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Thursday, November 26, 2009
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2009-05-27
Taken wasn't the only new release to chart this week; in fact, there were nine that reached the top 30.
However, it was comfortably the best-selling with 2.31 million units and $37.96 million in consumer spending at retail.
It is already the tenth best-selling DVD of the year.
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2009-05-27
Just as it did on the sales chart, Taken led all new release and placed first overall.
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2009-05-19
There was only one major new release on DVD this week, and it comes as no surprise that it topped the sales chart. The movie was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and it sold 1.48 million units to generate $24.60 million in consumer spending at retail.
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2009-05-19
Just two new release charted this week, led by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which had three times as many rentals as the second place Bride Wars.
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2009-05-16
There was some confusion on top of this week's sales chart, as there were two new releases that could claim top spot on. Leading the way, at least in terms of units sold, was Bride Wars, which just managed to reach seven figures with sales of 1.00 million units and $16.04 million.
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2009-05-16
Two new releases lead the way on this week's rental chart with Bride Wars beating Hotel for Dogs by roughly 33%.
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2009-05-05
The last of the Best Picture Oscar Nominees hits the home market this week. And while the Blu-ray arrived late, the Two-Disc DVD of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week. On the other hand, no other release on this week's list came close to be a contender for that title, and overall it was a rather slow week. Still not so slow that I didn't have to split this week's column into two parts, with the second part found here.
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2009-04-27
We are about to enter the summer blockbuster season, which is great for box office numbers, not so good for the home market. In fact, it is arguably the weakest time of the year for DVD sales. Looking at this week's list, that's not a huge surprise. There are no first run releases that are must haves, nor are there are lot of smaller releases to pick up the slack. The clear DVD Pick of the Week is Star Trek - The Original Series - Season One - Blu-ray, which is better than the previous HD DVD release. Also worth picking up is One-Eyed Monster on DVD, but that has a more limited target audience. While there's not a lot on the top, there's plenty of bulk, so much so we need a second page, which can be found here.
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2009-03-29
Watchmen fell out of the top five with $6.35 million on 4965 screens in 53 markets for a total of $60.63 million. Unless it is a big hit in Japan over the weekend, $100 million internationally is likely out of the question, as is $200 million worldwide. Depending on how much it costs to advertise, it could still make enough to show a profit, but it could take quite a bit longer than the studio would have liked.
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2009-03-22
Confessions Of A Shopaholic nearly doubled its weekend haul as it pulled in $6.78 million on 2023 screens in 26 markets for a total of $31.91 million after a month of release. The film opened in first place in Australia, no surprise there, as that's the home of Isla Fisher, with $1.89 million on 309 screens. It earned a nearly identical result of $1.84 million on 426 screens in Germany, but that was only enough for third place in that market. Next up for the film is South Korea and Spain at the end of this month, while it doesn't end its run till the end of May when it opens in Japan and France.
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2009-03-15
The Reader nearly reached the top five with $5.14 million on 1169 screens in 17 markets for a total of $28.35 million. The film opened in a number of smaller markets, including Belgium where it placed fifth with $174,000 on 24 screens over the weekend and $225,000 in total. However, most of its money came from holdovers, like Germany, where the film added $2.89 million on 456 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.44 million after two.
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2009-03-08
Pink Panther 2 may have climbed a spot to sixth place, but it is hard to be happy with its run so far. The film opened in second place in both Spain and Mexico with $1.95 million on 360 screens and $750,000 on 375 screens respectively, which is better than the film has managed in most major markets. However, overall it only managed $6.33 million on 3186 screens in 53 markets for a total of $22.26 million so far. It does open in Italy this weekend, and still has Germany, Japan, and a few other markets to go, but I can't see it turning its fortunes around at this point.
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2009-03-01
Confessions Of A Shopaholic expanded this past weekend jumping into sixth place with $6.13 million on 1365 screens in 10 markets for a total of $10.05 million. This includes a second place, $2.80 million opening on 424 screens over the weekend in the U.K., for a total of $4.14 million there. The film also held well in Russia down just 42% with $1.04 million on 415 screens over the weekend for a total of $3.41 million after two.
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2009-02-22
Recep Ivedik opened in its native Turkey and a few other markets scoring sixth place with $8.32 million on 483 screens in 4 markets. Of that total, $6.10 million was earned on 390 screens during a first place opening in its native market, which is above the pace of its predecessor. The film managed fourth place in Germany with $1.75 million on just 75 screens. An excellent start for the film.
