August 22nd, 2012
Doctor Seuss' The Lorax was the first new release to top the Blu-ray Sales Chart in a while. It sold 1.73 million units and generated $34.65 million in revenue. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 47%, which is outstanding for a kids movie. In fact, it generated more revenue from Blu-ray than it did from DVD, so it is clear Blu-ray has taken over the mainstream market. Granted, some types of releases, like dramas, live action kids movies, documentaries, TV shows, etc. still sell much better on DVD than they do on Blu-ray, but those days could be numbered as well.
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August 15th, 2012
It looks like the Batman films will finally be slipping out of the top five in the coming weeks. Batman Begins came in first place in terms of units topping Hatfields & McCoys 192,000 units to 186,000 units. However, Hatfields & McCoys easily won in terms of revenue with $4.63 million to $1.91 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 34%, which is good for a TV mini-series, but below average for the format.
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August 7th, 2012
There was very little activity from the new releases on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, but slightly more than there was on the DVD sales chart. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight remained in the top two spots. Batman Begins added 253,000 units / $2.53 million over the week for totals of 2.1 million units / $26 million. That would be really good for a first run release, for a film that predates Blu-ray, it is awesome. The Dark Knight sold 213,000 units / $4.53 million over the week for totals of 7.5 million units / $121 million. It has likely sold more units than Avatar, but will need a few more weeks like this to top Avatar's total revenue.
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June 7th, 2012
Getting caught up on the Blu-ray sales chart after a massive overhaul of the database, which hopefully you didn't notice too much. We're splitting the two weeks into two articles, otherwise they would be just too cumbersome. We start with the week ending May 20th, which featured six new releases on the chart. Top spot went to The Grey with 375,000 units sold, but in terms of revenue, it was in second place with $7.50 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 51%, which even just last year would have been momentous, but now is standard for a first-run release for any action or adventure film.
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May 23rd, 2012
The same four new releases that charted on the DVD sales chart also charted on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, with just one addition. (And that one addition is actually related to the top film.) Leading the way was Underworld: Awakening, which earned $11.77 million from 590,000 units sold. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 56%, which is becoming commonplace for action films.
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May 16th, 2012
We are in the slowest time of year on the home market, and it is really showing on the Blu-ray sales chart. There were only three new releases to place on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, and only one of them earned a respectable opening week Blu-ray share. Haywire opened in first place with 185,000 units / $3.69 million giving it a Blu-ray share of 49%. That's a solid percentage for a film that struggled to find an audience in theaters.
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May 15th, 2012
New releases dominated the top of the DVD sales chart this week. This includes two films that could make a claim for first place: Joyful Noise and New Year's Eve. Joyful Noise led the way in terms of units at 399,000 units to 390,000 units, but New Year's Eve led the way in terms of raw dollars at $7.02 million to $6.38 million. Given their respective production budgets, this is a good start on the home market.
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May 8th, 2012
There were only two new releases to earn a spot on the Blu-ray sales chart, but one of them, Contraband, took top spot on the chart. The film sold 510,000 units / $10.19 million giving it an opening week Blu-ray share of 52%. At this point, any action film that doesn't open with a 50% Blu-ray share should be considered a disappointment.
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May 8th, 2012
Contraband benefited from a really weak slate of new releases and this helped it earn first place on the DVD sales chart. During its first week of release, it sold 470,000 units and generated $7.52 million, which is good given its box office numbers.
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May 2nd, 2012
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol led all new releases topping the Blu-ray sales chart with an impressive debut of 1.34 million units / $29.51 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was an outstanding 67%. As a result of this fantastic opening, I'm making a bold prediction. By the end of the year, a summer blockbuster will open with a Blu-ray share of 75%.
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May 2nd, 2012
There were not a lot of new releases to reach the top 30 on the DVD sales chart this week and only one of them reached the top five. We did have a new number one film, as Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol easily topped the chart with 661,000 units / $10.24 million. This is a disappointing start for a film that made $200 million in theaters. Fortunately, it did better on Blu-ray.
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April 25th, 2012
This literally could turn out to be the worst week of the year on the Blu-ray sales chart. The best-selling new release was The Darkest Hour, which only managed 158,000 units / $3.17 million. The only good news is the film's opening week Blu-ray share, which was an impressive 54%.
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April 18th, 2012
This is becoming a pattern on the Blu-ray sales chart. Just like it has been for the past few weeks, new releases were soft. Granted, War Horse did top the Blu-ray sales chart, but with just 314,000 units / $7.84 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 36%, which is about average for the format.
