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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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2008-06-03
This was a bad week for big movies, with not a single first run release is even worth rating a solid purchase, never mind being a contender for DVD Pick of the Week. There were a few other contenders for the title, including Dirty Harry Collection on DVD or Blu-ray. However, I found it impossible to decide which format was the better deal. Had the Blu-ray provided anything more than High Definition, or been a more reasonable price compared to the DVD, it would have been an easier choice. One of them is the DVD Pick of the Week, I just don't know which one. On a side note, there is an immense flood of Blu-ray releases, including a few I thought were coming out previously.
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2006-10-23
It's a disastrous week for DVD releases with more than half a dozen of them that I rated as must have. I just don't know how I'm going to afford to buy them all, but I will. As for the DVD Pick of the Week, I was able to narrow that list down to three, but I wasn't able to decide on just one. They are, in no particular order: Slither - Buy from Amazon, Greg the Bunny- The Best of the Film Parodies - Buy from Amazon, and Degrassi The Next Generation - Season 4 - Buy from Amazon. And in the better late than never category, we have Her Best Move, which can be purchased directly from the official website. (If I've missed any other releases, don't hesitate to e-mail me and I'll try to correct that oversight as soon as possible.)
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2006-08-07
According Amazon, there are nearly 900 DVDs being released this week, half of which are episodes of Charlie Rose. Even if we ignored those releases, it was still a busy week, especially at the high end with several contenders for DVD Pick of the Week. In the end I could narrow it down to three selection, Brick - Buy from Amazon, CSA: The Confederate States of America - Buy from Amazon and Inside Man - Buy from Amazon. But I couldn't decide between those so all three earn the title: DVD Pick of the Week.
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2003-10-08
ne openings in Germany, France, Australia and Switzerland, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen won the international box office race this week. It earned a respectable $14.6 million on 3,327 screens over 34 markets. There's good news; another week like that and its international total will top its domestic box office. There's also bad news; that's still not enough to make the movie a success.
After an unbelievable seven weeks at the top of the international box office, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl dropped to second with $11.1 million on 4,608 screens. It has now passed $300 million internationally, the 23rd film to do so, and $600 million worldwide, 18th on that list. The next major milestone is only $10 million away when it becomes the 20th highest grossing movie on the international market, passing E.T..
Close behind Pirates was Bad Boys II with $10.8 million on 4,608 screens to push its international total to $43.5 million. In a couple of weeks it should hit $200 million worldwide.
American Pie: The Wedding opened in Italy over the weekend and easily took top place with $2.4 million. Its international box office of $6.7 million for the weekend was good enough for 4th place. It is edging closer to $100 million internationally and $200 million worldwide.
In fifth place was The Italian Job with $4.7 million, on only 1453 screens. It has yet to open in some major markets like Germany, so bigger weekends are yet to come.
Finding Nemo opened in an exclusive performance Leicester Odeon Square in London over the weekend pulling in nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Nemo Watch: International Edition kicks off into high gear next weekend when it opens wide in the U.K. Despite not opening in most major international markets the Pixar animated classic has already earned $95 million internationally.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-03
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl continues to lead the international box office despite dropping weekend totals. This week's take of $12.7 million was a significant drop from last week, but was still nearly double its nearest competitor. It was also enough to move the movie into 20th place on the all-time worldwide box office, ahead of Armageddon. It will still take a few more weeks to break $300 million internationally and $600 million worldwide.
The Italian Job stayed in second place with $6.5 million, nearly the same as last weekend. Its international take is now $28.2 million with several openings in large markets still to come. These include South Korea this weekend and Germany later in November.
A pair of number one openings in Asia helped S.W.A.T. to a weekend total of $4.6. It's still way too early in the game to tell where its final figure will land.
Four was the charm for Calendar Girls, which topped the U.K. box office in its fourth week of release there. The British comedy has only opened in a few countries but was still able to take fourth place internationally with $3.6 million. It opens stateside on December 19th.
Rounding out the top five was American Pie: The Wedding, also with $3.6 million. It's hard not to compare its run to the first two, and with more than 2 dozen openings still to come beating American Pie's $100 million internationally is almost guaranteed. Topping American Pie 2's $140 less assured, but still quite likely.
On a side note, Nemo Watch: International Edition will kick into high gear this weekend. Finding Nemo is being shown in previews in the U.K. this week before opening wide next weekend. We will then see a better picture on how the movie will compare to other hits this year and other animated movies from the past.
