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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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2008-09-08
TV on DVD is at its peak for the year, just in time for the new season to start. However, because last season was cut short by the writers' strike, and so many studios are not taking that into account in the pricing, there are fewer releases at are contenders for DVD Pick of the Week. But we do have a worthy recipient of the award: Fist of Legend - Buy from Amazon, the latest release from Dragon Dynasty. Also, while the week was slow on top, it was busy overall, so much so that we had to split the week's list into two parts again. Part II can be found here.
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2004-05-11
In addition to the $51.7 million Van Helsing earned at the domestic box office, the monster movie made $55.3 million on 5,254 screens in 41 markets internationally. Not only was that easily the largest box office this weekend, but it was the best we've seen this year. Some highlights were the $9.9 million in the U.K. and $7 million in Germany. And while a $107 million opening weekend seems spectacular, this is a very expensive film to get to theatres. Combine the production budget, domestic P&A budgets, translations / dubbing / subtitles, etc. and the final cost is nearing $250 million. A strong home market will be needed before Universal sees a profit.
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2004-05-04
After a huge start in the international market, there was a series a steep drops for Kill Bill: Volume 2 that all but guarantees it won't earn as much as the original. Drops like 51% in Germany, 46% in Italy helped push the weekend total down to just $10 million in 27 markets.
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2004-04-27
Kill Bill: Volume 2's first foray into the foreign markets proved very profitable. The film earned $18.5 million in 21 markets and increases compared to the debut of the original in all but one market. Many of those increases were in the double-digit range so it's an impressive start. Unfortunately, one of the largest markets for the first film, Japan, saw a huge 47% drop for Volume 2. This can easily be explained by the fact that half of Volume 1 took place in Japan.
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2004-04-26
This was a weird weekend. We had a record-breaking event when two movies opened with $20 million and that's the first time that's ever happened in April. However, the total box office was still down more than 5% from last weekend. It was up 6% from the same time last year, sort of. It's getting really confusion doing the yearly comparisons because last year April had four weekends, while this year it has five.
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2004-04-23
Just the two wide releases this week targeting two entirely different audiences. So we could have two break out hits this week. Then again, probably not. April started out ok, but it has really started to suffer and it doesn't look better next weekend. Summer can't start too soon.
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2004-04-19
With just two movies opening wide this should have been a good week, and while the wide releases did ok, the holdovers really suffered. In the end the weekend was down 10.6% from last weekend, and even more telling was its 3.5% drop from last year. Granted, it was Easter this time last year, but it's not that important of a holiday to make a large enough difference.
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2004-04-12
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 was a bumper crop of smaller releases this week with half a dozen of them on the list and it is one of those, Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed, that is my DVD pick of the week.
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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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2003-11-25
a three-way race for top spot in the international market. And in the end, the top three films were just $2.0 million apart.
Despite opening in only four markets, Finding Nemo earned the number one position with $22.3 million. It also broke records for animation is all four new markets. In Germany it hauled in $12.9 million on a little more than 1000 screens, in Austria $2 million on 123, in Switzerland (French and German regions only) $1.6 million on just 97 and in Poland $909,000 on 125 screens. Internationally, Finding Nemo's catch now stands at $186.2 million (89th all time) and will cross $200 million next weekend. Worldwide the Pixar blockbuster has earned an incredible $525.9 million, just below Monsters Inc. for 25th place on the all-time chart.
The Matrix Revolutions' international run is mirroring the domestic run; huge openings followed by huge drops. The final film in The Matrix Trilogy dropped 60% in South Korea and China, 57% in Germany, 56% in Taiwan, 54% in Russia and Mexico. But a much stronger performance in Japan, where its week-to-week decline was just 16%, helped The Matrix Revolutions to $21.5 million and second place this weekend. It also crossed the $200 million marked sometime mid week, and should cross $400 million worldwide. But that will be its last major milestone.
Opening in a lucky 13 markets, Love Actually had an amazing week with $20.3 million on just 2200 screens. The directorial debut of screenwriter Richard Curtis, Love Actually is tracking ahead of Bridget Jones's Diary in most markets and even ahead of his biggest hit, Notting Hill is some. At this point, $200 million internationally is almost a sure bet and $300 million worldwide is well within reach.
Intolerable Cruelty dropped another spot to fourth, while its international box office climbed this week to $6.4 million. More than half that came from a number one opening in France. It should cross $100 million worldwide, either late the week, or early next weekend.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 international take abated slightly this weekend to $3.4 million. However, its international run topped its domestic run this week $69.2 million to $68.4 million.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-11-18
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/MTRX3.php>The Matrix Revolutions broke records, both internationally and worldwide, (the final figure for last week's worldwide box office did beat out Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.) This week it was able to maintain the number one spot at the box office with $42.0 million, but like the domestic side, its international run was marred by fast drops in many markets. In Australia it was down 66%, France 62%, Russia and Taiwan 60%. In some holdover markets the decline was less dramatic, like China at just 36% and Japan and 39%. International totals are just shy of $200 million and worldwide the film broke $300 million.