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April 17th, 2012
This week's list of DVD and Blu-ray releases is dominated by Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The Blu-ray Combo Pack is worth picking up, but you'll want the Best Buy exclusive, or perhaps you want to tell studios to stop doing retailer exclusives, as they are annoying. That added complication is the reason I'm not awarding the release Pick of the Week, but there are not a lot of other films worthy either. Shame has two amazing performances, but the Blu-ray Combo Pack doesn't have a lot of extras. Fans of nature documentaries might want Frozen Planet: The Complete Series on Blu-ray or IMAX: Born to be Wild on 3D Combo Pack. But in the end, I went with the underseen The Last Rites of Joe May on DVD.
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April 15th, 2012
The Mission: Impossible franchise has been in theaters since 1996. It's rare for a movie franchise to last that long, and even rarer for the latest installment to feel fresh. For instance, I was disappointed in the third installment, outside of the introduction of Simon Pegg's character and a few smaller parts of the film. On the other hand, the film's reviews were better than the first two, so I am in the minority opinion there. Many think Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol is the best the franchise has to offer. Will I agree? Or will I go against the majority opinion again?
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March 21st, 2012
John Carter's international run is heavenly, at least compared to its domestic run. It's weak compared to its production budget. This weekend it added $40.7 million in 54 markets for a total of $126.10 million. It opened huge in China with $10.4 million, while it held on reasonably well in Russia earning $6.60 million on 939 screens over the weekend for a total of $26.10 million after two. At this pace, getting to $200 million internationally and $300 million worldwide might be difficult. And that would be the minimum needed to save face.
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February 15th, 2012
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island climbed into first place with $30.0 million on 8,580 screens in 30 markets for a total of $79.20 million. To put this into perspective, its predecessor made $140 million in total, which is a figure this film could match, even if it didn't have any additional markets left to open in. Its biggest opening this weekend was in China where it earned $9.5 million, while it was also a big hit in Russia with $6.97 million on 1,021 screens. The film debuts in France and Spain this weekend, and has yet to open in Italy, Germany, Japan, and other markets.
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February 8th, 2012
Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol has reached two milestones since last week, reaching $400 million internationally and $600 million worldwide. It added $24.31 million on 6,259 screens in 51 markets over the weekend and now has $420.83 million internationally and $626.03 million worldwide. Of its weekend haul, $20 million came from China, which was $7 million more than last week's opening.
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February 1st, 2012
It was a good weekend for Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol. It crossed $200 million domestically and jumped back to first place on the international chart with $25.23 million on 6,411 screens in 56 markets. It now has $369.37 million internationally and $571.93 million worldwide, which is the best in the franchise. The film earned first place with $12.7 million on 3000 screens in China, but had to settle for second place in Italy with $3.01 million on 575. It will quickly cross $600 million worldwide, even though it has no more major markets left to open in.
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January 30th, 2012
January completed the sweep this weekend, despite slipping 6% from last weekend to $126 million over the weekend. This was still 16% higher than the same weekend last year, meaning three out of the four weekends in January saw double-digit gains over 2011 and by the end, 2012's lead over 2011 was 12% at $812 million to $726 million. I'm starting to get a little optimistic and hopefully this trend will continue next month.
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January 18th, 2012
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows remained on top of the international chart with $27.4 million in 57 markets for totals of $222.0 million internationally and $392.2 million worldwide. The film's only major market opening came in Brazil where it topped the chart with $3.37 million on 446 screens. With openings in France and Japan still ahead, Game of Shadows should top $300 million internationally, while it has a shot at $500 million worldwide.
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January 18th, 2012
Since its release last April, Born to be Wild 3D has earned $20 million on IMAX screens worldwide. That's a very impressive number for a documentary, plus it still has few more markets left to open in. Also, since we last reported, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol reached $50 million on IMAX run.
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January 18th, 2012
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day long weekend was mostly filled with good news, with all three films doing at least respectable business, while we had a couple holdovers which beat expectations. Contraband was surprisingly strong earning top spot with relative ease. And while it couldn't match The Green Hornet's debut from last year, the overall box office was very solid at $132 million over three days and $163 million over four. The three-day total was 5% lower than last weekend, but 1.5% higher than last year. The four-day total was 2.6% higher than last year. It's obviously way too early to judge 2012's box office run, but at the moment it is 14% higher than last year's pace at $483 million to $423 million.
