August 19th, 2007
Disturbia led a large group of new releases and took first place on the rental charts with $9.70 million in rentals.
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August 19th, 2007
Despite a busy week for new releases, 300 was able to stay on top of the DVD sales chart.
This should really surprise no one as it has been tough this year for any DVD to move more than 1 million units in a single week, and with first week sales of more than 5 million units, even a sharp drop-off would leave 300 in first place.
And it did have a sharp drop-off, down more than 70% to 1.50 million units sold this week for a total of 6.60 million after two.
This works out to $149.82 million in total sales, which is close to the film's entire theatrical haul.
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August 6th, 2007
Wow.
What a busy week.
Not only do we have dozens of releases (many of them Elvis related), we have nine spotlight reviews.
There aren't as many contenders for DVD Pick of the Week, however.
The two that stand out the most are The Muppet Show - Season Two and The Simpsons - Season 10.
The Muppet Show is the better show while The Simpsons has better extras.
Call it a tie and both are this week's DVD Pick of the Week.
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June 17th, 2007
300 returned to the international chart this week thanks entirely to its opening in Japan.
In that market, the film opened in second place with $2.71 million on 452 screens over the weekend and $3.39 million including last week's premiere in Tokyo.
This was enough for it to capture sixth place internationally with $2.75 million on 576 screens in 8 markets, while lifting its total to $236.89 million.
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May 27th, 2007
Mr. Bean's Holiday fell one spot out of the top five this weekend despite showing some significant growth. The film did have a few openings, including a third place $165,000 debut on 56 screens in Turkey, but its biggest market was Germany where it grew 44% to $651,000 on 577 screens for the weekend and $22.52 million in total. Overall the film added $3.47 million on 2634 screens in 43 markets for a total of $176.19 million internationally with debuts in South Korea, Japan, and China, yet to come, (and of course it doesn't open here till August).
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May 13th, 2007
With Spider-Man 3 dominating the global market last weekend, there was very little else happening on the international charts that was newsworthy. With little in the way of new releases, or even expansion for holdovers, it was impossible just to fill out a top 30 chart. And with several films expected to attempt a worldwide opening over the next couple months, it will likely be that way till mid-August.
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May 6th, 2007
300 was knocked out of the top five this week but still added $3.82 million on 3,537 screens in 52 markets for a total of $223.77 million.
The film has yet to open in Japan, but that's about it at this point and there's little hope that the movie will hit any more milestones from now until then.
However, it is already a massive hit and a huge financial boon for the studio, so everything it does earn will be pure gravy.
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April 29th, 2007
The Reaping climbed into sixth place this past weekend with $5.98 million on 2634 screens in 39 markets for a total of just $20.38 million. The film had a couple respectable openings including South Korea where it made $1.17 million on 129 screens over the weekend and $1.34 million in total while it took in $335,000 in Brazil. However, in most markets the film stumbled, like in France where is placed seventh with $684,000 or the the U.K. where it placed eighth with $622,000 on 282 screens. The film debuted in ninth place in Australia, ($405,000 on 133 screens); in Russia, ($261,000 on 111); and in Germany, ($247,000 on 201). Mexico became the film's best market as it has pulled in $4.45 million in three weeks, including $589,000 on 350 screens this past weekend; this is just ahead of the $4.25 million the film has earned in Spain, but it only managed $334,000 on 299 screens this past weekend and will quickly disappear there.
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April 22nd, 2007
Sunshine climbed into sixth place with $5.20 million on 1866 screens in 30 markets for a total of $10.20 million. However, while it nearly doubled last week's opening, this was entirely due to the film's expansion. Its biggest market of the weekend was France where it placed fourth with $1.36 million on 339 screens while it placed eighth in its debut in Australia with just $611,000 on 161 screens. On the other hand, the film only managed $508,000 on 192 screens during its debut in Japan and while likely see a sharp drop-off next weekend given its weak per screen average. Meanwhile in the U.K. the film suffered the worst week-to-week drop-off in the top ten down 57% to $879,000 on 409 screens over the weekend and a total of $4.45 million in total.
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April 11th, 2007
Mr. Bean's Holiday was able to repeat on top of the international charts this week thanks to a mix of impressive openings and strong holdovers. For instance, the film opened in first place in Italy with a strong $2.34 million on 421 screens while it had to settle for fourth place in Mexico with $897,000 on 271 screens over the weekend and $1.12 million in total. The film's best market was U.K. where it added $4.81 million on 511 screens to its total of $28.06 million. It also held up well in Germany down 21% to $4.45 million on 840 screens to $13.30 million after two weeks while in Australia it was down 28% to $2.24 million for the weekend and $6.60 million in total.
Additionally, it had to go against the opening of 300 in both, making the strong hold even more impressive.
Overall, the film added $30.78 million on 4,069 screens in 42 markets for a total of $86.91 million and analysts expect it to hit $100 million by tonight.
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April 8th, 2007
Norbit saw its weekend haul sliced neatly in half landing in sixth place with $4.09 million on 2270 screens in 39 markets for a total of $49.38 million. The film wasn't able to crack $1 million in any single market, but Italy came the closest with $940,000 on 263 screens for a two-week total of $3.19 million.
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April 2nd, 2007
March ended on a similar tone as it began, but not as strong as recent weeks.