While $7.3 million may not seem like a lot for Finding Nemo, especially compared to the number one film this week. It was the result of two or three animation records. It clearly set records in Sweden ($2 million) and Norway ($1 million.) However, in Denmark it isn't so clear, it failed to top Tarzan in Kroner but the box office in American was a record. The international total is now up to $162.9 (115th overall) and its worldwide total topped $500 million, only the 29th film and only the fourth animated film to do so.
Intolerable Cruelty dropped another spot to third. This week it took in another $5.0 million to raise its international total past $50 million. Worldwide it should cross $100 million before its run is finished.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 international take rose slightly this weekend to $3.6 million. However, that wasn't enough to keep it in third place.
Opening its international run in just two markets, Love Actually managed a spot in the top five with $2.6 million. It took top spot in Italy with $2.2 million, which pushed The Matrix Revolutions into second spot. In Portugal it finished second to Revolutions with an impressive $330,000 on just 50 screens. These results have the film tracking ahead of Richard Curtis' most recent film, Bridget Jones's Diary, which went on to earn more than $200 million internationally.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-11-12
story internationally this week, and that was the performance of The Matrix Revolutions. Not surprisingly, it was tops on the international box office. Its international take was $117.6 million since Wednesday, just ahead of the previous record of $113.2 million The Matrix Reloaded took in its second weekend of international release. However, Revolutions was shown on more than 1000 addition screens, so its per screen average was lower. Worldwide, The Matrix Revolutions took in $201.4 million, just shy of the $201.8 million Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers earned in its first five days of release. In a country by country comparison, The Matrix Revolution's performance was mixed compared to Reloaded's. However, even in countries where it was weaker, it held up much better than it did domestically.
After two weeks on top Intolerable Cruelty drop to second with $6.5 million. The film has only earned a disappointing $33.5 million domestically, but has already beat that internationally already with a few more significant opening in the coming weeks.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 was killed at the box office dropping from $8.9 million to just $3.3 million. It should recover this weekend when it opens in South Korea.
This should be the last slow weekend for Finding Nemo. It hasn't had an international opening since it debuted in the U.K. more than a month ago, so the fact that its still in the top five with $3.1 million is quite a feat. However, this week Finding Nemo opens in four mid-ranged European markets before major openings in Germany, France, Italy and then Japan in quick succession. So it should be making waves at the international box office very soon.
With just $2.9 million, Bad Boys II has probably had its last weekend on the top five. At least till it opens in Japan on the last weekend of November.
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2003-11-04
g weekend at the international box office full of twists and surprises … I'm only kidding. The top five was exactly the same as last weekend. Same five movie, in the same order.
Holdovers were very kind to Intolerable Cruelty, which added $10.7 million to its international run. With that, the film passed its domestic total of $31.9 million by a clear margin. The film is showing much better legs internationally, especially in Australia (down 22%), the U.K. (down 21%) and Spain (down just 10%). Its international box office could prove to be the film's saving grace.
As with the previous film, strong holdovers helped Kill Bill: Volume 1 into second place with $8.9 million. Kill Bill's best holdover performances came in Italy (down 18%) and Germany (down 14%.) Japan's numbers weren't available due to a holiday on Monday, but they were expected to be just as good.
Bad Boys II has just one more international opening in the works, and that's in Japan on the last weekend of November. Until then it will have to rely on holdovers to help it stay on the charts. This week another $6.5 million was added to its total of $110 million.
The international story for Finding Nemo has been the same since it opened in the U.K. four weekends ago. And with no new openings next weekend, it will probably be the same for one more week. This week's catch was $6.4 million, down slightly from last weekend. Its totals are now $151 million internationally (137th all-time) and $490 million worldwide (31st all-time, just ahead of fellow Pixar classic Toy Story 2.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen crossed the $100 million mark sometime mid-week. With the $4.6 million earned over the weekend, its international total climbed to $105.4 million.
This Wednesday, The Matrix Revolutions opens in an unprecedented 80 countries worldwide and should easily take top spot. But with no studio foolish enough to have a major international release to compete with it, the rest of the top five should look very similar to this week's, only with much smaller box offices.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-28
omedy Intolerable Cruelty led the international box office in a close contest with $13.1 million on 2405 screens in 22 markets. It had the best results in the U.K. with $2.5 million and Germany with $1.9 million. It had smaller box offices, but first place finishes in Spain, Australia and Austria.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 came in second place overall with $12.1 million on 2315 screen in 20 markets. However, it did manage to beat Intolerable Cruelty in several markets including The U.K., Norway, Denmark and Finland. The film also had a number one opening in Japan with $3.5 million.
It was a milestone weekend for Bad Boys II. After winning the last two weekends, the film took in another $9.8 million to cross the $100 million mark by just half a million dollars. It is the 20th film to do so this year. The film has yet to open in Japan, and could make more internationally than the original made worldwide.
