December 10th, 2015
The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning and we are already beginning to see a trend for this year's Awards Season. For the most part, the same films are coming up over and over again. Carol led the way with five awards, while there was a three-way tie for second place with The Big Short, The Revenant and Steve Jobs each picking up four.
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June 30th, 2015
There's a short list this week, for two reasons. Firstly, there's not a lot of new releases worth mentioning. Secondly, I really have to concentrate on the July preview (look for that on the site tomorrow). The biggest release of the week is clearly Get Hard, but it was not the best. As for the best, there are two that jump out: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (Blu-ray) and The Decline Of Western Civilization Collection (DVD or Blu-ray). Both are top-notch picks, but I went with Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter.
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May 7th, 2015
The Avengers: Age of Ultron not only earned first place on the overall box office chart, but it also topped the per theater chart with an average of $44,731. There were a couple of limited releases in the $10,000 club, Welcome to Me with an average of $19,084 in two theaters and Far from the Madding Crowd with an average of $16,499 in ten theaters. Iris came really close with an average of $9,542 in six theaters over the weekend and an average of $11,467 from Wednesday through Sunday.
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April 28th, 2015
There were no films in the $10,000 club this week and no new releases really came close. The closest was Full Moon in Paris, which rose 58% from last weekend to $7,987, still in one theater. Felix et Meira was next with an average of $6,590 after expanding from one to four theaters. Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll was the biggest new release with an average of $6,402 in three theaters over the weekend for an average of $8,465 from Wednesday to Sunday.
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April 21st, 2015
Ex Machina remained in first place on the per theater chart with an average of $20,478 in 39 theaters. The only other film in the $10,000 club was Felix et Meira, which earned $15,018 in its lone theater.
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April 15th, 2015
Ex Machina's opening weekend was surprisingly potent earning an average of $59,316 in four theaters. This is the biggest per theater average for a film that opened in 2015. I was not expecting that. On the other hand, I was expecting Clouds of Sils Maria to do well, and it did, earning an average of $20,603 in three theaters. Furious 7 remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $14,815 in more than 4,000 theaters.
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April 14th, 2015
It didn't take long for for Furious 7 to become the biggest hit of the year; in fact, it took just five days to top Cinderella. Over the weekend, it became the first film released in 2015 to reach the $200 million milestone and thanks to a better than expected hold, reached $250 million as well. Home finished well back in second place, while The Longest Ride managed third place. Overall, the box office fell 42% from last weekend down to $131 million, which is 6.3% lower than the same weekend last year. Furious 7 topped Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but Rio 2 and the other films of 2014 had better depth giving 2014 the win. 2015 is still ahead in the year-to-date comparison, up 4.1% at $2.85 billion to $2.74 billion.
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March 25th, 2015
Danny Collins led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $14,631 in five theaters. However, since its reviews are merely good and not great, I doubt it will have the legs needed to thrive in limited release. The overall box office leader, Insurgent, was next with an average of $13,487. Last week's winner on the per theater chart, It Follows, was the only holdover in the $10,000 club earning an average of $10,777 in 32 theaters. It has room to grow and should have no trouble earning a least some small measure of mainstream success. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter was the only other film that did well, with an average of $8,529 in four theaters over the weekend, while it earned an average of $10,101 since Wednesday.
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March 22nd, 2015
A mix of positive and negative factors (poor reviews vs. fan loyalty, competition vs. Spring break and so on) are neatly canceling one another out this weekend to give Insurgent an opening weekend almost perfectly in line with the $54.6 million debut enjoyed by Divergent this time last year. Lionsgate is officially projecting a $54 million weekend. The numbers we’re seeing suggest the film will end up a shade lower than that—perhaps $53 million would be a safer bet—but either way, it’s an impressive start, and the fifth-best weekend of 2015 so far.
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March 20th, 2015
It is a busy week with a number of limited releases earning outstanding reviews. This includes a couple of foreign-language films (Amour fou and La Sapienza), as well as a couple of horror films (Backcountry and Spring). However, of the films on this week's list, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter is the one with the best chance of earning some measure of mainstream success.
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