April 29th, 2009
There were just a pair of new releases to reach the top 30 on the sales chart this week. This includes the new number one DVD; however, sales of The Spirit were hardly impressive as it managed just 334,000 units and $6.27 million in sales.
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April 22nd, 2009
There were plenty of new releases to chart this week, including the top two sellers. The new number one was Bedtime Stories 1.46 million units for its first full week of release, while including early sales it has made $28.78 million from 1.68 million in sales.
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April 22nd, 2009
There were six new releases to chart this week, but three of the top four were holdovers. That one new release was The Day the Earth Stood Still, which earned 50% more than last week's number one film, Marley and Me.
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April 15th, 2009
Slow week for new releases with only four or five reaching the top five, depending on how you count Bedtime Stories. We did have a new number one, as Marley and Me sold 1.53 million units generating $28.32 million in sales.
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April 7th, 2009
The last of the winter releases are trickling on to the home market; however, we are at the tale end of the hits and are getting the near misses now, which leaves a void in major hits at the top. I do like Deadliest Catch - Season 4, but I can't rate a featureless DVD as the DVD Pick of the Week. So that honor goes to Doubt, which is worth buying on DVD or Blu-ray. But I would go with the latter. As has become customary, this week's list has to be split into two, with the second part found here.
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April 5th, 2009
Duplicity doubled its international haul over the weekend landing in sixth place with $6.47 million on 1811 screens in 20 markets for a total of $12.21 million. The film opened in fourth place in France with $2.01 million on 380 screens, while it managed fourth in Russia as well, but with a much weaker $873,000 on 265 screens. It did hold on better than most in the U.K. down just 31% to $775,000 on 355 screens over the weekend for a total of $2.68 million after two.
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March 30th, 2009
It's a big list this week with nearly 50 DVDs here (including a few that are late reviews). This includes this year's big Oscar winner, Slumdog Millionaire, which is coming out on DVD and Blu-ray. Also coming out this week is two foreign language thrillers: Tell No One on DVD and Blu-ray, and Timecrimes on DVD. All three are worth picking up. In fact, all three are DVD Picks of the Week. With so many releases, it comes as no surprise that this week's list has to be split into two, with the second part found here.
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March 29th, 2009
Watchmen fell out of the top five with $6.35 million on 4965 screens in 53 markets for a total of $60.63 million. Unless it is a big hit in Japan over the weekend, $100 million internationally is likely out of the question, as is $200 million worldwide. Depending on how much it costs to advertise, it could still make enough to show a profit, but it could take quite a bit longer than the studio would have liked.
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March 22nd, 2009
Confessions Of A Shopaholic nearly doubled its weekend haul as it pulled in $6.78 million on 2023 screens in 26 markets for a total of $31.91 million after a month of release. The film opened in first place in Australia, no surprise there, as that's the home of Isla Fisher, with $1.89 million on 309 screens. It earned a nearly identical result of $1.84 million on 426 screens in Germany, but that was only enough for third place in that market. Next up for the film is South Korea and Spain at the end of this month, while it doesn't end its run till the end of May when it opens in Japan and France.
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March 15th, 2009
The Reader nearly reached the top five with $5.14 million on 1169 screens in 17 markets for a total of $28.35 million. The film opened in a number of smaller markets, including Belgium where it placed fifth with $174,000 on 24 screens over the weekend and $225,000 in total. However, most of its money came from holdovers, like Germany, where the film added $2.89 million on 456 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.44 million after two.
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March 8th, 2009
Pink Panther 2 may have climbed a spot to sixth place, but it is hard to be happy with its run so far. The film opened in second place in both Spain and Mexico with $1.95 million on 360 screens and $750,000 on 375 screens respectively, which is better than the film has managed in most major markets. However, overall it only managed $6.33 million on 3186 screens in 53 markets for a total of $22.26 million so far. It does open in Italy this weekend, and still has Germany, Japan, and a few other markets to go, but I can't see it turning its fortunes around at this point.
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March 1st, 2009
Confessions Of A Shopaholic expanded this past weekend jumping into sixth place with $6.13 million on 1365 screens in 10 markets for a total of $10.05 million. This includes a second place, $2.80 million opening on 424 screens over the weekend in the U.K., for a total of $4.14 million there. The film also held well in Russia down just 42% with $1.04 million on 415 screens over the weekend for a total of $3.41 million after two.
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February 15th, 2009
Bride Wars continues its bridesmaid run just missing the top five this week after just missing the top ten last week. It did ad $5.88 million on 2485 screens in 30 markets for a total of $32.11 million after a month of release. Openings this week include Germany, where the film placed second with $1.62 million on 455 screens, which is a mixed debut.
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February 8th, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire slipped to sixth place with $7.67 million on 1275 screens in 12 markets for a total of $42.46 million. The film had no major openings this past weekend, but it added $3.02 million on 416 screens during its fourth weekend on top of the charts in the U.K. for a total of $18.21 million in that one market.
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February 2nd, 2009
The Very Best Film 2, the sequel to The Very Best Film opened in Russia and a handful of other markets this past weekend. It scored first place in its native land with $8.38 million on 948 screens, while it earned sixth place in total with $9.29 million on 1072 screens in 4 markets. This is a serious decline from its predecessor's opening weekend, but still a strong start otherwise.
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January 25th, 2009
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa fell from second to sixth with $9.07 million on 5601 screens in 48 markets for a total of $380.42 million. No openings hurt the film this past weekend, and its only $1 million markets this past weekend were South Korea at $1.20 million on 432 screens and Poland at $1.09 million on 130. The film has made $3.76 million after two weeks in the former and $7.72 million after three weeks in the latter.
