November 19th, 2006
Cars led a group of
new releases that dominated the sales charts this week, however, it had to settle for a very close second place on the rental charts. Leading the way was
Mission: Impossible: III with $9.31 million while
Cars took in $9.24 million.
More...
November 14th, 2006
With Thanksgivings just around the corner, there are a lot of releases coming out this week.
You see, every time this year there's a media report that the day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year.
However, this is not true.
Christmas Eve is actually the biggest shopping day of the year (talk about last minute gifts).
Even so, Thanksgiving is still a massively important time of the year and there's no surprise that studios are trying to get out as many gift ideas as possible just in time for the holiday rush.
With that in mind, there are several full series sets coming out this week, including DVD Pick of the Week contender Get Smart - The Complete Series - Buy Direct.
However, when it comes to the winner, there's really only one choice and that is Looney Tunes - Golden Collection - Volume Four - Buy from Amazon.
More...
May 3rd, 2004
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. There was again an excellent mix of wide releases, limited releases, older films and TV on DVD. And because of the wide section, there should be something for everyone, and for me it's
Gilmore Girls - Season 1 - (
Buy from Amazon), which is my DVD pick of the week.
More...
March 2nd, 2004
When
Scary Movie 3 was released domestically during the past fall, many analysts predicted it would fail to attract a sizeable audience. After all, there was a massive 55% drop-off between the
first two installments. But the movie out-preformed expectations domestically, and now it's doing the same internationally. Scary Movie 3 earned $12.3 million and a first place finished this past weekend. Its international total is nearing $75 million and it should cross $200 million worldwide relatively soon.
More...
February 28th, 2004
Just over 24 hours to go before the ceremony, and we're ready to call another result.
This time the category is costume design - one that has thrown up some surprises in the past.
More...
February 24th, 2004
It took a couple days longer than expected, but
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King crossed the $1 billion mark over the weekend. The weekend total of $13.9 million was also good enough for first place on the international charts. Internationally it is still in third place behind
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but that should change by the weekend.
More...
February 18th, 2004
February 10th, 2004
After crossing $250 million international some time during the mid-week,
The Last Samurai opened in another 10 markets pushing its weekend total to $17.7 million. Most impressive is the film's run in Japan; it was first in its 10th week of release and it crossed the $100 million mark in that nation. If
Ken Watanabe wins the Oscar it should outperform its domestic run in Japan. It is very unusual for a Hollywood film to earn more in a single international market than it earned domestically.
More...
February 3rd, 2004
Strong holdovers and a half a dozen smaller openings kept
The Last Samurai in first place on the international scene for the third weekend in a row. This week it took in another $23.3 million to raise its total to nearly $250 million internationally.
Ken Watanabe's Oscar nomination helped the film's Japanese take rise by 22% from last weekend, and is now just shy of $100 million in that nation.
More...
January 27th, 2004
The weekend take for
The Last Samurai dropped less than expected, just 23% or $31.3 million, and that helped it maintain first place for the second weekend in a row. It also crossed $200 million internationally and $300 million worldwide. A mid-February opening in Russia is the last major opening for The Last Samurai, but strong legs in many markets could pull in another $100 million internationally.
More...
January 27th, 2004
Nominations for the 76the Annual Academy Awards were announced today. As always, here is a list of the nominations, plus reactions below.
More...
January 25th, 2004
With the awards ceremony only hours away, here's one last look at the theatrical nominations for tonight's 61st annual Golden Globes awards.
More...
January 21st, 2004
The second round of openings for
The Last Samurai in as many weeks helped push it to top spot on the international charts. It more than doubled the number of markets it's playing in while adding almost 70% more screens, but only managed to increase its box office by roughly 25%. The weekend figure of $40.6 million pushed its international total to $157.6 million and its worldwide total to over $250 million. But without many major openings left, its weekly numbers may have peaked.
More...
January 21st, 2004
The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is usually celebrated by the movie industry by dumping movies that the studios have little faith in, in hopes that the holiday crowds will give it an undeserved boost. This year two of the three new releases beat expectations (at least for the 3-day weekend) and the one that didn't had the best reviews for the week. (I really must stop basing my prediction on quality.) The 3-day total box office was 7% above last weekend, but down 8% from last year. The 4-day yearly decline was about the same.
More...
January 18th, 2004
On Thursday the 10th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards(R) Nominations were announced. Here is a list of all the nominations in theatrical categories as well as a brief reaction to them.
More...
