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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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2005-03-20
After gathering in all the data the winner for the race for fifth place is Million Dollar Baby, I think. It would need to lost more than 40% from last week's total and that's not taking into account its openings in South Korea at $1,515,672 and second place, its $110,000, third place debut in Finland, $86,000 in Russia, $50,000, second place debut in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, exact weekend totals are unknown but it is estimated at $6 million raising its international total to $43 million so far.
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2004-03-12
Half a dozen films open in limited release, including IMAX's first release of the year and one of the widest all-time.
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2004-02-23
In amongst the more than a dozen awards handed out at the 56th Annual Writers Guild Awards on Saturday were two for theatrical releases.
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2004-02-02
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section. There is an excellent selection this week as a number of Oscar contenders were released to take advantage of last week's nominations. Both American Splendor - (Buy from Amazon) and Lost in Translation - ( Buy from Amazon) are on my must buy list. As are box sets for The Office and Red Dwarf). Don't forget Labyrinth (Collector's Edition Boxed Set) - (Buy from Amazon.) I guess I don't need to buy food this week.
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2004-01-27
Nominations for the 76the Annual Academy Awards were announced today. As always, here is a list of the nominations, plus reactions below.
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2004-01-26
While the Writers' Guild of America hand out more than a dozen awards each year, only two apply to theatrical releases, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Here are the nominations in each of those categories.
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2004-01-25
With the awards ceremony only hours away, here's one last look at the theatrical nominations for tonight's 61st annual Golden Globes awards.
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2004-01-18
On Thursday the 10th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards(R) Nominations were announced. Here is a list of all the nominations in theatrical categories as well as a brief reaction to them.
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2003-09-09
the-numbers.com/movies/2003/TAKSD.php>Taking Sides topped this week's per theatre average chart with a solid $11,026 average. This was just ahead of the second place film, Touchez Pas au Grisbi (a.k.a. Hands of the Loot or Grisbi) which had an average of $10,837. Both movies are playing in just two theatres this week.
No wide release is doing well and only three movies in the top ten are playing in more than a handful of theaters. Step Into Liquid was in tenth place with just over $334,000 in 83 theatres. Thirteen was sixth with $625 thousand in 108 theatres (both numbers were the best in the top ten. ) And American Splendor was fourth in its fourth week with $581 thousand in 88 theatres.
Again finishing last out of all the movies tracked was Marci X, which only managed $113 average in an amazingly high 274 theatres.
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2003-09-03
s making waves on the Per Theater Chart, American Splendor climbed back into first place with an average of $9,484. This despite more than doubling its theater count. I think it is safe to say that American Splendor will have some mainstream success, maybe even climbing into the top 10.
Last week's winner dropped to fourth place, but is still impressive as Thirteen increased its theater count more than 10-fold and its total box office was more than 5 times bigger.
On the opposite end of the spectrum in 106th place out of 106 films tracked was Marci X. In its second week it could only manage $208,000 at 1,200 theaters. That's an average of just $173 per theater. If you take ticket prices and the number of showings into account it works out to about one person per showing.
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2003-08-26
hampion, Thirteen, was joined by three others that cracked the $10,000 per theater average mark, with one other film just missing that feat. Thirteen's weekend box office of $116 thousand was earned in just 5 theaters giving it an average of $23,252.
Dropping to second place was American Splendor. Its average held up amazingly well considering that its theater count increased five-fold. With an average of $14,199 at 32 theaters, American Splendor looks poised to enjoy some mainstream success.
A couple of interesting notes:
Not one wide release was able to crack the top ten this week, in fact Open Range had the best at 18th place, (or 15th if you don't count IMAX.)
Winged Migration climbed above $10,000 per theater in its 19th week. It hadn't hit that mark since mid-May. It did this when its theater count dropped by 80% while its box office actually increased.
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2003-08-26
ses this week did significantly worse than expected, however, the holdovers didn't pick up the slack as they usually do. This led to a massive 31.5% drop from last weekend but a 12.2% increase from last year. An interesting note, the top four films this week remained in the same order as they did last weekend. I don't know when that last happened.
While Freddy vs. Jason did finish first, that's a small bit of good news in an otherwise terrible second week performance. It was only able to grab $13.2 million, well below most predictions, which resulting in a 64% drop-off. The biggest second week drop off for a number one movie since The Hulk, and second largest such drop overall. Next weekend when the similarly targeted movie Jeepers Creepers 2 opens could spell an even worse result.