Submitted by: C.S.
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2003-09-25
in a row Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl finished first with $20.0 million. Its international total is now $270 million, second best for the year (behind The Matrix Reloaded's total of over $450 million.) Without any more major openings expect the weekly numbers to slow down. But $300 million by the end of September or shortly after is expected.
A number one opening in the U.K. helped propel The Italian Job into second place this weekend. $3.6 million earned there was more than half the $7.1 million international total this week. The Italian Job will need strong legs internationally to match its domestic run.
Three movies were in a virtual tie for third place with $4.2 million each. In third was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. A number one finish in Brazil and a second place opening in Australia led Bad Boys II into fourth place. While first place openings in Holland and Norway gave American Pie: The Wedding fifth place.
On an additional note, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines finished first in Italy this past weekend and by doing so it was able to open in first place in every market. That's quite a feat.
Submitted by: C.S.St
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2003-09-12
ks since Open Range opened to positive reviews. At that was just one movie in an otherwise bad week. To find more than one movie opening wide to positive reviews you would have to go as far back as May 30th when Finding Nemo and The Italian Job were released. This week, all three wide releases are getting favorable reviews (and so are many limited releases, but more on that later.)
As for the actual box office predictions for the weekend, that's a little more confusing. During the past week four different movies finished first in the dailies.
The final installment in Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi trilogy, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, has the widest opening this week and should finish first at the box office. The movie has a production budget more than four times the first two combined, but that's only $30 million (half what the average Hollywood movie costs.) Robert Rodriguez is a master of getting the most bang for his buck and a $20 million opening will be his reward. And with overall positive reviews it will easily have the legs to make a healthy profit for the studio.
From 1996 - 1997 Nicolas Cage had 3 $100 million dollar movies in a row, since then only one of his next 10 releases was able to cross that barrier. It's doubtful that Matchstick Men will be able to do that, but is should open to the tune of $13 million. And with it's reviews, which are overwhelmingly positive, should help him regain some his box office and critical clout lost in recent years.
The third wide release should open in third place. Cabin Fever, which opens in only a little more than 2000 theatres, should have similar box office results as 28 Days Later. Cabin Fever has a wider release, but weaker reviews and is opening at a weaker time of the year. An opening of $8 million and better legs than the genre usually allows will spell profit for the studio on this release.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl spent the mid-week in first or second place and looks to translate that into another top five finish this weekend. Another $4 million will take its domestic total past Home Alone and into 18th place on the all time chart.
In fifth place will be another Disney release with legs, Freaky Friday. With $3 million this weekend, it will be the 21st movie to make $100 million this year. However, unless Once Upon a Time in Mexico surprises it will be the last movie to do so till November when The Matrix Revolutions is released.
One movie you didn't see in the top five was Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. Despite finishing first last weekend, it had dropped to seventh by Tuesday and with three wide releases this week it's chances of sticking around the top five this week are minimal. And with even more movies opening next weekend, it should drop out of the top ten and that would tie a record.
There are also several limited releases opening this week: Lost in Translation, Dummy, Millennium Actress, Warrior of Light, So Close and all are getting positive reviews. Also, long time Per Theatre Average charter American Splendor expands into nearly 200 more theatres this weekend.
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2003-09-03
r a long weekend, this Labor Day long weekend broke records for biggest opening weekend and highest total box office. It's no surprise that the three day total is up, albeit only 0.8% from last weekend, and the four day total is up approximately 9% from last year.
Jeepers Creepers 2 broke the record for best Labor Day weekend, a record that the original set in 2001. Despite reviews that were much worse than the original, Jeepers Creepers 2 made $15.3 million for the 3 day weekend and $18.4 million total.
As predicted, Freaky Friday was able to climb back into second place. The addition $9.2 million / $12.6 million puts the Disney remake roughly one week away from $100 million.
The next three movies were very close. In fact, their standing at the box office changes depending on if you count Monday or not.
S.W.A.T. did crack the $100 million mark this week, and did it with a better than expected $8.3 million / $10.8 million. That was good for 3rd / 4th depending on how many days you count.
Earning almost exactly what it was predicted to, Open Range nevertheless finished one place lower for the three day weekend and two places lower for the four day weekend. With a final tally of $8.1 million / $10.7 million it was just a rounding error behind S.W.A.T.
