January 16th, 2013
New releases did better on the Blu-ray sales chart than it did on the DVD sales chart, relatively speaking. Brave sold an additional 756,000 units generating $15.59 million more revenue for the week giving it a total of 1.80 million units / $37.33 million after just two weeks of release. This is a very strong start for a kids movie.
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January 16th, 2013
There were not many new releases to reach the top 30 on the November 25th edition of the DVD sales chart. This is not a surprise, as it was the Thanksgiving Sales weekend and holdovers tend to dominate the chart. Brave remained in top spot with 1.59 million units / $27.28 million during its second week of release. At this point, it had sold 3.75 million units and generated $61.79 million, which was enough for sixth place for 2012.
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December 13th, 2012
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations and the same list of films that have been mentioned since the beginning of Awards Season were rewarded today. Lincoln led the way with seven nods, while Argo and Django Unchained were close behind with five.
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December 12th, 2012
SAG nominations were announced and there were only a few surprises to deal with. Leading the way for total nominations was The Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and Les Miserables, all of which earned nominations in four of the six categories.
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November 23rd, 2012
This weekend is Thanksgiving and as always that means Black Friday and Cyber Monday plus 48 hours of shopping in-between. Unlike most years, I'm only halfway done with my Christmas shopping. So what recent, and not so recent releases are prime candidates for the perfect gift this year? Over the next month, we will go over several dozen possibilities with our annual Holiday Gift Guide, which is divided into into four sections. This week we start with Major Movie Releases. These are first run releases, franchise box sets, etc. However, before we get into the individual titles, we will start with an update on...
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October 21st, 2012
The Avengers remained in top spot on the Blu-ray sales chart with 824,000 units / $20.61 million for the week giving it totals of 4.21 million / $88.30 million after two. The number of Blu-rays that have sold more units can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
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October 21st, 2012
The Avengers remained on top of the DVD sales chart selling an additional 664,000 units and generating $12.69 million more in revenue. After two weeks of release, the film has sold 2.75 million units and generated $48.10 million in total revenue giving it fourth place on the 2012 chart.
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October 12th, 2012
The Avengers became one of the best selling Blu-rays of all time after just one week of release. Its opening week sales were outstanding at 3.39 million units / $67.69 million. This was by far the biggest new releases of the week and it crushed the competition on the Blu-ray sales chart. In fact, it was easily the best single week on the chart and places the Blu-ray in the top ten on the all-time list. (More on that next week.) Its opening week Blu-ray share was 62%. I suspect by the end of the Christmas shopping season, a 60% opening week Blu-ray share will be the norm for any major release.
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October 12th, 2012
The Avengers dominated a lengthy list of new releases and sold roughly 20 times the number of DVDs of the second place release on this week's DVD sales chart. It sold 2.09 million units and generated $35.41 million in opening weekend revenue. This is a good start on the home market, but not great compared to the film's theatrical run. In fact, it wasn't even the best opening of the year, as both The Hunger Games and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 sold more during their first week of release, and they both had shortened opening weeks. That said, it is already in eighth place for the year and this film did much better on Blu-ray than it did on DVD. More on that very shortly.
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September 25th, 2012
New releases took the top four or five spots on the Blu-ray Sales Chart this week, it depends on which measure you take, units or revenue. Snow White and the Huntsman led the way in both with 893,000 units / $17.86 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 55%, which is excellent, even for a visually impressive film like this. In fact, given its slightly more female demographic, this is an even more impressive result.
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September 25th, 2012
It was a busy week for new releases on the DVD sales chart with four in the top five and seven in the top ten. Leading the way was Snow White and the Huntsman with 729,000 units / $12.39 million during its first week of release. This is a good start, and it did better on Blu-ray, so that's a bonus.
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September 19th, 2012
None of the new releases were able to unseat Battleship on top of the Blu-ray Sales Chart this week, as it sold 145,000 units / $3.63 million for the week giving it totals of 729,000 units / $15.30 million after two. This is better than it is performing on DVD, but that's not saying a lot.
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September 19th, 2012
It was a bad week for new releases, at least in terms of quality. How bad? The Hunger Games was able to return to first place on the DVD sales chart. It sold an additional 256,000 units / $5.11 million over the week for a total of 5.38 million units / $93.21 million. It has now sold more units than any other DVD in 2012, but it is still a little behind Breaking Dawn, Part 1 in terms of revenue.
