December 8th, 2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 and Super 8 had legitimate claim to top spot in this week's Blu-ray sales chart. The holdover sold more units at 550,000 units to 503,000 units, but the newcomer led the way in revenue at $11.49 million to $9.89 million. That represented an opening week Blu-ray ratio of 55%, which should make the studio happy. Also of note this week, the final Harry Potter release became the best selling Blu-ray of the year with 3.95 million units sold and $86.16 million in total revenue so far.
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December 6th, 2011
Cars 2 returned to top spot on the DVD Sales Chart this week thanks in part to Black Friday sales. Over the week it sold 1.06 million units, lifting its totals to 3.86 million units / $61.14 million putting into fourth place for 2011.
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November 30th, 2011
The Harry Potter franchise held three of the top four spots on this week's Blu-ray sales chart with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 earning top spot with 1.29 million units / $28.83 million during its first full week of release for totals 3.40 million units / $76.27 million.
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November 23rd, 2011
This weekend is Thanksgiving and as always that means Black Friday and Cyber Monday plus 48 hours of shopping in-between. And as always, I've already done my Christmas shopping, for the most part. (I'm still waiting to see if the B.C.Lions win the Grey Cup. If not, I'll need to look for an alternative gift.) For everyone else who is still searching, we present the first part in our annual Holiday Gift Guide. As usual, the gift guide is divided into several sections, starting 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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November 22nd, 2011
It's kind of a slow week on the home market in two ways. Firstly, the only major release of the week is Super 8. Secondly, half the releases I was supposed to review are running late. Fortunately, Super 8 is a top notch film and the Blu-ray Combo Pack is this week's Pick of the Week.
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November 22nd, 2011
Super 8 was written and directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. It has hit written all over it. While it wasn't one of the biggest hits of the summer in terms of raw dollars, it certainly got a lot of box office bang out of its relatively modest $50 million production budget. But now that it is out on the home market, will it find further success?
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August 24th, 2011
The Smurfs remained in first place with $35.18 million on 10,737 screens in 47 markets for a total of $211.52 million internationally and $329.07 million worldwide. The film had no major market openings this past weekend, but did add $3.95 million on 504 screens during its third weekend in Brazil and it now has $21.91 million in that market. That's like earning more than $200 million domestically. With openings in Italy, Japan, and Australia still ahead, the film should have no trouble getting to $400 million worldwide, which means it is on pace to earn a profit before the home market.
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July 6th, 2011
There was mostly good news over the Independence Day long weekend, with the number one film topping expectations. However, while Transformers: Dark of the Moon set records, it was the only film to surpass Thursday's predictions by any serious degree. The total box office take was $202 million over three days and $241 million over four, but the lower-than-expected Monday numbers meant that, while the combined take from Friday to Sunday for all films was up 15% from last weekend and 7% from last year, over four days, 2011 was down 4% compared to last year. I think we can conclude 4th of July fireworks had a lot to do with this.
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June 30th, 2011
It's Independence Day long weekend, which is generally one of the busiest weekend of the year. School kids are all out of school for summer, adults have Monday off, and it is the perfect time to celebrate by going to an air conditioned movie theater. Unfortunately, while there's a lot of hype surrounding the megawide release of the week, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the reality might not live up to the hype. It's already off to a slow start compared to last year's number one film, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, and since 2011 is still $400 million behind 2010, we can't afford a major loss this weekend.
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June 29th, 2011
In a battle of digitally animated sequels, Cars 2 came out on top with $39.23 million on 4,873 screens in 25 markets for a total opening of $43.98 million. Its best market was Russia where it opened in first place with $9.42 million on 950 screens. By comparison, the original Cars made $4 million in that market, in total. The film was also very strong in Mexico with $8.08 million on 1,981 screens and in Brazil with $5.29 million on 747 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $7.04 million. The film had to deal with direct competition in Australia, but still came out on top with $5.13 million. The final major market it debuted in was Italy, where it earned $3.86 million on 834 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.71 million. Overall, the film more than doubled the debuts of Cars in the markets it opened in, while it was on par with Toys 3's openings. Granted, it likely won't have the same legs, but this is still a great start.
