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Monday, November 23, 2009
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2009-06-01
Summer might be the busiest time of the year at the box office, but it is the slowest on the home market. This week we have a couple of Summer TV series coming out on DVD, a few late stragglers from Awards Season '08, and an early surprise at the '09 box office.
However, while there are a few worth picking up, none jump out at me as obvious contenders for the DVD Pick of the Week.
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2008-11-18
It's a weird week for the DVD release report. According to Amazon, seven of the top ten releases come from two movies: WALL-E and Tropic Thunder. Add in the Spanish language edition and there are five versions of the former movie coming out this week, including the 3-Disc DVD and the 3-Disc Blu-ray, either one of which is worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week. The overall group of releases feels weaker than last week, but it is more than enough that it had to be split into two parts. Part two can be found here.
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2007-06-15
Evan Almighty is the target film for his week's box office prediction contest.
Not only that, but it is also the first time in our series that we will be giving away a High Definition DVD, maybe.
Bruce Almighty was recently released on HD-DVD and that is the top prize this week.
However, since most people don't have HD-DVD players, we will only give the HD-DVD version if the winner requests it.
Otherwise, they will get the DVD version.
To win, one must simply predict the box office opening for Evan Almighty.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going over, as well as whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win one copy of Bruce Almighty (HD-DVD or DVD, please specify).
In addition, for both winners, we will purchase a tree in their name in the Almighty Forest.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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2007-06-11
The Summer is traditionally the weakest time of the year for DVD releases and this is not surprising as the target audience is too busy checking out the latest theatrical releases to be bothered with the home market.
First-run releases are also weak because the delay from theater to home means we are not getting prime offerings here.
TV on DVD releases are likewise weak because it is too late to take advantage of season finales and too soon to take advantage of season premieres.
So, to find the best offering, one has to look to limited releases like Grbavica - Buy from Amazon, or TV movies like Masters of Horror - The Screwfly Solution.
But the DVD Pick of the Week goes to a classic, The Hustler - Two-Disc Collector's Edition
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2003-12-11
After surprising analysts at the box office this summer, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl has broken records at the home market. The Disney DVD sold 4 million combined VHS and DVD copies in just the first 24 hours, and went on to sell 11 million copies in its first week. That last figure is a record for most units sold in the first week for a live-action feature.
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2003-09-19
nd, I will not be talking like a Pirate for the entire story. Instead, I'll just point you to the official homepage of International Talk Like a Pirate Day. But before we got on with the real story, I will give you two pieces of advice. First, it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day and not International Dress Like a Pirate Day, if you show up to work wearing an eye-patch you are on your own. Second, despite how it sounds, 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey' is not a dirty saying, however, that won't stop you from getting into trouble if you use it.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl has plenty to celebrate easily winning last weekend's international box office race with $29.7 million. That figure was earned partial through strong openings in markets like Greece and Australia. And partially through strong holdovers in markets like Germany and Italy. Worldwide total for the movie crossed $500 million and into 25th place on the all time chart.
Well back was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with $6.6 million. Results can only be described as solid, and while the international run will top its domestic performance, the price tag for the movie is too high for it to be called a success.
American Pie: The Wedding finished in a virtual tie with Bruce Almighty with $5.1 million. The last in the American Pie Trilogy will finish somewhere in between the first two movies domestically, but much closer to the first. Internationally it has been fairing better in many markets and could top the second's $131 million.
Meanwhile, Bruce Almighty's second first place finish in France propelled the movie to $5.1 million internationally for the weekend. Its international total is $212 million, and it has yet to open in Japan. It's already the highest grossing Jim Carrey movie of all time and its worldwide total could hit $500 million.
After a one week exclusive showing in London, Calendar Girls opened wide in the U.K. and pulled in most of its $2.7 million international haul there. It won't open stateside till December 19th.
In other news, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers passed Jurassic Park into fourth place on the all-time worldwide box office. Combined with the massive rental and sales in the home market and the outlook for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is very impressive with $1 billion worldwide box office not out of the question.