For the third week in a row the U.K. accounted for more than 90% of Finding Nemo's international box office. And for the third week the animated movie finished in the top five. This week's catch of $6.8 million pushed its international total to $134 million (163rd all-time) and its worldwide total to $472.7 million (33rd all-time, just ahead of fellow fish tale Jaws.) Finding Nemo will probably drop out of the top five before its next major market opening in France on November 12th.
With just one more market to open in, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is wrapping up its international run. While it was a major disappointment domestically, it managed another $6.8 million internationally pushing its total to $96.3 million. Next week it should cross the $100 million mark.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-24
ening wide this week, but none of them are opening to rave reviews. And while the most likely number one movie won’t suffer due to poor reviews, the other two will mostly like suffer.
The third movie in the Scary Movie trilogy opens today with much less fanfare than the other two, but in a huge number of theatres. Reviews for Scary Movie 3 are almost exactly between the first two movies, and so should the box office. $31 million this weekend, with an outside shot at $100 million.
It has been a while since Cuba Gooding Jr. made a really high quality movie but Radio was supposed to break that streak. This movie has, ‘for your Oscar consideration written’ all over it. However, with the reviews currently sitting at just 35% positive, (and even lower for the cream of the crop.) he will have to wait for his slump to end. Financially, the movie is in better shape with a budget of only $35 million. With an opening weekend of $14 million, it should show a profit by the home market.
Given the hype and the genre, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will drop a lot this weekend. Dropping down nearly 60% down to $13 million and third place. Even with the fast drop, the low costs will mean this film is close to a profit already.
There will be a virtual tie for fourth place with both Mystic River and Kill Bill: Volume 1 making roughly $8 million. Mystic River has the slight edge for top spot, but it won’t win by much.
The last new movie opening this weekend is Beyond Borders. It not only has the weakest reviews at just 16% positive, but the lowest theatre count at just 1798. Because of this, expect an opening weekend of just $5 million before quickly exiting out of theatres.
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2003-10-21
the-numbers.com/movies/2003/BADB2.php>Bad Boys II won the international weekend for the second weekend in a row with a nearly identical box office of $16.2 million compared to last week's $16.1 million. Number one debuts in Russia and France helped push its international total to $85.2 million, more than the original made in 1995. It is also just one week from hitting $100 million internationally, the 20th film to do so this year.
After a disappointing run at the domestic box office, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is doing better internationally. It has a decidedly ordinary opening in the U.K. and big drops in large markets like Japan and Italy but still came in second with $10.6 million. With an international total currently sitting at $85.1 million, this film should have the legs to cross $100 million, not enough to make the movie a success, but enough to same someone's job.
For the second week in a row Finding Nemo placed in the top five thanks to its performance in the U.K. Its U.K. numbers accounted for more than 95% of its international weekend box office of $10.1 million. It is now starting to climb the international charts with $123.7 million (good enough for 186th place) and the worldwide charts with $461.8 million (good enough for 34th place.) However, without a major opening for the next three weeks it will most likely drop out of the top five before it hits its peak.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 opened in several large markets over the weekend, but only managed $9.5 million overall. While this total wasn't bad, it wasn't quite up to expectations either.
Continuing its climb American Pie: The Wedding took in another $6.5 million making it just past $100 million. It is the 19th film to reach that international milestone this year. It has yet to open in a few strong markets, so topping the other American Pie movies' international totals is still within reach.
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2003-10-20
to October, the last two weekends have shown amazing growth especially when compared to last year. Overall the box office was up 4.5% from last week and an amazing 25% from last year.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre just missed becoming the second biggest opener in October as its $28.1 million was $1 million less than Sunday's estimates. Reviews for the film also suffered dropping to just 36% positive. With poor reviews, a weak internal multiplier, fanboy effect and the horrow genre The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will have trouble hitting $70 million. However, it only cost $13 million to make and even with an advertising budget closer to $30 million, this movie will make a profit during it's domestic run. Needless to say, there is a sequel in the works. But given how the sequels to the original performed, this is probably not a good idea.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 held up better than expected to walk away with $12.4 million and a second place finish. That's a drop of just 43.8%, not a bad result normally, and very good considering the rest of the year.
It turns out The Runaway Jury won't quite turnaround John Grisham Hollywood career. Its opening weekend of just $12.1 million was weak, and with reviews that were good, but not great, it probably won't have the legs to succeed.
The School of Rock added another $11.0 million to push its total past $50 million. It is now tracking ahead of Freaky Friday's weekend numbers, but with school kids in school its weekday numbers are really dragging it down.
Helped by great reviews, including 100% from the cream of the crop, Mystic River landed in fifth place with $10.4 million. But with a per theatre average of just $7,120 and the MPAA screener ban, that's probably not enough to make it a serious Oscar contender.
After doing well in its native country of Ireland, Veronica Guerin came crashing down this week. Opening in less than 500 theatres, it was only about to make $611 thousand or roughly $1300 per theatre. That was much lower than expect, and even the mediocre reviews don't explain it.
