March 25th, 2007
The French film, Taxi 4, just missed the top five with $3.94 million on 1255 screens in 7 markets for a total of $49.56 million. Obviously, most of that has come from France, $35.70 million in fact, but the film is also doing well in Russia with $10.63 million so far, including $2.22 million on 466 screens over the weekend.
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January 23rd, 2007
The
Oscar nominations were handed out today and for the most part they've followed the script written by previous awards committees fairly closely.
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January 23rd, 2007
The
Golden Globes were handed out last week, but the real winners were rewarded this weekend as the Golden Globe Bounce was in full effect.
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January 20th, 2007
There were plenty of
new releases this week, but all but two missed the top 10. However, those two DVDs finished one-two on the charts.
Crank topped
The Illusionist $6.09 million to $5.59 million.
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January 16th, 2007
Only two films were repeat winners on tonights
Golden Globes,
Dreamgirls with three wins and
The Queen with two. There were a few surprises along the way and some troubling signs for Oscar hopefuls.
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January 13th, 2007
A slow week for
new releases helped
Little Miss Sunshine climb from third to first on the rental charts. Over the week the film earned $5.46 million for a three-week total of $20.95 million.
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January 12th, 2007
The
Writers Guild of America is the last of the guilds to hand out nominations, which they did so this week. And while there are 20 or so categories, only two of them are theatrical.
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January 7th, 2007
Since New Years Eve fell on a Sunday this year, there was precious little in terms of international box office numbers released this week. We have some studio estimates, some box office information for major markets, and some updated totals. But for the most, there's little to share.
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January 7th, 2007
None of half-a-dozen
new releases were able to make a big splash on rental charts, but that doesn't mean there wasn't anything interesting to report. Every film in the top five was within $540,000 on each other with
The Devil Wears Prada claiming top spot with $6.87 million.
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January 5th, 2007
The
Screen Actors Guide handed out their nominations yesterday and of the 5 theatrical categories, there were more than a dozen films to pick up at least one nomination.
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December 30th, 2006
There were nearly a dozen
new releases to chart this week, but it was a holdover that took top spot in an extremely close race.
The Devil Wears Prada beat out
Little Miss Sunshine at $8.88 million to $8.80 million.
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December 22nd, 2006
The Devil Wears Prada was the best of a
new bunch winning out in a very, very close race with
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at $10.74 million to $10.67 million.
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December 17th, 2006
Open Season solidified its chances to reach $100 million with a first place debut in Italy. Over the weekend the film just managed to beat
Happy Feet $1.68 million to $1.66 million over the weekend, (with midweek numbers
Open Season earned $1.82 million on 430 screens). The film was not as successful in Japan with just $968,000 on 441 screens; with such a small per theatre average, it will likely disappear quickly from charts. Overall it earned $4.97 million on 3451 screens in 51 markets for a total of $87.16 million; and even with no major markets left to open in, it does have a great shot at $100 million before its run is over.
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December 15th, 2006
Babel led the way when the
Golden Globe nominations were announced today with seven nominations while
The Departed was close behind with six.
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December 12th, 2006
While the number of DVDs coming out this week isn't has high as last week, there is still a high level of quality with several contenders for DVD Pick of the Week, including The Devil Wears Prada - Buy from Amazon and World Trade Center - 2-Disc Commemorative Edition. However, the clear winner was James Bond - Ultimate Edition, both Volume 3 and Volume 4.
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December 11th, 2006
Saw III slipped another spot to sixth with $4.46 million on 1518 screens in 29 markets for an international total of $54.27 million. Its best opening of the weekend came in South Korea where it placed third with $1.08 million on 144 screens, which is the last major opening for the film this year.
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December 3rd, 2006
Open Season only has a few more markets to open in and is starting to shed screens and markets; however, it sill managed sixth place with $4.08 million on 3489 screens in 49 markets for a two-month total of $76.58 million. This week the film opened in first place in both South Africa with $257,000 on 77 screens and in the Czech Republic with $79,000 on 23 screens.
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November 26th, 2006
Late numbers for the international weekend meant there was a shakeup in the top five with
Saw III trading places with
The Devil Wears Prada.
