The Numbers News - February 2014
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Limited Releases take on the Oscars
February 28, 2014
It is Oscar weekend, so it should come as no surprise there are not a lot of limited releases with the usual target audience. Art house aficionados will be paying more attention to the Awards than to new releases. Ernest & Celestine is the lone exception, which is the only Oscar-nominated film on this week's list and the best reviewed as well. Most of the rest of the movies are earning reviews that range from mixed to outright terrible. The Lunchbox could be the break-out hit of the weekend, if there is a break-out hit.
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Contest: Travel Back in Time
February 28, 2014
Next week there are two wide releases, 300: Rise of an Empire and Mr. Peabody and Sherman. Personally, I think both films have a shot at $100 million and since 300: Rise of an Empire is an action film and a sequel, it should start off faster, but decline quicker. On the other hand, there are some who think it will bomb as badly as the previous Swords and Sandals releases that have come out this year have. Mr. Peabody and Sherman has a much more stable level of expectations. Maybe it will finish a little above $100 million, maybe it will finish a little below. Almost no one thinks it will bomb completely. As such, I think it is the safer choice for 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 Mr. Peabody and Sherman.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win Breaking Amish: Season 1 on DVD, plus another random Reality TV release.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win two random Reality TV releases.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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Weekend Predictions: Will New Releases Stop LEGO?
February 27, 2014
It looks like The LEGO Movie will finally relinquish top spot. Non-Stop should lead the way atop the box office charts, but there are some who think Son of God will be a surprise hit. There certainly is precedent for that prediction. While it is the last weekend in February this year, the same weekend last year was the first weekend of March. Fortunately for 2014, the first weekend of March of 2013 was a bit of a disaster as Jack the Giant Killer opened with just $27 million compared to a nearly $200 million production budget. Worse still, no other movie topped $10 million over the weekend. I don't know if Non-Stop will top Jack the Giant Killer, but overall 2014 should come out ahead of 2013.
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International Box Office: Hobbit's Journey Nearly at an End
February 27, 2014
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is nearly finished its international run and this week it debuted in China where it earned first place with 33.04 million 5,500 screens. The film is also playing in nine other markets, where it earned about $100,000 for a total weekend haul of $33.1 million. This lifts its totals to $637.1 million internationally and $893.7 million worldwide. The film opens in Japan this weekend and if it does well there, it could reach $1 billion worldwide.
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Contest: Bride of Frankenprize: Winning Announcement
February 27, 2014
The winners of our Bride of Frankenprize contest were determined and they are...
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Picture
February 27, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. We wrap up our look at the prestigious categories with the most prestigious of them all: Best Picture. Like last year, there were nine nominees. Unlike last year, none of them were completely out of left field. That's not to say they all have a legitimate shot at winning; there's definitely a favorite. However, politics could become an issue. I don't mean politics as in Democrat vs. Republican. I mean behind-the-scenes issues might play a bigger role than what is on the screen.
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Director
February 27, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we end this with the two most prestigious awards, starting with Best Director. You could generously call this a two-horse race, but in reality there is only one director expected to win.
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Analysis: Oscar Preview
February 26, 2014
Sunday night is Oscar night in Hollywood, and, as we do every year, we'll be providing analysis and insight into the industry's biggest event of the year. Here's a preview of what we have in store.
First, our Predict the Academy Awards contest is nearing its deadline for entries. It's not too late to enter, and you stand a chance of winning all nine Best Pictures nominees on Blu-ray or DVD. We'll be announcing our projected winners, based on votes in the contest, on Sunday afternoon, in time for you to cheat on your Oscar party ballot!
C.S. has been publishing his previews of each of the major award categories, with Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, Lead Actress, Lead Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Documentary and Animated Feature all previewed so far, and the Best Director and Best Picture previews coming on Thursday.
But that's not all...
