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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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News Stories About 1408
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2008-09-15
We have a big list this week with more than 50 releases. This includes very few top-notch, first run releases, but that weakness is counterbalanced by the strength in the TV on DVD department, including a few contenders for DVD Pick of the Week like Duckman - Season One & Two and Pushing Daisies - Season One on DVD or Blu-ray. If I were to choose just one release this week, it would be the former; however, I think the latter has a better chance at mainstream appeal. As I previously said, this is a huge list this week, so much so that it had to be split into two parts. Part two can be found here.
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2008-01-27
National Treasure: The Book of Secrets fell from second to sixth, but it was relatively close with $8.37 million on 3883 screens in 36 markets for a total of $143.30 million. Even if the film had no more markets left to open in, it would reach $150 million and beyond. However, it has yet to open in Germany, the U.K., and France and should top its domestic total before it is done.
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2007-12-16
The Heartbreak Kid slipped a spot to sixth with $5.04 million on 2029 screens in 46 markets for a total of $79.44 million internationally, which is more than twice what it earned domestically. This includes France where it pulled in $1.10 million on 320 screens while lifting its running tally to $3.37 million in that market.
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2007-12-09
Bee Movie returned to the charts in sixth place with $6.71 million on 1288 screens in 11 markets for an early international total of $19.43 million after a month of release. This includes a pair of first place debuts in Spain and Mexico. In the former it earned $2.81 million on 421 screens while in the latter is earned $2.60 million on 389 screens. While Spain is the larger marker, I thought the family friendly nature of Mexico would give it the edge. Even so, there are great openings for the film.
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2007-12-03
Lions for Lambs climbed a spot to sixth place with $4.34 million on 2453 screens in 53 markets for a total of $25.97 million, while only managing $1 million or more in one market this past weekend, ($1.40 million on 390 screens during its sixth place debut in France). It opens in Italy later this month and Japan in the spring of '08, but there's almost no chance the film will show a profit at this point. Normally one movie losing money isn't a big issue because the studio can rely on one or two monster hits to pay for their misses, (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix made enough money to pay for the entire budgets of half-a-dozen misses for Warner Bros. this year, and that's before the home market). However, United Artists is a newly relauched studio and they don't have a war chest built up from past victories. Stumbling out of the gate like this hurts.
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2007-11-11
Surf's Up grew by 77% in France adding $3.44 million on 628 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.36 million in total. This growth was due to the Toussaint holiday while it was enough to lift the film's weekend box office to $5.84 million on 1996 screens in 32 markets for a total of $72.34 million. The film has yet to open in Scandinavia as well as Japan and should hit $100 million internationally before it is done, which is significantly more than the $58.87 million it earned domestically, but not enough to show a profit just yet.
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2007-10-14
There was a battle for top spot on this week's DVD sales chart between two new releases.
Both Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer's and The Jungle Book's respective studios claimed top prize, but in the end Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer outsold The Jungle Book 1.47 million to 1.28 million and also led in terms of dollars, $24.04 million to $19.18 million.
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2007-10-14
New releases were not very prominent on the DVD rental chart this week, but they did have two in the top five, including the overall champion, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which made $9.46 million during its first week of release.
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2007-10-07
Hairspray managed to climb into sixth place by the narrowest of margins earning $4.59 million on 2073 screens in 37 markets for a running tally of $54.35 million. This includes a third place, $1.36 million opening on 302 screens in Italy, which is close to its opening domestically, when you take into account the relative size of the two markets. On the other hand, many muscials prove to be difficult to market internationally and it was never likely that this film would match its domestic run. However, it has already made enough to be considered a financial success.
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2007-10-01
Busy week, at least for me with seven spotlight reviews (including one double-shot from previous weeks).
Of the DVDs I've reviewed, several are easy recommendations, including 1408 - Two-Disc Collector's Edition, which is the DVD Pick of the Week.
The NHL Stanley Cup Champions 2006-2007 6-disc set would have also have been a DVD Pick of the Week if the Canucks had won and not the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
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2007-09-30
Ratatouille opening in first place in South Africa this weekend earning $298,000 on 40 screens, which is very close to what The Simpsons Movie made in its opening there a few weeks ago. Its best market of the weekend remains France where it was down a mere 4% to $1.67 million on 655 screens over the weekend for a total of $58.63 million. At this pace, the film will reach $60 million by this time next week while topping Finding Nemo's total of nearly $65 million is increasingly in reach. Overall Ratatouille added $4.66 million on 2535 screens in 27 markets for a total of $216.42 million, which is more than Cars managed, and this film still has openings in Germany, U.K., Italy, and Scandinavia.
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2007-09-28
For the first time since August, we have a film with a shot at $100 million opening next week. This film, The Dark is Rising, is also this week's target film.
To win one must simply predict the box office opening for The Dark is Rising.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win 1408 - 2-Disc Collector's Edition.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win Black Sheep on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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2007-09-23
Rush Hour 3 missed spending its fifth week in fifth place by less than $4000 at $5.69 million on 2443 screens in 31 markets for a total of $69.71 million. This weekend the film opened in first place in Russia with $2.28 million on 385 screens while it had to settle for second place in Denmark with $485,000 on 41 screens over the weekend and $517,000 in total.
