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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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2009-11-23
It's the week before Black Friday, which is widely reported as the busiest shopping day of the year. (It's not. Christmas Eve is the busiest shopping day of the year; however, on Christmas Eve a lot of the purchases are last minute food items.) If a studio wants its product to be part of Black Friday, this is the last Tuesday they can release the DVD or Blu-ray. Because of this, I'm a little surprised the week isn't busier than it is. The biggest release of the week is Angels & Demons, while there are a couple of Christmas releases that are also selling well. However, none of those come close to being the DVD Pick of the Week. Arguably the best of the best is Funny People, which isn't the best movie coming out this week, but it is a good movie and its Blu-ray is absolutely loaded.
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2009-01-11
The Day the Earth Stood Still fell out of the top five, as it was down 46% to $10.91 million on 5008 screens in 42 markets for a total of $129.59 million internationally and $204.01 million worldwide. The film's best market was Japan, where it remained in second place with $2.71 million on 642 screens over the weekend for a total of $19.19 million after three.
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2009-01-05
Ghajini was a surprise entry in the top five as the Indian film earned $12.85 million on 1347 screens in 22 markets, which is more than enough to be considered a monster hit. In fact, it set records in its native market and could break the record set by Dhoom 2 worldwide.
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2008-12-28
It turns out studio estimates were highly accurate, and the only real change from Wednesday's column involves a surprise $10 million film. If You Are The One opened in first place in China and fourth place internationally with $11.68 million on 1010 screens.
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2008-12-24
There are five films opening wide tomorrow, as well as a limited release expanding into more than 1000 theaters, which could be enough to propel it into the top ten. Given the weak new releases for the past few weeks, there is a chance all five wide releases will place in the top five, while it is unlikely any will bomb completely (even the two saddled with negative buzz). Compared to last Christmas, the box office could see some growth, which will help the year end on a positive note.
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2008-12-23
For the second weekend in a row, all three wide releases missed expectations, and unlike last week, the holdovers were not able to compensate. This caused the overall box office to slip to just $89 million; that's down 3% from last weekend, and more troubling, 44% from the same weekend last year. This two-week slump has been so bad that 2008 has lost its lead vs. 2007 and is now behind $9.25 billion to $9.23 billion. Unacceptable. If the Christmas releases are not stellar, we will see a decline in the yearly number for the first time in three years, while we are nearly guaranteed to see a drop in ticket sales for the fifth time in six years.
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2008-12-21
No new openings left Bolt out of the top five with $4.94 million on 1916 screens in 11 markets for a total of $28.69 million. Its best market was Russia where it slipped to second place with $1.20 million on 570 screens for a three-week total of $10.73 million, while it added $1.06 million on 412 screens over the weekend in Spain for a total of $3.96 million after two. The film has yet to open in most major markets, and won't until the new year, but when it is done it should surpass its domestic total while aiming for $250 million worldwide.
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2008-12-19
There week there are three wide releases, including the latest from Jim Carrey and the new film with Will Smith. Will Yes Man help Jim Carrey regain his box office crown, or will Seven Pounds help Will Smith tie the record for most $100 million movies in a row? Or will both come true and while helping 2008 maintain its lead over 2007?
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2008-12-15
It was a rough week for new releases as none of the three debut films managed to live up to expectations, in dramatic fashion in some cases. However, holdovers did pick up some of the slack to help the overall box office to $92 million over the weekend. That was 11% higher than last weekend, but 43% lower than the same weekend last year when I Am Legend opened. Or you could compare it to the weekend when The Golden Compass opened, in which case it was nearly 12% higher. Either is acceptable. As for the year-to-date numbers, 2008 extended its lead over 2007 to 1.4% at $8.96 billion to $8.84 billion. It appears that 2008's lead is safe this late in the year, at least in terms of raw dollars. Ticket sales, on the other hand, will decline.
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2008-12-14
There were nine international releases making their debuts on the charts this week, as well as several holdovers. The best of these films was Forever Enthralled, as the Chinese film took first place in its native market and sixth place internationally with $6.15 million on 1375 screens.
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2008-12-14
The Day the Earth Stood Still topped the weekend chart with $31 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
That's a strong start, helped in particular by $3.8 million on 123 IMAX screens, and gives Fox a nice lead-in to the holidays, with no competitive film coming out until Christmas Day.
However, weak reviews and tepid word of mouth will not help it, and a $100 million run is far from assured at this stage.
Four Christmases had an impressive week-to-week drop of just 20% to earn an estimated $13 million and finish second.
Its success probably dampened the opening weekend for Nothing Like the Holidays, which pulled in $3.5 million from 1,671 theaters.
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2008-12-12
There are three wide releases this week, including the only action film in the month of December, The Day the Earth Stood Still. There's no doubt it will be the biggest hit of the week. The only real question is if it can open better than I Am Legend did this week last year and help 2008 keep pace with 2007.