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IMAX: Gravity Helps IMAX Grow Larger
February 25, 2014
IMAX announced their fourth quarter and 2013 yearly financial numbers and it was a good year. During the fourth quarter, the IMAX Corporation pulled in $105.1 million for a per screen average of $336,000. Over the full year, it earned $287.9 million for a per screen average of $1.15 million, which is inline with its most recent averages. (This excluded 2010, as Avatar itself earned a per screen average of close to $1 million during the course of its run.) Much of the fourth quarter and 2013 success can be attributed to Gravity, which as we previously reported reached $100 million worldwide. The future for IMAX is just as strong, as the company added 54 new theater systems and upgraded 4 others during the quarter, lifting the number of new and upgraded IMAX theaters to 112 for the year in 23 countries. There were a total of 837 IMAX systems at the end of the year, including 701 commercial screens and 136 educational screens.
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Per Theater Chart: Wind Rises to the Top
February 25, 2014
The Wind Rises led the way on the per theater chart. It earned an average of $14,941 in 21 theaters, which is a good start, especially for this time of year. The only other film to reach the $10,000 club was Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me with an average of $13,927 in 2 theaters.
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Adapted Screenplay
February 25, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we will look at the two writing categories, ending with Best Adapted Screenplay. This race is about as uncompetitive as it can be with nearly all analysts agreeing on the likely winner.
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Original Screenplay
February 25, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we will look at the two writing categories, starting with Best Original Screenplay. This race is twice as competitive as the Best Adapted Screenplay, by that I mean it is a two-way race for the Oscar and not a runaway race.
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Weekend Wrap-Up: Lego Adds Another Brick to Its Box Office Haul
February 24, 2014
The LEGO Movie completed the threepeat in a dominating fashion earning more than 3 Days to Kill and Pompeii earned combined. On the other hand, neither of those films were that impressive, so beating both of them might not seem like a real accomplishment. The overall box office took a tumble, which is expected for a post-holiday weekend, but it still fell a little more than I would like, down 37% to $111 million. This is 7% more than the same weekend last year, so 2014 continued its winning ways in the year-over-year race. In fact, 2014 extended its lead to $150 million or 11% and now leads 2013 by a $1.51 billion to $1.36 billion.
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DVD and Blu-ray Releases for February 25th, 2014
February 24, 2014
It's a very impressive week at the top of the new DVD and Blu-ray releases. There's not one, but two $200 million hits coming out this week. Likewise, there are not one, but two major Awards Season hits coming out as well. One film, Gravity, is in both groups. All three films, Gravity, Thor: The Dark World, and Nebraska, are all contenders for Pick of the Week. Gravity is the only one I didn't get a chance to review, but the Blu-ray Combo Pack or the 3D Combo Pack are clearly the Pick of the Week. It's an amazing movie and the Blu-ray releases are loaded with extras.
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Featured TV on DVD Review: Adventure Time: Season Three
February 24, 2014
Adventure Time is in its fifth season, but the full-season sets are a little behind. This week, Season Three comes out on DVD and Blu-ray. If you've never seen the show, is it worth checking out? If you are a fan of the show, is it worth picking up, even if you have some of the previous smaller releases?
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Weekend Estimates: LEGO Unstoppable at Top
February 23, 2014
The LEGO Movie will see off two more challengers for box office supremacy this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. 3 Days to Kill will open with $12.3 million, soft for a film that cost $28 million, while Pompeii will barely reach $10 million, disastrous for a film that cost $80 million or $100 million, depending on who you talk to. That leaves The LEGO Movie miles ahead, with a projected $31.4 million for the weekend and $183 million or so in the bank after 17 days in release. It'll be down 37% from last weekend—an impressive result considering last weekend was a holiday.
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Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Nebraska
February 23, 2014
Nebraska is one of the major players during this year's Awards Season earning six Oscar nominations. That sets up really high expectations. Then again, it's a movie directed by Alexander Payne. That alone sets up really high expectations. Can the film live up to The Descendants' high quality? If it can't, is it still worth checking out?