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September 12th, 2012
Battleship was one of four new releases to reach the top five on the Blu-ray Sales Chart this week scoring first place with 584,000 units / $11.67 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 61%, which is fantastic.
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September 12th, 2012
There were a ton of new releases on this week's DVD sales chart with four in the top five and nine in the top eleven. We have a new number one release, The Lucky One, with 515,000 units sold and $7.70 million in revenue generated during its first week of release. This is a solid opening for a midlevel hit.
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September 7th, 2012
The Hunger Games dominated the Blu-ray Sales Chart during its first full week on the home market. It saw its sales numbers grow a little bit to 1.75 million units / $34.99 million for the week giving it totals of 3.42 million units / $68.32 million. It is already in the top ten best-selling Blu-rays of all time and the best-selling Blu-ray of the year. It likely won't last in first place for long, as The Avengers is coming out soon and should be record-breaking on Blu-ray.
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September 5th, 2012
The winners of our Get Some New Possessions were determined and they are...
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September 5th, 2012
Depending on how you look at things, there were more than ten new releases to reach the top 30 on the DVD Sales Chart. One of the confusing "new" releases is The Hunger Games, which spent its first full week on the home market, but came out a few days before Tuesday. It sold 2.50 million units and generated $42.48 million during its first full week of release, for totals of 4.68 million units / $79.46 million and it is already the second best selling DVD of 2012 and should be in first place very shortly. I was amazed that the film actually sold more this week than it did last week, even with its shortened opening week. After all, Breaking Dawn, Part 1 also opened with a shortened week, but fell nearly 40% during its first full week of release. Clearly this movie has much better word-of-mouth.
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August 29th, 2012
The short sales week didn't stop The Hunger Games from earning first place on the Blu-ray Sales Chart. It led all new releases with 1.67 million units / $33.33 million over two days. This is more than I thought it would sell and puts it in the top ten all time openings on Blu-ray. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 43%, which is a little low for a major blockbuster, but it was aimed more at women, who don't buy as many Blu-rays as men do.
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August 29th, 2012
Despite being out for only two days, The Hunger Games was the best new release and crushed the competition on the DVD sales chart. It sold 2.18 million units while generated $36.97 million, again, in just two days. Its opening was not quite as strong as Breaking Dawn, Part 1's debut was earlier this year, at least not on DVD, but it performed better on Blu-ray.
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August 24th, 2012
Next week is the last weekend in August, and it really feels like it. There are three wide releases, which is one more than expected at the beginning of the month. (I never thought The Oogieloves in the BIG Balloon Adventure would open in 2000 theaters.) Lawless will very likely be the best movie, but it is opening in only 2300 theaters and is opening on Wednesday. This leaves The Possession as the clear choice as the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for The Possession.
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 The Hunger Games on Blu-ray.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a copy of Freelancers on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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August 22nd, 2012
The winners of our Butterflies and Bullets were determined and they are...
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August 22nd, 2012
Doctor Seuss' The Lorax was the first new release to top the Blu-ray Sales Chart in a while. It sold 1.73 million units and generated $34.65 million in revenue. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 47%, which is outstanding for a kids movie. In fact, it generated more revenue from Blu-ray than it did from DVD, so it is clear Blu-ray has taken over the mainstream market. Granted, some types of releases, like dramas, live action kids movies, documentaries, TV shows, etc. still sell much better on DVD than they do on Blu-ray, but those days could be numbered as well.
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August 22nd, 2012
It is an amazing week on the home market, if you count The Hunger Games. That film made its DVD and Blu-ray debut on Saturday, so it didn't quite come out this week, but it is still selling well. The best-selling Tuesday release was NCIS: Season Nine - Buy from Amazon, while the top five is dominated by Blu-ray catalog releases. I think Bernie comes close to being a Pick of the Week Contender and A Separation is even better, but I'm going with The Hunger Games as top pick.
