April 4th, 2012
New releases really dominated the Blu-ray sales chart taking the top four spots and five of the top six. Leading the way was The Muppets with 967,000 units / $24.16 million. Its opening week Blu-ray ray share was 52%, which is stunning for a live action family film. In fact, it's would good for a visually impressive action film.
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April 3rd, 2012
New releases dominated the DVD sales chart earning the top three spots and five of the top ten. Leading the way was The Muppets with 884,000 units / $15.05 million. This is a little weaker than I would like, but perhaps it performed better on Blu-ray. I'm not overly optimistic, because live action kids movies tend to struggle on high definition.
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March 28th, 2012
The Adventures of Tintin led all new releases and took top spot on the Blu-ray sales chart. It sold 504,000 units and generated $11.09 million in opening week sales. This represents an opening Blu-ray share of very nearly 50%, which is an excellent start for a kids film.
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March 20th, 2012
It's another week were there are a lot of Awards Season players hitting the home market and a lot of screeners that are late. There are a trio of films that are high on the list of contenders for Pick of the Week. These include two serious drama / thrillers: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on Blu-ray Combo Pack and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on Blu-ray. However, in the end, I went with the extreme other end of the serious scale with The Muppets's Wocka Wocka Value Pack
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March 18th, 2012
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was seen as a favorite to be an Awards Season player very early on. However, something strange happened as its release date neared. The buzz evaporated. It didn't sour, so the film wasn't busted Oscar Bait; the buzz just got really quiet. It did earn a trio of Oscar nominations, but otherwise it was mostly forgotten. Did it deserve better? Or was it passed over for a reason? And shouldn't the title be, Tinker COMMA Tailor COMMA Soldier COMMA Spy? I can't tell you how much that bugs me every time I have to type that name.
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February 22nd, 2012
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try to figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we will look at the two writing categories, starting with Best Adapted Screenplay. This is not a particularly close race with one obvious favorite and a couple that are long shots with a shot.
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February 16th, 2012
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, and up next is Best Actor. This category is actually competitive with two actors in a relatively close race for the top.
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January 24th, 2012
Yesterday was one of the biggest days during Awards Season as The Oscar nominations were announced in the morning. It was a two horse race for top spot as far as the big winners are concerned. Hugo earned the most nominations with eleven, while The Artist was right behind with ten. However, one could argue The Artist is the bigger winner, as more of its nominations were in the more prestigious categories.
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January 19th, 2012
It's very early in the year, but so far 2012 is on a winning streak. Will that streak continue this weekend? This weekend we have three wide releases, Underworld: Awakening, Red Tails, and Haywire, plus a wide expansion, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Conversely, last year there was only one wide release, No Strings Attached, plus only one holdover that earned more than $10 million, The Green Hornet. This year we should have five films earning more than $10 million and this depth should help 2012 earn a win in the year-over-year comparison.
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January 18th, 2012
It was a busy week on the per theater chart with five films in the $10,000 club; however, all but one of those films were holdovers. Leading the way was We Need to Talk About Kevin, which returned to theaters after its week-long Oscar qualification run. It earned an average of $21,123 in two theaters. Pina doubled its theater count, but remained strong in second place with an average of $20,740 in six theaters. Even if it doesn't expand significantly, it will reach some major milestones. Despite mixed reviews, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is earning very strong legs. This past weekend it dipped just 8% while earning an average of $15,172 in six theaters. It expands wide on Friday and it should do quite well. The only new release of the week to reach the $10,000 club was Sophomore, which opened with an estimated $13,000 in its lone theater. Finally, we get to A Separation, which earned an average of $11,977 in six theaters. Hopefully it will expand to take advantage of is success thus far.
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January 10th, 2012
The $10,000 club was again crowded this week and, as expected for this time of year, it was filled almost entirely by holdovers. Iron Lady remained the top film with an average of $35,275 in five theaters and it should start hitting major milestones very soon. Pina's average grew, again, reaching $27,676 in three theaters. Hopefully it will start expanding quickly, before its momentum fades. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close earned an average of $16,521 in six theaters. Its mixed reviews haven't taken too much of a toll, yet. A Separation doubled its theater count, but its per theater average remained relatively steady at $15,440. The overall box office leader, The Devil Inside, was next at $14,763. Finally, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia opened with $10,652 in one theater.
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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 4th, 2012
The nominees for this year's Producers Guild of America were announced and there were not a lot of surprises. For instance, nine of the ten nominees for Theatrical Motion Pictures also earned Golden Globe Nominations for either Best Drama or Best Musical / Comedy. Four of the five Animated films also did the same. It does make the Awards Season picture a lot clearer going forward, but it makes coming up with something to say much harder.
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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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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 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 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 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 11th, 2011
A dismal weekend is predicted all round this weekend, and the total box office is set to record its poorest score in three years, and its worst December weekend in over a decade. With Breaking Dawn, Part 1 continuing its rapid decline, and no hits coming out since, the top of the chart has a decidedly anemic look to it. New Year's Eve will be top with around $13.7 million, a number that is miles behind last year's $56.3 million debut for Valentine's Day. The Sitter will come second with $10 million, which is less of an embarrassment, given its edgier nature, but still well below par.
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December 9th, 2011
It's an excellent week for limited releases with several films earning reviews that are strong enough to suggest they can thrive in limited release (Tomatometer Scores of 80% positive or more). There are even a few that have reviews that are strong enough to suggest they will be players during Awards Season. Of these, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy probably has the best shot at winning awards, but Young Adult likely has the best shot at mainstream success.
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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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