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Limited Releases on the Rise
February 21, 2014
It's a busy week on the limited release front, not only in terms of the number of films, but also in terms of the theater counts for some of them. There are several movies opening in more than a dozen theaters. This includes The Wind Rises, which is the highest profile film of the week and its reviews are living up to its buzz. However, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me and Child's Pose are earning even better reviews and could find an audience in limited release.
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Contest: Don't Not Stop
February 21, 2014
February ends with two wide releases, Son of God and Non-Stop. Son of God is a real wildcard and it could tap into the churchgoing demographic and become a surprise hit. On the other hand, since it is just a re-cut of a TV mini-series that its target audience got to see for free last year, it could flop. Non-Stop is much more likely to be the big hit of the weekend and should finally end The LEGO Movie's reign on top. I'm not sure where it will fit with the other Liam Neeson early year movies, but it should be the number one film during its opening weekend, making it the clear choice for 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 Non-Stop.
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 Girl Rising 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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Analysis: DiCaprio and Lasseter Big Gainers in February's Bankability Index
February 20, 2014
Box office powerhouse Frozen has propelled head of Disney Animation (and Pixar) John Lasseter into 11th place in The Numbers Bankability Index for February. The Index measures the value people generate in the industry, and Lasseter certainly deserves his place towards the top of the chart, having built Pixar into an animation powerhouse, and rebuilt Disney's in-house animation studio so effectively that it's close to knocking Pixar off its perch as the industry leader.
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Weekend Predictions: Will New Releases Blow Up at the Box Office?
February 20, 2014
There are two wide releases debuting this week, Pompeii and 3 Days to Kill. Neither film were expected to be big hits and I originally predicted $35 million for both films. Now it seems low expectations have dropped even further. Neither film has a shot at first place, which should come as no surprise, but now it looks like the two films will be battling for fifth place. The LEGO Movie will remain supreme over the weekend and will not only crush the competition this week, but will crush the competition from last year as well. Last year the two new releases were Snitch and Dark Skies, but the box office was led by Identity Thief. There's a slim chance The LEGO Movie will earn more than those three films earned combined (roughly $35 million). Even on the low end, it will earn more than the top two films earned last year. 2014 will continue to dominate 2013 in the year-over-year comparison.
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International Box Office: RoboCop Arrests the Competition
February 20, 2014
RoboCop rose to first place with $35 million in 37 markets for a total of $70.28 million after three weeks of release. The film's biggest opening came from Russia where it earned first place with $5.72 million in 1,153 screens. It opened in second place in Mexico with $2.90 million on 564. It earned third place in South Korea with $3.67 million on 635 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $4.31 million. It slipped to third place in the U.K. with $2.53 million on 436 screens for a two-week total of $8.16 million.
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Lead Actress
February 20, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, finishing with Best Lead Actress. Unlike last year, this year the race is far more competitive in nearly all of the of the four acting categories this year. The person seen as the favorite has switched, more than once, and at the moment, I'm not sure who is going to win.
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Lead Actor
February 20, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, continuing with Best Lead Actor. Like last year, this category is not truly competitive with one nominee way out ahead according to experts. And also like last year, I'm supporting an underdog. (In fact, I'm cheering for two underdogs.)
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Contest: Between a Rocky and a Hard Place: Winning Announcement
February 19, 2014
The winner of our Between a Rocky and a Hard Place contest were determined and it is...
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Per Theater Chart: In Love with the Top
February 19, 2014
Beijing Love Story led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $18,708 in 9 theaters. This is surprisingly strong, given its weak reviews. Next up is the overall box office leader, The LEGO Movie, with an average of $13,204 and the overall second place film, About Last Night, was right behind with an average of $11,384.
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Featured DVD Review: Scarecrow
February 19, 2014
Scarecrow is a TV movie that debuted last year on SyFy channel. Time to lower expectations. It is directed by Sheldon Wilson, who previously directed Mothman, which was better than expected for most of its running time. Will this be one of SyFy's pleasant surprises? Should I have lowered my expectations even more? Or is it so bad it's entertainingly bad?