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August 18th, 2012
Of the 15 films that have reached $400 million, all but one of them opened in the heart of summer, or in December. That one exception was The Hunger Games, which opened in March. Even films that open the weekend before Thanksgiving and have the entire holiday season rarely come close to $300 million, while films that open in March rarely top $200 million. You can not overstate the impressive nature of this film's success. However, there is a chance it was based on hype and not inherent quality. After all, the Twilight films are a huge hit, and the films are generally considered poor to terrible. So is it as good as its box office numbers would indicate? Or did the hype propel it forward?
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August 14th, 2012
It is an amazing week on the home market, almost. One of the biggest films of all time comes out on DVD and Blu-ray this week; however, fans of The Hunger Games will have to wait till a minute after midnight on Saturday morning to get a hold of the film. I hope my screener will arrive before then. As for releases coming out this Tuesday, there are some that should sell well, but for Pick of the Week, I think Jaws' Blu-ray debut it a top contender. The Hunger Games is also a contender for Pick of the Week. I'm going with Jaws, but it is a close race.
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July 5th, 2012
Ice Age: Continental Drift started its international run a little earlier than its domestic run, and if this is any indication, its box office chances here are fantastic. The film pulled in $80.31 million on 9,653 screens in 35 markets. This includes $12.23 million on 2,617 screens over the weekend in Mexico for a total opening there of $13.87 million, which was the third biggest opening of all time in that market. It also made $11.31 million on 841 screens in France, which was the biggest opening of the year. The film dominated Brazil with $6.56 million on 1,004. Its opening in Australia was not quite as strong with $5.02 million on 490 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $6.43 million, but that's still equivalent to $60 million here, given the relative size of the two markets. It broke the record for biggest opening in Argentina at $4.1 million on 284 screens, and did the same in a number of smaller Latin American markets ($3.2 million on 296 in Colombia, $3.1 million on 252 in Peru, etc.). I think its chances of reaching $1 billion worldwide are better than I previously thought.
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June 27th, 2012
For the third weekend in a row, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted earned top spot on the international chart, this time pulling in $35.43 million on 9,499 screens in 43 markets for a total of $214.17 million internationally and $371.26 million worldwide. Its best market of the weekend was Mexico, where it remained in first place with $3.81 million on 1,612 screens over the weekend for a total of $20.78 million after three. Meanwhile in Russia, the film has amassed a total of $43.05 million, including $3.41 million on 1,485 screens this past weekend. The film's next major market is Spain, but it doesn't open there till the end of July. It doesn't finish its run till October when it opens in the U.K.
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June 20th, 2012
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted held firm on top of the international chart with $52.82 million on 11,633 screens in 43 markets for a total of $158.43 million internationally and $277.44 million worldwide. It fell just 36% in Russia for a weekend haul of $10.09 million on 1,830 screens over the weekend and a total of $36.00 million after two. Quite frankly, this is a stunning hold. Russia is known for steep declines (drop-offs greater than 60% are the norm). At this pace, the film could top The Avengers as the biggest hit in the market this year by this time next week. In Mexico, it made $5.03 million on 572 screens over the weekend for a total of $14.82 million after two, while in Brazil it managed $4.19 million on 870 screens over the weekend for a total of $17.53 million after two. In both of those markets the film remained in top spot. On the other hand, it slipped to second place during its second weekend in France down 45% to $4.41 million on 685 screens over the weekend for a total of $13.17 million so far. This is about on par with its run here. With many, many major markets left ahead of it, the film should have little trouble reaching more major milestones, while it should break even before it reaches the lucrative home market.
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June 12th, 2012
In just two weeks, the box office went from slump to soaring. Both Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and Prometheus were box office hits and for first time in nearly four years and for only the second time ever, two films opened with more than $50 million at the box office. The overall box office reached $182 million, which shows the holdovers were also an important part of the overall picture. This was an increase of 27% from last weekend and a 32% increase from last year. A 32% increase would be amazing under normal circumstances, but just two weeks ago, we saw a 30% decrease in the year-over-year comparison, which makes this turnaround even more stunning. Year-to-date, 2012 remains ahead of 2011 by just shy of 10% at $4.70 billion to $4.28 billion and things look pretty good next weekend as well. Not as good as they were this weekend, but pretty good.