As expected, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl cross $300 million on Friday. It now sits behind Star Wars: Attack of the Clones on both the domestic and worldwide charts.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-17
remake of a 1973 horror classic, the return of John Grisham, the not quite wide release of a docu-drama and the expansion of last week's Per Theatre Average Chart topper. With so much new, the top five will mostly be new movies with holdovers only occupying a couple of places.
Having the best shot at top spot is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a remake of the 1973 movie of the same name. First of all, the advertising campaign claims that this movie is 'inspired' by a true story, which is overstating the facts. It is inspired by real life events in the same way Who Framed Roger Rabbit is inspired by real life events. Also, these crimes involved were also the inspiration for both Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs, both of which are superior movies. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is following in a long line of low budget horror movies released this year starting with Darkness Falls in January and with the most recent example, House of the Dead, opening just last week. The most successful of these movies this year was Freddy vs. Jason and Texas Chainsaw Massacre hopes to duplicate its success. And while it is opening in roughly the same number of theatres (3016 to 3014) and has roughly the same reviews (43% to 41%), it isn't opening at an as lucrative time of the year. So look for a $22 million opening.
In the early 90's John Grisham was one of the hottest Hollywood properties. Three of the first four movie based on his novels passed $100 million at the box office, with the fourth just missing that feat. But after that, the next three movies made just over $60 million combined. The Runaway Jury is the first John Grisham movie in over five years, and granted it won't break any personal bests for him in either reviews or box office. However, it should pull in $18 million during its opening weekend and have a total closer to the first four than the last three.
The School of Rock will continue its strong performance at the box office. It will drop to third in its third week adding another $11 million to its already impressive total.
With direct competition and the lack of opening weekend hype, Kill Bill: Volume 1 will drop a little more than 50% at the box office to just under $11 million.
Rounding out the top five is Mystic River, which expanded into over 1400 theaters on Wednesday. Reviews have been great for the film and its box office should jump up to $10 million. It will need another jump in its theatre count and continued success at the box office for it to become a serious Oscar contender.
The last movie opening in more than a few cities is Veronica Guerin. Opening in less than 500 theatres to moderately positive reviews it should earn around $3 million but may or may not make the top ten.
On final note, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl should cross $300 million this weekend. It will be only the second movie to do so this year, and the 16th all time.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-13
ekend for new releases with four movies opening wide. New releases generally performed above expectations, but not by a large margin. The overall box office was up by 19% from last week but a mere 1.8% from last year. The year to year box office increase was much smaller that the increase in average ticket prices.
Kill Bill: Volume 1 had by far the best opening for a Quentin Tarantino movie at $22.1 million. By the end of the weekend, reviews were at the same level as Jackie Brown, and if its legs are the same it will get close to $100 million. If so, expect a re-release when Volume 2's release date nears to push it over that milestone.
As expected, School of Rock's box office bounced back after weak weekday numbers. In fact, it bounced back so well that it took second place with $15.5 million. That represents just a 21.1% drop, much better than fellow surprise hit Freaky Friday. But without the strong summer weekdays, School of Rock won't have the same shot at $100 million.
When I first predicted Good Boy! would open with $8 million it was only expected to open in 2500 theatres when in fact it opened in over 3200. So it is no surprise that the film beat expectations with $13.1 million. On the other hand, reviews dropped over the weekend finishing with just 47% positive.
Going the opposite direction was Intolerable Cruelty which failed to match expectations with just $12.5 million for its opening weekend. The George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones darkly romantic comedy did see an impressive improvement in its reviews with a final result of 80% positive. Still, it was the best opening for a Coen Brothers' movie and if it has the legs to match that pedigree, then the film will be profitable before the final box office is done.
Out of Time almost matched predictions with $8.6 million, a drop of 47%. Good for its genre, especially given how most movies have faired during their second weekend of release. But it is not good enough to help this movie become profitable before the home market.
The House of the Dead managed slightly more than predictions with $5.7 million. But given its genre and the fact that out of 13 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes not one was positive, don't expect it to earn more than $5.7 million for the rest of its run.
Lost in Translation slipped slightly faster than expected, but managed to stay in the top ten for one more week. Its $2.8 million raised its total to $18.1 million, impressive compared to its very humble production budget of $4 million. Focus Features should be happy even if no Oscar nominations are in the future.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-13
ning this weekend, but only two of them have a serious shot at top place. The other two will be fighting for the scraps and a place in the top five.
Note: This is how the story was written on Wednesday. I was planning on revising my estimates on Friday before publishing it. However, that was not to be, so here present the unrevised story with the weekend wrap up to follow shortly.
Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino opens this week in over 3000 theatres. The fourth film directed by Quentin Tarantino, or fifth if you count Quentin Tarantino's segment in Four Rooms, or sixth if you count My Best Friend's Birthday, which Quentin Tarantino directed but was partially destroyed before it was ever shown. It’s a testament to Quentin Tarantino's work that Miramax is using his name so prominently in its advertising campaign. The biggest question mark is how the public will react to the decision to split the movie into two parts. Either the shortened length will make for a more enjoyable movie going experience, or there will be a backlash for being asked to pay twice for one movie. Reviews are the weakest for any of Quentin Tarantino's previous full-length movies, but it is also the widest by far. Look for about $21 million opening weekend.
After major hits in 2000 and 2001, George Clooney stumbled with Solaris and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Look for him to rebound with Intolerable Cruelty, which should make more in its opening weekend than either of the above films did in their total run. Granted, this will not be due to George Clooney alone as Catherine Zeta-Jones is a proven box office star as well. Reviews are average, but not poor enough to have a major effect on the box office and a $16 million is the target for the weekend.
School of Rock's box office has plummeted during the weekdays, but given its target audience that is to be expected. It should bounce back on the weekend to take $13 million, which's a drop of just 33%.
Out of Time will drop much more due to its genre, dropping to $9 million. That is in the mid-40s percent wise, much better than the average this year.
A kids' movie is the third movie to open this week, Good Boy! With reviews that are just straddling the 60% needed for an overall positive rating, and an average theatre count Good Boy! will have to settle for $8 million. That is nearly half its production budget, so the news isn't all bad.
The last new movie to open wide this week is The House of the Dead, based on a popular video game. Movies based on video games have generally performed very poorly at the box office. And since this is the fourth of five low budget horror movies released this year the market place could very well be saturated. Reviews are sparse, and generally very bad. Look for it to make about $5 million this weekend before dropping out of theatres by Halloween.
Spending what will likely be its last week in the top ten is Lost in Translation. While it gained more theatres this week, it's not enough for it to hold onto its box office. $3 million this week and fading hopes for Oscar nominations.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-10-10
ery short version of my weekend predictions because I'm out visiting my family for Thanksgiving, (in Canada we celebrate it in October.)
I already wrote the full story on Wednesday and was going to return home today to upload, but plans changed at the last minute and I couldn't make it.
Normally I'd just rewrite the story in full and publish it, however, I'm stuck on my parents'
computer. It's a Pentium 166 with 24 megs of ram and a 33.6k modem, it's like living in the stone age.
It took so long just to login to the site that I decided to write this version now and when I get back on Sunday
night I will post the original story that has more commentary. But for now, just the raw predictions.
#1 - Kill Bill Volume 1 with $21 million.
#2 - Intolerable Cruelty with $16 million
#3 - School of Rock with $13 million
#4 - Good Boy! with $11 million
#5 - Out of Time with $10 million
And The House of the Dead will finish out of the top five with $5 million.
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2003-10-09
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.
This will be an abridged version due previously mentioned scheduling conflict. But you can't really tell.
The Alamo
Current Content: The full trailer is up, along with the old teaser trailer.
Barbershop 2
Current Content: A placeholder site so far with just the teaser trailer.
Big Fish
Current Content: Typical Sony placeholder site with just the synopsis and trailer.
Broken Lizard's Club Dread
Current Content: Typical Fox Searchlight placeholder site with just the synopsis so far.
Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind
Current Content: The site is based on the company Lacuna from the movie. Right now its just a commercial for that company, but it says to check back tomorrow for further updates.
The Dreamers
Current Content: Typical Fox Searchlight placeholder site with just the synopsis so far.
Dopamine
Current Content: Simple site without sound or animation. There's some interesting content, including some on the role of Dopamine in the brain. But overall there's not enough to keep a surfer's attention for too long.
Elf
Current Content: Another game was added, Stocking Stuffer. But that background music is getting to me something awful. And to think, I've got to listen to every week to check for updates.
Girls Will Be Girls
Current Content: The format is the same as most IFC sites, but there is more content than most of their sites. Trailer, synopsis and cast and crew bios are all there, so are a few clips, image gallery and even sites for the three girls from the film.
Good Boy
Current Content: Another game was added to the site, this one a variation on concentration. Overall, this is a good site especially for its target audience.
House of the Dead
Current Content: The original site was removed due its graphic nature. The new site is toned down, but relatively unchanged.
Intolerable Cruelty
Current Content: Two TV spots and four clips were added just in time for the movie's release.
Kill Bill
Current Content: No changes from last week, and with Volume 1 opening tomorrow I doubt the remaining three character intros will be added till Volume 2 is nearing its release date.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Current Content: The second blog was added to the site, which adds a bit more background information.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Current Content: Did they really need the whole name in the URL? I don't think so. A large portion of the site is called The Journey, which alternates between entries in the Captain's Log and information about life on a ship from the sails to meals. There are also regulars features, but so far much of this is marked coming soon. Synopsis, Cast and Crew Bios, Production Notes and Featurettes are all marked coming soon. That does leave the trailer, images, interviews with three consultants (in .pdf format) and something called The Broadband Experience. The last feature is for Internet Explorer users only, so I can't review it. There are also several international sites, but they are all marked coming soon. The only complaint is the URL, but to deny it an award based on that would be petty, so it wins this week's nugatory Weekly Website Award.
