December 22nd, 2008
Only two new releases charted this week, but we still had a new number one with The Dark Knight.
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December 15th, 2008
New releases dominated the top of the sales chart this week, earning the top three spots. This included The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which sold 3.34 million units and generated $54.72 million in revenue.
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December 15th, 2008
New releases dominated the sales chart taking the top two places and four of the top five. This includes Step Brothers and Wanted, which finished neck and neck in first and second places respectively.
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December 9th, 2008
There were not many new releases to chart this week, but we did have a new number one as Hancock took top spot on the sales chart. That film sold 3.02 million units during its first week of release for a total of $61.23 million in consumer retail spending.
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December 9th, 2008
There were not that many new releases to chart this week, but Hancock was able to open on top with about 40% more rentals than Tropic Thunder.
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November 25th, 2008
Strange week. There are a dozen spotlight reviews on the list this week, but only one is for a DVD coming out this week. Ten are for DVDs that arrived late, and one spotlight review is actually early. As for this week's releases, there are not that many that seem like must haves and none rise to the level of a DVD Pick of the Week. If I were to choose the best release found below, it's WALL-E, which came out last week. But even then I would chose the Blu-ray I reviewed last week over the DVD. Despite the lack of a top tier release, there were still more than enough that it was necessary to split the list into two parts. Part one can be found here.
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November 25th, 2008
Strange week. There are a dozen spotlight reviews on the list this week, but only one is for a DVD coming out this week. Ten are for DVDs that arrived late, and one spotlight review is actually early. As for this week's releases, there are not that many that seem like must-haves and none rise to the level of a DVD Pick of the Week. If I were to choose the best release found below, it's WALL-E, which came out last week. But even then I would chose the Blu-ray I reviewed last week over the DVD. Despite the lack of a top tier release, there were still more than enough that it was necessary to split the list into two parts. Part two can be found here.
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October 5th, 2008
Eagle Eye opened in sixth place on the international chart with $4.51 million on 1,124 screens in 13 markets, much of that coming from two markets: Australia and Mexico. In the former it made $1.42 million on 231 screens while in the latter it made just a hair under $900,000 on 350 screens. In both markets the film finished in second place, while it opens in major markets every week until the end of October, while it doesn't end its run until early next year.
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September 24th, 2008
No major openings didn't hurt Mamma Mia! too much as it remained on top of the international charts with $15.15 million on 4036 screens on 45 markets for a total of $334.87 million. This includes $2.4 million on 462 screens in France, but that was for the full week. Meanwhile in the U.K. it added $1.30 million on 443 screens for a total of $110.87 million after nearly three months of release, which is not that far off Titanic 's record of roughly $120 million.
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September 17th, 2008
Mamma Mia! remained in first place with $20.27 million on 4303 screens in 45 markets for a total of $309.59 million. It is only the fifth film this year to reach $300 million internationally and I think most would agree it is the least likely. Openings this week were highlighted by France, where it made $2.4 million, which was enough for first place in that market. Additionally, it remained flat in South Korea adding $3.35 million on 518 screens for a total of $9.79 million after two weeks of release. It was not as strong in its opening in Mexico, on the other hand, placing second with just $785,000 on 292 screens. Strong holds and a number of markets remaining, it could hit $400 million internationally.
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September 14th, 2008
Wanted failed to reach first place during its opening in Germany, but still rose dramatically earning sixth internationally with $6.13 million on 1590 screens in 29 markets for a total of $147.68 million. In Germany is finished in second place behind The Dark Knight's third weekend of release earning $3.18 million on 444 screens, which is still impressive. Next up is Spain this weekend, while it opens wide in Japan next weekend and China early in October.
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September 4th, 2008
The Dark Knight fell hard this past weekend, but it still managed a major milestone reaching $400 million internationally while topping $900 million worldwide. The lack of new markets meant its weekend haul was down 43% to $19.46 million on 6124 screens in 62 markets and now has $413.73 million internationally and $916.02 million worldwide. Its best market of the weekend was Germany, where it remained in first place with $4.58 million on 754 screens over the weekend for a total of $17.61 million after two. This is already more than double what the original made in total. Meanwhile the film's best market overall remained the U.K. where it has made $84.08 million, including $1.67 million on 396 screens over this past weekend.
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August 31st, 2008
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army returned to the international chart in sixth place with $7.20 million on 828 screens in 14 markets for a total of $32.93 million. Of that weekend haul, $5.45 million was earned on 464 screens in the U.K., where it topped the charts this past weekend. Compared to the original, this film has made more domestically and more worldwide, while it is nearing its international total with openings in Australia, Spain, Brazil, Germany, France, and other markets left ahead of it.
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August 24th, 2008
Ponyo on the Cliff is locked in first place in Japan growing by 13% to $7.75 million on 481 screens over the weekend for a total of $90.47 million at the end of last weekend, and it is likely that it has hit $100 million in the meantime.