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2007-09-16
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry soared into sixth place with $4.72 million on 1521 screens in 21 markets for a total of $14.61 million internationally. The film finally hit big in a non-English speaking market earning first place with $1.27 million on 364 screens in Russia, but was soft in its debuts in South Korea and Italy. In Italy it managed $683,000 on 198 screens, but that was a tiny fraction of the first place film, while in South Korea it managed just ninth place with $275,000 on 123 screens over the weekend and $312,000 in total.
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2007-09-09
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix may have fallen out of the top five, but it was able to cross $900 million worldwide since last week making it only the tenth film to do so. Over the weekend the film added $7.08 million on 4486 screens in 53 markets for a total of $626.30 million internationally, which places the film sixth place on that chart just $16 million behind Dead Man's Chest. There's not much to report for individual markets with the film down 43% during its second weekend in Greece adding $612,000 on 129 screens for a total of $2.91 million. Its best market remains Japan at $1.67 million on 605 screens over the weekend for a total of $75.18 million after seven weeks. Meanwhile, the film continues to march towards $100 million in the U.K. and after earning $796,000 on 306 screens over the weekend it now sits at $97.89 million in total.
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2007-08-12
Live Free or Die Hard was knocked out of the top five but still earned $7.15 million on 317 screens in 29 markets for a total of $192.83 million. The film opened in first place in four markets, with the biggest being Brazil at $1.60 million on 352 screens over the weekend and $2.07 million in total. At this pace the film would hit $200 million this weekend, even if it didn't open in Australia, while it will top Die Hard with a Vengeance's worldwide total shortly.
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2007-07-02
There was some good news over the weekend; the mini-slump ended as the overall box office pulled in $156 million, 1% over the same weekend last year. That's not a big increase, in fact, it is below ticket price inflation, but that's still something to celebrate and focusing on the good news is good for business.
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2007-06-28
The mini-slump of 2007 threatens to become the dominant story if things don't change soon. This week there are a two wide releases hoping to prop up the box office numbers, as well as two other films opening or expanding semi-wide. None look like they will set records during their opening weekends, but Ratatouille should outperform Superman Returns, and that's good news.
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2007-06-25
The box office was off last year's pace, again, this time it is mainly due to the box office struggles of the overall box office leader, Evan Almighty, which missed lowered expectations. Overall the industry added $132 million over the weekend, which was down 9% from last weekend and 6% from the same weekend last year. It is not time to panic, yet, but if we don't see the box office rebound over the next few weeks, industry talk will switch from the big hits to the misses, and that tends to worsen a depressed market even more.
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2007-06-24
Evan Almighty made a mediocre debut over the weekend according to studio estimates, earning $32.1 million.
That's about half the opening weekend of Bruce Almighty, and about on par with the debuts of Norbit ($34.2 million) and Blades of Glory ($33 million) earlier in the year.
With a start like this, Evan can still hope for a $100 million run at the US box office, but it's going to be a long, long time before it recoups its $175 million plus production budget.
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2007-06-24
One of the most anticipate films of the summer became the best site of the week. The Simpsons Movie - Official Site is finally here and the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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2007-06-21
A trio of new releases this week are led by Evan Almighty, but while that film has a clear shot at first place, the real question is whether the overall box office can avoid falling behind last year's pace. Last year's top 10 pulled in just under $125 million, which is certainly within reach, but far from a sure thing.
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2007-06-09
There are a lot of movies on this week's list, but many have just the synopsis, image gallery, and the trailer, and many don't even have that. There were very few that stood out, but at least Speed Racer - Official Site got off to a great start. Perhaps it will win the award before it hits theaters.
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2007-06-02
A busy week for new sites with roughly a dozen making their first appearance on this week's list. However, it was a site making its last appearance, Knocked Up - Official Site, that was judged best-of-the-best.
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2007-06-01
With the irrational exuberance of May over, June promises to be a solid month with a number of big hits opening. In fact, every week there's at least one film being released that has a legitimate shot at $100 million at the box office and two films that should hit $200 million. If both Ratatouille and Evan Almighty make it there, we will have six $200 million films so far this year, just two back of 2005's record. On the other hand, there are also a number of films on this month's list that may or may not open wide, and for most of these becoming a midlevel hit will be a chore.
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2007-05-13
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for 1408, Illegal Tender, Mr. Woodcock and more.
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2007-04-29
It's a slow week in terms of the cream-of-the-crop sites. There are a few that look like they could be award-worthy once they have a few more updates, but for the most part this week we have a collection that is rather average. There was one stand-out site, Evan Almighty - Official Site, and it was the only choice for the Weekly Website Award.
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2007-03-17
We are starting to get some serious updates on the websites for the summer blockbusters, however, it will be a few more weeks before this list is dominated by such films. In the meantime, it is a website for a new release, Dead Silence - Official Site, that is the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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2007-01-26
This year's crop of summer blockbusters still haven't started opening movies site in earnest yet, and until they do, this column will be lacking. It's yet another week without a truly award-winning site but Catch & Release - Official Site is the best of the rest.
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2007-01-21
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for I am Legend, Angels & Demons and more.
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