June 4th, 2015
The second major change in news articles this week is the consolidation of the home market columns and using the Combined DVD and Blu-ray Sales Chart. It is kind of a bad week for this change, as the new releases were a disappointment; 50 Shades of Grey remained on top on both the Blu-ray sales chart and the DVD sales chart. It sold an additional 896,000 units and generated $15.82 million for the week giving it totals of 2.27 million units / $40.20 million.
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March 29th, 2015
Despite there being five new releases on this week's DVD sales chart, there was a holdover hanging onto top spot. Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 sold 472,000 units and generated $6.36 million in sales during its first full week of release for early totals of 1.19 million units / $16.28 million.
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April 10th, 2013
Skyfall led a set of four new releases that earned spots in the top 30 on the February 17th edition of the DVD sales chart. It easily took top spot with 1.09 million units / $18.54 million, which is already enough for fourth place for the year.
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March 5th, 2013
A couple new releases topped the DVD sales chart of the week of January 20th, but they were nowhere near each other in terms of sales. Taken 2 led the way with 1.17 million units / $19.82 million. This is substantially lower than the original's opening week; however, it instantly became the best selling DVD of 2013. Plus, it sold substantially more on Blu-ray than its predecessor did.
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March 2nd, 2013
There were seven new releases to reach the top 30 on this week's DVD Sales Chart, including four releases that reached the top five. Leading the way, at least in terms of units, was Dredd, which sold 320,000 units, while it generated $4.80 million. This is weak compared to its reviews, but great compared to its box office numbers.
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February 24th, 2013
New releases were a bit of a mess, as Christmas Day was a Tuesday, so there were a few releases that came out the following Monday. One of those releases, Looper, led the Blu-ray sales chart during the week of January 6th with 317,000 units / $6.66 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was just 34%, which is lower than I was expecting.
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February 5th, 2013
This week is a little confusing on the home market, as there are two weeks of new releases to deal with. (Because Christmas landed on a Tuesday, new releases were spread throughout the week, including some the following Monday.) One of the old new releases topped the DVD sales chart, as Looper sold 553,000 units and generated $9.71 million during its first full week on the home market. This is better than I was expecting.
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February 5th, 2013
Given how bad the new releases were, it's no surprise none of them reached the top of the Blu-ray sales chart. (While Looper was awarded the Pick of the Week, it actually came out on the following Monday, while the sales week ends on Sunday, so the numbers will be included in next week's results.) The Dark Knight Rises returned to first place with 314,000 units / $7.65 million for the week giving it totals of 3.90 million units / $79.93 million. It is one of the best selling Blu-rays of all time and about 50% more than The Dark Knight's current running tally.
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January 29th, 2013
New releases were even weaker than expected and none of them reached the top 30 of the DVD sales chart. The top five were identical to last week with Ted earning top spot for the third weekend in a row. It sold an additional 714,000 units generating $12.44 million in sales giving it totals of 3.42 million units / $57.68 million after three weeks of releases.
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January 25th, 2013
There were plenty of new releases to chart this week, but none of them were able to top the Blu-ray sales chart. In fact, most missed the top ten. This left Ted on top for the second weekend in a row with 558,000 units / $13.93 million giving it totals of 1.86 million units / $39.92 million after two. These are amazing Blu-ray totals for a comedy.
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January 23rd, 2013
While there were a number of new releases to reach the to 30 of the DVD sales chart this week, Ted was able to remain in first place. It sold an additional 1.04 million units while generating $18.59 million, lifting its totals to 2.71 million units / $45.24 million after two weeks of release.
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January 21st, 2013
There are not a lot of big releases on this week's list with End of Watch being the biggest. Conveniently, it is also the best and it is the Pick of the Week on either DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack.
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January 20th, 2013
Pitch Perfect came out in select theaters in September, which is usually a terrible way to release a movie and time of the year. However, it earned an impressive per theater average during its opening weekend, enough to warrant a wide expansion. Over the following weekends, it held on well enough to become a solid midlevel hit. By the time it reached the home market, it was already profitable, thanks in part to is low production budget. The film is clearly aimed at fans of the many music-centered TV shows, like Glee or Smash, but will it have much crossover appeal?
