May 6th, 2014
It's a short list this week, because there's almost nothing worth talking about. The best-selling new release according to Amazon is Veronica Mars, while the first page of new releases is dominated by Godzilla titles, and not even good Godzilla titles. There are not a lot of new releases that are contenders for Pick of the Week, but Still Mine on DVD is the best of what is out there. Meanwhile, another Canadian release, Republic of Doyle: Season 1 earns an honorable mention and is the Puck of the Week.
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April 1st, 2014
It was a close race, but The Raid 2 took top spot on the per theater chart with an average of $23,613 in seven theaters. Finding Vivian Maier was right behind with an average of $21,200 in three theaters. The overall number one film, Noah, was the only other film in the $10,000 club, earning an average of $12,257.
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March 25th, 2014
The Grand Budapest Hotel expanded once again, but still managed to lead the way on the per theater chart with an average of $22,329 in 304 theaters. The overall number one film, Divergent, was in second place on the per theater chart with an average of $13,874. Rob the Mob was right behind with $13,833 in its lone theater. Jodorowsky's Dune opened in three theaters earning an average of $12,006. God's Not Dead was the big surprise of the weekend with an average of $11,852 in 780 theaters.
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March 19th, 2014
Despite expanding from 4 to 66 theaters, The Grand Budapest Hotel held on well enough to lead the per theater chart with ease. In fact, its average of $55,122 was the second best per theater average for the year, behind only its opening weekend. Bad Words came in second place with an average of $18,884 in six theaters. This is a good opening, but not one that suggests it could naturally expand wide. Fortunately, the film already has a wide release scheduled and as the ad campaign for the wide release ramps up, it should at least become a midlevel hit when compared to its production budget. Enemy was right behind with an estimated $18,000 in its lone theater. Le Week-End was the final film in the $10,000 club as it earned an average of $14,536 in three theaters during its opening weekend of release.
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March 18th, 2014
The weekend box office didn't shake out as expected with the new films failing to live up to the low end of predictions. Need for Speed didn't earn first place, in fact, it only managed third place. Tyler Perry's Single Mothers Club barely managed fifth place and was the worst opening for Tyler Perry in his directing career. On the positive side, Mr. Peabody and Sherman held on better than expected allowing it to rise to first place. The overall box office sank compared to last weekend, down 21% to $114 million. This is still above last year's box office total by 6%. Year-to-date, 2014 has pulled in almost $2.00 billion, which is 11% ahead of 2013's pace.
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March 16th, 2014
An over-abundance of action movies this weekend split the market for moviegoers looking for such entertainment, allowing the animated family adventure Mr. Peabody and Sherman to sneak in and win the weekend. Peabody will be down a decent 34% from last weekend at $21.2 million, according to Fox, and will hit $63 million by the end of the weekend. Its legs will take it past 300: Rise of an Empire, which will be down 58% to $19.1 million for the weekend, and $78.4 million after two. Both films will top new release Need for Speed. Disney's debutant will post around $17.8 million for the weekend, a number undoubtedly squeezed by competition with 300 and Non-Stop, which will post $10.6 million in its third weekend, for $68.8 million in total.
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March 14th, 2014
There could be as many as two-dozen limited releases opening this week, which is insane. That's so many that I'm going to have to limit the ones I talk about to those that I can easily find release dates and / or theater listings for on official sites. (I should really do this every week, because too many times I talk about a film opening in limited release, only to never hear about the movie again.) The competition is overwhelming, but there are a few that rise above the crowd. Veronica Mars is opening wider than any other film and its reviews are pretty good. On the other hand, it is also playing on Video on Demand, so its box office numbers might be really weak. Bad Words is only opening in six theaters tonight, but since it already has a wide expansion planned for the 28th, one could say it is the biggest release of the week. There are several other films on this week's list that could find an audience (Enemy, Exposed, On My Way, etc.) but the competition will likely prove to be too much.
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March 1st, 2014
2014 continued its strong run in February with The Lego Movie beating even the high end expectations and will become the first film released in 2014 to reach $200 million. March doesn't look as strong, as no film is on track to hit $200 million, but there are five films that have a chance at $100 million. Granted, not all of them will get there; in fact, there's a chance only one of them will get there. Divergent is the film I think has the best shot at the century club, but it could be joined by Mr. Peabody and Sherman, for instance, which is earning surprisingly strong reviews. Noah is a big-budget Bible epic and the studio has to be hoping for at least $100 million, but the buzz is quite negative and there have been reports of troubles behind-the-scenes. Last March was led by Oz The Great and Powerful, which pulled in more than $200 million domestically. I don't think any film opening this March will match that figure. In addition, The Croods and G.I. Joe: Retaliation also hit the $100 million milestone, while Olympus Has Fallen came very close. Granted, there were also some big bombs last March, like The Host, but even so, I think 2014 will lose ground in the year-over-year comparison.
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