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Weekend Wrap-Up: Lego Presides Over Presidents' Day
February 19, 2014
The LEGO Movie again crushed expectations earning almost as much over three-days as most people were expecting it to earn over four. The new releases were not as lucky for the most part. About Last Night and RoboCop matched expectations, while Endless Love and Winter's Tale missed lowered expectations. Overall, the three-day box office pulled in $170 million, which was 12% more than last week and 20% more than last year. Over four days, the total box office was $199 million, or 12% more than the four-day period last year. Year-to-date, 2014 has extended its lead over 2013 to 8.5% at $1.36 billion to $1.25 billion.
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Supporting Actor
February 18, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, continuing with Best Lead Actor. This is one of the least competitive races this year. One actor has consistently pulled in win after win and I would be shocked if Oscar night wasn't the same.
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Supporting Actress
February 18, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, starting with Best Supporting Actress, which is again not a very competitive category this year. I'm not saying it is impossible for upset to happen here, but it is very, very unlikely. (On a side note, except for changing the links and using another poster, this is an exact cut and paste from last year. This category is slightly more competitive that last year, but not by enough to matter.)
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DVD and Blu-ray Releases for February 18th, 2014
February 17, 2014
It's a horrible week for me. The biggest release of the week is Game of Thrones: Season Three. I was supposed to review the Blu-ray, but it hasn't arrived yet. Usually HBO releases arrive a little early, not late. On the other hand, it was a holiday last week, at least it was where I live, so perhaps the mail was delayed. Or perhaps they ran out of copies before they got to me. It's the uncertainty that sucks the most, because right now the Blu-ray Combo Pack costs just $30 on Amazon.com. Of course you buy it at that price. The only reason not to, is because you want the Limited Edition Box Set instead. On the other hand, after Game of Thrones, there are practically no major releases. According to Amazon.com, the second best new release is the Criterion Collection release for The Fantastic Mr. Fox. It's a great movie, but it failed to make an impact at the box office, so a Blu-ray double-dip shouldn't sell that well.
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Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Thor: The Dark World
February 17, 2014
Thor came out in 2011 and cost $150 million to make. However, it barely made a profit. In fact, had it been a stand-alone movie, it would have very likely lost money. Had it not been for The Avengers boosting the home market numbers, it might have lost money. On the other hand, Thor: The Dark World cost $170 million to make and pulled in 40% more at the worldwide box office. Is it also 40% better? Or did it benefit from the big picture The Avengers movie universe has pulled together?
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Weekend Estimates: LEGO Towers Over All
February 16, 2014
It's looking like a healthy President's Day weekend at the box office, with one impressive debut and several movies enjoying strong second, fourth, and even thirteenth weekends. The champion opener is About Last Night, a remake of the 1986 hit, which will open with about $27 million over three days, helped by a big $13 million Valentine's Day. With the film playing in only 2,253 theaters, that represents a terrific $12,000 theater average, and continues Kevin Hart's hot streak. Handily beating About Last Night at the top of the chart, though, is The LEGO Movie, with a projected $48.8 million over three days, and around $60 million over the full four-day weekend. That's down a decent 29% from last weekend, for a theater average of almost $13,000.
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Featured Blu-ray review - Chicago: Diamond Edition
February 15, 2014
Chicago came out in 2002 and was a surprise hit earning more than $300 million worldwide on a $30 million production budget. It was a surprise hit, in part because movie musicals had not been able to find an audience like that in a long, long time. Musicals have been around for as long as movies have had sound. The first film with spoken dialogue, The Jazz Singer, was also the first movie musical. But the heyday of movie musicals ended about forty years before Chicago hit theaters. Unfortunately for a lot of studios, Chicago wasn't able to reinvigorate the movie musical genre. Has the decline in the genre meant Chicago hasn't aged well? Or have more recent musicals failed to match it at the box office, because they have also failed to match its quality?
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Feature-Length Documentary
February 15, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Feature-Length Documentary, which is probably the hardest category to predict, because some of the previous winners of major awards were not even nominated for an Oscar. When the nominations were this unpredictable, the winner could be any of the five films.
