March 21st, 2011
Plenty of new releases reached the top 30 on this week's top 30 DVD sales chart; however, there were not many really worth lauding. Jackass 3D won the way, but with just 569,000 units / $9.80 million, it was not a huge seller.
Megamind was pushed to second place with 368,000 units / $5.20 million for the week and 2.07 million units / $28.95 million after three. It is rapidly becoming the biggest hit of 2011, at least so far. The Walking Dead: Season One placed third in terms of units with 324,000 sold. However, due to its TV on DVD pricing, it placed second in terms of dollars with $5.83 million. The Next Three Days opened in fourth place with 283,000 units / $3.40 million, which is in line with its disappointing theatrical run. Due Date remaining in fifth place, adding 244,000 units / $3.59 million its its total sales, which have reached 1.51 million units / $21.60 million after three weeks of release.
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March 7th, 2011
Another incredibly slow week with very few releases that could be considered top tier. None of the first-run releases are really worth picking up for most people, but there are a couple smaller releases that are contenders for Pick of the Week. This includes Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XX, but in the end I gave that honor to Inside Job on either DVD or Blu-ray.
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March 1st, 2011
There were no films that managed a per theater average of $10,000 or more over the weekend, but I Am came the closest with an average of $9,649 in two theaters. Meanwhile the best new release was Of Gods and Men with an average of $9,360 in 33 theaters.
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February 27th, 2011
The Oscar are being handed out tonight and we will be going over the winners as they are announced and giving a few reactions, perhaps there will be a few surprises along the way. This story will be updated as the winners are announced, so check back throughout the evening to see if The King's Speech will be this year's winner, or if The Social Network will manage the upset. Plus there are many other potentially interesting results ahead.
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February 6th, 2011
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Feature-Length Documentary, which is only slightly more competitive than Best Animated Feature Film. (The next two categories are more competitive, I promise.)
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February 5th, 2011
WGA handed out its awards this weekend, and while there were many winners, only three categories were for theatrical releases.
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January 30th, 2011
The Directors Guild of America awards are some of the best indicators for the Oscars with a 90% success rate for predicting Best Director. This is great news for the winner of the feature film category, but it also bodes well for their documentary category.
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January 25th, 2011
The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, thus ending months of speculation. Along with a (very) few surprises, the list of nominees is mostly a case of Deja Vu. Leading the way, as it has so often this year, was The King's Speech, with 12 nominations, including six in seven of the most prestigious categories (Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and the four acting categories). But it was far from the only multi-nominated film on the list.
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January 23rd, 2011
Producers Guild of America announced their winners this weekend and there are some interesting wins that may have changed the odds come Oscar night, as well as one that was as predictable as they come.
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January 12th, 2011
The Directors Guild of America spreads out the nomination process, but the last of the theatrical categories were announced today. The guild hands out awards in nearly a dozen categories, but only two for theatrical release. Two categories, ten nominations, and only one that wasn't completely foreseen.
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January 4th, 2011
Producers Guild of America announced the nominations in seven categories, three of which are for theatrical releases. Like last year, there was only one repeat nominee, and again like last year, it was a Pixar release.
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January 4th, 2011
WGA nominations were announced this week, and there were some strange results, as the guild is sticking to their rules, which resulted in a number of possible Oscar contenders being ruled ineligible. That said, of the non-documentary films, only one hasn't picked up a single nomination previously, so it is hard to say this list is too out there.
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December 14th, 2010
The Fighter started its run on top of the per theater chart with an average of $75,003 in four theaters. That's not the best per theater average of the year, or even of recent weeks, but it does suggest it will perform well when it expands wide on Friday. Black Swan remained potent on the per theater chart despite very significant expansion. It earned an average of $36,726 in 90 theaters, which is more than enough to assume further expansion over the coming weeks. The King's Speech was close behind with an average of $31,148 in 19 theaters during its third week of release.
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November 23rd, 2010
The overall box office leader, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, also led the way on the per theater chart, pulling in an average of $30,307 in more than 4000 theaters. Last week's winner, Tiny Furniture, was a distant second place, with $16,384 in one theater. Made in Dagenham opened with a disappointing average of $12,521 in three theaters. This should be enough to expand somewhat, but its chances of earning a significant measure of mainstream success took a hit over the weekend. White Material was right behind with an average of $11,538, also in three theaters.
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November 16th, 2010
It was a close race for the top of the per theater chart with Tiny Furniture coming out on top with $21,235 in its lone theater. Second place went to 127 Hours with an average of $19,934 in 22 theaters. This bodes well for its chances of expanding.
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October 15th, 2010
It looks like we are getting closer and closer to Awards Season with two Oscar potential films coming out this week. At least there are two films that look like they were made to win Oscars. I'm not sure either has what it takes. Other limited releases include two films opening in several hundred theaters, both of which could struggle. There should be at least a couple to find some measure of mainstream success, but I'm unwilling to bet which films those will be.
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October 12th, 2010
There were three films to top $10,000 on the per theater chart, all of which were new releases. Leading the way was Inside Job, with an average of $19,825 in two theaters. Considering how important the subject is, I'm certainly glad people are seeing it. Nowhere Boy opened in four theaters with an average of $13,187, while Stone was right behind with an average of $12,628 in six theaters.
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October 10th, 2010
Although three openers had at least a theoretical chance of topping the chart this weekend, it was The Social Network that took the honors, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
Its $15.5 million box office take was down about 31% from last weekend, which is a good performance in, well, these days of Facebook, and suggests that it could have a shot at $100 million in total.
Life as We Know It started well for Warner Bros., but had to settle for second place with an estimated $14.635 million as it lost steam over the weekend.
Secretariat never really had much steam and finished in third place for Disney with $12.6 million.
My Soul to Take was another horror dud, earning just $6.9 million for Universal.
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October 8th, 2010
The list of limited releases is long and varied with a few Oscar potential films, as well as a few that are not being greeted as warmly by critics. Likewise, there are some films opening in only a single theaters, while others are opening in dozens, or even hundreds of theaters. With so many films, a lot will unfortunately fall through the cracks, but hopefully there will also be at least a few hits.
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