March 31st, 2009
Only two new release charted this week leaving Role Models in first place with 13% more revenue than second place Twilight.
More...
March 24th, 2009
Role Models led the massive collection of new releases on the rental chart with roughly 25% more rentals than Transporter 3.
More...
March 17th, 2009
There were half-a-dozen new releases to reach the top 30 on the sales chart this week, including a new number one movie, Beverly Hills Chihuahua. That film sold 1.61 million unites generating $28.40 million in sales, which was enough to put it in sixth place on the 2009 sales chart after just a week of release.
More...
March 17th, 2009
Two new releases were able to top the rental chart this week with first place Australia generating about 20% more revenue than second place Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
More...
March 3rd, 2009
Kind of a slow week for DVD releases this week. ... Actually, there are 40 releases on this week's list, including 10 spotlight reviews, but compared to the last several weeks, it feels slow. (I didn't even have to split the column into two parts.) There are a few releases that are definitely worth picking up, but none that really rise to the level of a DVD Pick of the Week. Watchman - The Complete Motion Comic on DVD or Blu-ray and Wonder Woman on DVD, DVD + Digital Copy, or Blu-ray come the closest, but neither have enough extras to make it over the top.
More...
February 22nd, 2009
Recep Ivedik opened in its native Turkey and a few other markets scoring sixth place with $8.32 million on 483 screens in 4 markets. Of that total, $6.10 million was earned on 390 screens during a first place opening in its native market, which is above the pace of its predecessor. The film managed fourth place in Germany with $1.75 million on just 75 screens. An excellent start for the film.
More...
February 15th, 2009
Bride Wars continues its bridesmaid run just missing the top five this week after just missing the top ten last week. It did ad $5.88 million on 2485 screens in 30 markets for a total of $32.11 million after a month of release. Openings this week include Germany, where the film placed second with $1.62 million on 455 screens, which is a mixed debut.
More...
February 8th, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire slipped to sixth place with $7.67 million on 1275 screens in 12 markets for a total of $42.46 million. The film had no major openings this past weekend, but it added $3.02 million on 416 screens during its fourth weekend on top of the charts in the U.K. for a total of $18.21 million in that one market.
More...
February 2nd, 2009
The Very Best Film 2, the sequel to The Very Best Film opened in Russia and a handful of other markets this past weekend. It scored first place in its native land with $8.38 million on 948 screens, while it earned sixth place in total with $9.29 million on 1072 screens in 4 markets. This is a serious decline from its predecessor's opening weekend, but still a strong start otherwise.
More...
January 22nd, 2009
For a year without an obvious front-runner for the Oscar race, there were not a whole lot of surprises when it came to the nominations. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their nominations today and leading the way was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with thirteen while Slumdog Millionaire was second with ten.
More...
January 22nd, 2009
It seems Martin Luther King long weekend has resulted in a couple delays for international numbers and we are reduced to using studio estimated for a few things. However, we do know Seven Pounds climbed into first place with $20.60 million on 3502 screens in 25 markets and now has $41.64 million after a month of release internationally. This includes Spain where the film managed first place with $4.19 million on 322 screens over the weekend. The film had to settle for second place in the U.K. with $2.30 million on 402 screens and in France with $3.22 million on 344 screens. It was not as successful in Russia with $531,000 on 135 screens. Meanwhile it Italy, the film remained in first place with $3.43 million on 545 screens over the weekend for a total of $10.38 million after two. At this pace, $100 million internationally is all but assured, especially taking into account the number of significant markets the film has yet to debut in.
More...
January 18th, 2009
Australia reached a major milestone this past weekend as it topped $100 million internationally. Over the weekend the film added $12.33 million on 4901 screens in 55 markets for a total of $103.30 million internationally and $151.06 million worldwide. Additionally, with openings in Italy, Brazil, China, Russia, and Japan still ahead, the film has a shot at $200 million worldwide. That would be enough to cover the film's production budget, after taking into account Australia's generous tax incentives.
More...
January 7th, 2009
Not only did Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa remained in first place for the third weekend in a row, and four in total, the film also managed to surpass the international total of its predecessor. It was aided by a record-breaking first place opening in Poland where the film opened with $3.22 million on 130 screens over the weekend for a total of $4.02 million. Granted, films like this tend to do very well in this market, but this is still a pleasant surprise. It was not as impressive in China with $2.43 million on 600 screens earning third place there. Holdovers were led by France, where the film added $4.50 million on 820 screens over the weekend and $38.75 million in total. Meanwhile in Italy, the film earned $3.86 million on 571 screens for a total of $29.38 million. Overall it made $31.96 million over the weekend on 6290 screens in 43 market and it now has $339.88 million internationally and $516.90 million Worldwide.
More...
December 31st, 2008
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa remained in first place over the weekend with $37.54 million on 6211 screens in 49 markets for a total of $285.35 million after two months of release. This includes no major openings over the weekend, but the holiday did boost the box office in a number of markets, including Italy where it was up 56% to $9.76 million on 583 screens over the weekend for a total of $21.18 million after two. Meanwhile in France the film was down just 6% to $5.11 million on 834 screens over the weekend for a total of $31.25 million after four. With openings in China, Poland, South Korea, and Japan ahead of the film, $400 million internationally and $600 million worldwide is within reach.
