January 10th, 2013
The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and there's certainly a lot to talk about. There are some nominations that should surprise no one. For instance, Lincoln led the way with twelve nominations, and it has been seen as the major contender for a long time. However, there were also a few surprise nominations and some major snubs. Here are the list of nominations, and some reactions.
More...
September 10th, 2012
Snow White and the Huntsman was one of two big-budget adaptations of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves fairytale. The first, Mirror Mirror, was a much more colorful affair while this one is a much darker, grittier interpretation of the story. Is it also more compelling?
More...
July 23rd, 2012
New releases were not exactly plentiful this week on the DVD sales chart, but we did have a new film on top of the chart. American Reunion sold 411,000 units and generated $6.57 million in opening week sales. That's below expectations, but it also struggled theatrically, so it's not a surprise.
More...
July 18th, 2012
Like on the DVD sales chart, there were no new releases to reach the top ten on the Blu-ray sales chart. In fact, the best selling Blu-ray was Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which leapt up from fourth to earned first place with 156,000 units / $2.55 million for the week giving it totals of 2.22 million units / $51.32 million after four.
More...
July 18th, 2012
New releases were nearly absent from the DVD sales chart this week with none in the top ten. This left the top five pretty much the same as last week. 21 Jump Street remained in top spot with 280,000 units / $5.03 million for the week giving it totals of 1.01 million units / $17.47 million.
More...
July 10th, 2012
Wrath of the Titans led a trio of new releases on top of the Blu-ray sales chart. It sold 800,000 units and generated $18.37 million in revenue, giving the film an opening week Blu-ray share of 55%. A visually-intensive action movie opening with a Blu-ray share above 50% is no longer a noteworthy event.
More...
July 9th, 2012
New releases dominated the DVD sales chart with four of them placing in the top five. Things were led by 21 Jump Street, which sold 869,000 units while generating $14.77 million in opening week sales. This is a fine start, but given its theatrical run, it isn't a great start. On the other hand, it didn't need a great start to break even.
More...
June 25th, 2012
It's a good week on the home market, especially for this time of year. Not only do we have a first-run release that hit $100 million at the box office, 21 Jump Street, but we have an art house film that found massive success with moviegoers, critics, and even Awards Season voters, The Artist. There are also a couple of wide releases that should have some impact on the overall sales, Mirror Mirror and Wrath of the Titans, as well as some TV on DVD releases, limited releases, catalogue titles, etc. that are also of interest. As for Pick of the Week, The Artist on Blu-ray is the most obvious choice, but The 39 Steps on Blu-ray and Sound of Noise on DVD were also in the running. Finally, Phineas and Ferb: - The Perry Files arrived late, but it too is worthy of that honor.
More...
June 7th, 2012
Men in Black 3 held on extremely well during its second weekend of release on the international scene earning an easy first place with $78.67 million on 20,554 screens in 90 markets for a total of $275.17 million internationally. This is already more than Men in Black 2 made during its entire run. Worldwide the film has $386.25 million, which is higher than the high end of the film's reported budgets. It's on track to reach between $500 million and $600 million worldwide, which is enough to put it on track to earn a profit sometime on the film's home market run. Amazingly, the film actually held on well in China, where it was down less than 30% to $15.4 million on 5,200 screens over the weekend for a total of $51 million after two. Perhaps it will reach the century mark there. In Germany, it grew by 3% to $5.32 million on 742 screens over the weekend for a total of $13.44 million. It also grew by 3% in the U.K., but fell to third place with $4.69 million on 533 screens over the weekend for a total of $12.30 million after two. In Britain, it was the Jubilee Holiday, so that explains the growth.
More...
May 16th, 2012
The Avengers reached the $1 billion worldwide milestone in a mere 19 days, tying the record set by Avatar and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II. However, this is even more impressive, as The Avengers opened domestically one week later than it opened internationally. Over the weekend the film added $93.8 million on 17,104 screens in 54 markets for totals of $635.1 million internationally and $1.01 billion worldwide. It is the first Marvel film to reach this milestone, but amazingly the fifth Disney movie to do so. There have only been twelve films to reach $1 billion worldwide, and Disney have made five of them.
More...
April 18th, 2012
Titanic 3D had an insane second weekend on re-release on the international chart earning $98.90 million on 10,066 screens in 69 markets for totals of $157.15 million internationally and $201.87 million worldwide. Its complete total is now $2.04 billion, which is a stunning figure. The majority of the film's weekend haul came from China, where it broke records with $67 million, which broke Transformers: Dark of the Moon's record opening weekend in that market. The film remained in top spot in Russia with $3.15 million on 972 screens for a total of $10.34 million after two. Its total in the U.K. rose to $12.68 million after two weeks of release, including $2.87 million on 429 screens this past weekend. At this point, I can imagine studio heads looking at every film that earned more than $300 million and trying to figure out if they can be converted to 3D or not. If it only costs $18 million to convert a film and it can make $200 million worldwide, it's an easy way to make money. Of course, it's also an easy way to over-saturate the market to the point of no return.
More...