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2009-02-15
Bride Wars continues its bridesmaid run just missing the top five this week after just missing the top ten last week. It did ad $5.88 million on 2485 screens in 30 markets for a total of $32.11 million after a month of release. Openings this week include Germany, where the film placed second with $1.62 million on 455 screens, which is a mixed debut.
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2009-02-02
Taken took on the competition and won with $24.72 million over the weekend, which was the second best Super Bowl weekend debut behind Miley Cyrus's stunning opening of Best of Both Worlds. This is much better than expected, as the male-oriented rescue / revenge story faced stiff competition from Super Bowl 43, which turned out to be a much better game than anticipated.
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2009-02-02
The Very Best Film 2, the sequel to The Very Best Film opened in Russia and a handful of other markets this past weekend. It scored first place in its native land with $8.38 million on 948 screens, while it earned sixth place in total with $9.29 million on 1072 screens in 4 markets. This is a serious decline from its predecessor's opening weekend, but still a strong start otherwise.
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2009-01-26
New releases missed expectations, but enough of the holdovers excelled that that overall box office was still strong. Granted, it was down 17% from last weekend, but given the post-holiday slump, this is not bad. Also, $160 million is 14% more than the same weekend last year and it keeps 2009 well ahead of 2008 $861 million to $707 million, or 22%.
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2009-01-23
2009 looks to continue its winning streak with two wide releases and a lot of high-powered holdovers. It is unlikely that any of them will live up to last week's number one film, but the overall effort should live up to last year's overall box office and maintain 2009's winning streak.
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2009-01-21
The winners of our Going to the Dogs contest were determined and they are...
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2009-01-20
One film on Thursday's prediction column missed expectations; just one. This explains while, despite the fact that the number one film this year was well behind the number one film last year, the overall box office saw amazing growth to $193 million over three days, and $231 million over four. This was ahead of last year's Martin Luther King Jr. day long weekend by 25% and 24% respectively. Year-to-date, 2009 had brought in $668 million, which represents a 24% increase over last year's pace of $539 million.
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2009-01-18
2009 is only two weekends old, and has already produced two excellent weekends at the box office.
After three movies opened around $20 million last weekend, no less than four new movies will be close, or exceed that goal over the three-day part of the MLK weekend, and one of those has come from nowhere to top $30 million and record the second-biggest opening weekend in January (see chart).
That movie is Paul Blart: Mall Cop, a poorly-reviewed comedy starring Kevin James, which opened with $33.8 million Friday-Sunday, according to Sony's estimate, and is set to reach $40 million with Monday's numbers included.
Sony puts the success down, at least in part, to James's extensive promotional efforts around the country.
Maybe hard work does pay off, even in the movie business.
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2009-01-17
There were a number of wide releases trying to take advantage of the holiday this weekend, and several websites that had what it takes to stand out. The best of these is Hotel for Dogs' Official Site, which is the winner of our Weekly Website Award.
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2009-01-15
A busy week with four films opening wide, all of which have widely different target demographics. Hotel for Dogs is going for families, My Bloody Valentine is going for hardcore horror fans, Paul Blart: Mall Cop is going for fans of SitCom comedy, while Notorious is going for fans of rap. Add in a couple of holdovers, and it's a crowded marketplace. It is unlikely that any of these films will top last year's number one film, Cloverfield, but perhaps combined they will keep pace with last year's box office.
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2009-01-09
There are two films that are estimated to be opening with saturation level theater counts (3,000 or more) on Friday. These films are Paul Blart - Mall Cop and Hotel for Dogs. Either one would make a fine choice as the latest target film in our ongoing box office prediction contest, but we are going with ... Hotel for Dogs. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of Hotel for Dogs.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win Eagle Eye - Single Disc Edition, as well as Cyborg Soldier 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 Eagle Eye - Single Disc Edition, as well as Kill Switch 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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2009-01-01
Happy New Year!
If it's January 1, it must be time to take a look at this month's releases, and analyze how 2009 at the box office will compare to 2008.
2009 is looking to get off to a fast start, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. For one thing, 2008 stumbled down the stretch, which means the box office is relatively soft at the moment. Also, 2008 got off to a great start, which means it will be harder for 2009 to keep pace early on. (On a side note, if the box office is sluggish as expected, it could set the tone for the box office coverage and bad news tends to beget more bad news.) While there are a few films that are aiming for $50 million or more, none have the advance buzz that Cloverfield had, and it is unlikely that any will match its box office.
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2008-05-18
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Igor, Soul Men, Hotel for Dogs and more!
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2007-10-16
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
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2007-10-14
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Wolf Man, The Fast and the Furious 4, The Land of the Lost and more!
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2007-10-11
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek XI, and more!
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