Saw III took fourth with $6.54 million on 1912 screens in 20 markets for a total of $37.18 million. Meanwhile,
The Devil Wears Prada fell to sixth with $5.87 million on 2452 screens in 23 markets for a total of $172.54 million. It was also the first time in nearly two months that the film didn't place in the top five on the international box office.
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November 23rd, 2006
Casino Royale dominated the weekend box office earning $42.2 million on 3,063 screens in 27 markets, only one of them a true major markets. The film's biggest was the
U.K., no surprise there, but the magnitude of the opening caught a lot of people off guard. Its weekend total of $21.55 million on 505 screens was the third biggest opening of all time behind just
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Add in Thursday and the film earned $25.33 million, roughly 47% more than the previous best opening for a
Bond film in the market, and
Goldeneye had 5 days to earn its $17.2 million. The second biggest market was Russia where the film took in $4.55 million on 540 screens, which was more than four times the
nearesst competition and the highest opening ever for a non-
Russian film there. It had a similar result in Indian earning $3.2 million on an unprecedented 427 screens beating
Spider-man 2's record for a non-
Indian film by 87%. Other million dollar markets include Greece with $1.34 million on 111 screens, Thailand with $1.1 million on 154 and Taiwan with $1 million on 116. The film opens in most of the rest of Europe next weekend and should have no trouble remaining on top of the charts.
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November 15th, 2006
Borat was again the top box office draw on the international scene taking in $15.37 million on 1147 screens in 20 markets for a total of $43.16 million after two weeks of release. The film opened in three markets, but they were of the smaller variety earning $287,000 on 17 screens in Greece, $51,000 on 10 in Bulgaria and $29,000 on 4 in Serbia. The vast majority of the film's weekend total came from the U.K. where it repeated in first place with $8.62 million on 430 screens for a two-week total of $27.13 million. Meanwhile in Germany the film grew by 2%, but was still stuck in second place with $2.76 million on 310 screens for a total of $6.35 million in that market. This week the film opens in France, Spain, and other smaller markets, but it will have a lot of competition from
Bond and it will take a minor miracle for the film to not be knocked out of top spot.
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November 8th, 2006
Borat beat the competition with relative ease this week earning $18.64 million on 995 screens in 17 markets. In fact, the $11.87 million the film made on 428 screens in
Sacha Baron Cohen's native
United Kingdom was more than the
second place film earned in total. The film's second biggest opening was in Germany where the film had to settle for second place with a still fantastic $2.67 million on 234 screens. The film also had first place openings in smaller markets like Holland, ($731,000 on 64 screens); Sweden, ($717,000 on 39); and Denmark, ($366,000 on 36).
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November 2nd, 2006
Not too
long ago I said that
The Devil Wears Prada had no chance to match its domestic total on the international scene. Well, I was wrong. This week the film added $17.62 million on 4352 screens in 47 markets to its international total, a total that now stands at $130.38 million. This week the film opened in first place, in a very, very close battle in South Korea with $2.9 million on 241 screens while it was the clear winner in Belgium earning $640,000 on 60 screens over the weekend and $869,000 in total. As for holdovers the film remained in second place in Germany with $2.89 million on 605 screens over the weekend and $13.69 million after three. The film has yet to open in Japan, China, and the Middle East and should have no problem hitting $150 million internationally before long.
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October 26th, 2006
It was a $100 million weekend for The Devil Wears Prada as its $18.6 million haul lifted its international total to $104 million.
The film's only opening of note was Sweden where it topped the charts with $606,000 on 66 screens.
Most of the film's box office this weekend came from holdovers like Italy where it was down a tiny 7% to $3.33 million on 420 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.50 million while it held on nearly as strong in Germany down 21% to $3.36 million on 598 million for a two week total of $9.23 million.
The film still has openings in South Korea and Japan, although I'm unconvinced the film will be a hit in either country.
But the film has already earned twice what it needed to show a profit, so the studio has no reason to complain regardless of what happens from now on.
