®
Daily Domestic Chart for Friday January 30th, 2015
| Movie | Gross | % Change | Theaters | Total Gross | Days | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (1) | American Sniper | $10,015,000 | +173% | 3,885 | $227,107,013 | 37 |
| 2 | new | Project Almanac | $3,200,000 | 2,893 | $3,200,000 | 1 | |
| 3 | (-) | Black or White | $2,270,000 | 1,823 | $2,270,000 | 59 |
18th Annual Predict the Academy Awards Competition
Today we're launching The Numbers 18th Annual Predict the Academy Awards Competition, our traditional chance for you to win some great prizes, and for all of our readers collectively to predict who will win the Oscars on February 22. The top selection for Best Picture in our contest has gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar 14 times in the previous 17 years we've run the contest, and we've correctly predicted the Best Animated Feature 11 times out of 13. That represents a batting average of over 80%—an amazing performance when you consider that there are now nine or ten nominees for Best Picture each year.
Uniquely among Oscar contests, when you make your predictions, we show you how many people have voted for each movie so far, and allow you to go back and change your choices. In fact, you can come back at any time to update your predictions as news breaks and sentiment changes about different nominees. But beware our tie-breaking rule: if multiple people correctly predict the same number of winners, whoever made their picks first will win the prize.
So enter now for your best chance of winning our grand prize: every film nominated for Best Picture on DVD or Blu-ray. We will send you all eight films that are nominated as soon as they become available on the home market, and you get to choose either the DVD or Blu-ray version.
DVD and Blu-ray Releases for January 27th, 2015
It is a really bad week for the home market with a lot of filler on the first page of the new releases on Amazon.com. Fury is the biggest release, but there are not enough extras on the DVD or Blu-ray to be a contender for Pick of the Week. The Book of Life, on the other hand, has a loaded DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack and is a contender. The only other real contender is The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness on DVD. In the end, I went with The Book of Life. More...
- Home Market Release Schedule
Latest Video Reviews:
- Más negro que la noche
- Born of War
Weekend Wrap-Up: Sniper Stable, While Next Door Survives
As expected, American Sniper earned first place, but it did so with a much stronger sophomore stint. As for the new releases, The Boy Next Door matched expectations (nearly) perfectly but the other two missed the Mendoza Line. Overall, the box office was down 21% to $159 million; however, this is good for a post-holiday weekend. Compared to last year, the overall box office was 37% higher. This kind of year-over-year growth usually only happens when holidays are misaligned. Year-to-date, 2015 is ahead of 2014 by 4.1% at $856 million to $823 million. It is obviously too soon to celebrate, but after last year's losses, I'll take any reason to be optimistic. More...
DVD Sales: Left Behind Out in Front
Left Behind led the new releases on the DVD chart, at least in terms of units sold, with 201,000. Its sales for the week were $2.05 million, giving it third place by that metric. This is not great for a first-run release, but not bad compared to the film's box office. It is also much better than its opening on Blu-ray. More...
- The Numbers Weekly DVD Sales Chart
- The Numbers Weekly Blu-ray Sales Chart
- Top-Selling DVDs of 2013
- All-Time Best-Selling Blu-ray Titles in the United States
Weekend Predictions: New Releases to Fall Victim to Sniper
There are three wide releases coming out this weekend: The Boy Next Door, Mortdecai, and Strange Magic. None of these movies are earning good reviews and none of them are likely to become even midlevel hits. As such, American Sniper will have a really, really easy time to repeat in top spot. It could drop by 80% and still earn first place this weekend. This weekend last year, the only wide release was I, Frankenstein, which bombed hard. I really hope none of the new releases open as poorly as that film did, but it is possible. Regardless, 2015 will win thanks to American Sniper's sophomore stint. More...
International Box Office: Taken Takes Top Spot
Taken 3 rose to first place during its third weekend of release earning $31.4 million in 49 markets for an international total of $99.0 million. Its biggest debut of the weekend was in the Philippines, where it earned first place with $2.5 million on 218 screens. It also earned first place in Russia, but with only $1.80 million on 1,438. Its biggest market was the U.K., where it remained in first place with $5.00 million in 500 theaters for a two-week total on $18.55 million. More...
2015 Preview: January
2014 is over and for the most part, December was a soft ending to a weak year. This is bad news for two reasons. Firstly, it means the overall box office is still soft and it is unlikely that January will start strong. Secondly, last January was a great month, thanks in part to Frozen and other holdovers. The slump can't last forever and Taken 3 should help 2015 get off to a reasonably fast start and it even has a shot at $100 million. American Sniper got off to a really fast start in limited release, so it too could be a hit when it expands wide. By comparison, last January was led by Ride Along, but there were only two other films that didn't completely bomb. I want to say 2015 will start out on a winning note, but given the box office losing streak, it will likely pay to be pessimistic. More...