April 11th, 2012
Wrath of the Titans is really struggling domestically, but it could mitigate some of the losses here with its box office numbers internationally. This weekend it added $42.1 million on 13,070 screens in 61 markets for a total of $151.6 million. Its best market of the weekend was Russia, where it earned $4.09 million on 1,116 screens over the weekend for a total of $19.55 million after two. It has yet to open in Japan, and if it can get to $300 million worldwide, it should break even very early in the film's home market run.
More...
April 9th, 2012
There's good news and bad news at the box office this weekend. The good news was The Hunger Games, which not only earned its third first place finish on the chart, but it also held on better than expected and crossed a major milestone. The bad news was practically everything else. Neither American Reunion or Titanic 3D matched expectations, while the overall box office suffered as a result falling 17% to $123 million. Fortunately, this was higher than last year by a margin of 6%. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011 with $2.81 billion to $2.34 billion. Unfortunately, we needed the new releases this weekend to be stronger if we have a chance of winning over the next couple weekends.
More...
April 5th, 2012
A trio of films are looking to grab top spot on the box office chart this weekend. Some think American Reunion will win. It is the latest installment in a very popular franchise, one that hasn't had a theatrical release in almost nine years. Some think Titanic 3D will lead the way. It is a 3D re-release of the second-biggest hit of all time. While still others think The Hunger Games will win for the third weekend in a row. It is by far the biggest hit of the year and topped the chart on Wednesday, despite the debut of Titanic. All three films are have a chance to make more than $30 million over the weekend. On the other hand, this weekend last year, no films made more than $30 million and only one, Hop, made more than $20 million. This means 2012 should win with ease.
More...
April 4th, 2012
The winners of our Fairest Prizes of Them All contest were determined and they are...
More...
April 2nd, 2012
Despite falling a little bit further than expected, The Hunger Games easily won the race for top spot in the box office this weekend. Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror couldn't compensate for the number one film's decline and the overall box office fell 31% to $149 million. However, and more importantly, the box office was up 19% when compared to last year. Year-to-date, 2012 has expanded its lead to 20% at $2.62 billion to $2.18 billion after three months.
More...
April 1st, 2012
Celebrations will continue at Lionsgate this weekend, as The Hunger Games continues its dominant run at the box office, dropping a creditable 60% in its second weekend in release to $61.1 million. That will be the 7th-best second weekend of all time, and take it past $250 million in 10 days. It also tops the combined box office of this weekend's second- and third-placed films: Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror will both debut with respectable figures, $34.2 million and $19 million respectively, but neither film looks likely to end up making significant amounts of money.
More...
March 30th, 2012
There are two saturation level releases coming out this week, Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror. Even so, there's a 99% likelihood that The Hunger Games will repeat on the top of the chart. Wrath of the Titans would have to nearly double its average prediction and / or The Hunger Games would have to collapse by a near record amount for there to be a new number one this weekend. Additionally, unless there's some catastrophic event that keeps people away from theaters nationwide, the overall box office should see massive growth from last year. In fact, even without The Hunger Games, there could be some growth from last year, as most analysts expect the two new releases from this year to be stronger than the three new releases from last year. The only downside is the lack of depth. John Carter should place sixth with $2 million over the weekend, but that wouldn't even be enough for a top ten finish last year.
More...
March 23rd, 2012
There are two saturation level releases coming out next week, and while Wrath of the Titans is opening wider, we're picking Mirror Mirror as the target film in this week's Box Office Prediction Contest. We are doing this because the prizes this week are costumes from HalloweenCostumes.com. Specifically, the winners will be able to choose from their Storybook / Fairytale line, if you want to dress up for Mirror Mirror. Or from the The Avengers line, for those wanting an early start for The Avengers, which kicks off the summer blockbuster season on May 4th. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Mirror Mirror.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a $50 coupon for either HalloweenCostumes.com's Storybook / Fairytale line or from the The Avengers line.
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 $50 coupon for either HalloweenCostumes.com's Storybook / Fairytale line or from the The Avengers line.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
More...
March 1st, 2012
February continued 2012's winning streak, which has now reached eight weeks. Will that streak continue in March? I'm not sure it will. There are some very good signs. For instance, last March, only one film reached $100 million, Rango, while there were a couple others that cracked $75 million, Battle: Los Angeles and Limitless. Plus the final weekend of this month lines up with the first weekend of April last year, which also had a $100 million hit, Hop. This time around, things look a whole lot better at the top with a potential $200 million hit, The Hunger Games, and two more that should hit the century mark, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, and Wrath of the Titans. Plus a couple others, 21 Jump Street and John Carter of Mars, that could top $75 million. However, there are a few weeks that look soft when compared with last year. I suspect The Hunger Games will be such a huge hit that overall March 2012 will perform better than March 2011, but I also think there will be a couple weeks of year-over-year declines. On the plus side, very few films feel like filler; in fact, there are very few films, period. Over the next five weekends, only nine films are opening wide, which is odd for this time of year. In fact, it would be slow for the heart of summer, when most weeks have a blockbuster and one counter-programming film. Will this help the overall box office, as no films will be squeezed out? Or will the lack of choices hurt the box office? We will soon find out, but I remain cautiously optimistic.
More...