January 16th, 2004
With three new movies opening wide this weekend, we should finally have a new number one at the box office. But don't expect it to be number one in the minds of the critics. With Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday we should see a sizeable increase at the box office.
More...
January 13th, 2004
For the first time since it was released, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King had some stiff competition for top spot on the charts. It did still take first place for the fourth weekend in a row with $35.3 million in 51 markets. Including wins in head-to-head competition with second place The Last Samurai. For instance, Return of the King's fourth weekend easily won in the U.K. $6.7 million to Samurai's $4.9 million. It was a closer contest in Germany, but King remained number one $5.5 million to $4.9 million. But with only a couple of mid-level openings this week in Indonesia and the Czech Republic it could drop out of first place next weekend. Its international total $455 million, second for the year surpassing The Matrix Reloaded by less than $1 million and putting it in a virtual tie with The Lion King for 10th all-time. Worldwide it hit $767, which is also second for the year but 13th all-time.
More...
January 6th, 2004
As it has since it was first released, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King had a commanding win at the international box office. This weekend's numbers were $58.7 million from 8,826 screens in 45 territories, more than double Finding Nemo in second place. Highlights include $2.3 million opening in Poland and just shy of $1 million opening in Argentina, as well as $13.7 million in the U.K. and $10 million in Germany. Totals for Return of the King now sit at $390.4 million outside the US (3rd for the year, 13th all-time) and $680.8 million worldwide (3rd for the year, and 15th all-time). By next week it should be the highest grossing film for the year.
More...
December 23rd, 2003
As expected, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King dominated the international markets this week, setting many records along the way. It played in 28 countries on 7,403 screens earning $125.9 million, which is a record for international weekend. The film also broke individual market records for Wednesday openings in 15 countries, out of 17 Wednesday openings. It also broke weekend records in more than half a dozen other countries, including major markets like the U.K. and Germany. Worldwide totals for Return of the King are already at $250 million, (another record) putting it in 168th place on the all-time chart in just 5 days. Even with this success, it is unlike to unseat Titanic as the number one movie of all time, but it should become only the second film to earn $1 billion worldwide.
More...
December 22nd, 2003
Expectations for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King were huge, but unlike so many other movies with huge expectations that opened this year Return of the King didn't disappoint. A record-breaking performance lead to a huge 59% jump in the box office from last week. But the major letdown in other films led to a 2.3% drop from last year.
More...
December 19th, 2003
While there are two major and a few smaller releases, only one movie is getting talked about this weekend.
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King will crush all competition, but there still is some question if records can be broken and how well the other competition will fare.
More...
December 15th, 2003
While the weekend after Thanksgiving is usually soft, the weekend after that usually sees a bit of a rebound. Last year, for instance, we saw a nearly 20% week-to-week increase at the box office. This year we weren't so lucky. No movie in the top five beat box office expectations, while a couple did place higher on the charts due to weaker than expected competition. This led to a drop of nearly 9% from last week and 13% from last year.
More...
December 12th, 2003
It's a two-way race for top spot this weekend with Something's Gotta Give targeting a mature audience while Stuck on You goes for the decidedly immature. A third movie, Love Don't Cost a Thing is also opening wide but it might have trouble just making the top five.
More...
December 10th, 2003
Finding Nemo not only won the weekend in convincing fashion, it also became Pixar's biggest international hit internationally, overtaking Monsters Inc.. The film's performance this week was even more impressive than last week. Number one in 20 markets helped it to another $45.9 million, bringing its total to $283.4 million internationally. That's 28th overall and 3rd for animated movies. However, it is only a few million behind Aladdin for second and will surpass that film mid-week (most likely, it has already done so.) Worldwide, Finding Nemo is even more impressive with $623.1 million, 18th overall.
More...
December 9th, 2003
The post Thanksgivings weekend was even tougher on the movie industry than predicted with only one movie in the top five living up to expectations. Some analysts are blaming it on the storm in the Northeast, but the internal multiplier doesn't really support that. And while the box office did drop 40% from last week, it was well ahead of last year to the tune of almost 20%. Year-to-date 2003 is still more than $100 million behind 2002 and with only one movie left that is a sure bet to make that much, catching up is not expected.
More...
December 5th, 2003
Guessing what movie will finish first this weekend is a no-brainer. Guessing where the second new release of the weekend will land is a little trickier. Leftovers... I mean holdovers will suffer the post holiday blues this weekend, especially family friendly films.
More...
December 4th, 2003
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here's a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week.More...
November 6th, 2003
October 2nd, 2003
September 3rd, 2003
