November 1st, 2011
The selection of home market releases is rather soft this week. Sure, Cars 2 was a major hit at the box office, but it is the only major hit on this week's list. The best selling TV on DVD release is Californication, which is a cable show, while the top ten selling titles according to Amazon.com include limited releases, catalogue titles and direct-to-DVD releases. There are more second-tier Christmas releases than any other type of release. There are far fewer titles that are worth picking up than last week, and the the Pick of the Week contenders are even more limited. Transformers: Beast Wars comes out on a Complete Series Collection and that could be Pick of the Week material, but I'm still waiting for the screener.
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October 27th, 2011
The Trip is a pseudo-sequel to Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. Both movies were directed by Michael Winterbottom and both movies feature Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing fictionalized versions of themselves. The original mini-series was cut down to a feature-length running time, but does it still work? Or was too much cut for it to be compelling?
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October 12th, 2011
It's not a particularly strong week on the home market. The biggest first run release coming out this week is Horrible Bosses, which was a surprise $100 million hit. Green Lantern will likely be the best selling release of the week, but it disappointed with critics and at the box office. As far as the best of the best goes, The Tree of Life Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack is the best bet as far as Pick of the Week goes, bu there are a few others that are worth picking up. There are also a couple of late arrivals that deserve honorable mentions this week: Castle: Season Three and Dumbo - Blu-ray Combo Pack.
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September 21st, 2011
Restless won the race to the top of the per theater chart with $15,467 in its lone theater. However, given its reviews, I don't think the word of mouth will be there to help it expand. The Lion King was second with an average of $12,941. The Mill and the Cross was the only other film to cross $10,000 at $11,354 over the weekend and $15,443 from Wednesday through Sunday.
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July 19th, 2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow, Part 2 added another record over the weekend earning the highest per theater average for a wide release with $38,672, surpassing the previous record holder, The Dark Knight. However, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour still holds the record for best per theater average for a number one film at $45,561. That record might not be broken till the $200 million opening weekend milestone is cracked. The only other member of the $10,000 club was Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness, which grew by a few percent to $20,998. Its ability to expand is untested, but growth is always a good sign.
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June 14th, 2011
The Tree of Life remained in top spot on the per theater chart with an average of $17,596 in 47 theaters. It will clearly expand further, and it is safe to say it has already earned some measure of mainstream success. The Trip opened well with an average of $12,984 in six theaters. It did earn great reviews, so it might last a long time in theaters. On the other hand, I think its target audience is too narrow to expand significantly. Beginners was in a virtual tie with an average of $12,793. It will start hitting milestones soon. Super 8 opened with an average of $10,492 while in saturation level theater count.
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June 12th, 2011
As someone on Twitter put it this morning, Super 8's $37 million opening takes E.T.'s lifetime gross to $472 million.
The robust opening for J.J. Abrams homage to Steven Spielberg will satisfy Paramount, especially with the heart of the Summer season ahead of it, good reviews and great word-of-mouth. $100 million should be easily achieved from this beginning, and even better numbers aren't out of the question. For a film that reportedly cost $50 million, that's not bad going.
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June 10th, 2011
While this week's list of limited releases isn't as long as some in the past couple of months, it does have one of the best-reviewed films of the summer, The Trip. And while Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are not exactly household names here, the latest film by Michael Winterbottom could turn out to be his biggest hit here.
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