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June 10th, 2012
This is a rare Summer weekend where two new releases had a decent shot at topping the chart, and a rarer Summer weekend where both of them have performed strongly at the box office. In the end, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted will come out on top, according to studios' Sunday estimates, with the animated adventure forecast to earn just over $60 million (within 5% of the debut of the previous outing for the franchise). Prometheus, meanwhile, started out in first place on Friday, but has slowed through the weekend and will end up with about $50 million, according to Fox. Both films averaged about $14,000 per theater, and clearly didn't suffer too much from having to share 3-D space in theaters.
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May 15th, 2012
For the first time ever, a film earned more than $100 million during its sophomore stint. The Avengers again led the way at the box office and again broke records. It wasn't all good news as Dark Shadows missed modest expectations and the overall box office slid 34% from last weekend to $171 million. That is still 22% higher than the same weekend last year, while 2012's lead over 2011 grew to 17.5% at $3.83 billion to $3.26 billion. I don't know how long The Avengers can keep 2012 ahead in the year-over-year comparison, but it sure is helping build up its lead in the short term.
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May 10th, 2012
There is one wide release this week, Dark Shadows, plus a busy slate of limited releases. However, the only film most people are talking about is The Avengers. There is a chance that by the end of business this weekend, it will be the biggest hit of the year, overtaking The Hunger Games. Even if Dark Shadows makes $50 million over the weekend, it will be a mere footnote at the box office compared to The Avengers' sophomore stint. Dark Shadows probably won't match the combined openings of last year's two wide releases, Bridemaids and Priest 3D (about $41 million), but it could be close. However, since there are some that are predicting The Avengers will earn more than last year's top five earned (about $110 million), 2012 should easily walk away with the win.
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May 9th, 2012
The Avengers crushed the competition on the international chart this week and held on so well that it became the biggest hit on the worldwide chart for 2012, overtaking The Hunger Games. Over the weekend it managed $151.5 million on 12,410 screens in 52 markets for totals of $475.8 million internationally and $683.2 million worldwide. It just pushed Forrest Gump out of the top 50 on the All Time chart and is climbing the ranks quickly. By the end of business on Monday, it had topped $700 million worldwide and will be fighting for a spot in the top 40 before the weekend begins.
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May 7th, 2012
Expectations for The Avengers were high, record-breakingly high among some people. However, as high as they were, reality was higher. Records were not just broken, but destroyed beyond recognition. The overall box office was in the top five combined biggest weekends with $258 million, which was 134% higher than last weekend. 134%. It was 55% higher than the same weekend last year. Like I've said before, this kind of year-over-year change usually only happens when there is a misalignment in holidays. The victory erases all of the losses from April, and then some, giving 2012 a $500 million lead over 2011 at $3.58 billion to $3.08 billion. This is an amazing start for the summer and with with roughly 25 million people seeing movies this weekend, upcoming films got a ton of free publicity and added hype.
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May 3rd, 2012
The Avengers. That's all that really matters. The Avengers has no competition from any film playing this weekend and will finish in first place by a margin of well over $100 million. It has no competition with any film that opened last year and it might beat Thor's opening by $100 million. Its only real competition comes from The Hunger Games for biggest opening of the year at $152.54 million, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, for Biggest Opening of All Time.
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May 3rd, 2012
The weekend international numbers came in a little late for two main reasons. Firstly, it was May Day. In North America the normal reaction to that is, "Huh?" (My knowledge of the holiday is limited to a joke on Red Dwarf.) But internationally, it's a pretty big deal. Secondly, it takes a long time to count to $200 million, which what The Avengers made. Technically, it made $185.1 million on 12,152 screens in 39 markets over the weekend, for a total opening of $218.2 million. To put this into perspective, this is more than Captain America made in total on the international scene, as well as both of the Hulk films. It is possible that the film will reach $300 million internationally by the end of business on Thursday, while by the end of this weekend, it will be one of the biggest hits Marvel has produced.
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April 30th, 2012
If someone were to describe the box office this weekend in just one word, that one word would be, "Yuck". Only one of the four wide releases matched expectations, and that was the film that was expected to do the worst. Think Like a Man easily repeated on top of the chart, despite falling nearly 50%. The overall box office fell 18% from last weekend to $110 million, which was 30% lower than the same weekend last year. Declines like this usually only happen due to a misalignment in holidays. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011, but the lead has shrunk to 14% at $3.29 billion to $2.88 billion. Fortunately, The Avengers is on track to break records, so 2012 should get back to its winning ways very soon.