Second place again went to S.W.A.T. with $10.6 million. $100 million by next week is the goal and there's talk of a new TV spin-off in the works.
Just missing predictions by a rounding error was Open Range which added $9.5 million to it's total. Unfortunately, this genre usually doesn't do well internationally and the studio will most likely have to wait till the home market to see a profit.
Freaky Friday was the only movie to outperform its predictions, albeit by only a few hundred thousand. The $9.3 million earned this week makes the movie very close to showing a profit after only 3 weeks of release.
The first of three new releases this week was The Medallion, which could only manage $8.1 million and fifth place at the box office. The Medallion had the best reviews of any wide release of the weekend, but at 20% it really doesn't mean much. Despite similar reviews and international performances as The Tuxedo this movie couldn't find an audience domestically. This probably means Jackie Chan needs to do something different in his next film. And Around the World in 80 Days does look different than the usual Jackie Chan movie.
Some analysts had My Boss's Daughter finish in the top five. However, not only did it miss the top five, like I predicted, it barely landed in the top 10. It could only grab $4.9 million in its opening weekend, which was only good enough for tenth place. It also had the lowest per theatre average in the top ten. This movie wasn't screened for the critics, and for good reason. My Boss's Daughter only managed a lowly 11% positive.
Getting the worst reveiws of the week was Marci X. This could be the movie that stops people from making fun of Gigli. That's how bad it did both at the box office and with the critics. It's apropos that I compared Marci X to Grind since Marci X finished in 17th place with less than $900 thousand and Grind finished 18th. Marci X earned less in its first weekend than Finding Nemo did in its 13th. Marci X's per theatre average for its first weekend was lower than Daddy Day Care's in its 16th weekend. This is a failure that should result in people being fired and careers coming to an end.
To update the box office of the movies I mentioned on Friday, Thirteen and American Splendor both did well enough to be featured on the top ten per theatre average chart. Step into Liquid and The Magdalene Sisters both saw significant increases in their box office and both should cross the $1 million mark mid-week while The Secret Lives of Dentists crossed that mark on Friday. And Passionada saw its per theatre average increase from last weekend.
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2003-08-22
ems to be little to get a movie fan interested this week. At least when it comes to wide releases.
It's almost a foregone conclusion that Freddy vs. Jason will finish first this week, just as much as it's a foregone conclusion that it will lose at least 50% at the box office. Just the genre alone would suggest that. Add in the Fanboy effect and sequelitis and the like and a drop of closer to 60% is likely. Mid-week numbers have been horrible; Freddy vs. Jason has lost more than 84% of its daily box office since last Friday. That's on par with The Hulk, which went on to lose nearly 70% at the box office during its second week. The one thing this movie has going for it is the complete lack of competition this week. This should help it grab $15 million this weekend.
The Medallion has already opened internationally and the numbers are average at best. It's currently tracking about 10% lower than The Tuxedo, and that performance should be similar stateside. Reviews are also on lower than The Tuxedo, in other words, bad. Really bad. Although most reviewers did comment on how special effects are replacing stunts in Jackie Chan's movies. (He's turning 50 next year, cut him some slack.) The Medallion should earn about $12 million this weekend.
In third place is S.W.A.T. This TV show turned movie didn't drop nearly as much as expected last weekend and should continue to show some legs. Not a lot mind you, but better than average for the summer. The $11 million is should grab this week will put it close to $90 million and it should cross $100 million by the end of next weekend.
Open Range added a few more theatres in its second week, but it's still not enough to crack the top ten theatre count this week. It will fair better at the box office coming in fourth with $10 million.
Rounding out the top five is Freaky Friday. $9 million for its third weekend is good news for this $26 million movie. $100 million total could be in the cards for Freaky Friday.
Just missing the top five will be My Boss's Daughter. When judging how well a movie will do one of the factors to consider is advertising. Not just how well is the advertising done, but does it even exist. In the case of My Boss's Daughter I've only seen a few ads on TV and it doesn't even have an official website. Earlier in the week it was expected to open in about 1200 theatres, but Dimension Films pushed to have it opening is a respectable 2200 theatres. This after being bounced around to no less than 4 release dates. Add in the fact that is wasn't screen for critics and $7 million opening weekend is about as good as it gets.