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2008-12-09
The results at the box office were mixed over the weekend with a couple of films topping expectations while a few others failed at that task.
Overall, box office receipts were $82 million, which was 50% lower than last weekend; however, it was Thanksgiving long weekend last weekend so a sharp drop-off was expected.
Compared to the same weekend last year, 2008 was better, but by only 0.5%.
Year-to-date, 2008's lead on 2007 is now 0.5% at $8.72 billion to $8.68 billion.
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2008-12-07
Bolt started its run on the international charts in sixth place with $7.90 million on 1417 screens in 4 markets. This includes a second place, $4.30 million opening on 570 screens in Russia, while it Italy it also placed second with $2.19 million on 467 screens. Meanwhile in Poland, it topped the charts with $855,000 on 120 screens, but this is par for the course as films of this nature tend to do very well in Poland.
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2008-12-07
Four Christmases held on at the top of the chart for a second weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The comedy fell only 41%, the best hold in the top ten, and easily topped the chart ahead of Twilight, which had a better third week, down around 50% to $13 million.
The wide openers were generally weak.
Punisher: War Zone only managed $4 million in 2,508 theaters.
Cadillac Records did much better on a per theater basis, averaging over $5,000 per location, but limited release in 686 theaters meant it was only able to land in 9th place with $3.5 million.
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2008-12-04
There are three wide releases this week, if you have a more forgiving definition of the term, "wide." Of these three films, none have a shot at first place, while two of them might not reach the top ten. Additionally, the holdovers will take a tumble as this is a post-holiday weekend. The only bright news is this weekend last year was even worse.
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2008-12-04
The winners of our Holidays Collide contest were determined and they are...
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2008-12-02
Tryptophan overload wasn't enough to slow do the box office as every film matched or exceeded Thursday's predictions (or came within a rounding error of doing so). This helped the overall box office pull in $164 million over the three-day weekend and an amazing $234 million over five. Over the three-day weekend the box office was down by less than 1% from last weekend, but it was up by just under 2% over last year and nearly 3% over the five day period. (Strangely, it is $10 million behind the record, which was set in 2000. Ticket price inflation alone should have resulted in that record going down by now.) Year-to-date 2008 has now brought in $8.60 billion compared to $8.57 billion over the same period on 2007.
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2008-11-30
Thanksgiving weekend produced three big winners, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
At the top, Four Christmases scored an excellent $31.7 million Friday-Sunday and $46.7 million over the five-day weekend, and is the third best Thanksgiving opening ever, just behind Enchanted's opening last year.
Second place, Friday-Sunday, was taken by Bolt, which scored $26.6 million, and, very unusually these days, earned more in its second weekend than it did in its first.
In sixth place, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa also benefited from the holiday, dropping just 7% from last weekend to earn another $14.5 million.
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2008-11-30
Only half-a-dozen movie sites on this week's list, which is very slow. However, we had a couple of strong sites with The Secrets' Official Site coming away with the Weekly Website Award and Australia's Official Site coming in a close second.
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2008-11-27
The Thanksgiving long weekend has started, but none of the new releases look like they have what it takes to capture top spot. Compared to last year, there are not as many new releases this time around, nor are there any that look as strong as Enchanted was. That said, the holdovers look strong enough to compensate for this weakness.
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2008-11-21
Next weekend is Thanksgiving long weekend, which can only mean one thing: It's Christmas time! Specifically, it's time for the first major Christmas movie of the year, Four Christmases. Not only is that film the first major Christmas movie of the year, it is also this week's target film. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of Four Christmases.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a T-shirt and DVD from Garden Party, as well as Mitzi Gaynor - Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years on DVD
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win Mitzi Gaynor - Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years on DVD, as well as The Longshots on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
And remember, while it is a long weekend and Four Christmases starts on Wednesday, we are only interested in the three-day, Friday-to-Sunday portion of its opening weekend.
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2008-11-01
October was weaker than expected with only a few films living up to expectations, and none earning $100 million at the box office. (And only one even came relatively close.) This month, there are three films that should hit $100 million for sure this month, and all three have at least a shot at $200 million. That's good news because 2008 will to close strong to keep its lead over 2007. Top of the list for anticipated films is Quantum of Solace, but there are two kids movies, Bolt and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, that are also worth paying attention to. Additionally, Awards season is starting to heat up, so look for limited releases that could earn Oscar Buzz and become breakout hits.
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2008-10-02
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Paper Man, Sherlock Holmes, Kung Fu Panda 2, and more!
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2008-02-17
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Four Christmases, Star Trek XI and more!
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2007-12-20
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Four Christmases, My Sister's Keeper, Quarantined, and more!
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2007-11-15
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Cirque du Freak, Max Payne, Star Trek XI, and more!
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2007-10-07
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Case 39, Inkheart, Four Christmases and more!
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2007-08-23
This week's round of new cast information contains updates for Day Zero, The Fighter, He's Just Not That Into You and more!
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