November 5th, 2012
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted was one of seven new releases to reach the top 20 on this week's Blu-ray sales chart. It took first place with 768,000 units / $15.36 million for an opening week Blu-ray share of 45%. This is good for a digitally animated kids movie. In fact, this wouldn't be bad if it were an action film.
More...
November 5th, 2012
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted lived up to its name becoming the best selling new release and earning first place on the DVD sales chart. The film sold 944,000 units and generated $16.03 million in revenue, which was easily enough for first place.
More...
October 16th, 2012
It's a mixed week on the home market. Granted, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is coming out, which made more than $200 million domestically and should sell quite well on the home market. On the other hand, the second biggest first run release is That's My Boy, which failed to make an impact at the box office. There is also a flood of weaker releases, secondary Blu-ray releases, and Christmas releases, much of which I would consider filler. The signal to noise ratio is a little off. As for the best releases of the week, there are some great TV on DVD releases like Mad Men: Season Five and Degrassi: Season 11, Part 2. There are also some limited releases, like Moonrise Kingdom on Blu-ray Combo Pack and even some Direct-to-DVD releases, like Excision on Blu-ray. All of these were contenders for Pick of the Week. In the end I went with Mad Men: Season Five for Pick of the week, while Degrassi: Season 11, Part 2 earned Puck of the Week.
More...
June 4th, 2012
Snow White and the Huntsman not only earned first place on the weekend box office chart, it did so with ease, topping all but the most bullish predictions. In fact, it even topped last year's opening of X-men: First Class, which means the film nearly helped 2012 back in the winning circle. The overall box office did fall 7% when compared to last weekend, but it was the post-Memorial Day weekend, so that's a very strong finish. The year-over-year decline was 11%, which normally would be really disappointing, but the previous weekend, the decline was over 30%, so this represents a huge recovery and bodes well for the next few weeks. 2012's lead over 2011 has shrunk to just under 10% at $4.47 billion to $4.07 billion, but even if the overall box office is flat for the rest of the year, a $400 million increase over the full year would be worth celebrating.
More...
May 31st, 2012
Snow White and the Huntsman is the only new wide release of the weekend and it is looking to overthrow Men in Black 3 on the top of the chart. It should have a pretty easy time winning, if not, the box office is in serious trouble. It is more important to compare its opening to that of X-men: First Class, which opened this weekend last year. Asking Snow White to make $55 million is probably asking too much, while the holdovers won't be able to match last year's crop, so June will likely start off on a low note when compared to last year. After an amazing start to the year, 2012 is starting to really struggle. Hopefully it is just a minor bump in the road.
More...
May 29th, 2012
While the latest installment of the Men in Black franchise topped the box office over the Memorial Day long weekend, it was The Avengers that continued to be the big story of the year. Men in Black 3's opening was merely average given the release date, and well below average given the film's production budget. On the other hand, The Avengers continued to break records. Overall, the box office was up by 7% from last weekend reaching $153 million over the three day portion of the weekend. However, that's 31% lower than Memorial Day last year. Ouch. Over four days, the weekend pulled in $194 million, which was 30% lower than last year. Again, ouch. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011, but the lead is down to 12.5% at $4.28 billion to $3.85 billion.
More...
May 27th, 2012
The Avengers vice-like grip on the top reaches of the box office chart will finally be loosened, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Men in Black 3 is set for a 3-day haul of about $55 million according to Sony Pictures, which will comfortably give it the crown over Avengers' fourth weekend $37 million. The superhero pic will pass $500 million in the process and set a new record as the fastest film to reach that landmark, ahead of Avatar's 32 days.
More...
May 24th, 2012
It looks like The Avengers run on top will finally come to an end this weekend with the release of Men in Black 3. It better. If The Avengers earns more during its fourth weekend of release than MiB3 opens with, then the overall box office will be in such serious trouble that I don't even want to talk about it. So the number one film shouldn't be in doubt, but there are still some questions to ask. Will Men in Black 3 live up to the previous two installments in the franchise? I am quite confident it will. However, in order for 2012 to earn the win on the year-over-year comparison, it will need to match The Hangover 2, which opened this weekend last year. I'm not very confident it will do that, to be very generous. Even if it manages the minor miracle needed to reach that level, there's still Kung Fu Panda 2 to deal with and the only other new release, Chernobyl Diaries, won't come anywhere close to that film's debut. It's probably going to be a really bad weekend at the box office.
More...
May 1st, 2012
There's good news / bad news going forward into May. First the bad news, April was really weak. It was weak compared to the previous month and weak compared to last year. For the first time all year, we had losses for a month on the year-over-year comparison. As for the good news... it could have been worse? Maybe there wasn't good news with regards to April, but there is certainly good news going forward. Every weekend in May has at least one film with the potential to hit $100 million, while there are a couple that could hit $200 million, and one that, pie in the sky, could reach $400 million. That one film is The Avengers, or as it is officially called, Marvel's The Avengers. I guess they don't want people reminded of the 1998 TV adaptation. While there are four films that should reach $100 million, there are only three other films opening wide, maybe two, maybe four. (More sources have Chernobyl Diaries opening wide than in limited release, but it is not a sure thing either way. Meanwhile, the opposite is true for LOL.) Additionally, there are a couple films opening in limited release this month with a real potential to expand wide: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and God Bless America. By comparison, last year had no film reach $300 million, but it had five films reach $100 million. If we are going to earn the win this year, we need strength from the top.
More...