More...
December 28th, 2008
It turns out studio estimates were highly accurate, and the only real change from Wednesday's column involves a surprise $10 million film. If You Are The One opened in first place in China and fourth place internationally with $11.68 million on 1010 screens.
More...
December 21st, 2008
No new openings left Bolt out of the top five with $4.94 million on 1916 screens in 11 markets for a total of $28.69 million. Its best market was Russia where it slipped to second place with $1.20 million on 570 screens for a three-week total of $10.73 million, while it added $1.06 million on 412 screens over the weekend in Spain for a total of $3.96 million after two. The film has yet to open in most major markets, and won't until the new year, but when it is done it should surpass its domestic total while aiming for $250 million worldwide.
More...
December 15th, 2008
It was a rough week for new releases as none of the three debut films managed to live up to expectations, in dramatic fashion in some cases. However, holdovers did pick up some of the slack to help the overall box office to $92 million over the weekend. That was 11% higher than last weekend, but 43% lower than the same weekend last year when I Am Legend opened. Or you could compare it to the weekend when The Golden Compass opened, in which case it was nearly 12% higher. Either is acceptable. As for the year-to-date numbers, 2008 extended its lead over 2007 to 1.4% at $8.96 billion to $8.84 billion. It appears that 2008's lead is safe this late in the year, at least in terms of raw dollars. Ticket sales, on the other hand, will decline.
More...
December 14th, 2008
There were nine international releases making their debuts on the charts this week, as well as several holdovers. The best of these films was Forever Enthralled, as the Chinese film took first place in its native market and sixth place internationally with $6.15 million on 1375 screens.
More...
December 9th, 2008
The results at the box office were mixed over the weekend with a couple of films topping expectations while a few others failed at that task.
Overall, box office receipts were $82 million, which was 50% lower than last weekend; however, it was Thanksgiving long weekend last weekend so a sharp drop-off was expected.
Compared to the same weekend last year, 2008 was better, but by only 0.5%.
Year-to-date, 2008's lead on 2007 is now 0.5% at $8.72 billion to $8.68 billion.
More...
December 7th, 2008
Bolt started its run on the international charts in sixth place with $7.90 million on 1417 screens in 4 markets. This includes a second place, $4.30 million opening on 570 screens in Russia, while it Italy it also placed second with $2.19 million on 467 screens. Meanwhile in Poland, it topped the charts with $855,000 on 120 screens, but this is par for the course as films of this nature tend to do very well in Poland.
More...
December 2nd, 2008
Tryptophan overload wasn't enough to slow do the box office as every film matched or exceeded Thursday's predictions (or came within a rounding error of doing so). This helped the overall box office pull in $164 million over the three-day weekend and an amazing $234 million over five. Over the three-day weekend the box office was down by less than 1% from last weekend, but it was up by just under 2% over last year and nearly 3% over the five day period. (Strangely, it is $10 million behind the record, which was set in 2000. Ticket price inflation alone should have resulted in that record going down by now.) Year-to-date 2008 has now brought in $8.60 billion compared to $8.57 billion over the same period on 2007.
More...
November 30th, 2008
Thanksgiving weekend produced three big winners, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
At the top, Four Christmases scored an excellent $31.7 million Friday-Sunday and $46.7 million over the five-day weekend, and is the third best Thanksgiving opening ever, just behind Enchanted's opening last year.
Second place, Friday-Sunday, was taken by Bolt, which scored $26.6 million, and, very unusually these days, earned more in its second weekend than it did in its first.
In sixth place, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa also benefited from the holiday, dropping just 7% from last weekend to earn another $14.5 million.
More...
November 30th, 2008
Only half-a-dozen movie sites on this week's list, which is very slow. However, we had a couple of strong sites with The Secrets' Official Site coming away with the Weekly Website Award and Australia's Official Site coming in a close second.
More...
November 27th, 2008
The Thanksgiving long weekend has started, but none of the new releases look like they have what it takes to capture top spot. Compared to last year, there are not as many new releases this time around, nor are there any that look as strong as Enchanted was. That said, the holdovers look strong enough to compensate for this weakness.
More...
November 1st, 2008
October was weaker than expected with only a few films living up to expectations, and none earning $100 million at the box office. (And only one even came relatively close.) This month, there are three films that should hit $100 million for sure this month, and all three have at least a shot at $200 million. That's good news because 2008 will to close strong to keep its lead over 2007. Top of the list for anticipated films is Quantum of Solace, but there are two kids movies, Bolt and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, that are also worth paying attention to. Additionally, Awards season is starting to heat up, so look for limited releases that could earn Oscar Buzz and become breakout hits.
More...
August 30th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Australia, Extreme Movie, New York, I Love You and more!
More...
February 17th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Four Christmases, Star Trek XI and more!
More...