March 21st, 2011
It's a deceptively slow week when it comes to DVD and Blu-ray releases. Have I mentioned how much I love the word, "deceptively"? It is worse than meaningless and actually reduces the amount of information given in any sentence it appears in. In this case, the first sentence could mean the week appears to be slow, but it is actually quite busy. Or it could mean the week appears busy, but is quite slow. Unfortunately, it's the latter. There are four first run releases coming out on the home market, which is more than most weeks, but all four missed expectations to one degree or another. Additionally, there's only one new release that I'm seriously considering for Pick of the Week, The Venture Bros.: Season Four on Blu-ray. In fact, there are a couple Blu-ray catalog titles that are more interesting than any of the first run releases. Leading the way there is Stand By Me, which is not only a great movie, but the Blu-ray isn't shovelware and includes Blu-ray exclusive extras like a Picture-in-Picture track. So which release is the Pick of the Week? I can't decide, so let's call it a tie.
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January 6th, 2006
It's guild day today as the
Producers Guild of America nominations were announced this week.
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October 22nd, 2005
Kingdom of Heaven was able to capture top spot on the home market rental numbers with $7.24 million in DVD rentals and $540,000 in VHS rentals for a combined total of $7.78 million. However, while these numbers were enough for the film to finish in first place, it was still not a great start, especially when taking into account the film's massive production budget.
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October 15th, 2005
The Amityville Horror won the race for top spot on the rental charts with $8.78 million in DVD rentals and $520,000 in VHS rentals for a combined total of $9.30 million. This result, plus the rest of the competition, helped pull the rental market out of its extended slump.
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October 8th, 2005
The Longest Yard again won the race on the home market with $9.11 million in DVD rentals and $800,000 in VHS rentals for a total of $9.91 million for the week. That's down a miniscule 4% from its opening weekend and strong enough for a $20.46 million two-week total.
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September 26th, 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. There are two entries on the DVD Pick of the Week, both from the TV on DVD section: Gilmore Girls - The Complete Fourth Season - Buy from Amazon and Corner Gas - Season 2 - Buy from Amazon.ca.
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September 11th, 2005
The 40-Year Old Virgin topped the U.K. marked with an impressive $3.26 million on 394 screens in the U.K., but this is probably not indicative of its potential in other international markets. The film should do well in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, but will likely struggle in non-English speaking markets. (Germany may be an exception.)
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September 4th, 2005
War of the Worlds opened in its last international market over the weekend making $3.0 million on 583 screens in China. That's about 10% more money that
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith earned, but
War of the Worlds needed nearly double the number of screens. Overall the film added $4.5 million to its $345 million international total, easily the second best of the year so far.
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August 28th, 2005
The Skeleton Key opened in 10- more markets over the weekend and in now playing on 1400 screens, however, it still hasn't found the success the studio was hoping for. It did open in first place in Germany, but it still had a very soft opening with $1.6 million. It also opened in first place in Russia with $625,000 over the weekend and $780,000 since Thursday, but in Australia and New Zealand it had to settle for a distant second place with $760,000 and $110,000 respectively.
The Skeleton Key also open in Austria with $230,000 for the week, but its placing is unknown at the moment. Add in holdovers in France, ($250,000 for $2.2 million) and the U.K., ($130,000 for $4.5 million) and you have roughly $4 million for the weekend and $16.5 million so far.
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August 21st, 2005
Mr. and Mrs. Smith opened in first place in both the Czech Republic with $180,000 on 20 screens and in Slovakia with $50,000 on 8 screens. The film also remained in first place in France with $2.675 million, Belgium with $635,000, The Netherlands with $490,000 and Poland with $266,000. Strangest of all, the film stayed in second place for the fourth weekend in a row in Germany adding $2.12 million to its $20.6 million running tally in the market. Overall the film has made $143 million in markets where
Fox is handling the distribution and may have hit $200 million overall, but there's no conformation on that yet.
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August 14th, 2005
Mr. and Mrs. Smith opened in Belgium with $1.7 million on 80 screens, easily enough for first place and had a similar result with $480,000 in Poland. It also remained in first place in France with $2.88 million, (despite falling 54% there) and in the Netherlands with $740,000. In Germany the film remained in second place for the third straight week with $3.06 million for a $17.06 million running tally. The film now have $140 million in territories where
Fox is handling the distribution and $192 million overall.
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August 7th, 2005
The Island managed a couple of first place finished over the weekend, but the results were still less than impressive. In Australia the film opened with $1.404 million for a close victory while in Hong Kong it earned a disappointing $490,000 over the weekend and $520,000 including previews. It's best market continued to be South Korea with $3.167 million, down 38% from last weekend dropping to second place along the way. On the other hand, no wide openings and a mere 23% drop-off allowed the film to rise to first in New Zealand. Overall the film added $7.64 million to its $24.1 million running tally on the international scene and will opens in several markets this weekend including the U.K., Germany and Spain.
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May 8th, 2005
Golden Week helped
Shall We Dance? climb 19% to $2,250,195 for the weekend and $7,270,348 during its run. The film now has $90.3 million internationally and could break $100 million if it continues to show strong legs in Japan.
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May 1st, 2005
It was a good news, bad news kind of weekend for
Constantine. The film remained in top spot in Japan with $2,330,027 on 349 screens for a $9,011,671 running tally in the market. Bad news, it dropped 37% during its second weekend in the market, which is really steep for Japan. Overall the film brought in $3 million on 1,200 screens in 40 markets for a international box office of $136.4 million.