The Matrix Revolutions
Current Content: As expected, there were more updates this week. This time it was information on The Matrix Reloaded's DVD release and a couple more posters, one just for international sites.
Mystic River
Current Content: There were no new additions since the last update. It is still an understated yet compelling website.
Shark Tale
Current Content: New name, new URL, same intro.
The Singing Detective
Current Content: The flash site launched and while it takes a little advantage of the animation flash allows, there is no sound outside the trailer and a clip from E.T. The site does have synopsis and cast and crew bios, but I was looking forward to for some behind the scenes info.
Spider-Man 2
Current Content: Quite a big update this week. A new webisode was added with director Sam Raimi and costume designer James Acheson that is about the changes to Spider-man's costume. The character section was added with brief bios and connections between the characters. In addition, the Ultimate Quiz will quickly show how much time you spent reading Spider-man comics as a kid (for me it was obviously too much.) There were also some more behind the scenes images and another wallpaper added.
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2003-10-02
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.
Beyond Borders
Current Content: The flash site launched this week with only half the content in place. The synopsis is there as is the trailer (both Quicktime and Flash), however, the production notes, bios for cast and crew are marked coming soon. There are animated segues, audio clips and background music, so all the extras are there.
Concert for George
Current Content: This is a very simple and subdued site, which is for the best as anything flashy would have been tacky given the subject. The site has the trailer, a description of the concert itself, some images and wallpapers and a store to buy some mementos.
The Event
Current Content: Unfortunately, there isn't a separate site for this film, you just have to go to Think Film's site and look for it there. Watch as the movies scroll by and eventually the link got The Event will pass by. Once you get there you'll find a rather simple site with the synopsis, trailer, cast and crew bios and production notes (in .pdf format.) There are animated segues, but no sound.
Good Boy
Current Content: The last section, (The Scoop: cast and crew bios and production notes) was added this week.
Gothika
Current Content: A new placeholder site was launched this week, expect the full site to be up for the next update.
Jinx
Current Content: None, just a redirect to the MGM movie site.
Kill Bill
Current Content: Three new sections were added to the site, Cast and Crew, Locations and Press Notes. All that's left marked coming soon are the last three character intros.
The Last Samurai
Current Content: Slight change to the format with a couple of sections added. There are two choices under desktops and an image gallery marked coming soon.
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Current Content: After months of just the teaser site, the flash site finally opened. But I was expecting more … animation. In fact, I was expecting a little more everything. They do have the teaser trailer and some other information, but no synopsis or cast and crew bios. There are sound effects, but no audio clips and no background music. And with only one section marked coming soon, I don't expect major changes.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Current Content: The trailer was added to the site, as were a photo gallery for The Two Towers Extended DVD and a new poster / e-card and a Q&A session with Miranda Otto. Of course most people only read to, 'The trailer was added …' before clicking on the link. Overall this is a beautiful site and well worth checking out on a daily basis in order to heighten your excitement for December 16th marathon showing of all three films! I can't wait.
Madagascar
Current Content: Placeholder site with no content outside the name and a vague release date.
The Matrix Revolutions
Current Content: Theatrical trailer and some TV spots were added. From now until its release this site will most likely have weekly updates.
Out of Time
Current Content: Not much has changed since the flash site first launched, just the rest of the downloads were added. It is a very well done site and is worth checking out.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Current Content: The placeholder site is now up. Typical of Sony placeholder sites, it has the synopsis, image gallery and the teaser trailer. The trailer is shown in a mock pop-up ad for Regenerate, which was a fun touch.
Returner
Current Content: There's little multimedia on this site. Outside the intro and the trailer the only sounds are a few beeps for sound effects. There are animated intros, but they are relatively short and simple. The rest of the content is well done if unspectacular.
School of Rock
Current Content: The rest of the site was added this week, and if you pardon the pun, it rocks. This site has everything a site should have. Regular features like synopsis, trailer, cast and crew bios. It also have all the extras like sound effects, audio clips, animated segues, etc. There are even interactive features like the Rock Aptitude Test, Stage Diving and the ability to doodle on the cast and crew bios and such. And not surprisingly for movie centered on Rock'n'Roll there's a lot of music on the site. There is a music video, two complete songs, clips from the other songs on the soundtrack and music accompanies most features. I have two complaints with this site and they are both about the music. First, there's no background music and you can't have either of the two full songs play while you are surfing the rest of the site. Secondly, Prince is not Funk. (No I won't let that go.) Still, despite this blatant miscategorization this is clearly the winner of the incontrovertible Weekly Website Award.
Shattered Glass
Current Content: The trailer and a small picture of the poster have been added to the site.
The Station Agent
Current Content: This looks like a truly unique movie, too bad the site is just another Miramax site.