It seems than Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl benefited the most from the long weekend as its box office was up the most out of the top five (or the top ten for that matter.) Its $8 million for the 3 day weekend was good enough for fifth place. But add in Monday's figure and the total of $10.8 put it into third place.
And now for an update on the three other movies are trying for the $100 million club this weekend.
Charlie's Angels: Full throttle lost almost two thirds of its box office from last weekend, but that was still more than enough.
The Italian Job's expansion helped more than expected as the movie rose to 12th place with $3 million. Almost $1 million more than it needed to cross $100 million.
Seabiscuit needed the most money at the box office to make it. It also earned the most, hitting $100 million on Sunday.
Next on the list to cross $100 million? As I've already mentioned, Freaky Friday could do it next weekend, but American Wedding will probably beat it to that goal.
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2003-08-29
Labor Day long weekend is the slowest long weekend of the year. And this year looks to be no exception. Only one new movie is opening, however, The Italian Job is expanding to over 1900 theatres in a push to reach the $100 million milestone. Like last week, expect limited releases to get a boost from weak wide releases.
Finishing first will be no problem for Jeepers Creepers 2, the real question is whether it will beat the original. Earlier this summer it would have been a forgone conclusion that the sequel would open bigger, and drop faster, than the original. But lately that hasn't always been the case. Reviews for Jeepers Creepers 2 are bad, currently a little more than half what the original got. Added in sequel burn out and you get $13 million Friday to Sunday and $16 for the long weekend.
I know Freaky Friday finished fourth last week, but by Thursday it had risen to 2nd place. Add in the family friendly nature and this movie should benefit the most from the Labor Day long weekend. $8 million for Friday to Sunday and $10 million overall.
Coming in third for the third week in a row will be Open Range. Targeted at a more mature audience, this movie will also benefit more from the long weekend than other movies coming in virtual tie with Freaky Friday. $8 million for Friday to Sunday and $10 million overall.
S.W.A.T. has been in first place on the daily charts since Wednesday, but several other movies have been gaining on it during the week. So it will drop to fourth for the weekend, but the $7 million / $9 million it will earn will be enough to push it over the $100 million mark.
Returning to the top five after two weeks at number 6 is Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. At the beginning of the week it was more than $500 thousand out of top spot, but by Thursday it was only a little more than $100 thousand and comfortably in the top five. And even without a long weekend Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the black Peal had held up well at the box office. So expect it to do even better this weekend. $6 million Friday to Sunday and $8 million over the long weekend.
Three other movies are trying for the $100 million club this weekend.
After last weekend, Charlie's Angels: Full throttle had only $500,000 to reach the milestone, and even battle mid-week numbers would have cut that in half by Thursday. After taking into account the drop of 40% of its theatre count this weekend it should still make the grade by Monday.
The Italian Job is just a little more than $3 million away and this weekend it expands to over 1900 theatres. That gives it an outside shot at $100 million this weekend, but even if it just cuts the gap in half it should reach it by the end of next weekend.
Lastly, Seabiscuit has made more than $95 million, including more than $6 million last weekend. Giving its strong legs and the long weekend it has a very good chance at $100 million by Monday as well.
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2003-08-22
=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/FNEMO.php>Finding Nemo became the undisputed highest grossing animated movie of all time beating The Lion King total including its IMAX run. And that's not the only milestone Finding Nemo could beat this week. It is now less than $1 million from topping Forest Gump for eighth place overall. Also, each dollar it brings in increases the odds it will finish number one for the year. Right now it has a 1 to 2% chance of doing that. While its release is still four months away, I'd estimate The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King final tally will be $350 million, plus or minus $20 million. (And nearly double that internationally.)
There were other milestones that were crossed or will be crossed this week. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl crossed $250 million, only the third film to do that this year. And Spy Kids 3D will cross $100 million tonight, (it's currently only $500 thousand below that figure.)
Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle and The Italian Job are both widening their respective releases to try and hit $100 million. Charlie's Angels was about $4 million back of the milestone when the pushed started last week and it has since cut the gap in half. The Italian Job needs about the same and will expand next weekend. This strategy doesn't always work. Pearl Harbor was just $5 million back of $200 million when Disney tried to do the same, and it only managed to add an extra $3 million.
Onto other, more esoteric milestones, Chicago is less than $100 thousand from topping A Beautiful Mind. When it does, it will be in third place on the All Time Never Hit #1 Chart.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-06-23
uper Hero movie opened this week to record breaking numbers. Unfortunately, the overall box office didn’t do as well, down roughly 5% from last year.
