September 1st, 2009
There were eight new releases to reach the top 30 on the sales chart this week, and one of them dominated the chart.
The big winner was Hannah Montana the Movie, as the Tween Queen opened in first place after selling 1.23 million units and generating $20.59 million in opening week consumer spending at retail.
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September 1st, 2009
There were only half as many new releases to reach the top 30 on the rental chart this week as there were on the sales chart, but we still had a new number one. The Last House on the Left opened in first place with nearly 50% more rentals that I Love You, Man.
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August 26th, 2009
New releases were able to take the top two spots on the sales chart this week, but this was more due to weakness in the overall numbers rather than strength of the new releases. The number one film was 17 Again with $12.03 million from 679,000 units. This was just ahead of I Love You, Man with 676,000 units sold generating $11.00 million in sales.
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August 26th, 2009
The same two new releases that led the way on the sales chart this week led the way on the rental chart. However, they finished in the opposite direction with I Love You, Man generating 50% more revenue than 17 Again.
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August 11th, 2009
It was a hard slog to get through the spotlight reviews this week. I live in Abbotsford, and this was the weekend of the Abbotsford Air Show and the constant stream of jets flying overhead made it nearly impossible to watch movies at times. (Do you know how loud you have to be to drown out Cutthroat Island?) As for this week's list of home market releases, there are a number that are worth picking up, but none that are must haves, and none rise to the level of DVD Pick of the Week. However, while there are no DVD Picks of the Week, there are enough reviews that the list had to be split into two with the second part found here.
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June 7th, 2009
Terminator Salvation opened worldwide this weekend, but we won't have those numbers till Wednesday. In the meantime, it earned third place with $13.37 million on 1283 screens in 12 markets for a total of $25.52 million. Most of this has come from South Korea, where it slipped to second place with $4.21 million on 713 screens over the weekend for a total of $15.52 million after two. So far the film has been a disappointment domestically, but it can salvage its run with a massive box office next weekend on the international stage. If it does so, profitability will be assured, but that's a big 'if'.
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May 31st, 2009
Star Trek slipped to third place on the international chart with $11.34 million on 5069 screens in 56 markets for a total of $87.68 million. It has now made more internationally than the previous film made worldwide. The film's best market was the U.K. where it has made $24.37 million, including $2.60 million on 474 screens this past weekend. As for future releases, it opens in Japan this weekend, while it has yet to open in Mexico, India, and other markets.
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May 24th, 2009
Star Trek's second weekend of release on the international chart was not as strong as it was domestically as it dropped 44% to 20.02 million on 5782 screens in 55 markets, but it lifted its total of $67.89 million internationally and it became the first in the franchise to reach $200 million worldwide. The film opened in China, but box office numbers were not released. We do have details on most holdovers, including the U.K., where it added $5.27 million on 498 screens over the weekend for a total of $18.42 million after two. The only other multi-million market was Australia, where it earned $2.04 million on 317 screens giving it a total of $6.66 million.
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May 17th, 2009
Wolverine was pushed into second place on the international chart with $28.95 million on 8982 screens in 93 markets for a total of $121.58 million. This was a 60% drop-off, but that was better than it was domestically, and it appears $300 million worldwide is a sure bet. The film was pushed into third place in the U.K., but still managed a healthy $3.39 million on 484 screens over the weekend for a total of $18.47 million. It remained in first place in France with $3.95 million on 700 screens, but that was for the full week giving the film $11.80 million after two. It also finished in first place in Brazil with $2.11 million on 609 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.81 million after two. Next up for the film is Mexico, where it opens at the end of May, while it ends its run in Japan in August.
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May 12th, 2009
It was a good news / bad news type of weekend, but I think it is safe to say the good news outshone the bad news. Yes, the overall box office was down 5.5% from last weekend to $149 million, but that was just shy of 20% more than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2009 has now amassed an impressive $3.44 billion compared to just $2.96 billion this time last year. That's an increase of 16% over last year, which is an unbelievable pace, one that I assume 2009 will not be able to keep up.
However, each dollar earned now is one less dollar needed to be earned at the end of the year to keep pace with inflation.
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May 10th, 2009
We've entered the summer schedule and this year there will be a small change. Instead of dealing with just the films that have reached $1 million or more on the international chart, we will be dealing with just the films that have reached $2 million or more. The reason for this change is simple; with the rise of many midlevel markets, reaching $1 million is just not that big of a feat anymore. The best of the rest of this week's selection was Hannah Montana the Movie, which placed a healthy second with $6.95 million on 1300 screens in 13 markets for a very early total of $8.96 million. This includes second place openings in the U.K. with $3.03 million on 415 screens in the U.K., which was as expected, and $1.44 million on 346 screens over the weekend in Italy and $1.64 million in total, which was better than expected. Also, it is about a week away from topping $1 million in Poland after earning $124,000 on 105 screens over the weekend giving it $932,000 after three. Combined with the nearly $75 million the movie has earned domestically, and this film is very, very close to showing a profit before the lucrative home market.
