It is a rather short list for limited releases this week, but there is at least one, Before Midnight, that has a really good shot at earning some mainstream success. It is not the only film earning great reviews, but not every film that earns great reviews thrives in limited release and films like Fill the Void and We Steal Secrets will likely find more limited success. ]]>
The weekend after Memorial Day tends to be rather weak, but there are two films hoping to buck that trend: After Earth and Now You See Me. Neither are likely to be monster hits, but After Earth has a better chance than Now You See Me does and it is the choice for the target movie for this weeks' box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for After Earth. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of Visible Scars on DVD. Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of Visible Scars on DVD. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! ]]>
Its the Memorial Day long weekend and there are three new films looking to take advantage of the holiday, plus a number of holdovers that will likely still bring in a lot of money. Fast and Furious 6 is leading the way in terms of box office potential and many think it will crack $100 million over four days; some think it will crack $100 million over three days. The Hangover III debuted on Thursday, which will give it a jump on the competition, but soften its weekend numbers. Finally, there's Epic, a family film that seems like a sure hit, except there is a lot of competition this weekend. Star Trek into Darkness, Iron Man 3, and The Great Gatsby are all still doing well and should provide some competition for the three new releases. All combined, those six films should make as much as the entire box office did last year and 2013 will start to close the gap with 2012. ]]>
The week of April 7th, 2013 was the weekend after Easter, and Easter tends to have a lot of sales for DVDs and Blu-rays, so it should come as no surprise there was a drop in sales. Additionally, the new releases were led by The Bible: The Epic Miniseries, both in terms of units and revenue, which is not a prime Blu-ray release. One could argue The Avengers Megaset, Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One was a more impressive debut, all things considered. Neither release was enough to buoy the overall Blu-ray market, which fell 64% in terms of units and 52% in terms of revenue. Total units fell below the 1 million mark for the first time since January and only the third time this year with 936,000 units, while the revenue fell to $29.28 million. Blu-ray sales fell compared to last year, down 39% in terms of units and 17% in terms of revenue. Granted, there was a misalignment in the Easter weekend, so we shouldn't take too much stock in this one result. With very little in the way of new releases, the overall Blu-ray share fell to 32% in terms of units and 41% in terms of revenue. This isn't a great result, but it's hardly a reason to panic. The market will bounce back, in a couple weeks. ]]>
There were a couple of new releases to chart on the April 7th, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. This includes The Bible: The Epic Miniseries, which earned first place with 172,000 units / $6.31 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 28%, which is low for the format as a whole, but better than expected, given its genre and target audience. ]]>
New releases were nearly shut out of the April 7th, 2013 edition of the DVD sales chart. That said, the one and only new release to chart was The Bible: The Epic Miniseries, which earned first place with 436,000 units / $14.31 million. ]]>
The winner of our Seeing in the Dark contest was determined and it is... ]]>
Star Trek into Darkness had a fantastic domestic start on IMAX with $13.6 million on 336 screens. Worldwide, the film has made roughly $20 million on IMAX so far. ]]>
Frances Ha earned first place on the per theater chart with an average of $34,350 in four theaters. This is strong enough to suggest serious potential to expand. The overall number one film, Star Trek into Darkness, placed second with an average of $18,140. That's a fantastic start, but lower than expected. ]]>
It's an abridged list of DVD and Blu-ray releases report this week due to technical difficulties. The best selling new release of the week is True Blood: The Complete Fifth Season on Blu-ray Combo Pack, which is certainly worth owning for fans. However, the best releases are the Hayao Miyazaki Double-Shot, Howl's Moving Castle on Blu-ray Combo Pack and My Neighbor Totoro on Blu-ray Combo Pack. Most prefer the former, but I prefer the latter. ]]>