Doing even worse and just missing the top ten will be Marci X. A lot of things have been blamed for the soft summer this year from pirates to text messaging. But the real culprit is quality or the lack thereof. You can't tell me there aren't better scripts that haven't been made. Like the previous movie, Marci X wasn't screened for critics and advertising has been nearly non-existent. And with a release of just over 1200 theatres, this movie will probably do even worse than last week's loser Grind did.
But fret not brave reader. There is hope at the box office this weekend in the form of limited releases. Thirteen opened on Wednesday and if the reviews are correct it deserves to find an audience. And the reviews are even better for last week's winner of the per theatre box office, American Splendor (which expanded into 26 more theatres this week.) Other limited releases that should be worth checking out include Passionada, (reviews.) Step into Liquid, (reviews), The Secret Lives of Dentists, (reviews) and The Magdalene Sisters, (reviews.) It may take a little more effort to find a theatre showing these movies. But if enough people see them, then maybe Hollywood will make more high quality movies and fewer movies like Marci X.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-08-18
EF=http://www.harveypekar.com/>Harvey Pekar, American Splendor easily took top spot on the Per Theater Average chart this week. The movie, which is named after the comic book he started in the mid 70's, earned an impressive $159,705 in only 6 theatres. With excellent reviews and maybe some more buzz, this movie could see some mainstream success. American Splendor beat out last week's winner, Step into Liquid by a margin of more than 2-1. The surfing documentary lost more than half its per theatre average, but that's to be expected when the theatre count triples.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-08-13
k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
American Splendor
Current Content: This site takes full advantage of the movie's comic book origins. All the content is presented in comic book form complete with panels and pages you can turn. This includes a lot of the regular features but the coolest is getting to read stuff that Harvey Pekar wrote in his own handwriting. Page after page has been simply scanned in for you to read. Gives a little more insight that most sites allow. If only it had some sound. Even without sound this is the best site of the week and the winner of the pragmatic Weekly Website Award.
Cold Creek Manor
Current Content: The site hasn't launched yet, but at least there's a placeholder site instead of just a redirect. Just the trailer and the poster are available for now.
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
Current Content: The flash site opened this week and while it has the usual features (synopsis, trailer, cast and crew bios, production notes) it's the extras that I really liked including two games. One is a 'Where are they now?' Video Poker game and the other is an obstacle course Slip 'n' Slide. Having something interactive on a site is really big plus.
Freddy vs. Jason
Current Content: Two clips and the TV spot were added to the site since last time, as was an extensive Behind the Bloodbath section. This brings the total content on this site to impressive levels. The format is also well done with mood setting background music, animated segues and audio clips from the movie. Too bad it's so bright, the previous darker look fitted the film better.
Grind
Current Content: The movie opens this week, but nothing much has changed with this site since I reviewed it last.
Luther
Current Content: There's an impressive amount of animation. Unfortunately, outside the trailer there is no sound. And while all of the usual features are there, even more are marked coming soon including lots of historical information.
My Life Without Me
Current Content: This site has good content, good animated segues, the only thing it's missing is sound. No effects, no background music, in fact no sound outside the trailer. The Spanish language version of the site has an animated intro with sound, so you might want to check that out before returning to the English version.
Open Range
Current Content: Almost all of the content marked coming soon last time has been added. The majority of this new content is the director's commentary, which is more of a behind the scenes look since many more people speak than just Kevin Costner.
Passionada
Current Content: This is a relatively simple site animated segues or background music, in fact the only sound outside the trailer is a short clip of Fado, which is the style of music featured in the movie. However, there is enough content both usual and unusual to keep the surfer interested. I especially liked the seafood recipes. I also like how nearly every image is a link it makes the simple design more intriguing.
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Current Content: A clip from Hollywood Access was added to the site.
Second Hand Lions
Current Content: This is the third format for this website. It has mostly the same content as before, just with more animations and sound effects. Each version is more elaborate than the next and at this rate by the time the movie is released it will be more complex than The Matrix website.
Uptown Girls
Current Content: The background music is too short. I can't emphasize that enough. It gets repetitive before the intro is finished. There's also very little of the regular content, just the synopsis, trailer and a few images. The only other content is a few slideshows that introduce the characters.
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