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April 29th, 2012
This weekend's four new wide releases were no match for Think Like a Man, according to studio estimates released on Sunday, with the comedy's 46% weekend-to-weekend drop-off and $18 million gross still putting it almost $7 million ahead of the next-best finisher. That movie, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, also comes from the Sony stable, although it is projected to be very narrowly at the head of a pack of movies that will earn around $11 million, and could actually end up anywhere between second and fifth when the final numbers come in on Monday. The other movies in the hunt for the (not very) coveted runners-up position include new release The Five-Year Engagement and two returning films: The Lucky One and The Hunger Games (which will end the weekend with over $370 million).
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April 26th, 2012
The four films opening wide this week will be looking to pull in as much money as possible over the next seven days before The Avengers opens and makes everything currently in theaters irrelevant. Five-Year Engagement is the only new film that is expected to compete for top spot, but even its box office chances have taken a hit from the beginning of the month. The other three films, The Raven and The Pirates! Band of Misfits could be in a close battle for a spot in the top five, while Safe looks like it is going to sink. This weekend last year was an abnormally strong weekend for April. In fact, Fast Five's opening of $86.20 million was strong for for a summer release. There's no chance anything coming out this weekend will match that figure.
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April 26th, 2012
For the second weekend in a row, Battleship and Titanic 3D were battling for top spot on the international chart, but this week Battleship came out on top. It managed $60 million on 9,038 screens in 50 markets for an early total of $131.1 million. The film opened in second place in China with $17 million on 2,287 screens, while it placed first in Russia with $11.20 million on 809. It also maintained first place in a trio of major markets, led by South Korea with $3.44 million on 624 screens over the weekend for a total of $12.68 million. It also repeated on top in Germany ($2.16 million on 637 screens for a total of $7.39 million) and in the U.K. ($2.06 million on 497 screens for a total of $9.80 million).
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April 23rd, 2012
Every single film in the top five either matched or exceeded expectations, Think Like a Man more than doubled its predictions, but it still wasn't enough to match last year's total. Granted, there was still reason to celebrate, as the box office soared 18% when compared to last week reaching $135 million over the weekend, while the box office fell short of last year's total by less than 0.5%, so it is hardly a reason to panic. Additionally, 2012 is still ahead of 2011 by a massive 17% margin at $3.14 billion to $2.69 billion. Next weekend will be a disaster, but the weekend after that is the start of summer, and analysts are bullish on the overall box office chances.
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April 22nd, 2012
Although it won't be enough to give the industry a year-on-year win, Think Like a Man will deliver a very impressive $30 million opening this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday, a performance that is well ahead of projections going into the weekend. The Lucky One also beat expectations and will finish second with around $22.8 million. The Hunger Games will be pushed into 3rd place, picking up around $14.5 million in its fifth weekend and passing $350 million in the process. Nature documentary Chimpanzee will land in fourth place with $10.2 million.
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April 19th, 2012
It has been nearly a month since we've had a new release top the box office chart, but it looks like The Hunger Games is finally going to be pushed from top spot. It looks like The Lucky One will be the film that breaks The Hunger Games winning streak, as it is the only saturation level release. On the other hand, Think Like a Man and Chimpanzee are barely opening wide. Fortunately, the three wide releases this year appear about as strong as the three wide releases from last year. Unfortunately, last year was led by Rio during its second weekend of release, so 2012 has about a $25 million hole it will need to plug if it is to avoid the first three-week slump of the year.
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April 18th, 2012
Titanic 3D had an insane second weekend on re-release on the international chart earning $98.90 million on 10,066 screens in 69 markets for totals of $157.15 million internationally and $201.87 million worldwide. Its complete total is now $2.04 billion, which is a stunning figure. The majority of the film's weekend haul came from China, where it broke records with $67 million, which broke Transformers: Dark of the Moon's record opening weekend in that market. The film remained in top spot in Russia with $3.15 million on 972 screens for a total of $10.34 million after two. Its total in the U.K. rose to $12.68 million after two weeks of release, including $2.87 million on 429 screens this past weekend. At this point, I can imagine studio heads looking at every film that earned more than $300 million and trying to figure out if they can be converted to 3D or not. If it only costs $18 million to convert a film and it can make $200 million worldwide, it's an easy way to make money. Of course, it's also an easy way to over-saturate the market to the point of no return.