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August 17th, 2008
Kung Fu Panda slipped to sixth place with $9.34 million on 4736 screens in 47 markets for a total of $349.69 million internationally. The film is starting to shed theaters and markets at an accelerated pace, however, it still has openings in Italy and other smaller markets ahead of it, while it could reach $400 million internationally and $600 million worldwide before the end of its run. (The latter it a lot easier than the former.)
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August 10th, 2008
Hancock fell from second to sixth with $12.03 million on 5425 screens in 68 markets, however, it still reached $300 million internationally since last week and now has a running tally of $319.43 million. Its best market of the weekend was Spain where it added $1.92 million on 567 screens over the weekend for a total of $20.56 million after two. Meanwhile, its best market overall remains the U.K. where it has $47.09 million after a month of release, including $900,000 on 318 screens this past weekend. With Japan and Italy still ahead, the film should become Will Smith's second $600 million movie, but it will end well back of Independence Day.
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August 3rd, 2008
Hancock fell 56% to $20.22 million on 7516 screens in 70 markets, however, that was still enough for second place on the international chart this week, and lifted its totals to $295.58 million internationally and $502.06 million worldwide, reaching a major milestone. The film's best market of the week was Spain where it remained in first place with $3.98 million on 575 screens for a total of $16.86 million. It is also performing well in Germany where it held on to second place with $1.70 million on 755 screens over the weekend and $33.62 million after four. However, it is starting to slip in the U.K. falling to fifth place with $1.40 million on 400 screens, but its total of $45.15 million in that market is still fantastic. Hancock likely hit $300 million early last week, and it has yet to open in Japan and Italy.
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July 29th, 2008
The Dark Knight added a few more records to its impressive list of accomplishments, but it wasn't enough to prevent the overall box office from suffering, as it was down to $181 million over the weekend. That represents a stunning 31% drop-off from last weekend. However, since last weekend was the largest weekend on record, this was not surprising. What was a little surprising was the year-to-year decline; granted, it was down less than 2% from the same weekend last year, but that's still disappointing. As for the year-to-date numbers, strong midweek numbers helped push 2008 into the lead, barely, with 2008 earning $5.68 billion to $5.67 billion for 2007.
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July 24th, 2008
Two new wide releases make their debut today, but neither of them have a legitimate shot at first place. In fact, it would take a shocking result for Step Brothers and X-Files: I Want to Believe to earn more combined than The Dark Knight will make during its second weekend of release. The real competition for The Dark Knight is The Simpsons movie, which opened this time last year.
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July 23rd, 2008
Hancock fell 35% to $45.65 million on 8,506 screens in 71 markets for a total of $257.64 million internationally and $449.18 million worldwide. This is already Will Smith's fourth biggest hit worldwide, and it should have no trouble becoming his fourth $500 million movie as well. This week the film opened in Spain with an outstanding $9.26 million on 575 screens, which was easily enough for first place. It is also doing extremely well in Germany with $4.31 million on 749 screens over the weekend for a total of $30.74 million after three. Likewise, the film earned $4.03 million on 437 screens over the weekend in the U.K., which pushed its total of $41.50 million after three weeks of release. Next up for the film is Japan at the end of August and Italy in the middle of September. By then the film should have reached more than $350 million internationally and perhaps even $600 million worldwide.
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July 22nd, 2008
Wow.
It is always better to underestimate demand and be pleasantly surprised, but The Dark Knight beat practically all expectations. It is such a huge hit that its weekend haul was better than the industry as a whole managed last weekend, and more than the industry made the same weekend last year. In fact, the $254 million weekend haul was a biggest all time. Needless to say, there was substantial growth this past weekend and the overall box office was up 68% from last weekend and 64% from the same weekend last year. Meanwhile, 2008 is still behind 2007 $5.37 billion to $5.41 billion, but that lead won't last.
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July 17th, 2008
One of the most anticipated films of the year opens today and The Dark Knight should be huge. Absolutely huge. In fact, there are even those who think the film will make more than the top five did this time last year, which would be a huge boost to 2008 in its race with 2007.
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July 16th, 2008
A trio of number one openings helped Hancock grow at the box office globally this week as it added $70.35 million on 8,109 screens in 66 markets. The film now has $179.82 million internationally and $343.93 million worldwide after just two weeks of release, and is on pace to earn $600 million worldwide before it is all said and done.
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July 15th, 2008
As expected, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army debuted in top spot, but the overall box office was a little on the light side with a total of $151 million. This is 5.5% lower than last weekend, and more disturbingly, 16.6% lower than the same weekend last year. Year to date, 2008 is not behind 2007 by 2.4% at $5.04 billion to $5.16 billion. It is too early to push the panic button, but there is certainly reason to be concerned, especially if things don't turn around.