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January 15th, 2012
With Beauty and the Beast disappointing slightly over the 3-day MLK frame, Contraband will take first place by a fairly comfortable margin, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. The action movie is set to pick up about $24.1 million, per Universal, while Disney pegs Beast's Friday-Sunday total at $18.5 million. Joyful Noise will bring in a solid, if slightly disappointing, $11.3 million for Warner Bros..
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January 12th, 2012
This weekend is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which is not one of the biggest long weekends at the box office. (It is just too close to Christmas / New Year's to really help boost the box office significantly.) There are three films opening wide, Beauty and the Beast 3D, Contraband, and Joyful Noise, plus another film, The Iron Lady, which is expanding enough that it could reach the top ten. I don't think any of them will match last year's winner, The Green Hornet, which pulled in $33.53 million during its opening weekend. However, one can hope all three wide releases reach their potential and 2012 will come out ahead of 2011.
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January 11th, 2012
It's clear that Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows won't surpass its predecessor domestically, while it will be difficult to avoid that fate internationally. That said, it did climb into first place on the international chart with $44.9 million in 51 markets over the weekend for a total of $180.6 million after four weeks of release, while its worldwide total reached $337.6 million. It debuted in first place in a couple major markets this past weekend. In Australia it earned $6.65 million on 386 screens, while in Spain it managed $4.67 million on 459. Even if it had no major markets left to open in, it still would get to $250 million internationally. With debuts in Brazil, France, and Japan ahead, it could reach north of $300 million.
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January 10th, 2012
Wow. That was a shock. The first weekend of 2012 was amazingly strong. Not only did the only new wide release start off much, much stronger than expected, but almost all of the holdovers also held on better than expected. Maybe a lot of people made New Year's resolutions to watch more movies. Compared to last week, the box office was down just shy of 10% to $139 million; however, it was a post-holiday weekend, so this dip was to be expected. In fact, it was rather shallow. Compared to last year, the overall box office was up 25%, which is fantastic. Let's hope this is a sign of things to come.
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January 8th, 2012
The Devil Inside came out of nowhere to win this weekend's race at the box office, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Its $34.5 million debut is well ahead of expectations and will likely place it second or third on the list of all-time January opening weekends when final numbers are released on Monday. (See full list of January record weekends.) This performance is a welcome boost to overall business, which is coming off a disappointing 2011. Total box office for the weekend should be about 30% up from this weekend last year.
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January 5th, 2012
After the depressing box office results of 2011 (to be fair, the box office did reach $10 billion for the third time in a row, which is no small amount of money, but week after week we saw year-over-year declines) the industry is pretty desperate to turn things around and we do have some reasons to be hopeful this weekend, mainly because the comparable weekend last year was so bad. Most analysts think The Devil Inside will top last year's lone wide release, Season of the Witch, so if the holdovers can do their part, maybe we can start the year with a win. Then again, I've been hopeful before the weekend many, many times recently, only to be crushed when the box office numbers come in.
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January 5th, 2012
Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol remained in first place on the international chart with $45.86 million on 7,342 screens in 50 markets for a total of $227.01 million internationally and $359.42 million worldwide. This includes a first place, $12.77 million opening on 509 screens in the U.K. It had to settle for second place in Mexico with $1.32 million on 1,065 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $6.64 million and in Brazil with $1.04 million on 501 screens over the weekend and a total opening of $6.02 million. The film has almost caught up with Mission: Impossible: III and is closing in on the average for the franchise.
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January 4th, 2012
Now that the holidays are over, we have some updates for Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol's IMAX run, and it's great news. After three weeks of release, the film has made $33.1 million domestically, or close to a quarter of its entire box office run. It as also pulled in $13.0 million internationally for a worldwide total of $46.1 million. Since its early entrance into IMAX seemed to have helped those numbers while not hurting its overall numbers, I suspect more studios will consider this strategy in the future.
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January 3rd, 2012
2011 ends and 2012 begins, but the new beginnings didn't change. The overall box office rose to $155 million over the weekend, $200 million if you include Monday. This is higher than last weekend, but since Christmas landed on the weekend, this was to be expected. It is troubling that for the three-day portion of the weekend, the box office was 3% lower than last year, which is weaker than expected. 2011 ended with $10.22 billion, which was 3% lower than 2010. Attendance was down 4%, meaning the year had the lowest tickets sales since 1995. We can only hope the next 52 weeks are better than the last 52 weeks were.