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October 18th, 2006
The Devil Wears Prada remained on top of the international charts as it added $24.61 million on 4217 screens in 42 markets. This lifted its international total to $75.43 million and its worldwide total to $199.75 million. Germany was the film's biggest market as it took in $4.24 million on 559 screens, but a local film kept it out of first place while another local film did the same in the Netherlands where it opened with $631,000 on 80 screens over the weekend and $816,000 in total. It did earn first place in Italy with $3.56 million on 417 screens and in Taiwan with an estimated $1.2 million on 98. Meanwhile, the film performed amazingly in several holdover markets adding $3.47 million on 446 screens in the U.K. to its two-week total of $12.53 million while it remained in first place in France with $1.9 million on 507 screens for $10.1 million after three weeks. As for further milestones, the film has obviously already crossed $200 million worldwide and $100 million internationally won't be far behind.
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October 11th, 2006
There was not a single new release in the top five, for that matter, all five films were in the top five last weekend as well. However, we still had a surprise number one as
The Devil Wears Prada claimed the crown with $19.37 million on 2975 screens in 33 markets for a total of $42.16 million so far. That is almost 60% higher than it earned last weekend. Almost all of this growth can be attributed to the film's first place, $6.11 million opening on 447 screens in the U.K. but the film also took first place in Russia with $2.32 million on 299 screens and in Spain with $2.15 million on 301 screens. As for holdovers, it remained in first place in Australia down just 27% to $1.88 million on 321 screens and now has $7.02 million in the market while it fell 35% in France to $2.99 million over the weekend and $7.63 million in total.
Comedies tends to be very cultural and usually they don't translate well. Perhaps the experience of having a
bad boss is universal, (not that I would know anything about that), or perhaps the film's
darker edge it helping it overseas.
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October 4th, 2006
World Trade Center had its widest expansion of its run so far an that helped it climb into first place in a very tight race. Over the weekend the film made $12.83 million on 2765 screens in 19 markets for an international total of $22.55 million after three weeks of release. The film opened in three major markets including its biggest markets, the U.K.. There it was in a close, three-way battle for first place but in the end it finished third with $3.12 million on 411 screens. The film also placed third in Germany with $1.68 million on 496 screens. In Spain, on the other hand, it handily took first place with $2.40 million on 325 screens and also finished first in Taiwan with $734,000 on 57 and in second in Brazil with $618,000 on 85. Next up for the film is Australia and Japan this weekend, as well as a series of midlevel European markets.
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October 1st, 2006
Ye Yan, a.k.a., The Banquet opened in third place in South Korea with $1.04 million on 183 screens over the weekend and $1.24 million in total. That helped the
Chinese film place sixth overall with $5.52 million on 734 screens in 6 markets lifting its international total to $15.94 million, which is just above its production budget.
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September 24th, 2006
Little Man shot up the charts into sixth place with $5.97 million on 1597 screens in 23 markets for a total of $22.63 million internationally. The film had million dollar debuts in both Spain, ($2.06 million on 250 screens), and Mexico, ($1.04 million on 352), while came reasonably close in Russia, ($960,000 on 217 screens, including midweek numbers). In all three markets, the film placed second on the charts. More amazingly is the film's performance in the U.K. as it dipped just 17% to $1.05 million on 315 screens over the weekend and a three-week total of $5.75 million.
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September 10th, 2006
No new openings left
Garfield's A Tail of Two Kitties down 40% to $5.87 million on 3779 screens in 32 markets for a total of $90.08 million. It was reported that the film broke a record for an
animated film in China with $6.7 million putting it ahead of
The Lion King, which is a strange thing to report since the movie isn't
animated. Sure, it has a
CG lead, but that's not the same. As for the film's prospects for the future, hitting $100 million internationally is academic at this point and with several openings to go, including previews in Australia this weekend, the film could finish with close to the $125 million earned by the
original.
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July 31st, 2006
First of all, I don't think there's enough geography humor in entertainment reporting, so I'm glad to help correct that with my headline.
As for the box office, there were a few surprises this week, split evenly between the good and the bad.
This did help push the overall box office down to $131 million over the weekend and that's down 13.2% from last weekend.
But more importantly that was still 6.1% higher than the same weekend last year.