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December 16th, 2012
It's the last week before Christmas, which means it is the last chance for last minute gifts. There are a number of first-run releases coming out this week, some of which are not coming out till Friday, or even next Monday. There are also quite a few limited releases and TV on DVD releases hitting the home market this week. However, none of these were big hits and very few earned strong praise from critics. That doesn't mean there are none that are worth picking up. In fact, we have a trio of contenders for Pick of the Week. Shameless: The Complete Second Season on DVD or Blu-ray; Pitch Perfect on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack; and Arbitrage on DVD or Blu-ray. It was a close call, but in the end I went with Arbitrage. Also coming out this week is Rush: 2012 - CD and Blu-ray in a Deluxe Edition or Super Deluxe Edition, which is a clear winner of Puck of the Week.
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December 13th, 2012
Rise Of The Guardians reached first place on the international chart with $26.71 million on 9,620 screens in 58 markets for a total of $91.33 million. The film had no major market openings, but it did rise to first place in the U.K. with $2.57 million on 495 screens over the weekend for a total of $6.51 million after two. It also remained in first place in France with $2.86 million on 649 screens, giving it a two-week total of $7.79 million. The film does have a few more markets left to open in, including Australia this coming weekend, so it should earn enough to break even sooner rather than later.
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October 21st, 2012
After five years of Saw, and a hand-over period of a couple of years, the Paranormal Activity franchise has come to dominate the brief Halloween movie season. Showing that horror moviegoers may be more tradition-bound than any other category of film fans, Paranormal Activity 4 is set for a healthy opening this weekend, with Paramount projecting at total of $30.4 million by the end of the weekend. That's down quite a bit from the $50 million-plus debut of Paranormal Activity 3 last year, and the franchise does look like it is losing some momentum. With production budgets around $5 million, and relatively modest marketing costs, however, the studio will earn a healthy profit from this release and has, predictably, announced Paranormal Activity 5 will go into production early next year for release in October.
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October 15th, 2012
It was another good week at the box office with just about every film in the top ten at least doing as well as expected. Granted, none of the new releases were monster hits, but the depth was very good with five films topping $10 million over the weekend. Taken 2 remained in first place, so it should come as no surprise that the box office was lower than last weekend; however, it only fell 8.6% to $130 million. This is 48% more than the same weekend last year, which is a huge boost. Year-to-date, 2012 expanded its lead to 3.8% at $8.42 billion to $8.11 billion. Just a few weeks ago, it looked like 2012 would fall below 2011's pace in the end, but now things are looking a lot more optimistic.
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October 8th, 2012
Taken 2 took the competition and went to work on them. It opened much, much better than its predecessor did, doubling its opening weekend haul. It also made nearly twice as much as Hotel Transylvania and easily more than last year's number one film, Real Steel. This helped the overall box office grow by 20% from last weekend to $142 million, which is nearly 50% higher than the same weekend last year. Finally there's a reason to celebrate the box office again. One win could have been a fluke, but two is officially a streak. Year-to-date, 2012 is ahead of 2011 by 3.2% at $8.24 billion to $7.99 billion. Granted, that's off its peak from earlier in the year, but I'm happy the bleeding has stopped.
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October 7th, 2012
After Hotel Transylvania's record-breaking September opening last week, Taken 2 will make its mark on the October record book this weekend, with Fox projecting a $50 million opening, most likely enough for a place in the top 3 October weekends. The film still has a shot at ousting Paranormal Activity 3 from the top of that list, although it would have to have a very strong Sunday to break the record. Regardless of that, we're looking at another up weekend and 2012 will pull further ahead of last year's pace.
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October 4th, 2012
This weekend, there are two wide releases making their debuts, Taken 2 and Frankenweenie. Plus a previous limited release is aiming for a spot in the top five, Pitch Perfect, and another limited release that could expand into the top ten, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It's an all around busy weekend. Taken 2 should easily win the box office race earning more than the original, although it very likely won't have the same legs. More importantly, it should open with more than last year's number one film, Real Steel. The second best wide release should open better than Ides of March did, plus the holdovers this year are better than last year. Am I getting optimistic again? Yes. Keep in mind that I have had the optimism crushed a lot this year.
