May 19th, 2014
It's that time of year, the weakest time of year on the home market. This week there are four first-run releases, but only one of them earned overall positive reviews and only one of them did well at the box office. Fortunately, it was the same film, About Last Night. If you are a fan of romantic comedies, then the DVD or Blu-ray is worth picking up, but it is not Pick of the Week material. For Pick of the Week, I went with Nosferatu the Vampyre on Blu-ray.
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March 13th, 2014
300: Rise of an Empire dominated the international box office earning first place with $87.8 million on 14,478 screens in 58 markets during its opening weekend of release. The film earned first place in Russia with $8.43 million on 1,441 screens. It only managed second place in France, but with a still strong $6.08 million on 454 screens. It also had a string of first place finishes in a number of other major markets, including South Korea where it made $5.49 million on 720 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $6.42 million. Brazil was next with an opening of $5.64 million on 869 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.92 million, while Mexico was close behind with $5.47 million on 2,048. Germany took in $4.75 million on 580 screens over the weekend for a very healthy debut of $5.23 million. The U.K. earned a similar result with $4.62 million on 487, but that is one of the weaker results given the size of the market. Other major markets include Spain ($3.69 million on 710 screens); Italy ($3.33 million on 580); and Australia ($2.91 million on 467). The film has yet to open in China and Japan, but given its start in these markets, it hardly matters how well in does in those.
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March 5th, 2014
RoboCop debuted in China this past weekend and that helped it climb into first place internationally with $30.2 million in 75 markets for a total of $136.0 million internationally after a month of release. The film opened in top spot in China over the weekend with $20.67 million. The film also remained in first place in Brazil with $2.4 million on 756 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.3 million after two.
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March 3rd, 2014
Non-Stop led the way at the box office this weekend and like nearly every film in the top five, it beat expectations. Son of God did so well that it reached second place. Even The LEGO Movie had reason to celebrate, as it hit $200 million over the weekend. This helped the overall box office rise 7% from last weekend reaching $118 million. Meanwhile, this was 8% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2014 has earned $1.65 billion putting it 11% or $163 million ahead of 2013.
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February 27th, 2014
It looks like The LEGO Movie will finally relinquish top spot. Non-Stop should lead the way atop the box office charts, but there are some who think Son of God will be a surprise hit. There certainly is precedent for that prediction. While it is the last weekend in February this year, the same weekend last year was the first weekend of March. Fortunately for 2014, the first weekend of March of 2013 was a bit of a disaster as Jack the Giant Killer opened with just $27 million compared to a nearly $200 million production budget. Worse still, no other movie topped $10 million over the weekend. I don't know if Non-Stop will top Jack the Giant Killer, but overall 2014 should come out ahead of 2013.
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February 27th, 2014
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is nearly finished its international run and this week it debuted in China where it earned first place with 33.04 million 5,500 screens. The film is also playing in nine other markets, where it earned about $100,000 for a total weekend haul of $33.1 million. This lifts its totals to $637.1 million internationally and $893.7 million worldwide. The film opens in Japan this weekend and if it does well there, it could reach $1 billion worldwide.
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February 27th, 2014
The winners of our Bride of Frankenprize contest were determined and they are...
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February 24th, 2014
The LEGO Movie completed the threepeat in a dominating fashion earning more than 3 Days to Kill and Pompeii earned combined. On the other hand, neither of those films were that impressive, so beating both of them might not seem like a real accomplishment. The overall box office took a tumble, which is expected for a post-holiday weekend, but it still fell a little more than I would like, down 37% to $111 million. This is 7% more than the same weekend last year, so 2014 continued its winning ways in the year-over-year race. In fact, 2014 extended its lead to $150 million or 11% and now leads 2013 by a $1.51 billion to $1.36 billion.
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February 23rd, 2014
The LEGO Movie will see off two more challengers for box office supremacy this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. 3 Days to Kill will open with $12.3 million, soft for a film that cost $28 million, while Pompeii will barely reach $10 million, disastrous for a film that cost $80 million or $100 million, depending on who you talk to. That leaves The LEGO Movie miles ahead, with a projected $31.4 million for the weekend and $183 million or so in the bank after 17 days in release. It'll be down 37% from last weekend—an impressive result considering last weekend was a holiday.
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February 20th, 2014
There are two wide releases debuting this week, Pompeii and 3 Days to Kill. Neither film were expected to be big hits and I originally predicted $35 million for both films. Now it seems low expectations have dropped even further. Neither film has a shot at first place, which should come as no surprise, but now it looks like the two films will be battling for fifth place. The LEGO Movie will remain supreme over the weekend and will not only crush the competition this week, but will crush the competition from last year as well. Last year the two new releases were Snitch and Dark Skies, but the box office was led by Identity Thief. There's a slim chance The LEGO Movie will earn more than those three films earned combined (roughly $35 million). Even on the low end, it will earn more than the top two films earned last year. 2014 will continue to dominate 2013 in the year-over-year comparison.
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February 14th, 2014
So the Frankenprize seemed to be quite popular, so we will try that again. Choosing the target film is a bit difficult. Pompeii cost $100 million to make, so you would think the studio would be pushing it hard, but that's not the case. The buzz is really weak. On the other hand, 3 Days to Kill is being compared to Non-Stop, which opens the weekend after. I think Pompeii will be a disaster compared to its production budget, but it should still open faster. As such, it is the the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Pompeii.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win the first random prize pack.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win the second random prize pack.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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January 31st, 2014
After a weak start, January rebounded and a couple of films on last month's preview cracked $100 million at the box office. Granted, Lone Survivor is technically a December release, but Ride Along will become one of the rare January releases to reach the century mark. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be too many February releases that have a real shot at $100 million. It is very likely that The Lego Movie will reach that milestone, but most of the rest of the movies will be lucky if they reach $50 million. Last February was very similar. We had one surprise $100 million hit, Identity Thief, plus a couple of solid midlevel hits, Warm Bodies, for instance. However, for the most part, the month was one miss after another. This means 2014 could continue its winning ways, or at the very least, shouldn't fall behind 2013's pace.
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September 11th, 2007
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
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September 6th, 2007
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Valkyrie, the Love Guru, and more!
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