December 31st, 2007
There were plenty of new releases to chart this week, but most did not live up to expectations. This includes the number one film, The Simpsons Movie, which sold 2.76 million units during its first week for total sales of $48.14 million.
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December 31st, 2007
There were 12 new releases to chart this week, including 6 in the top ten alone; however, The Bourne Ultimatum remained in first place with $12.76 million in rentals for the week and $28.20 million in total.
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December 18th, 2007
Another deceptively weak week for DVDs.
Sure, there appear to be plenty to choose from, but it feels like half the top 20 are Blade Runner releases.
In fact, one of the two DVD Picks of the Week are for that movie.
For those who are big fans of Blade Runner, grab the Four-Disc Collector's Edition - DVD, or 5-Disc Collector's Edition - Blu-Ray or 5-Disc Collector's Edition - HD-DVD if you can.
(Given the choice between those last two, pick 5-Disc Collector's Edition - Blu-Ray.)
For those who are huge fans of Blade Runner, and I mean stupid level fans of the movie, grab 5-Disc Ultimate Edition - DVD, 5-Disc Ultimate Edition - Blu-Ray, or 5-Disc Ultimate Edition - HD-DVD.
But good luck, I pre-ordered mine months ago and there are reports they are sold out in many places. The second DVD Pick of the Week goes to The Simpsons Movie - Blu-Ray.
The light extras are disappointing, but that transfer is immaculate.
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October 14th, 2007
The Heartbreak Kid missed the top five by less than $20,000 over the weekend earning $5.74 million on 819 screens in 4 markets during its opening weekend on the international charts. This includes openings in to major markets including the U.K. where it opened in first place with $2.52 million on 409 screens, but this was still a disappointing debut, much like it was domestically. Conversely, the film opened in second place in Russia with $2.31 million on 360 screens, but this is a much better performance compared to the overall box office size of the marketplace.
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October 7th, 2007
Hairspray managed to climb into sixth place by the narrowest of margins earning $4.59 million on 2073 screens in 37 markets for a running tally of $54.35 million. This includes a third place, $1.36 million opening on 302 screens in Italy, which is close to its opening domestically, when you take into account the relative size of the two markets. On the other hand, many muscials prove to be difficult to market internationally and it was never likely that this film would match its domestic run. However, it has already made enough to be considered a financial success.
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September 30th, 2007
Ratatouille opening in first place in South Africa this weekend earning $298,000 on 40 screens, which is very close to what The Simpsons Movie made in its opening there a few weeks ago. Its best market of the weekend remains France where it was down a mere 4% to $1.67 million on 655 screens over the weekend for a total of $58.63 million. At this pace, the film will reach $60 million by this time next week while topping Finding Nemo's total of nearly $65 million is increasingly in reach. Overall Ratatouille added $4.66 million on 2535 screens in 27 markets for a total of $216.42 million, which is more than Cars managed, and this film still has openings in Germany, U.K., Italy, and Scandinavia.
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September 16th, 2007
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry soared into sixth place with $4.72 million on 1521 screens in 21 markets for a total of $14.61 million internationally. The film finally hit big in a non-English speaking market earning first place with $1.27 million on 364 screens in Russia, but was soft in its debuts in South Korea and Italy. In Italy it managed $683,000 on 198 screens, but that was a tiny fraction of the first place film, while in South Korea it managed just ninth place with $275,000 on 123 screens over the weekend and $312,000 in total.
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August 13th, 2007
As expected, Rush Hour 3 took first place this weekend and helped the overall box office hit $155 million.
This was 12% lower than last weekend, but the summer season is wrapping up, so week-to-week drop-offs like this are to be expected.
More importantly, it was up nearly 20% from the same weekend last year.
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August 9th, 2007
I think it is safe to say that this weekend is the unofficial end of summer. After the release of Rush Hour 3, there's not a single film that has a serious shot at $100 million till October... maybe November. However, while everyone expects Rush Hour 3 to open in first place, I have my doubts as to how big that opening will be.
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August 7th, 2007
The Bourne Ultimatum helped 2007 continue its record setting pace and helped the overall box office hit $178 million over the past weekend. That was down 4% from last weekend, but the summer is slowing down and these declines and expected. On the other hand, it was up an amazing 27% from the same weekend last year.
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August 5th, 2007
The Bourne Ultimatum had a huge opening weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The trilogy-capper earned just over $70 million, enough to set a new record for August (see biggest August openers).
That's also comfortably the biggest opening of Matt Damon's career, and will leave the studio with a considerable problem in deciding whether to bring back Bourne for another installment.
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August 5th, 2007
Another big list of movie sites, but not much in the way of top-notch entries. For a movie site to be an award winner, I expect it to have all of the usual features, extras like clips, something interactive like a game, and background sound and animation. The film that best exemplifies that criteria is Stardust - Official Site, which is the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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August 2nd, 2007
What could be the last major opening this summer debuts today.
The Bourne Ultimatum opens in more than 3,600 theaters.
The summer has been an overwhelming success to date, up 8% from last year and 3% from 2004's record-setting run.
If Bourne can maintain the winning streak, and most analysts agree that it will, then a new record is almost guaranteed.
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August 1st, 2007
August marks the unofficial end of the lucrative summer box office season. The only question is when will it end. Studios usually hope for two summer-like weekends, and sometimes they can squeeze in three.
Other times they can only get one, or none.
Sadly, this year the August offerings are not particularly strong with only two that have a real shot at $100 million or more, and three or four others that should earn good reviews (and one of those has since been pulled from the schedule).
Most of the rest are films that probably seemed like a good idea at the time but didn't work out and those that were a mistake from day one.
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March 2nd, 2007
Just an average week in terms of updates, but there are a couple sites of note including the winner of the Weekly Website Award, Wild Hogs - Official Site.
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February 23rd, 2007
Big week in terms of flash sites launching, but a tough one when it comes to picking a winner. There were several sites that were contenders, and a few that will likely be winners after a few more updates, but none that stood out as the best for the week. It's almost like there were so many that were so close to winning the award that none were able to stand out and get me excited. However, there was one site that was updated this week that did, The Simpsons Movie - Official Site. This site did get a new look, but the real draw here is the first full trailer, to go along with the three previous teasers. Is that enough to make it award worthy? No. But while my rational side was distracted by a game of Sudoku the Fanboy in me made that decisions, and all Fanboy freak-outs are legally binding. Hopefully the final site will live up to the award. I have a feeling it will.
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February 17th, 2007
While the big summer blockbusters are sill M.I.A., there are plenty of other films to pick up the slack. This includes this week's winner,
Bridge to Terabithia -
Official Site.
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