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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.
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April 13th, 2005
The Ring 2 repeated on top of the international charts thanks to number one debuts in both Italy and Russia, which lead the film to a $14.75 million box office on 4245 screens in 46 markets. In Italy the film earned $2.7 million on 410 screens, even though cinemas were closed on Friday for Pope John Paul II's funeral. In Russia the result was even more impressive as the film earned $1.8 million on 200 screens. The
horror sequel also opened in a handful of smaller markets: Malaysia ($210,000 from 35), Chile ($180,000 from 30 screens), Singapore ($160,000 from 25), Ukraine, ($150,000, screen count unknown), Indonesia ($140,000 from 40), and the Czech Republic and Slovakia, (combined $90,000.) Holdovers were not overly kind to the film as it dropped between 40% and 50% in most markets including 40% in France to $1.3 million, 43% in Spain to $1.65 million, 44% in Germany to $1.6 million and 45% in the U.K. to $1.8 million. Overall the film now has $54.25 million internationally and $126.5 million world wide.
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April 6th, 2005
For the first time in four weeks we have a new numbers one on the international charts as
The Ring 2 opened in several major markets helping propel the film to $18.8 million on 3,476 screens in 37 markets for an international total of $34.7 million. That was enough to push its worldwide total passed $100 million to $102.7 million. It's biggest single market was the U.K. where the film $3.86 million on 419 screens, but this was not up the performance of the
original. On the other hand, the film saw its biggest gain in France where its $2.15 million on 403 screens was 50% more than the $1.4 million
original made in 2002. Other major market debuts include $3.0 million on 445 screens in Germany and $2.9 million on 320 screens in Spain. Holdovers were not kind to the film, again, as it dropped 54% in Australia to just $717,420. This has been a problem throughout the film's run and will likely result in the film earning substantially less than
original when all is said and done.
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April 4th, 2005
April started off well but not great. A strong number one film and impressive holdovers helped the market climb 7% over last weekend. But for the sixth straight weekend 2005 was behind the same weekend in 2004, this time by 17.0%. Year-to-date, 2005's box office is now at $2.02 billion, 2% behind 2004, but will hopefully do some catching up next weekend.
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April 1st, 2005
April gets off to a fast start with the mostly highly anticipated film of the month debuting tonight. It should win, and win big - more than doubling its nearest competitor.
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March 30th, 2005
The
romantic comedy,
Hitch, topped the international box office charts after hitting $100 million earlier in the week. After adding $18.4 million 5,000 prints in 55 markets the film's international box office now sits at $127.4 million and is less than a week from hitting $300 million worldwide. The film had strong openings in a handful of markets, $430,000 in New Zealand on 61 screens, $350,000 on 48 screens in Greece, $292,000 in Venezuela. But the heart of
Hitch's weekend haul came from holdovers like the U.K. with $3.1 million and Germany with $3.0 million, (and number one in both markets.) The film is also still doing strong in France, ($2.8 million and second place) and Italy, ($1.4 million up 5% from last weekend.) This is mostly likely the last weekend the film will reign on the international charts, but with Japan still ahead it should still make some noise at the box office.
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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.
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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.
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March 23rd, 2005
Not only did
Hitch win the weekend race on the international circuit, but it almost closed the gap between it and
Constantine for the race to $100 million. This week the
romantic comedy pulled in $22.7 million on 5,000 screens in 46 markets, lifting its international box office to $98.1 million as of Sunday, and the film has almost assuredly hit $100 million after Monday and Tuesday. It's biggest box office of the weekend came from France where the film debuted in top spot with $4.4 million on 560 screens and the film also took top spot in its debut in Malaysia with $230,000 on 30 screens while just missing the trifecta with a second place, $400,000 opening in Turkey. Holdovers include first place finishes in Germany, ($3.75 million) Austria and Australia, ($1.4 million) while the film slipped to second place in its second weekend of wide release in the U.K. with $4.3 million. The only downside for the film now is the lack of major markets left to open in with Japan having to wait till July 4th. By that time the film will have crossed $300 million worldwide and may climb high enough to become one of the ten biggest hits of the year.
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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.
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March 20th, 2005
After gathering in all the data the winner for the race for fifth place is
Million Dollar Baby, I think. It would need to lost more than 40% from last week's total and that's not taking into account its openings in South Korea at $1,515,672 and second place, its $110,000, third place debut in Finland, $86,000 in Russia, $50,000, second place debut in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, exact weekend totals are unknown but it is estimated at $6 million raising its international total to $43 million so far.
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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.
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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.
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March 11th, 2005
Robots is the latest major studio release to also debut day and date on IMAX joining the likes of Polar Express and The Matrix Revolutions. Like those films there will probably be no separate box office data released for the film's IMAX performances. This is a real shame as IMAX is in need of the extra publicity that releasing such details would generate.
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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.
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March 10th, 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,
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous -
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to
e-mail me with the details.
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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.
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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.
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February 24th, 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,
Dust to Glory -
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to
e-mail me with the details.
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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.
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February 10th, 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,
The Jacket -
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to
e-mail me with the details.
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January 20th, 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,
Fantastic Four -
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to
e-mail me with the details.
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October 21st, 2004
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
Blade: Trinity -
Official Site. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to
e-mail me with the details.
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