December 13th, 2010
This week we have the last of the major summer blockbusters hitting the home market, and not only did Despicable Me earn $250 million domestically and more than $500 million worldwide, it also earned amazing reviews. This makes it an obvious contender for Pick of the Week. Unfortunately, the screener is late, and I hate to award that honor to a release when this is the case. As far as its competition is concerned, there are two main releases vying for that title: The Quintessential Guy Maddin! on DVD and The Town on Blu-ray. Despite my well-documented pro-Canada bias, I'm giving it to the latter.
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July 13th, 2010
The Kids are All Right stunned box office analysts by earning nearly $500,000 in a mere seven theaters for an average of $70,282.
That's virtually unheard of.
I still look at that number and think, "Typo".
The only other confirmed entry in the $10,000 club was Despicable Me with an average of $16,225.
I say confirmed member, because it is likely that The Girl Who Played with Fire also earned an average of $10,000 in the United States; however, its weekend numbers included a number of theaters in Canada, where it has been playing for more than six months.
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July 7th, 2010
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse not only led the way on the overall chart, but also topped the per theater chart with an average of $14,510 over three days and $18,719 over four. The second placed film overall, The Last Airbender, was second on the per theater chart as well with an average of $12,725 over three days and $16,347 over four. Cyrus expanded to 77 theaters, and earned an average of $10,058 / $14,209, which was enough to reach the top ten on the overall four-day chart. Finally, Toy Story 3 missed the $10,000 club over the three-day weekend with an average of $7,517, but made it there when you add in Monday with an average of $10,689.
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June 14th, 2010
Limited releases haven't had a single major hit this summer so far, but that may have changed this weekend as there were a number of new releases that topped the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart. Leading the way was Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work with an average of $23,479 in seven theaters. Winter's Bone was next with an average of $21,222 in four theaters. Both films have a real shot at expansion. The Lottery was also strong, with an average of $16,435. The overall box office leader, The Karate Kid, was close behind with an average of $15,197. Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky was in a virtual tie with Kid, opening with an average of $14,818 in three theaters.
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June 13th, 2010
The Karate Kid won the battle of the '80s revivals over the weekend with a solid $56,000,000, well ahead of The A-Team, which could only manage $26,000,000.
In what has been a very disappointing Summer so far, a $50 million plus opening for a franchise revival has to be considered a success, and it will almost certainly give Sony their first $100 million hit of the year.
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June 11th, 2010
We are still waiting for our first breakout success off the year on the limited release front. There are a couple films on this week's list that could be the first, including the dramatic film Winter's Bone and the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Both are earning reviews that are 90% positive, or better, and hopefully both will find receptive audiences starting this weekend.
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