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April 16th, 2012
The overall box office went about as well as expected over the weekend; however, that's not particularly good news, as expectations were low to begin with. The Hunger Games remained on top of the box office for the fourth time, making it the first film since Avatar to accomplish that feat. However, there wasn't a lot of celebrate over the weekend, as the box office fell 8% from last weekend to $114 million. More importantly, this was 12% lower than the same weekend last year, making this the worst year-over-year decline of 2012. That said, 2012 still has a massive lead on 2011 up $2.98 billion to $2.50 billion and if the summer is as good as the first part of the year was, that lead will be even greater by the time the Fall rolls around.
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April 15th, 2012
The Hunger Games will enjoy a fourth straight weekend at the top of the box office chart, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With a $21.5 million weekend, the film moves to about $337 million in total, by far the biggest hit of 2012 so far. The Three Stooges and The Cabin in the Woods will both post decent openings, with $17.1 million and $14.85 million respectively, but neither has broken out of their core demographics enough for a win.
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April 12th, 2012
After a fantastic three-month run in which 2012 only lost once in the year-over-year comparison and built a 20% lead over 2011, it looks like the box office is returning normal. This weekend there are three films opening wide: The Cabin in the Woods, Lockout, and The Three Stooges. However, despite the number of new releases, there are many who think The Hunger Games will remain on top for the fourth weekend in a row. This would be terrible news for everyone, with the possible exception of Lionsgate, which is the distributor for both The Hunger Games and The Cabin in the Woods, as it is a sign of profound weakness at the box office. How weak is the box office? There is a chance that all three films combined won't open with as much as last year's number one film, Rio, opened with. And there's a chance none of the new wide releases will open with as much as the second place film, Scream 4, opened with. There's little hope 2012 will walk away with a win this time around.
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April 11th, 2012
Wrath of the Titans is really struggling domestically, but it could mitigate some of the losses here with its box office numbers internationally. This weekend it added $42.1 million on 13,070 screens in 61 markets for a total of $151.6 million. Its best market of the weekend was Russia, where it earned $4.09 million on 1,116 screens over the weekend for a total of $19.55 million after two. It has yet to open in Japan, and if it can get to $300 million worldwide, it should break even very early in the film's home market run.
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April 9th, 2012
There's good news and bad news at the box office this weekend. The good news was The Hunger Games, which not only earned its third first place finish on the chart, but it also held on better than expected and crossed a major milestone. The bad news was practically everything else. Neither American Reunion or Titanic 3D matched expectations, while the overall box office suffered as a result falling 17% to $123 million. Fortunately, this was higher than last year by a margin of 6%. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011 with $2.81 billion to $2.34 billion. Unfortunately, we needed the new releases this weekend to be stronger if we have a chance of winning over the next couple weekends.
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April 5th, 2012
A trio of films are looking to grab top spot on the box office chart this weekend. Some think American Reunion will win. It is the latest installment in a very popular franchise, one that hasn't had a theatrical release in almost nine years. Some think Titanic 3D will lead the way. It is a 3D re-release of the second-biggest hit of all time. While still others think The Hunger Games will win for the third weekend in a row. It is by far the biggest hit of the year and topped the chart on Wednesday, despite the debut of Titanic. All three films are have a chance to make more than $30 million over the weekend. On the other hand, this weekend last year, no films made more than $30 million and only one, Hop, made more than $20 million. This means 2012 should win with ease.
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April 5th, 2012
In a reversal of what happened domestically, Wrath of the Titans won the race on the international chart with an estimated $78 million in 60 markets. This includes some powerhouse results, like $12.66 million on 1,164 screens in Russia, which is more than The Hunger Games has made in two weeks. However, Russia tends to reward fantasy films over most other genres. It also did very well in Mexico ($5.09 million on 1,494 screens) and in Brazil ($4.05 million on 517). On the other hand, it struggled in the U.K. placing second with $3.52 million 466 screens. That's a weaker opening than it had here, given the relative size of the two markets. With a production budget of $150 million, it will likely need close to $400 million to break even before the home market. Anything more than $300 million will be enough to cover expenses, eventually, but probably won't be enough to greenlight a third installment in the franchise.