The Hulk opened in first place this weekend, $40 million ahead of the nearest competition and $8 million above the previous record holder for largest June weekend. And even still the $62.1 million it brought in was seen as a disappointment. The really telling figure is the drop off from Friday to Saturday, nearly $3 million or 11.3%. Reviews were much better than most films released this summer, but probably not good enough to let the Hulk have much legs.
Finding Nemo continues to have amazing legs beating most industry predictions with $21.1 million in it’s fourth weekend at the box office. It is now the second highest grossing film of the year, and could overtake The Matrix Reloaded before its run is finished.
2 Fast 2 Furious didn’t drop as badly as predicted, ending up with $11.1 million. This was enough to cross the $100 million milestone, but that should be the last major milestone for this movie.
As predicted, Bruce Almighty was able to earn $9.8 million and overtake X-Men 2 for third highest grossing film of this year. There’s still some life left in its box office run, and by the end the studio’s take should cover the production and P&A budgets.
Surprising nearly everyone by landing in fifth place was The Italian Job with $7.2 million. Despite losing 600 theatres this week, this remake was able to hang on to nearly 75% of its box office. That was a drop in the per theatre average of only 4%.
Alex and Emma opened almost exactly as predicted, $6.1 million and seventh place. It was also one of the worst reviewed movies of the year, getting only 11% positive.
Doing even worse was From Justin to Kelly, which earned only $2.7 million and finished in eleventh place. And with even worse reviews don’t expect much more at the box office.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-06-09
opening wide, this could have been a slow week at the theatres. And while the box office did drop from last week, it was more than 50% above the same weekend last year.
The pseudo-sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious blasted off the starting line with nearly $20 million on Friday, but it Saturday figure dropped by 6.5%. And the final weekend number was $50.5 million, $2 million below Sunday’s Studio estimate. Those figures would suggest this movie will have horrible legs, but the drop off was better than the original’s and the internal multiplier was only slightly worse. Still, with weaker reviews and lower user ratings on both The Numbers and IMDb it is unlikely that 2 Fast 2 Furious will be able to maintain its early numbers. And considering its production budget is double the first’s, that’s bad news for the studio.
Finding Nemo dropped to second place, despite leading for Saturday and Sunday. Its second week drop-off was greater than Monsters Inc., however Finding Nemo did have much stronger competition. Either way, $46.6 million for its second week is still great.
In third place was Bruce Almighty with $22.4 million. The movie’s total of just over $170 million in only three weeks is amazing, and it will make a profit from its US theatrical distribution alone, even after advertising and the theaters' take is taken into account.
Down to fourth, but holding up well was The Italian Job, which was down just a little more than 32% to $13.2 million. Granted, part of that is due to the nearly 250 theaters added to its count. But even taking the increased theater count into consideration, The Italian Job dropped less than 40%.
The Matrix Reloaded finished fifth with just $9.2 million, well below the original’s take at this point in its run. Even the IMAX version opening was a disappointment taking in only an estimated $700,000 on 39 screens.
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2003-06-06
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Only one movie is opening this week, and that should mean good news for that movie. But it’s better news for the holdovers.
Taking into account the lack of competition, the excellent mid-week number and the phenomenal word-of-
mouth and Finding Nemo should finish first for the second week in a row. A drop of less than 40% is expected with a box office of $50 million not out of the question.
The only wide opening this week is 2 Fast 2 Furious, which is a sequel in the loosest definition of the word. Only one star from the first is in the second, there’s a new director, new writers, new producers, etc. How will all of these changes affect the box office? If the reviews are anything to go on, 2 Fast 2 Furious won’t be able to live up to the original. It is getting much weaker reviews than the original, especially among the Cream of the Crop reviewers. Still, it should at least come close to the original’s opening thanks to the sequel effect. Look for nearly $40 million, but absolutely no legs.
Bruce Almighty, already the highest grossing comedy of 2003, will continue its strong run with about $25 million for third place. It just failed to cross $150 million yesterday, but by the time you read this, it will have hit that milestone.
There’s quite a drop between third and fourth place, with The Italian Job getting about half of Bruce Almighty. The predicted $13 million is less than a 40% drop, which is a good sign. But the movie cost too much to pull a profit from the home market.
The Matrix Reloaded will fall to fifth place with just $10 million. You know a movie has high expectations when nearly $250 million in five weeks is considered a disappointment.
