	411	$2,343,826	12/30/2018
Colombia	11/23/2012	$759,434	214	228	1043	$4,053,750	12/30/2018
Croatia	11/29/2012	$68,667	26	26	252	$363,509	12/30/2018
Czech Republic	11/29/2012	$82,077	74	74	270	$348,511	12/30/2018
Denmark	11/22/2012	$155,003	105	106	384	$896,047	12/14/2015
Ecuador	11/30/2012	$60,759	28	57	395	$1,312,283	12/30/2018
Egypt	11/28/2012	$21,746	10	10	130	$152,696	12/30/2018
Estonia	11/30/2012	$55,460	12	12	36	$192,768	12/13/2015
Finland	11/30/2012	$158,708	160	160	541	$964,155	12/14/2015
France	11/28/2012	$4,819,879	608	855	5520	$25,314,994	2/21/2023
Germany	11/29/2012	$0	0	585	3684	$6,926,594	12/14/2015
Greece	11/29/2012	$0	0	25	25	$103,736	12/12/2015
Hong Kong	11/22/2012	$142,462	28	28	51	$256,649	12/12/2015
Hungary	11/29/2012	$34,816	13	41	382	$1,009,943	12/30/2018
Iceland	12/7/2012	$20,766	15	15	47	$120,427	12/30/2018
India	12/21/2012	$228,248	150	150	209	$433,338	12/13/2015
Indonesia	11/28/2012	$284,233	61	61	142	$864,842	12/30/2018
Israel	12/6/2012	$144,970	43	46	344	$1,366,333	12/30/2018
Italy	11/29/2012	$2,946,241	600	622	1222	$5,788,535	12/12/2015
Kenya	12/14/2012	$4,921	6	6	45	$42,092	12/30/2018
Latvia	11/30/2012	$61,254	19	19	138	$348,415	12/30/2018
Lebanon	11/29/2012	$32,998	14	14	30	$83,974	12/29/2018
Lithuania	11/30/2012	$59,566	20	20	143	$255,335	12/14/2015
Malaysia	11/22/2012	$611,253	120	120	328	$1,876,588	12/14/2015
Mexico	11/30/2012	$3,232,406	1327	1327	5666	$16,853,288	12/14/2015
Netherlands	11/28/2012	$185,346	123	126	721	$1,516,037	12/13/2015
New Zealand	1/3/2013	$0	0	75	352	$1,709,588	12/14/2015
Nigeria	1/11/2013	$3,023	4	4	26	$10,760	12/30/2018
North America	11/21/2012	$23,773,465	3,653	3,672	25,021	$103,412,758
Norway	11/30/2012	$222,917	140	140	590	$1,409,710	12/14/2015
Peru	11/29/2012	$143,628	89	167	645	$1,948,114	12/30/2018
Philippines	11/28/2012	$857,267	143	143	329	$1,542,753	12/29/2018
Poland	1/4/2013	$417,879	120	120	310	$1,822,972	12/30/2018
Portugal	11/29/2012	$225,008	62	65	388	$1,576,068	12/14/2015
Romania	11/30/2012	$135,555	63	63	393	$679,896	12/30/2018
Russia (CIS)	11/22/2012	$6,201,121	1200	1200	2660	$15,286,276	12/30/2018
Serbia and Montenegro	11/29/2012	$18,379	15	15	225	$127,206	12/30/2018
Singapore	11/22/2012	$645,942	50	50	146	$1,990,302	12/14/2015
Slovakia	11/29/2012	$58,464	31	31	84	$131,789	12/13/2015
Slovenia	11/29/2012	$33,515	14	14	98	$242,149	12/14/2015
South Africa	12/7/2012	$307,523	98	98	224	$2,106,845	12/14/2015
South Korea	11/29/2012	$0	0	430	791	$6,491,615	12/12/2015
Spain	11/30/2012	$1,484,477	616	616	3686	$8,239,900	12/14/2015
Sweden	11/30/2012	$362,356	157	157	853	$2,376,932	12/14/2015
Switzerland	11/28/2012	$0	0	12	40	$998,430	12/14/2015
Taiwan	11/30/2012	$238,367	58	58	173	$706,145	12/13/2015
Thailand	11/29/2012	$344,147	68	68	191	$884,115	12/13/2015
Turkey	1/11/2013	$403,357	179	179	726	$2,678,171	12/30/2018
Ukraine	11/20/2012	$617,532	116	124	656	$1,730,361	12/30/2018
United Arab Emirates	11/29/2012	$356,096	57	57	115	$865,357	12/30/2018
United Kingdom	11/30/2012	$3,168,292	488	508	5354	$19,559,694	12/14/2015
Uruguay	11/23/2012	$30,055	12	12	70	$138,282	12/30/2018
Venezuela	11/30/2012	$585,317	86	89	529	$3,688,494	12/14/2015
Vietnam	11/30/2012	$222,552	56	56	169	$675,549	12/30/2018
Rest of World						$15,036,360
Worldwide Total						$306,941,670	4/1/2024