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June 28th, 2011
July starts with one of the most important holidays of the year, which is good news for the industry, as June was a little weaker than expected, at least on average. None of the films were shockingly bad at the box office, even if a few missed early predictions by significant degrees. But conversely, none really shocked analysts with their box office prowess. As such, 2011 continued to slide a little further behind 2010's pace, a trend the movie industry hopes will end this month. Fortunately, that is a reasonable goal. Last July was home to two $100 million movies, two $200 million movies, and a one $300 million movie, assuming you count The Twilight Saga: Eclipse as a July film. This time around, we could see two films top $300 million, assuming you count Transformers: Dark of the Moon as a July release. Meanwhile, there are several potential $100 million films. I count up to six films with a statistically significant shot at reaching the century mark, but I would be amazed if more than half of them got there.
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June 27th, 2011
Despite what critics thought of the film, Cars 2 proved popular with moviegoers while Bad Teacher was also a hit in its counter-programing role. Their combined effort helped the overall box office grow 15% from last weekend to $176 million. That's 7% higher than the same weekend last year, which gives 2011 a much-needed win. The year is still $400 million behind last year's pace at $4.90 billion to $5.30 billion, but even little victories are important. Remember, 2010 was ahead of of 2009 by $300 million at the beginning of October, but just three months later, that lead had completely evaporated. Hopefully the reverse can happen this time around and 2011 can squeeze out a victory. However, for that to happen, it needs to slowly chip away and close the deficit.
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June 23rd, 2011
While the summer blockbuster season starts the first weekend in May, for many school kids the summer is only just about to get into full gear. Cars 2 is arguably the most anticipated kids movie of the summer, possibly of the year. However, there are some signs it might not live up to past Pixar releases with a few predicting it might actually become the studio's first miss at the box office. This is bad news, as 2011 has started to fall further behind 2010's pace after a few bright weeks in late spring and early summer. This weekend last year wasn't particularly strong when it comes to new releases with Toy Story 3 repeating in top spot with just under $60 million, so there was an opportunity for the box office to recover some ground. Unfortunately, the number one film this year might not match that figure and there's not as much depth either.
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June 22nd, 2011
Kung Fu Panda 2 remained in top spot on the international chart with $58.16 million on 11,244 screens in 54 markets for totals of $284.22 million internationally and $427.89 million worldwide. The film opened in France and Germany with nearly identical results with $6.91 million on 725 screens in the former and $6.91 million on 699 screens in the latter. (The result in Germany does include some previews.) So far the film has made an estimated $77 million in China, which is by far the film's biggest market.
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June 20th, 2011
The overall box office box office this past weekend was as expected, more or less. A few of the films did a little bit better, a few missed expectations, but not by a lot. This helped the box office grow by 11% from last weekend to $153 million. Unfortunately, this weekend last year saw the release of Toy Story 3, which made $110 million by itself, so year-over-year there was a 23% drop-off. Year-to-date, 2011 is behind 2010 by 8% at $4.65 billion to $5.03 billion, but perhaps we can close that gap a little bit this coming weekend.
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June 19th, 2011
As expected, Green Lantern led the way at the box office this weekend, based on studio estimates released on Sunday, but a weak performance on Saturday and an expected further decline on Sunday will leave it with a fairly modest $52.69 million weekend, according to Warner Bros.' estimate. That puts it behind X-Men: First Class ($55 million) and Thor ($66 million) so far as opening weekends for superhero movies are concerned, and its reviews suggest it won't have the legs of the other two. Mr. Popper's Penguins also under-performed compared to original expectations, although its $18.2 million debut is in line with the numbers Fox was expecting going in to the weekend.
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June 16th, 2011
After a strong start to the summer, which actually began in late April, we could hit a real roadblock this weekend. The only film earning any kind of buzz is Green Lantern, and not all of that buzz is good. Additionally, this weekend last year was dominated by Toy Story 3, which opened with $110 million. There is a chance the top five films won't make that much this year.