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January 1st, 2012
Mission: Impossible will enjoy another weekend at the top of the chart, according to studio estimates released on Sunday, and 2011 will end on a small uptick from 2010, but a lackluster Holiday Season overall will cap a year where the total box office will fall around 3% and ticket sales will be down 4%, making the year as a whole the worst for ticket sales since 1995 (full historical analysis here).
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December 29th, 2011
The New Year's Eve weekend is one of the most prosperous at the box office, but it also usually has no wide releases. This is the case this year, for the most part. War Horse and The Darkest Hour will have their first full weekends at the box office, but that's as close as we have to a new release. This means it is unlikely there will be many major changes in the ranking of the top five films and Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol has a clear shot at first place. Also, because Christmas Eve fell on Saturday, we should see strong growth across the board. Anything less than double-digit growth by any film will be considered a disappointment. This means we could actually end 2011 on a winning note compared to 2010. It wouldn't be enough to make a difference in the big picture, but a win is a win.
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December 27th, 2011
Due to the placement of Christmas Day, we are still dealing with mostly studio estimates for weekend numbers. However, while we wait for the final numbers, we can look at some of these early results and compare them to expectations and in some cases use them predict how these films will end their theatrical runs. (In some cases, there's not enough information to guess where it will go in the future.) As for the overall box office numbers, we don't know if the final tally will be higher or lower than last year, but I'm not optimistic.
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December 26th, 2011
A mess of Wednesday, Friday and Sunday openings makes for a somewhat confusing picture at the box office over Christmas weekend, but Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol came out the clear-cut winner according to studio estimates released on Sunday and Monday. Its weekend haul of approximately $29.5 million left it $9 million clear of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which is the only other movie that can claim to be really strong at the box office at this point in time.
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December 21st, 2011
This year Christmas is a mess, when it comes to the box office. There are six films opening or expanding wide spread over six days. This includes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was bumped up at the last minute and opened on Tuesday. At the other end of the time frame, War Horse and The Darkest Hour don't open till Sunday. The number of films virtually guarantees at least two will struggle at the box office, but hopefully by spreading out the releases, moviegoers will be able to spread their daily movie contact among the new releases. That is if people will bother going to the movies. The longer the slump continues, the more likely it is due to a systemic issue. When people stop going to the movies, they don't see as many trailers and posters for upcoming releases and they are less excited about upcoming releases and, therefore, they are less likely to see movies in the future. It's a vicious cycle. Last year wasn't a great weekend at the box office, because Christmas Eve, which is a dead zone at the box office, landed on a Friday. This year it lands on a Saturday, so it could be even worse.
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December 21st, 2011
New releases dominated the international chart starting with Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, which debuted in first place with $69.49 million on 6,693 screens in 42 markets. It debuted in first place in Japan with $7.35 million on 636 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $9.32 million. It also placed first in neighboring South Korea with $7.18 million on 948 screens over the weekend and $8.67 million in total. Other first place openings included Australia with $4.23 million on 414 and Spain with $2.64 million on 528. It had to settle for second place in Russia, but still managed $6.08 million on 1099 screens and in France with $5.03 million on 616. The final major market release of the week was Germany, where it earned second place with $3.48 million on 577 screens over the weekend for a total of $4.00 million. The film has yet to open in Brazil, the U.K., Italy and Scandinavia, among other markets, and should finish in a similar range to the other films in the franchise.
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December 20th, 2011
When Paramount announced they were going to release Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol as an IMAX exclusive for the first five days, it was a bit of a risk. However, it appears the experiment paid off, as the film opened with $10.5 million on 300 IMAX screens, for an IMAX per-screen average of $35,000. This was reportedly the best per screen average for a December release for the format; however, since it was only playing in 125 additional theaters, the IMAX numbers were inflated. Internationally, the film earned $3.4 million on 89 screens, while it has a few major markets left to debut in.
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December 20th, 2011
It was a busy week on the per theater chart with several films in the $10,000 club. These were led by Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol with $30,083, but given its unusual opening, it's hard to judge this start. (More on its IMAX run later today.) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy expanded from four to sixteen theaters, but remained potent with an average of $28,549. Some measure of mainstream success is guaranteed, even if it is failing to live up to expectations during Awards Season. On the other hand, The Artist is starting to clean up during Awards Season and this is helping its per theater average remain strong at $16,904. It should have no trouble expanding some more, even if the nature of the film will prevent it from becoming a hit in Megaplexes. Carnage debuted with an average of $15,959 in five theaters, which is disappointing given its pedigree. The overall box office leader, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, was the final film in the $10,000 club earning an average of $10,704.