Year-to-date 2006 has extended its lead to 5%, well above ticket price inflation meaning for the first time since 2002 we could see growth in that area.
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July 17th, 2006
The news was mostly good over the weekend with practically every film in the top five beating expectations, and the only one that didn't, Pirates of the Caribbean, missing by a rounding error.
However, the overall box office was still down a huge 27% from last weekend to $159 million.
More significantly, it was down 4% from the same weekend last year breaking 2006's eight-week winning streak.
Even so, strong midweek numbers allowed 2006 to stretch its lead over 2005 to a very healthy 6%.
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July 16th, 2006
The Da Vinci Code slipped out of the top five with $3.85 million on 3037 screens in 55 markets for a total of $515.15 million. This is the 11th best international total ever, while its worldwide mark of $728.36 million places it 23rd on the
all-time worldwide chart.
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July 13th, 2006
There are a lot of questions about this weekend's box office; which film will finish in first place is not one of them. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest will repeat as overall box office champion, but there is a question of how far it will fall during its second weekend of release. Also, the two new wide releases are tracking with nearly identical numbers and that should set up a real race for second place.
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July 10th, 2006
We finally had a blockbuster live up to, and exceed its expectations. And with the record-destroying run of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest the total box office exploded to nearly $220 million, which was up 42% from last year and more than 46% from the same weekend last year. This total is the largest ever for a weekend breaking the previous record of $188 million, which was earned in June of 2004 when Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban opened. And overall, 2006's lead over 2005 grew from 3% to 5%, easily more than ticket price inflation.
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July 6th, 2006
The latest "Sure Thing" openings tomorrow.
But this Summer seven previous "Sure Things" have already come out and only one or two have actually lived up to expectations.
Both The Da Vinci Code and X-Men: The Last Stand managed to do so, more or less, but with The Da Vinci Code my expectations were somewhat lower than the industry average and its final box office is still looked at as a disappointment by many.
Will Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest break this trend, or will it be the latest victim in a summer of over-hyped misses?
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July 5th, 2006
While we had one film missing expectations, and another beating them by nearly the same amount, for the most part, the weekend played out exactly as expected. Compared to last weekend, the $154 million made at the box office from Friday to Sunday was up 9.4%.
More importantly, it was up 7.9% from the same weekend last year.
(Comparing the 5-day weekend to last year is pointless since the holiday fell on a Monday last year.)
Year-to-date, 2006 is 3% higher than 2005 while the summer pace is ahead by a smaller 1% margin.
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June 30th, 2006
It seems a lot of people are starting their holidays early, but not this column as it's the busiest it's been in more than a month. Including in this list are a few newly released teaser trailers and a handful of flash sites, most of which are worth checking out. But the best of the best is the
Running With Scissors -
Official Site.
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June 28th, 2006
With this being the July 4th long weekend, several films are getting a jump on weekend rush, including what could become the biggest hit of the year. But there seems to be some signs of weakness in the man of steel. Will some cinematic kryptonite spoil Superman's return to theaters?
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June 23rd, 2006
Just an average week with
You, Me and Dupree -
Official Site taking the prize for the best of the week.
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June 16th, 2006
This is actually a pretty busy week with more than two-dozen site on the list. That makes it the busiest week in a month. However, it was one of the site that had no real updates this week that won the Weekly Website Award this week and it was,
Nacho Libre -
Official Site.
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June 1st, 2006
May might have gotten off to a slow start, but it sure made up for it in the end. June looks to keep up the fast pace, but out of the dozen or so movies opening wide this month, only two look like they have to potential to be monster hits and after that there is a huge drop-off in box office potential. There are a few others that should earn their keep, and maybe one or two that will surprise, but most look average at best.
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May 19th, 2006
It was a good week for movie sites, although it's hard to tell looking just at the number of sites featured here. However, while the numbers of sites is low, the quality is very high with three sites in the running for the Weekly Website Award, (four if you include
Casino Royale -
Official Site, which I preemptively gave the award to when the placeholder site went live). Both
The Break-Up -
Official Site and
Pulse -
Official Site were also in the running, but in the end I went with
See No Evil -
Official Site. However, I expect the other two sites to win the award in later weeks.
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