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June 15th, 2011
Kung Fu Panda 2 climbed into top spot on the international chart after three weeks of release, earning $56.72 million on 11,867 screens in 45 markets for a total of $206.11 million internationally and $332.92 million worldwide. This past weekend the film debuted in a number of major markets, led by the U.K. where it made $10.07 million on 514 screens, but while this was enough for first place in the market, it was less than the original made. On the other hand, it showed growth in Mexico with $7.34 million on 1,841 screens over the weekend and a total opening of $14.69 million, and in Brazil with $4.79 million on 714 screens over the weekend and $5.18 million in total. The film opens in France and Germany next weekend and Japan and Italy in August, so it still has quite a way to go before its international run is over.
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June 14th, 2011
The winners of our Superstar contest were determined and they are...
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June 14th, 2011
Super 8 got off to a stronger than expected start, and this was partially due to its strength on IMAX, as the film made $4.4 million on 240 screens. This is a better total than Kung Fu Panda 2 managed, but that film was playing on just 53 IMAX screens. On the other hand, it's a little bit more than half of what Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opened with, while playing on a nearly identical number of screens.
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June 14th, 2011
The Tree of Life remained in top spot on the per theater chart with an average of $17,596 in 47 theaters. It will clearly expand further, and it is safe to say it has already earned some measure of mainstream success. The Trip opened well with an average of $12,984 in six theaters. It did earn great reviews, so it might last a long time in theaters. On the other hand, I think its target audience is too narrow to expand significantly. Beginners was in a virtual tie with an average of $12,793. It will start hitting milestones soon. Super 8 opened with an average of $10,492 while in saturation level theater count.
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June 13th, 2011
Nearly every film in the top five beat Thursday's predictions, and the one film that didn't landed within a rounding error of doing so. This helped the overall box office reach $138 million for the weekend, but while this was better than expected, it was still 14% lower than last weekend and 9% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2011 is behind 2010 by 7% at $4.43 billion to $4.76 billion, but this is better than it has been for the majority of the year.
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June 12th, 2011
As someone on Twitter put it this morning, Super 8's $37 million opening takes E.T.'s lifetime gross to $472 million.
The robust opening for J.J. Abrams homage to Steven Spielberg will satisfy Paramount, especially with the heart of the Summer season ahead of it, good reviews and great word-of-mouth. $100 million should be easily achieved from this beginning, and even better numbers aren't out of the question. For a film that reportedly cost $50 million, that's not bad going.
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June 9th, 2011
After X-Men: First Class opened on the low end of expectations last weekend, it is even more important that Super 8 carries its weight this weekend if 2011 is to continue its winning ways. Even if Super 8 does land on the high end of expectations, it might not be enough, as this weekend last year saw the release of The Karate Kid, which was a surprise hit that opened with $55 million.
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June 3rd, 2011
There's only one wide release next week that has a shot at top spot, Super 8, which makes it the obviously choice for 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 Super 8.
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 N-Secure on DVD.
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 N-Secure on DVD.
Finally, one additional entrant will be chosen and they will win the final copy of N-Secure 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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June 1st, 2011
After a strong May in which most weekends saw growth year-over-year, there is finally some real optimism at the box office. Will that continue this month? It might be tough, as last June was actually pretty good, all things considered. It was certainly busier. This time around there are only seven wide releases, but the lack of competition should help each individual film reach its full potential, and there's a chance five of the seven films will earn more than $100 million at the box office. If less than three of them reach the century mark, it would be a huge shock. On the other hand, there's nothing opening this month that will compare to Toy Story 3, which earned more than $400 million last year. The only one that has a real shot to come close is Transformers: Dark of the Moon. However, since that film opens on a Wednesday the 29th of June and the Friday is the 1st of July, it is more of a July release and we will preview it at the beginning of next month.
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January 20th, 2011
There were a trio of news items relating to IMAX this past week, starting with box office numbers for The Green Hornet, which were good, but not great. The film managed $3.0 million on 173 screens over four days, which gave it a per screen average significantly higher than in regular theaters, but not by as much as some other releases. I think this was because it was a better than expected marginal release. There were likely two groups of people who were on the fence about this movie: those that wanted to see it, but weren't willing to pay IMAX prices, and those who wanted to see it, but were willing to wait for the home market. Better than expected reviews are more likely to change the minds of the latter group than the former, resulting in a higher than expected overall box office, but not as much change in IMAX. That said, this is still a good result, especially for this time of year.
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