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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April 25th, 2012
Think Like a Man was a surprise hit and the only film to top $10,000 on the per theater chart. However,
Darling Companion came very, very close with an average of $9,991 in four theaters.
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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 17th, 2012
Shame was made to win Oscars, I don't think there's any doubt about that. It debuted in limited release in early December, which is the perfect time to release an Award Season player. It was rated NC-17, so it was clearly not going for a mainstream audience. However, while the film earned a number of film festival and critic association awards, it was almost entirely passed over by the major awards voters earning just one Independent Spirit Award nomination. On the other hand, many thought Michael Fassbender was a leading contender for at least a Best Actor Oscar nomination. So was this film passed over because of its subject matter? Or was it merely a good movie, but not an Award-worthy movie? Or maybe it was over-hyped?
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January 4th, 2012
Iron Lady led a group of six films in the $10,000 earning a per theater average of $55,102. This is better than expected and shows the Oscar buzz for Meryl Streep is overcoming the middling overall reviews. Last week's winner, Pina, remained strong with an average of $23,874 in three theaters. I expect it will expand somewhat and earn a small measure of mainstream success. A Separation opened with an average of $19,827 in three theaters and with possible Oscar glory, it continues to do well. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has already earned a significant measure of mainstream success and with an average of $19,043 in 55 theaters this past weekend, it had its best weekend yet. It did cost $21 million to make, so it will need to continue to do well for quite some time before it makes profitability likely. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close's first full weekend went well earning an average of $18,463 in three theaters. It has a shot at expanding wide in a couple weeks, assuming it holds on relatively well over the next couple weeks. The final film in the $10,000 club was Pariah, which earned an average of $12,145 in four theaters. It earned just over $100,000 from Wednesday through Monday.
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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 16th, 2011
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations and the Awards Season picture started to look a whole lot clearer. The Artist led the way with six nominations, while The Descendents and The Help were right behind with five apiece.
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December 14th, 2011
Three new releases were able to reached the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart, while there were three holdovers that were able to join them. Leading the way was Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with an outstanding average of $77,641 in four theaters. Young Adult opened with nearly the same total, but was playing in eight theaters giving it an average of $38,783. We Need to Talk About Kevin earned $24,587 in one theater during its Oscar qualifying run. A Dangerous Method spent its third weekend in the $10,000 club with an average of $19,234 in four theaters. However, it has seen in per theater average cut by more than half since its opening, and it has yet to expand. The Artist has also seen its per theater average fall, but it expanded its theater count to sixteen this past weekend and still earned an average of $18,460. It is already an art house success and will soon start earning some measure of mainstream success. Shame more than doubled its theater count, but hung onto a spot in the $10,000 club with an average of $13,496 in 21 theaters.
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December 6th, 2011
We are right in the prime of Awards Season and over the weekend there were three films earning very impressive per theater averages and two of those films were recently given Independent Spirit Award Nominations. Leading the way for the second weekend in a row was The Artist with an average of $35,211 in six theaters. It is still barely in theaters, but it is already halfway to $1 million. Being a silent film will likely keep the film from expanding truly wide, but it should grab some measure of mainstream success. Shame debuted in second place with an average of $34,952 in ten theaters. It is rare for an NC-17 film to do this well. Rounding out the $10,000 club was A Dangerous Method placed third with an average of $29,894, while still playing in four theaters.
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December 4th, 2011
Breaking Dawn, Part 1 will complete a hat-trick of wins this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday, but the fact that it can do so while falling almost 60% from last weekend shows just how weak business is overall. Based on the numbers reported so far, this will be the second-slowest weekend of the year, after the weekend of September 9 as moviegoers switch to Holiday shopping.
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December 2nd, 2011
Since there are no wide releases this weekend, the box office will be looking to limited releases to help boost the numbers. Last year the biggest release was The Warrior's Way, which made just over $3 million during its opening weekend. Obviously no limited release is going to match that this weekend. However, The Warrior's Way finished with less than $6 million and that figure might be within reach for a couple limited releases. Shame has the best shot at reaching that level of box office success, but Outrage is also earning great reviews.
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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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November 30th, 2011
As it does every year, Independent Spirit Award nominations kick off the unofficial start of Awards Season. This year there were two films that topped the list of nominations: The Artist and Take Shelter. Both of those films earned five nominations, but they weren't the only films to be singled out.
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