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April 4th, 2012
The ratings controversy didn't hurt Bully, which topped the per theater chart with an average of $23,294 in five theaters. It is always difficult for a documentary to expand significantly, but this start will certainly help. The overall box office leader, The Hunger Games, was next with an average of $14,153 in more than 4,000 theaters.
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April 2nd, 2012
Despite falling a little bit further than expected, The Hunger Games easily won the race for top spot in the box office this weekend. Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror couldn't compensate for the number one film's decline and the overall box office fell 31% to $149 million. However, and more importantly, the box office was up 19% when compared to last year. Year-to-date, 2012 has expanded its lead to 20% at $2.62 billion to $2.18 billion after three months.
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April 1st, 2012
Celebrations will continue at Lionsgate this weekend, as The Hunger Games continues its dominant run at the box office, dropping a creditable 60% in its second weekend in release to $61.1 million. That will be the 7th-best second weekend of all time, and take it past $250 million in 10 days. It also tops the combined box office of this weekend's second- and third-placed films: Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror will both debut with respectable figures, $34.2 million and $19 million respectively, but neither film looks likely to end up making significant amounts of money.
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March 30th, 2012
There are two saturation level releases coming out this week, Wrath of the Titans and Mirror Mirror. Even so, there's a 99% likelihood that The Hunger Games will repeat on the top of the chart. Wrath of the Titans would have to nearly double its average prediction and / or The Hunger Games would have to collapse by a near record amount for there to be a new number one this weekend. Additionally, unless there's some catastrophic event that keeps people away from theaters nationwide, the overall box office should see massive growth from last year. In fact, even without The Hunger Games, there could be some growth from last year, as most analysts expect the two new releases from this year to be stronger than the three new releases from last year. The only downside is the lack of depth. John Carter should place sixth with $2 million over the weekend, but that wouldn't even be enough for a top ten finish last year.
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March 28th, 2012
The Hunger Games opened in first place internationally, but it wasn't as dominant as it was domestically. The film earned $59.25 million on 7,700 screens in 67 markets. That's a strong start for a film that cost $80 million to make, but it is a weak start for a film that opened with $152 million domestically. It open in first place in a number of major markets and did very well in Australia with $9.48 million on 471 screens. By comparison, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 made more than $12 million when it opened there last year. In the U.K. it made $7.77 million on 511 screens, compared to nearly $22 million for Breaking Dawn. It also opened in first place in Russia with $6.62 million on 1,165 screens, in Germany with $4.24 million on 613, in Mexico with $3.57 million on 1,362, in France with $3.55 million on 706, and in Brazil with $2.98 million on 636. These results are all good, but nowhere near as potent as its domestic opening. The film has yet to open in South Korea, Spain, Italy, and a few other markets, so it should earn about $200 million internationally and about $500 million worldwide.
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March 28th, 2012
The winners of our Feed Your Hunger with Prizes contest were determined and they are...
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March 27th, 2012
The Hunger Games broke records on IMAX earning $10.2 million on 268 IMAX screens for an average of $38,000. This was a record for a 2D non-sequel and for a digital-only release. It also earned about $400,000 internationally. Unfortunately, it won't have long legs on IMAX, because Wrath of the Titans takes over on Friday ending The Hunger Games one-week run.
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March 27th, 2012
There were only two films in the $10,000 club on the per theater chart, but the number one film was massive. The Hunger Games not only took top spot on the overall chart, but it earned an average of $36,871, which was more than double its nearest competitor. Second place went to The Raid: Redemption with an average of $15,270 in 14 theaters. This suggests some potential for expansion, while it should reach at least one major milestone before its theatrical run is done.
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March 26th, 2012
The buzz surrounding The Hunger Games became nearly deafening by the time it opened. There were some concerns that the film couldn't possible live up to the hype. However, not only did it live up to the hype, it crushed expectations and set records. Overall the box office pulled in $214 million, which is the ninth best combined weekend total and the best non-Holiday season weekend (Summer blockbuster season and the Thanksgiving to New Years holiday run). This was 93% higher than last weekend and 76% higher than the same weekend last year. Needless to say, 2012 stretched its lead over 2011, and it now sits 19% ahead of last year's pace at $2.41 billion to $2.02 billion. This is behind 2010's running tally of $2.69 billion, but ahead of 2009, which had $2.38 billion at this point of the year, so while we are not quite on a record-breaking pace, it has been a very good year so far.