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May 8th, 2009
A delayed column this week as my new computer is still on route. (Short Story Version: My hard drive was more corrupted than expected, and it is taking longer to retrieve my data, which includes all my bookmarks and passwords. I know, dumb of me not to have them written down.) There is only one film that has a real shot at number one, Star Trek, while there is little doubt the overall box office will beat this week last year.
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May 4th, 2009
The first weekend of summer was a success, mostly. Overall the weekend ticket sales amounted to $158 million, which was 39% more than last weekend. It was below the same weekend last year, but by less than 1%. Year-to-date 2009 has now made $3.25 billion, which is 16% more than last year's pace, If 2009 can simply maintain pace with 2008 over the summer, most in the industry will be ecstatic, so this is a fine start.
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May 1st, 2009
Summer is finally here, and everyone wants to know if 2009 can keep up its blazing pace. I'm going to say no, simply because the law of averages says the box office should return to the mean. That could start this weekend and last year's top film will be very tough to beat.
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April 29th, 2009
Fast and Furious took another victory lap on top of the international box office with $15.91 million on 6333 screens in 58 markets for a total of $170.94 million. This includes a first place finish in Italy; there the film topped the charts with ease, despite falling nearly 60% to $2.10 million on 422 screens over the weekend, while it has made $8.81 million after two. It fell even further in Australia down 62%, but it still managed to repeat on top with $2.17 million on 345 screens over the weekend for a total of $9.68 million. These large collapses during the film's second weekend of release are far too common during its international run; however, with $316.31 million worldwide, the movie is a smash hit, no matter how you look at it.
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April 28th, 2009
The final weekend of April is usually slow, but that was not the case this year, as nearly every film in the top five beat expectations, sometimes by large margins.
That helped the overall box office total climb by 5% from last weekend to $114 million.
More importantly, that represents a leap of 25% from the same weekend last year.
Year-to-date, 2009 has now made $3.06 billion, which is 17% above last year's pace, and that is a phenomenal number.
The real test starts this weekend, as 2009 goes head-to-head with 2008's record-setting run, but if it can run even, it will be seen as a major victory.
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April 26th, 2009
Japan was a major player on the international charts this past weekend, placing three films in the top 30, and helping a couple others as well. Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser placed first in its native market, and sixth internationally, with $6.00 million on 341 screens. More...
April 23rd, 2009
It's the final weekend before the start of the summer blockbuster season, which means there are not a lot of prime films coming out. Studios don't want to risk A-list films when they only have one week to grab as much box office as possible before they are crushed by the competition. Last year's releases were better than expected, and 2009's winning streak over 2008 is in jeopardy. Not only that, but that could be an omen for things to come, as I'm not sure there are as many monster hits this summer as there were last summer.
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April 23rd, 2009
The winners of our Again and Again contest were determined and they are...
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April 21st, 2009
As spring draws to a close, and studios sweep out the potential misfires, the overall box office numbers slip in anticipation of Wolverine.
Actually, the overall box office was better than expected at $108 million over the weekend, but that was still 18.8% lower than last weekend. More importantly, thanks to 17 Again's stronger than expected start, it was 15.8% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2009 has earned $2.91 billion, which is 17.2% higher than last year's pace. I'm not sure it will be able to maintain this pace over the summer. In fact, I'm nearly 100% sure it won't. That said, the year has built up a sizable lead, and as long as the summer is merely average, we should go into the fall with higher ticket sales.
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April 19th, 2009
Knowing was able to sneak into third place, despite earlier reports to the contrary. Over the past weekend it earned $13.35 million on 2943 screens in 24 markets for a total of $47.80 million. The film opened in a number of smaller markets, but most of the growth came from two major markets: Germany and Spain. In the former it made $1.47 million on 440 screens, while in the latter it made a more impressive $2.35 million on 330 screens over the weekend for a total of $3.11 million. As far as holdovers are concerned, the film held steady in France down just 16% to $3.06 million on 348 screens, but that was for the full week. After two weeks the film now has $6.72 million in that market.
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April 18th, 2009
A better than average week for movie websites, with no really bad sites, and only a few that are not at least better than average. There was a two-way race for the best of the best, with State of Play's Official Site coming out on top and winning the Weekly Website Award.
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April 16th, 2009
Not a lot of competition for the top of the box office chart as nearly all analysts are expecting 17 Again to come out on top. The real question is whether or not the film will top last year's number one film, The Forbidden Kingdom, and whether or not 2009 will continue its domination over 2008.
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April 10th, 2009
Again, there's only one saturation level release next week, 17 Again, which makes it easy to pick the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of 17 Again.
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 Kung Fu Panda - Secrets of the Furious Five on DVD, as well as House 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 Kung Fu Panda - Secrets of the Furious Five on DVD, as well as Baby Einstein - World Music 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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April 1st, 2009
April is a transition month. At the beginning it is strong, but as we near May, the looming competition is just too great and that scares away the big-ticket releases. That said, there are still a few films that could reach the century mark this month, and it does look stronger than last April and that will help 2009 extend its lead in the box office race.
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August 17th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Bolt, Valkyrie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and more!
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June 15th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Transporter 3, Hoodwinked 2, The Green Hornet and more!
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December 6th, 2007
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for A Christmas Carol, Milk, Seven Pounds, and more!
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December 4th, 2007
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
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