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October 2nd, 2012
Pitch Perfect had an explosive opening in select theaters earning more than $5 million in just over 300 theaters for an average of $15,371. Most limited releases playing in only a handful of theaters would kill for an average like that. The overall number one film, Hotel Transylvania, was in second place on the per theater chart with an average of $12,697. Last week's number one film on the per theater chart, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, remained north of $10,000 on the per theater chart this week, despite expanding into more than 100 theaters. It pulled in $1.10 million in 102 theaters for an average of $10,823. Its running tally is already enough to give it some measure of mainstream success, and this week's performance nearly guarantees further expansion. The Other Dream Team didn't quite make the $10,000 club, but with an average of $9,911 in two theaters, it was close enough to mention above the fold.
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October 1st, 2012
September ended on a record-breaking note as Hotel Transylvania finally bumped Sweet Home Alabama out of top spot on the September weekend list. That record lasted a full decade, which is amazing given the total ticket price inflation since 2002. Not only did Hotel Transylvania crush predictions, Looper also did a little bit better than predicted, a tiny bit better than predicted. This is true of just about every film in the top ten, and every little bit helps. Overall, the weekend box office surged 30% from last weekend to $118 million, which was 19% higher than the same weekend last year. Let's hope this is more than a momentary blip and the beginning of a new winning streak.
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October 1st, 2012
2012 continues its downward path. After a record-breaking spring, thanks to The Hunger Games, and a record-breaking start to the summer, thanks to The Avengers, the box office hasn't been able to maintain any real momentum. For most of the month, September was no better than August and now the year-over-year gains are just a little more than inflation. October will need to improve or 2012 will be in real trouble. Unfortunately, that might be tough. There's not a single film coming out in October that looks like it will be a guaranteed $100 million hit and there are only two films with a realistic chance, Taken 2 and Paranormal Activity 4. (There's also Cloud Atlas, which is a wild card. That movie could bomb or be the biggest hit of the month and I wouldn't be surprised either way.) There is a chance all three will get to the century mark, but there's a better chance none of them will. Last October, two films cracked $100 million: Paranormal Activity 3 and Puss in Boots, with the latter nearly reaching $150 million. I don't see any film coming close to matching that figure. On the other hand, last year there were six films that one could accurately describe as bombs. So while 2012 is weaker at the top, it could have better depth than 2011 did. Let's hope so, because we can't afford more bad news.
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September 30th, 2012
Hotel Transylvania will set a new September weekend record by a big margin this weekend, according to Sony's estimate released on Sunday morning. The film's expected $43 million debut is more than 20% bigger than Sweet Home Alabama's opening exactly ten years ago, although a 38% increase in ticket price in the last decade means it's a bit more of a marketing record than a real one. Still, $43 million is a very useful boost to the industry, which has been in the doldrums in September. In fact, this will be the first weekend of the month to record a win on the 2011 year-on-year comparison. Also helping is a great opening weekend for Looper, which will itself end up in the top 30 September weekends, with Sony projecting $21.2 million right now. All-in-all, it's a great weekend for the studio.
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September 28th, 2012
There are only four films on this week's list that we have solid theater counts for, but I've included a few others that are coming out on this week's list. The biggest limited release of the week is Pitch Perfect, which is expanding wide next Friday (assuming it doesn't bomb this weekend). However, the limited release that is earning the best reviews is The Hole 3D. I would not have guessed that would happen. Pitch Perfect will obviously earn the most in terms of raw dollars, some even think it will reach the top ten overall, but I don't think there's any film that will really be a hit on the per theater average.
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September 27th, 2012
There are two wide releases coming out this week that should be in a relatively close race for first place, plus an also-ran that will mostly be forgotten. Last week I thought Looper would win the weekend over Hotel Transylvania; however, that's probably not going to happen. Looper is definitely the better movie, but Hotel Transylvania is opening in more theaters than expected, while Looper is opening in less than expected. Both should do decent business, at least compared to the rest of September's new releases. On the other hand, Won't Back Down will likely struggle just to reach the top five. There's one more new release with a shot at a spot in the top ten, Pitch Perfect. It's opening in more than 300 theaters, which is a risky proposition. If it does open in the top ten, it could expand wide next weekend. I don't think it is very likely, but I'll have more to say with the limited release report. Last year there were four wide releases, but none of them cracked $10 million. The number one film was Dolphin Tale at just under $13 million. If we don't top that this year, we are in a world of trouble.
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