Tupac: Ressurection
Current Content: The placeholder site replaced the redirect. The only content so far is the trailer.
Wonderland
Current Content: I'm still getting the script error when I try to launch this site, so I can't review it.
Submitted by:
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2003-09-24
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.
Duplex
Current Content: It's a Miramax site. Boring beige background. Short synopsis. Cast and crew, no bios. The film opens in two days and the trailer is still marked coming soon.
Elf
Current Content: I know I usually love it when a site has background music, but I don't think I can take this background music for much longer. Maybe I'm old fashioned, But I feel it's too early for Christmas. Besides the background music this site has synopsis, trailer, photos, lots to download and a coloring book. Two of the sections also have more content marked coming soon, but no details on what that could be.
Gothika
Current Content: The trailer was added to the placeholder site.
The Haunted Mansion
Current Content: The full trailer was added to the site.
Honey
Current Content: No new content this week, but there was a redesign of the site.
Intolerable Cruelty
Current content: One of many flash sites that launched this week, and this one takes the divorce theme of the movie to heart. For instance, instead of downloads its called Disposable Assets. Besides the usual suspects, this site has a lot of interactive features and downloads. It also have TV spots and clips marked coming soon.
Kart Racer
Current Content: Having multiple, complete songs on a site is becoming a more common feature on sites, and this site has two. Besides the songs the site has the usual content plus a trivia game you have to register to play.
Kill Bill
Current Content: The flash launched this week and while there's a lot of content, most of it is either from the old site or is marked coming soon. There are flash intros to each of the characters, including one on Hanzo the sword, which was first on the old site. The last three characters are coming soon so is most of the new content, (Cast and Crew, Locations and Press Notes.) The character intros are good, especially Go-Go's which has some information on the band 5.6.7.8's and one of their songs you can listen to. I'm looking forward to when the rest of the sections are added and seeing how it all fits together.
Love Actually
Current Content: Just the placeholder site for now with the synopsis, cast and crew (no bios) trailer and photo gallery.
Love Don't Cost a Thing
Current Content: Typical Warner Bros. placeholder site with just the synopsis and a few images.
Luther
Current Content: The rest of the content has filtered in. There's an impressive amount of content, a lot of which deal with the historical aspect of the movie.
My Life Without Me
Current Content: Nothing new has changed since the site was first reviewed.
Mystic River
Current Content: The section on Clint Eastwood is now up. It consists of more than half a dozen interviews from the cast, the author of the novel and Clint Eastwood himself.
National Lampoon's: Dorm Daze
Current Content: This movie is set to be released this week, or maybe dumped is a better term. The site itself is offers nothing to keep the surfers attention. There's the trailer and four TV spots, none of which are intriguing, a few images and some posters.
Pieces of April
Current Content: The flash intro makes good use of flash animation and clips from the movie, both visual and audio. And it is definitely the best part of the site. All the usual suspects are there, (trailer, synopsis, cast and crew bios, production notes) but I kept going back to the introduction.
Prey for Rock and Roll
Current Content: Nothing new was added since the site was last reviewed but its still a great site with cool music that's just needed some extra flash to put it over the top.
The Punisher
Current Content: Complete redesign of the site. The old teaser site was moved and in its place is a new more in-depth site. It's still mostly teaser but there's a lot more background information.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Current Content: None, just a redirect.
Run Away Jury
Current Content: The sections that were marked coming soon last week were added this week. The last two characters were Nick Easter (3 clips) and Marlee (1 clip and 6 photos) as well as the clips section (4 clips) was added. Needless to say, this site is heavy into the multimedia. But it's not at the expense of other content, there's a synopsis, production notes and even a section on Hackman's and Hoffman's longtime friendship and how Run Away Jury is their first movie together. The excellent content combined with the animated intros, sound effects and background music add up to this week's emotional Weekly Website Review.
The Run Down
Current Content: A previously award winning site, this site have nearly everything a site should have. Animated intros, background music, video and audio clips, there's even a game to play. And this week several more multimedia clips were added including a behind the scenes featurette and three more clips from the movie.
The Singing Detective
Current Content: The trailer was added to the site, and the Coming Soon was removed.
Sylvia
Current Content: The teaser flash site is up with just the synopsis, trailer and image gallery. The full site is marked coming soon.
Tupac: Ressurection
Current Content: Nothing, just a redirect to the Paramount movie page.
Under the Tuscan Sun
Current Content: Just in time for this week's release, the flash site was launched and it has a good mix of multimedia and text content. For example, there's the trailer and five clips from the movie. There is also extensive cast and crew bios as well as behind the scenes information. There are also animated intros to each section and good use of music.
Yossi and Jagger
Current Content: This site is silent and still. In fact, the absence of any unusual features prevents the surfer from staying too long.