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January 20th, 2009
One film on Thursday's prediction column missed expectations; just one. This explains while, despite the fact that the number one film this year was well behind the number one film last year, the overall box office saw amazing growth to $193 million over three days, and $231 million over four. This was ahead of last year's Martin Luther King Jr. day long weekend by 25% and 24% respectively. Year-to-date, 2009 had brought in $668 million, which represents a 24% increase over last year's pace of $539 million.
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January 18th, 2009
Australia reached a major milestone this past weekend as it topped $100 million internationally. Over the weekend the film added $12.33 million on 4901 screens in 55 markets for a total of $103.30 million internationally and $151.06 million worldwide. Additionally, with openings in Italy, Brazil, China, Russia, and Japan still ahead, the film has a shot at $200 million worldwide. That would be enough to cover the film's production budget, after taking into account Australia's generous tax incentives.
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January 12th, 2009
Just like this weekend last year, the number one film was a limited release expanding wide. However, while that movie, and indeed practically every new release was a pleasant surprise, the holdovers fell faster than expected to leave the box office down 4.4% from last week at $146 million. That is still a whopping 13% more than the same weekend last year, and that gives 2009 an early 25% lead over 2008. The key word is "early." It is far too soon to tell if 2009 is going to finish ahead of 2008, while any expectations that it can maintain this pace are completely unreasonable.
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January 7th, 2009
Not only did Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa remained in first place for the third weekend in a row, and four in total, the film also managed to surpass the international total of its predecessor. It was aided by a record-breaking first place opening in Poland where the film opened with $3.22 million on 130 screens over the weekend for a total of $4.02 million. Granted, films like this tend to do very well in this market, but this is still a pleasant surprise. It was not as impressive in China with $2.43 million on 600 screens earning third place there. Holdovers were led by France, where the film added $4.50 million on 820 screens over the weekend and $38.75 million in total. Meanwhile in Italy, the film earned $3.86 million on 571 screens for a total of $29.38 million. Overall it made $31.96 million over the weekend on 6290 screens in 43 market and it now has $339.88 million internationally and $516.90 million Worldwide.
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January 6th, 2009
The first weekend of the year starts well with practically every film in the top five having at least something to cheer about. Overall the box office pulled in $153 million, which is 24% less than last weekend; however, it's a post-holiday weekend, so that decline is understandable. Compared to the first weekend of 2008, 2009 is off to a great start up just shy of 10% over last year. And more importantly, last year got off to a great start, so we are looking at a fantastic start.
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January 1st, 2009
As is customary for the first weekend of the year, there are no new releases to deal with. However, there are plenty of high profile holdovers to entertain moviegoers, including several that at least have a shot at reaching $100 million before they leave theaters. In fact, every film in the top five has at least a shot at reaching that milestone.
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December 31st, 2008
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa remained in first place over the weekend with $37.54 million on 6211 screens in 49 markets for a total of $285.35 million after two months of release. This includes no major openings over the weekend, but the holiday did boost the box office in a number of markets, including Italy where it was up 56% to $9.76 million on 583 screens over the weekend for a total of $21.18 million after two. Meanwhile in France the film was down just 6% to $5.11 million on 834 screens over the weekend for a total of $31.25 million after four. With openings in China, Poland, South Korea, and Japan ahead of the film, $400 million internationally and $600 million worldwide is within reach.
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December 30th, 2008
Not every film lived up to expectations over the weekend, but more than enough did that we can safely say 2008 ended on a high note. Over the past three days, the box office pulled in $201 million, which was more than double last week's haul of $90 million. It was also close to 8% better than the same weekend last year, however, that's not enough for 2008 to recover, and it is still almost 1% behind last year's pace $9.55 billion to $9.63 billion. Ticket sales were off by more than 5%, which is the second worst decline in more than a decade. That said, nearly $10 billion in ticket sales is still huge, and as long as production budgets don't get out of hand, the industry is healthy.
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December 28th, 2008
Fox emerged from the Christmas holiday weekend victorious thanks to an impressive opening by Marley & Me, which opened with an estimated $14.675 million on Christmas Day (an all-time record Christmas Day opening) and finished the weekend with $51.675 million, including $37 million over the three-day weekend Friday-Sunday.
Studio estimates gave second and third places to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Bedtime Stories, which both also broke the previous record for biggest Christmas Day opening.
Bedtime Stories finished the weekend with $38.6 million in total earnings and Button finished with $39 million.
The two movies traded second and third spots through the long weekend, and we'll only know which movie finished top once we have final numbers on Monday.
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December 28th, 2008
There are almost as many wide releases this week as there were total release last week. However, while there are several effective sites, and none that feel sub-standard, none rise to the level of the Weekly Website Award.
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December 24th, 2008
There are five films opening wide tomorrow, as well as a limited release expanding into more than 1000 theaters, which could be enough to propel it into the top ten. Given the weak new releases for the past few weeks, there is a chance all five wide releases will place in the top five, while it is unlikely any will bomb completely (even the two saddled with negative buzz). Compared to last Christmas, the box office could see some growth, which will help the year end on a positive note.
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December 1st, 2008
We end the year with a winning streak, one that will hopefully continue right through the New Year holiday. It seems nearly every film released this month is either an Oscar contender or a potential $100 million hit. Sometimes both. If all six films with box office potentials of $100 million or more reach that milestone, and Bolt and Four Christmases have the legs to make it there as well, we could set the record for most $100 million released in a single year. (It is currently at 29 films set in 2003.)
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April 24th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Bottle Shock, Crank 2, The Escapist, and more!
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March 28th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Crazy on the Outside, Two Lovers, W., and more!
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November 29th, 2007
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for He Was a Quiet Man, His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, Shutter Island, and more!
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June 8th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Death Race, Prince of Persia, Narnia 3 and more.
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