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December 19th, 2011
Well, serves me right for being optimistic. The box office was again filled with disappointments and both wide releases missed expectations, which is bad. They missed expectations by a combined $30 million, which is a disaster. I was going to say, "At least it wasn't as bad as last week!", but that's damning it with faint praise. The overall box office did grow by 57% to $118 million; however, since last weekend was the worse weekend in a few years, this not a reason to celebrate. Compared to last year, the drop-off was 12%. With two weeks left in the year, 2011 is behind 2010's pace by 4% at $9.71 billion to $10.12 billion with no hope of catching up. At this point, the only thing to do is looking forward to 2012 and hope the slump we are in now doesn't extend past the new year.
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December 18th, 2011
While openings of about $40 million for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and $23.5 million for Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip Wrecked are good in comparison to recent openings, both films will fall well below the openings of their predecessors. 2009's Sherlock Holmes posted an opening of $62.3 million and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel posted $48.9 million. So the two movies combined are off almost $50 million from their openings two year ago at a time when the industry badly needs a shot in the arm.
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December 16th, 2011
Next week is a mess when it comes to new releases. While there are five films opening wide or expanding wide next week, only one of those is doing so on the Friday, but I don't think it will be the biggest hit of the week. The biggest hit of the week should be Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, but that opens tonight before expanding on Wednesday. The second biggest should be The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, and since it should be the biggest new release of the week, it is the target film in this week's contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Family Guy: Volume 9 on DVD.
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 Family Guy: Volume 9 on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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December 16th, 2011
The box office has given us disappointment after disappointment for a long time. It is getting to the point where no matter how strong a film looks on paper, I expect it to struggle at the box office. This week, we have three or four major releases, depending on how you define things. Both Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows are opening in roughly 3,700 theaters, while Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol is opening in 400 theaters and Young Adult is expanding into nearly 1,000 theaters. All four films should place within the top five. They should also do well when compared to last year's batch of new releases / expansions. The best new release from this week last year was Tron: Legacy, which made $44 million. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows should top that with ease, and the combined strength of the rest should help 2011 earn a solid win. Then again, I've said that before recently and ended up being disappointed the following Monday.
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December 1st, 2011
Well... game over. At the beginning of November, 2011's total box office was $340 million behind 2010's pace. We needed that gap to be closed significantly by the end of the month, but it actually grew wider. So now that there's virtually no chance that 2011 will avoid a year-over-year decline at the box office, not unless there's a surprise Avatar coming out this month. But is there at least some hope for the next four weeks? Last December six films reach $100 million, including one that opened in limited release and expanded wide, but none reached $200 million. This year, four are practically sure bets at $100 million, including one or two that could reach $200 million. Plus, there are four others that should make between $75 million and $100 million. I doubt all of them will reach the century mark, but if one did, it wouldn't be a shock. Then there's a couple of limited releases that should expand wide and, maybe, if one of them becomes the big play during Awards Season, it could reach $100 million as well. Even if every film beat expectations, 2011 won't come out ahead. But maybe if enough do, we can at least end the year on a high note. Unfortunately it has come down to that. Instead of talking about the box office record being broken, we are hoping 2011 doesn't end on yet another sour note.
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October 12th, 2011
Real Steel broke records on IMAX during its debut, earning $4.4 million on 332 screens worldwide. This includes $3.2 million on 270 domestic screens, which was a record for the month of October. It also managed $1.2 million on 62 international screens, with openings in several significant markets in the coming weeks.
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January 20th, 2011
There were a trio of news items relating to IMAX this past week, starting with box office numbers for The Green Hornet, which were good, but not great. The film managed $3.0 million on 173 screens over four days, which gave it a per screen average significantly higher than in regular theaters, but not by as much as some other releases. I think this was because it was a better than expected marginal release. There were likely two groups of people who were on the fence about this movie: those that wanted to see it, but weren't willing to pay IMAX prices, and those who wanted to see it, but were willing to wait for the home market. Better than expected reviews are more likely to change the minds of the latter group than the former, resulting in a higher than expected overall box office, but not as much change in IMAX. That said, this is still a good result, especially for this time of year.
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