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Animated Feature
February 15, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Animated Feature Film, which looked like it would be competitive for most of the year, then Frozen came out and instantly became the favorite. Is it the favorite? Or is there a dark horse out there?
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2014 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Schedule
February 15, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Over the next two weeks, we will be looking at the ten most prestigious categories starting with...
The Numbers 17th Annual Predict the Academy Awards Contest
February 14, 2014
The Numbers annual Predict the Academy Awards Competition is back, providing you with a chance to win some great prizes, and for all of our readers collectively to predict who will win the Oscars on March 2. The top selections for Best Picture and Best Animated Feature go on to win the Oscar on the night over 80% of the time—so this is also a great way to find out who's the favorite to win on the night.
Uniquely among Oscar contests, when you make your predictions, we show you how many people have voted for each movie so far, and allow you to go back and change your choices. In fact, you can come back at any time to update your predictions as news breaks and sentiment changes about different nominees. But beware: our tie-breaking rule if multiple people correctly predict the same number of winners is that whoever made their picks first will win the prize.
So enter now for your best chance of winning our grand prize: every film nominated for Best Picture on DVD or Blu-ray. We will send you all nine films that are nominated as soon as they become available on the home market, and you get to choose either the DVD or Blu-ray version.
Our second-placed finisher will receive the Best Picture winner and Best Animated Feature winner.
And finally, as an added incentive to everyone who enters regularly, the highest-scoring player from our All-Time Top 200 Players list will receive the Best Picture winner on their choice of DVD or Blu-ray.
See our complete set of rules for more information.
Limited Releases: Easy Cash for Limited Releases
February 14, 2014
There are lots of films on this week's list of limited releases, but only one of them, The New Black, is earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. The Returned is earning overall positive reviews, but that's not enough to thrive in limited release. In fact, given the competition, it is unlikely there is any film that will earn breakout success.
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Contest: Bride of Frankenprize
February 14, 2014
So the Frankenprize seemed to be quite popular, so we will try that again. Choosing the target film is a bit difficult. Pompeii cost $100 million to make, so you would think the studio would be pushing it hard, but that's not the case. The buzz is really weak. On the other hand, 3 Days to Kill is being compared to Non-Stop, which opens the weekend after. I think Pompeii will be a disaster compared to its production budget, but it should still open faster. As such, it is the 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 Pompeii.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win the first random prize pack.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win the second random prize pack.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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Weekend Predictions: RoboCop Starts First, but Last Night should get Last Laugh
February 14, 2014
RoboCop opened on Wednesday, but failed to meet expectations, which leaves an opening for About Last Night to become the best of the new releases. Endless Love will also be competitive this weekend, meaning all three 1980s remakes could finish back-to-back-to-back. On the other hand, Winter's Tale could miss the top five. As for the holdovers, The LEGO Movie will crush all of the new releases and easily repeat as box office champion. By the end of business on Monday, it will have made enough money to cover its entire production budget. This time last year there were also four new releases, led by A Good Day to Die Hard. I think this year's new releases are a little weaker on average than last year's were' however, The LEGO Movie could make $50 million over the next four days, so it will carry 2014 to victory.
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International Box Office: Frozen Outlasts Competition
February 13, 2014
Frozen continues its impressive run earning first place with $24.0 million in 47 markets for totals of $545.1 million internationally and $913.7 million worldwide. It became the 28th film to reach that level and has already overtaken Finding Nemo for 27th place. The film opened in China with $14.11 million over the weekend, which was enough for third place over the weekend, which is good, but not amazing. On the other hand, it fell just 30% in South Korea adding $8.93 million on 1,375 screens over the weekend, lifting its total to $58.04 million after four weeks of release. At this pace, it should catch up to Despicable Me 2 in a couple of weeks, and depending on how it does in Japan, it could reach $1 billion worldwide.