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July 13th, 2008
The weekend belongs to Hellboy, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
With $35.9 million, the franchise looks as though it's well and truly reborn, and a $100 million box office run seems assured.
Journey to the Center of the Earth was also solid, with $20.6 million. That's particularly strong given the relatively small number of digital 3-D screens installed in the US so far.
But the other opener had a harder time...
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July 10th, 2008
After a month-long winning streak, 2008 lost one last weekend when the opening of Hancock was well behind the week-long debut of The Transformers. This weekend, three films are going up against Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I don't think any of the three have a hope in hell of reaching $77 million over the weekend. In fact, it's it not likely that all three of them combined will earn that much, but perhaps we will get a pleasant surprise.
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July 9th, 2008
Hancock opened worldwide this past weekend, well, almost worldwide. It opened on 5759 screens in 55 markets earning $65.41 million over the weekend for a total of $78.86 million including midweek numbers. The film's biggest box office opening happened in the U.K. where it pulled in $18.89 million on 450 screens, while it also cracked 8 digits in Germany with $12.71 million on 723 screens. Neither result is surprising, as the U.K. is usually the biggest market when it comes to Hollywood release, while Will Smith is a major star in Germany.
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July 8th, 2008
The Wackness opened in first place on the per theater chart with an average of $23,067. But I'm going to wait to see how well it expands before judging its chances of becoming this year's sleeper hit. After all, so many limited releases have failed to make it there this year. Second place went to fellow limited release, Tell No One, which opened with an estimated average of $21,250 in 8 theaters. The overall box office leader, Hancock, was the only other new release to top $10,000 on the per theater chart -- it earned an average of $15,789.
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July 8th, 2008
The winners of our O Canada contest were determined and they are...
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July 8th, 2008
Hancock lived up to expectations, but it was the only film in the top five that did so. This led to overall box office receipts of just $160 million over the weekend, which was 8% lower than last weekend and 14% lower than the same weekend last year. This is the first time in a month that 2008 hasn't kept pace with 2007, and year-to-date 2008 has again fallen behind 2007, $4.81 billion to $4.84 billion. There's a strong case for mitigating circumstances, however, as July 4th landed on the Friday and Independence Day is not a holiday that is normally associated with strong box office numbers. So 2008 could regain its lead if The Dark Knight proves to be a big hit.
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July 6th, 2008
It's six years since Men in Black 2, and twelve since Independence Day, but Will Smith has again shown that he has what it takes to fill movie theaters over the July 4th weekend.
The $66 million Friday-Sunday opening for Hancock tops all of Smith's previous holiday openings, and stands as his second-best opening weekend ever, behind December's I am Legend.
It's also the third-highest weekend for the July 4th holiday.
Spider-Man 2 remains top of that list with $88 million back in 2004, while last year's Transformers debut will most likely retain second place with $70.5 million.
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July 6th, 2008
There were a couple of sites that were in contention for the Weekly Website Award, including one of the limited releases. It is not that common for a limited release to have a top notch site, because the advertising budget tends to be as limited as its screen count. However, while The Wackness' Official Site stood out from the crowd, Hancock's Official Site was deemed the best of the week.
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July 1st, 2008
It's a really, really long weekend as Hancock starts its box office run tonight. Additionally, Kit Kittredge expands tomorrow, while we have limited releases opening on Thursday and Friday. Busy week, so let's jump right in.
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July 1st, 2008
July is going to have a tough time following June. Last month only one movie missed expectations by any meaningful degree which helped 2008 climb above 2007's pace. Perhaps if The Dark Knight can become the biggest hit of the year so far and 2008 tops 2007's pace in terms of ticket sales, July will be seen as a better month than June, but that will be very tough to do. Compared to last year, July doesn't seem to have as much strength at the top, but its strength is in the midrange hits and it should at least keep pace with 2007.
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June 26th, 2008
It's Canada Day on Tuesday so we are having a Canadian themed Weekly Box Office Prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of Hancock, which opens on the Wednesday, but we are only interested in the Friday to Sunday number.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Canada Day prize pack consisting of 2112 by Rush, which coincidentally is how much I weight. (It's actually 211.2 pounds. Although if I can keep up with my diet, I might be able to get down to Moving Pictures by my birthday, perhaps even A Farewell to Kings.) In addition to those three CDs, they will win the greatest Canadian movie of all time, Strange Brew on DVD.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of 2112, Moving Pictures, and A Farewell to Kings by Rush, as well as Strange Brew on DVD.
Finally, whoever comes closest regardless if they went over or under will win a The Wackness prize pack consisting of a T-shirt, CD Soundtrack and signed poster.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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October 11th, 2007
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek XI, and more!
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November 19th, 2006
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Charlotte's Web, Speed Racer, The Dark Knight and more.
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October 29th, 2006
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Blood Diamond, Dark Materials and more.
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