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March 25th, 2012
Lionsgate has reported a $155 million estimated opening weekend for The Hunger Games: a record for the studio, for a non-sequel, for March, and the 3rd-best weekend of all time. In fact, it's already Lionsgate's top-grossing film of all time, beating Fahrenheit 9/11's actual $119 million and inflation-adjusted $151 million in just three days. With an A CinemaScore and a more diverse audience than the Twilight franchise, the film will almost certainly top Summit's best performance (the $300 million earned by Eclipse), but for now the studio will have plenty to celebrate about this weekend alone.
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March 24th, 2012
Lionsgate have announced a massive opening day of $68.25 million for The Hunger Games, which is by a large margin the biggest ever day for a non-sequel film:
Click here for full chart
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March 23rd, 2012
Lionsgate report that The Hunger Games earned $19.735 million at midnight screenings last night, the seventh-best performance at midnight screenings of all time and the best ever for a non-sequel. The only films to better that number are all from the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises. Based on this pace, and comparing with those franchises, the film should do between $40 million and $50 million on Friday as a whole. But we're in somewhat uncharted territory here, so a direct comparison may not be entirely accurate. If comparatively more fans have decided to buy tickets for this evening's shows, then a day closer to $60 million is possible. So there's still a lot of uncertainty, but a total weekend between $90 million and $125 million seems likely.
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March 22nd, 2012
At the beginning of the month, most people were expecting The Hunger Games to have one of the biggest openings of March and one of the all-time biggest openings for a non-sequel film. However, that's changed... for the better. Instead of analysts predicting $70 million to $80 million over its opening weekend, expectations have grown to the point where it could earn over $100 million over the next three days and still be considered a disappointment. In fact, there are many who are predicting The Hunger Games will make more by itself than the entire industry made last year. Needless to say, if that happened, 2012 will make up for last week's 3.6% year-over-year decline in a huge way.
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March 19th, 2012
2012's winning streak finally came to a close, but it was close. Overall the total box office was $111 million, which was 17% lower than last week and more importantly, down 3.6% compared to the same weekend last year. 21 Jump Street did hold up its end of the box office numbers, but since the only other new release in the top ten was Casa di me Padre, is wasn't enough. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011's pace by 16% at $2.16 billion to $1.87 billion. That lead will grow next weekend with the release of The Hunger Games, which could be record-breaking at the box office and is just as strong with critics.
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March 16th, 2012
The Hunger Games is almost here and it is already breaking records. (Fandango reported more than 1000 sold out shows, so far. That's the most for a non-sequel.) Its opening could be massive, but more importantly, it is the target film in this week's Box Office Prediction Contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for The Hunger Games.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), regardless if they go over or not, will win a copy of Jane By Design: Volume One on DVD.
Turns out we don't have a copy of Jane By Design, but two of them. So a second copy will be given out to one additional entrant, regardless of their prediction. So if you have bad luck making predictions, now's your chance to win.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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March 1st, 2012
February continued 2012's winning streak, which has now reached eight weeks. Will that streak continue in March? I'm not sure it will. There are some very good signs. For instance, last March, only one film reached $100 million, Rango, while there were a couple others that cracked $75 million, Battle: Los Angeles and Limitless. Plus the final weekend of this month lines up with the first weekend of April last year, which also had a $100 million hit, Hop. This time around, things look a whole lot better at the top with a potential $200 million hit, The Hunger Games, and two more that should hit the century mark, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, and Wrath of the Titans. Plus a couple others, 21 Jump Street and John Carter of Mars, that could top $75 million. However, there are a few weeks that look soft when compared with last year. I suspect The Hunger Games will be such a huge hit that overall March 2012 will perform better than March 2011, but I also think there will be a couple weeks of year-over-year declines. On the plus side, very few films feel like filler; in fact, there are very few films, period. Over the next five weekends, only nine films are opening wide, which is odd for this time of year. In fact, it would be slow for the heart of summer, when most weeks have a blockbuster and one counter-programming film. Will this help the overall box office, as no films will be squeezed out? Or will the lack of choices hurt the box office? We will soon find out, but I remain cautiously optimistic.
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