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Weekend Predictions: RoboCop Gets the First Shot at the Weekend Box Office
February 12, 2014
Tonight RoboCop opens early / late, depending on your point of view. On the one hand, it is opening on Wednesday, while the rest of the wide releases are opening on Friday, Valentine's Day. It makes sense not to try to compete with three romantic movies on Valentine's Day, so this could help its box office numbers. On the other hand, the film was originally scheduled for a Summer 2013 release, but was pushed back till February, which suggests the studio doesn't have a lot of faith in the movie. So how does the film's prospects look this weekend?
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Contest: Wings and a Prayer: Winning Announcement
February 11, 2014
The winners of our Wings and a Prayer contest were determined and they are...
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IMAX: Gravity Swallows Another Record
February 11, 2014
Gravity hit a major milestone reaching $100 million worldwide on IMAX. Domestically, the film played on 330 IMAX screens earning $48.6 million, while internationally it earned $51.5 million on 309 IMAX screens. Only two other Hollywood releases have crossed $100 million on IMAX, Avatar and The Dark Knight Rises. On the other hand, Avatar's record of $228 million is quite safe.
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Per Theater Chart: Cash for LEGO
February 11, 2014
The LEGO Movie not only earned the first place on the overall chart, but it was also the only film to top $10,000 on the per theater chart. It earned an average of $18,291, nearly doubling the average of the second place film, Kids for Cash, which earned an average of $9,160 in 4 theaters.
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DVD and Blu-ray Releases for February 11th, 2014
February 11, 2014
It's a strange week on the home market. If you look at the top ten selling new releases on Amazon.com, there are a couple of first run releases, a catalog title, TV on DVD release, and some limited releases. That's basically every category there is. The biggest release is Ender's Game, a film that failed to find an audience in theaters. It barely earned overall positive reviews and it isn't a contender for Pick of the Week. Some of the other best-selling releases are contenders, like The Jungle Book: Blu-ray Diamond Edition or Sherlock: Season Three on DVD or Blu-ray. There are also a few of the smaller releases that were in consideration, including Doctor Who: Story 33: The Moonbase and G.B.F. on DVD. But in the end, I went with Wadjda on Blu-ray Combo Pack for Pick of the Week. One last note, Dry Spell is coming out on Video on Demand. It's a good chance to support ultra-low-budget filmmaking and the reviews I've read have been positive.
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Weekend Wrap-Up: LEGO Earns Stacks Dollar Bills
February 11, 2014
The LEGO Movie didn't break the record for Biggest February Weekend, but it came close. The Monuments Men performed better than expected, but was still a very distant second place. On the other hand, Vampire Academy bombed, fully and completely. Compared to last week, even without The LEGO Movie, this week is almost better. With The LEGO Movie, this week is 76% better at $151 million. Compared to last year, The LEGO Movie opened with more than the top five made in 2013. Overall, the year-over-year growth was 46%. This is just a fantastic result no matter how you look at it. Year-to-date, 2014 has pulled in $1.12 billion, putting it 12% ahead of 2013's pace. It is obviously still too early to declare 2014 the winner, but this is still a fantastic start.
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Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Haunter
February 10, 2014
Haunter might have come out on the 18th of October of last year. That's what the official site says, but there's precious little else that backs that up. There are no box office numbers I can find anywhere. On the other hand, it was also a Video on Demand premiere through IFC, so it might have only gotten a token midnight release, in which case, no box office numbers were released. It's a low-budget horror film, which immediately lowers expectations, but is that fair? Just because it is low-budget doesn't mean it must be bad. Then again, most high-budget movies are pretty bad. (Sturgeon's Revelation states 90% of everything is crud. (Yes, that's Sturgeon's Revelation. Sturgeon's Law is, "Nothing is always absolutely so.")) So going in with neutral expectations, how is Haunter?
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Featured DVD Review: The Summit
February 10, 2014
The Summit is a documentary that came out in October of last year, but it opened poorly and never really found an audience. Is there something fundamentally flawed with the film? Or is its target audience simply too small because of its subject matter?