On a side note, after a two-week absence Bend It Like Beckham should reappear in the top ten.
Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge
| Rank | Movie | Theaters | Change | Weeks in
Release | Distributor |
| 1 | Bruce Almighty | 3,544 | +54 | 3 | Universal |
| 2 | 2 Fast 2 Furious | 3,408 | New | 1 | Universal |
| 3 | Finding Nemo | 3,391 | +17 | 2 | Buena Vista |
| 4 | Matrix Reloaded, The | 3,186 | -267 | 4 | Warner Bros. |
| 5 | Italian Job, The (2003) | 2,877 | +244 | 2 | Paramount |
| 6 | Daddy Day Care | 2,713 | -415 | 5 | Sony |
| 7 | X2: X-Men United | 2,050 | -483 | 6 | Fox |
| 8 | In-Laws, The (2003) | 2,047 | -605 | 3 | Warner Bros. |
| 9 | Wrong Turn | 1,613 | -2 | 2 | Fox |
| 10 | Down with Love | 775 | -525 | 5 | Fox |
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| 37 | Love the Hard Way | 6 | New | 1 | Kino |
| 39 | Eye, The | 4 | New | 1 | Palm |
Estimated Theater Counts for Next Week's Openers
See the full theater coun
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2003-06-02
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For the first time in 2003, the weekend box office totals were significantly above the same week last year. The total box office for the top ten was up nearly 45% from 2002 year. This helped put May in the record books as the best month in box office history. But, even after May's record-breaking performance, 2003 is still behind 2002's total for the year to date.
Opening in first place, with a record weekend for both Computer Animation and a studio best for Pixar was Finding Nemo. The Albert Brooks fish tale earned $70.3 million at the box office, and if the stellar reviews and past Pixar performances are any indications, this movie could pull in close to $300 million domestically, and a little more than that internationally.
Bruce Almighty came in second, and did so with a smaller drop off than expected. $37.3 million was only a 45% decline, which is very good considering the huge opening weekend take and the post-holiday dip. Along the way Bruce Almighty became the largest grossing comedy of the year after crossing the $100 million mark on Thursday.
Third place went to the second of three wide releases this weekend. The Italian Job grabbed up $19.5 million, on par with predictions. Surprisingly good reviews could give this movie legs. However, with a $60 million production budget, and an advertising budget close to half that it won’t see a profit in the home market.
Continuing to drop faster than expected is The Matrix Reloaded, with $15.7 million, down nearly 58% over last weekend. The movie seems to be suffering from The Empire Strikes Back effect, that is to say it doesn't have the novelty of the first movie, and doesn't have the satisfying conclusion of the third movie. Speaking of Star Wars, The Matrix Reloaded is now just a few hundred thousand above Attack of the Clones' pace, despite having a $24 million lead after opening weekend. It will take a surge just before the release of Matrix Revolutions to push this film above $300 million.
Daddy Day Care was able to stay in the top five one last week with a $5.7 million dollar performance. The movie now has made a little more than $80 million in four weeks, and could have enough gas in the tank to cross $100 million.
Opening with a little weaker box office than predicted, but a spot higher was Wrong Turn. $5.2 million is not a lot of money for an opening weekend, but considering a budget of only $10 - $13 million, it should be enough to pull a profit from the home market. The reviews for Wrong Turn were not as low as one might have expected, getting a 50% score from the run-of-the-mill Internet reviewers. However, of the Cream-of-the-crop reviews, of which only four even bothered to review the movie, none of them gave it a positive review.
Coming in less than $100,000 behind in sixth place was X-Men 2 with $5.1 million. The mutant movie sequel just failed to cross the $200 million dollar mark but should do that by Tuesday. That total is enough to pay off the production budget, but it will take a bit more to make a profit domestically. However, add in its impressive international numbers and X-Men 2 has made Fox very happy.
The second Albert Brooks movie in the charts, The In-Laws, fell to eighth place with $3.7 million. It had one of the best drop-offs of the week, but that wasn’t good enough to save it: $14.5 million after two weeks is still a disappointment.
Down With Love dropped faster than predicted with only $1.6 million. Only $17.2 million after three weeks of wide release is quite a shock considering the talent attached to this film.
Rounding out the top ten is The Lizzie McGuire Movie, which was only able to grab $1.2 million this weekend and fell just shy of $40 million total. Fortunately, not only will it cross that mark before long; it will also have covered its total budget as well.
See the full weekend chart
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2003-05-30
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