Overall the weekend total gross was $128 million, down 5% from last weekend.
That is also down 10% from the same weekend last year.
However, it is important to note that was the weekend Ice Age: The Meltdown opened with nearly $70 million and 2007 is still 6% ahead of 2006's pace.
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April 1st, 2007
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started its international run this past weekend and just missed the top five on debut.
It did manage $3.92 million on 1,004 screens in 8 markets over the weekend and $4.53 million including previews.
Of this box office, nearly half of it came from a pair of third place openings in England ($1.27 million on 368 screens over the weekend and $1.86 million in total), and Australia ($379,000 on 58 screens).
The film also opened in Russia where the strong mutant demographic helped the film capture second place with $1.38 million on 360 screens.
(That was a Chernobyl joke, by the way.)
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March 29th, 2007
March started like a lion when Wild Hogs opened to nearly $40 million and was even more ferocious the weekend after that when 300 broke records. It is folklore that if March starts like a lion, it ends like a lamb. So what does this mean for this week's box office? Nothing, it's just folklore. The box office looks very vigorous this weekend with two top-tier releases opening at saturation level (3,000 or more theaters).
As an added bonus, both films are aimed at different target demographics, so both could be big hits.
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March 27th, 2007
Six wide releases in a single weekend appears to have been at least three too many as most struggled at the box office.
On the other hand, with so many new films opening and so many different demographics being targeted, it was a good week at the box office overall with receipts hitting $133 million, up 14% from last week and 22% from last year.
Year-to-date revenue has already hit $2 billion and is clocking in at nearly 6% higher than last year's pace.
More importantly, the number of big hits is increasing interest, and that can have a positive effect on future earnings.
I feel confident in saying records will fall this year.
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March 24th, 2007
Good week for trailers with several on the list, including a trio of major summer blockbusters. However, while those site will obviously generate the most traffic, they are not award-worthy sites, (at least not yet). The best site this week is Pathfinder - Official Site.
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March 23rd, 2007
TMNT, AKA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrives in theaters almost 14 years to the day after the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3.
That's a long wait between releases in a franchise — much of the target audience weren't even born when the last movie came out — and also marks something of a rebirth for the Turtles, with a switch from live action to CGI animation.
Will the wait prove a blessing or a curse for the franchise, and can TMNT find a cross-over adult audience ready to relive their childhoods?
In this movie preview, we'll take a look at the movie's prospects for a robust box office run.
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March 22nd, 2007
There are six films opening in wide release this week, or at some level of wide release.
This is at least three too many, and to make matters worse, several share target demographics.
This insanity will mean that at least two films, possibly more, will fail to reach their potential.
It also makes predicting the weekend extremely difficult because of the extra variables.
Will Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appeal to just the younger crowd, or will fans of the original series also show up?
If so, will this cut into the box office of The Hills Have Eyes 2 and Shooter?
There's a lot to consider here.
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March 19th, 2007
With the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just about upon us, we have a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Original Series - Season 4 as our main prize this week.
To win one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Original Series - Season 4 on DVD as well as a poster from The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair, which is also opening this week in limited release.
Meanwhile, the person who comes the closest to the film's opening 3-day weekend (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win just the poster from The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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March 17th, 2007
We are starting to get some serious updates on the websites for the summer blockbusters, however, it will be a few more weeks before this list is dominated by such films. In the meantime, it is a website for a new release, Dead Silence - Official Site, that is the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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March 10th, 2007
We are starting to see more and more summer blockbusters launching or updating their websites. However, this week it was still a spring release taking top spot as The Fracture - Official Site won the Weekly Website Award.
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March 1st, 2007
March, a month without a holiday. In fact, It's the only month without any holidays to help boost the box office and this prevents studios from releasing big blockbusters. However, it is not the weakest month either and there are a few midlevel hits coming out over the next four weeks and even a couple that could top $100 million
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February 3rd, 2007
Busy week for limited releases and a busy week for websites, which explains why I'm wrapping things up at midnight. There wasn't a whole lot on this week's list that really attracted my attention, but I'm giving the Weekly Website Award to
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters -
Official Site, mainly for their ... extracurricular activities of the viral marketers in Boston. And remember people, real bombs are meant to be inconspicuous, they won't sing you a song or make rude gestures at you.
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December 16th, 2006
The end of year big movie rush continues, the last few big movies are launching their sites. And one such movie,
Night at the Museum -
Official Site, is the winning of the Weekly Website Award.
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October 1st, 2006
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Teenage Mutant Ninje Turtles, Resident Evil: Extinction and more.
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July 21st, 2006
Another busy week, but unlike last week there was no massive blockbuster launching its flash site. Two sites stood out this week, (not counting past winners), and they are wildly different both in terms of style and in terms of the movie they are selling:
Accepted -
Official Site and
World Trade Center -
Official Site. The former is goofy and seriously immature, while the latter is one of the most emotional sites I've ever seen. In was nearly a coin flip, but in the end I went with
Accepted -
Official Site, but I would be willing to bet the other site will win before the movie comes out.
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March 16th, 2006
Pretty average week with all best sites being previous award winners. The best of the rest was
Silent Hill -
Official Site, and even though this week's update wasn't huge, it was enough to make the overall site award-worthy.
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