Submitted by:
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2003-09-03
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. It seemed like a slow week this week, not for a lack of site updates, (there are two dozen of them.) But most of them were either placeholder sites, or minor changes. This made handing out the weekly award more difficult. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
Carnage
Current Contents: Another silent, still site. In fact, as of writing this, there wasn't even a trailer yet (it is marked coming soon.) This site could also use some additional formatting to split up some of the longer sections into separate pages.
The Cat in the Hat
Current Content: Placeholder site with the synopsis, teaser trailer and cast and crew (no bios.)
Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
Current Content: With the movie opening this week, this site hasn't changed much since it first launched. A few clips were added to Dickie's Family Diary, and some more might be added later on. One feature I neglected to mention last time was the audio clips. There are a few audio clips that play when you visit the site, some are from the movie, while others were made specifically for the site.
Dogville
Current Content: This site is very unusual, which makes it match the movie quite well. While the usual features are all present most of them are presented in an avant-garde way. Not sure if this is good or just strange for the sake of being strange. It does have some nice background music that is long enough not to become repetitive.
Dummy
Current Content: Just the placeholder site with the trailer, however, there's also another page with additional clips. Both pages are worth checking out.
Good Boy
Current Content: The placeholder was replaced by the flash site this week, although the flash site is still incomplete. Every section introduces one of the dogs that were in the movie, including facts about its breed. Every section also has animation and a short clip from the movie. Sections on the site include synopsis, trailer and image gallery and downloads. Two more sections (Scoop and Playtime) are still marked coming soon.
Home Room
Current Content: Like too many other sites, this one has no sound or animation outside the trailer. This is too bad cause it is otherwise a good site. It hits all the major areas a site should have and does it in a compelling way. But it needs music to set it apart.
In the Cut
Current Content: Redirect to Sony Pictures movie page.
Jersey Girl
Current Content: It's a Miramax site. Hopefully Kevin Smith will make a more elaborate site before the release date.
Kill Bill
Current Content: The old site is gone and has been replaced with e new placeholder site. Of all the content of the previous site, only the teaser trailer and the message boards came across.
The Last Samurai
Current Content: The second trailer has been added to the site.
Luther
Current Content: More information has been added, mostly in the History section.
Millennium Actress
Current Content: There is plenty of animation and music in the background of this site. The music even matches what is happening in the background animation, a very nice touch. In addition, all the regular features are here, synopsis, trailer, cast and crew bios, and production notes. There's also an interview with the director and screenwriter, but it is just a transcript and not a video clip.
The Order
Current Content: Nothing has changed since the site was last reviewed and the problem with the sound levels is still there.
Out of Time
Current Content: Placeholder site with just the synopsis and trailer.
Party Monster
Current Content: For a movie focused so much on the New York Party scene, this is one quiet website. Outside the trailer there are no sounds at all, and the trailer is the only animation on the site as well. The most unusual, and biggest, feature on the site is the production diary. These are not just a few notes, this is page after page of text (and quite a few images) detailing the making of the movie from the initial idea to the wrap party. Still, without sound or animation it is hard for a site to rise above the rest.
Prey for Rock and Roll
Current Content: I love a site with music and this site has three complete songs. Hell, you can even play all three songs at once. The site also has the usual features, synopsis, cast bios, trailer and three clips. If there were just some animated intros it could have been an award winning site.
The Run Down
Current Content: The flash site launched this week, and it has almost everything a site should have. Synopsis, trailer (including one in Spanish), cast, crew and character bios, image gallery, sound board, it even has a game. And there is another features marked coming soon, and some additional clips should be added before the release date. With animated intros, audio clips, background music and interactive features this site takes home the unpretentious Weekly Website Award.
School of Rock
Current Content: The trailer, which was released a while ago, was added to the placeholder site.
Shaolin Soccer
Current Content: Despite being a Miramax site, this is not the same as all other Miramax sites. But somehow there is less content than usual. Just the two trailers, no synopsis and cast and crew (no bios) like other Miramax sites.
Spider-Man 2
Current Content: The full site is now up, but a lot of features are still marked coming soon, and there should be regular updates till the movie opens in mid-2004. So far the synopsis is up and so are the cast and crew bios, character bios are marked coming soon. Just a note, many features require you to sign in before you can view them. This includes the polls and webisodes, but it's worth it.
Taking Lives
Current Content: Typical Warner Bros. placeholder site, this time without any pictures. Release date is early 2004, so there's plenty of time for more features to be added.
Zero Day
Current Content: This film opens tonight, however, the website is very Spartan with just the synopsis and trailer. Most of the information is 'off-site' at the Essex County Sheriff's Report. This helps give the film a more real feeling.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-01-05
director Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill has hit the net, so to speak. The trailer for the upcoming film, which stars Uma Thurman as a female assassin getting revenge for her botched wedding day, is up and running at Apple.com.
After a five-year hiatus from the screen, Tarantino will undeniably be back in top form, returning after the wonderful and vastly underrated Jackie Brown. But if you can't wait another second for a glimpes of his new one, I recommend watching the preview. Kill Bill opens on October 10.
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