Submitted by: The Dread Pirate C.S.Strowbridge
For to find out your own pirate name take the
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2003-09-12
in Germany, Italy and others Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl easily won this week's international box office race with $38.5 million. This includes first place opening of $10.5 million in Germany, $4.2 million in Italy and excellent holdovers in other nations; it was in first place after five weeks in the U.K. Internationally it has earned $190 million international and over $100 million in Europe alone.
Well back were Bruce Almighty with $7.9 million, most of that from it's opening in France and American Pie: The Wedding with $7.0 million in still just a handful of markets.
Finding Nemo was fourth with $4.8 million helped by a strong holdover in Australia. The next big opening for Finding Nemo will be on October 10th in the U.K. After than we will have a better handle on where the movie will end up on international and worldwide charts.
Thanks to big openings in Spain and Hong Kong The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen made the top five with $4.5 million. Expect international performances to beat its domestic haul, but that will be too little, too late to save this production.
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2003-08-15
movies opening wide this week, and with such a crowded market at least two will bomb. And considering the dubious quality of the release, they could all fail to make much of an impact. With so many new openings I'm going to profile them first and then deal with the rest of the top five after.
Freddy vs. Jason - Ten years too late. The Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises are some of the longest lasting with a combines 17 films between them. But despite this they have less than $450 million domestic box office. That's less than Austin Powers has made in just 3 movies. Predictions for this movie go as high as $30 million, but that's more 10 of the previous films earned in their entire run. And the people who grew up with the franchises have grown up themselves and are unlikely to see another slasher movie. Reviews are about what you would expect, 33% overall and about half that for the cream of the crop. Look for about $15 million this weekend and about $35 million overall.
Uptown Girls - MGM misses again. This is the eighth movie released by MGM/UA this year, and so far only one has beaten expectations (Agent Cody Banks) and one other will be profitable (Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde.) Normally I'd give this movie an extra boost given it's target audience, but this year there has been several movies aimed at similar audiences from What a Girl Wants to The Lizzie McGuire Movie to the more recent How to Deal and Freaky Friday. Unfortunately for MGM, reviews are closer to How to Deal than Freaky Friday. And so will the box office. $10 million this week, but with better legs it could top Freddy vs. Jason's $35 million.
Open Range - The Best reviewed wide release of the week. In fact, its score of 77% is higher than the other three movies combined. Too bad it is also the smallest release of the four opening in just over 2000 theatres. Recently Kevin Costner movies haven't performed well at the box office, and chances are good reviews won't save this one. $8 million opening weekend and good word of mouth will be its only hope.
Grind - Worse reviews that Gigli? As I'm writing this Grind is currently sitting at only 8% positive, which's the same score as Gigli. However, even Gigli had one cream of the crop reviewer give it a positive review, the same can't be said for Grind. The only thing going for this movie is it is relatively unknown, so at least there's no negative buzz surrounding it. $5 million opening weekend before dropping out of theatres by September.
If I lived in Cleveland I'd be checking out American Splendor this weekend. Since I don't I'll see if any of the local theatres are playing Passionada. If not, well, I've got a pretty good DVD collection I could dip into.
Now on to the holdovers.
Repeating at top spot will be S.W.A.T., not due to its quality, just because there's so little competition this week. It will stop roughly 55%, but that still leaves $16 million, good enough for first place.
Freaky Friday will drop one spot to land in third. A weekend total of $14 million will raise its run to nearly $60 million. More than it cost to make and advertise.
Making one more appearance in the top 5 will be Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. It's just $100,000 from beating Bruce Almighty for third place this year. It is starting to slow down and the race for 2nd place is becoming more interesting. $9 million this weekend will leave it just short of the $250 million mark.
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2003-07-30
st was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Nine first place finishes help the movie earn $19.4m from 2,590 screens to puch it's total to $85.2 million. It should easily reach $100 next weekend. Coming in distance second was a virtual tie between Bruce Almighty and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle both with $10 million. Bruce Almighty has become Jim Carrey's highest grossing movie of all time beating The Mask's worldwide total of $344 million. Meanwhile, Charlie's Angels' total was almost pushed past $125 million and should beat the original's $138.8 million before it's run is through.
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