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Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: How I Live Now
February 9, 2014
How I Live Now is based on a 2004 Young Adult novel, which puts it in a category that includes nearly all films made in the past decade or so. That's exaggerating, but it is one of the crowded genres today with numerous examples coming out each year. How I Live Now wasn't one of the more lucrative examples. In fact, it opened in limited release missing the Mendoza Line before quickly disappearing from theaters. Granted, it was also a Video on Demand premiere so that has a serious effect on box office numbers. Should it have performed better? Or does it suffer from too many of the clichés of the genre.
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Weekend Estimates: LEGO Builds Instant Franchise
February 9, 2014
2014 is shaping up to be a good year at the box office. After excellent openings for Ride Along and Lone Survivor in January, February is getting off to a spectacular start thanks to a huge opening weekend for The LEGO Movie. Warner Bros. is projecting an opening of $69.1 million for the toy spin-off -- far and away the biggest weekend of the year so far, and the second-best February weekend ever, behind only The Passion of the Christ. Numbers like that guarantee a sequel or three, and boost a franchise that has already built an impressive following in the video market.
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Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Austenland
February 9, 2014
Austenland is a romantic comedy that opened in limited release last summer. That's not the right genre for a limited release, but it opened at about the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart and lasted long enough to hit $2 million at the box office. That's a better than expected run. Is the movie also better than expected? Or does it fall prey to the usual romcom clichés?
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Featured Blu-ray review - The Jungle Book
February 9, 2014
The Jungle Book was the last movie Walt Disney worked on before his death in 1966, although it wasn't released till 1967. The last time it came out on DVD was seven years ago, but this week it makes it debut on Blu-ray. How does the film look and sound on high definition? And how are the extras?
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Featured Blu-ray review - Rocky - The Heavyweight Collection
February 8, 2014
Rocky: The Undisputed Collection came out nearly five years ago and I loved it. Now a new box set is coming out. However, is it any different than before? Or is it a simple cash grab?
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Limited Releases: Cash for Limited Releases
February 7, 2014
It's another busy week for limited releases with more than a dozen of them on this week's list. This does mean I'm not going to be as talkative about each individual film, because there are just so many of them. Fortunately, there are also a few that are worth checking out, like Vic + Flo Saw a Bear, Alphaville, etc. If I were to chose just one film, it would be Kids for Cash, but the subject matter will enrage you.
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Contest: Between a Rocky and a Hard Place
February 6, 2014
Next weekend is Valentine's Day / Presidents Day long weekend and there are four wide releases hoping to take advantage. Of those four, only two have a shot at first place, RoboCop and About Last Night. RoboCop is opening on Wednesday, so that leaves About Last Night as the clear choice for 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 About Last Night.
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 Rocky: Heavyweight Collection on The Ultimate Guide to the Presidents 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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Weekend Predictions: Can LEGO Build an Audience
February 6, 2014
The first weekend of February should be the biggest with The LEGO Movie looking to dominate the box office, while The Monuments Men is expected to do respectable business over the weekend. The other wide release is Vampire Academy, which wasn't screened for critics. It is not aimed at a target demographic that cares about what critics think, but they still didn't screen the film for critics. This weekend last year, there were two wide releases, Identity Thief and Side Effects. The two films earned a combined $44 million during their opening weekend. The LEGO Movie will make more than that on its own. 2014 should easily win in the year-over-year competition.
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International Box Office: Happy New Year!
February 5, 2014
It's Chinese New Year and the international box office was led by two Chinese films. The Monkey King earned first place with $46 million in 7 markets for a total opening of $54 million. Like most Chinese films, we don't have breakdowns of individual markets.
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Contest: Starved for Attention: Winning Announcement
February 5, 2014
The winners of our Starved for Attention contest were determined and they are...
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Per Theater Chart: Artistic Integrity
February 5, 2014
Tim's Vermeer led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $14,468 in four theaters. It was the only film to reach $10,000 on the per theater chart this weekend. Peter Brook: The Tightrope did make $10,301 in one theater, but that was over five days. Over the weekend, it pulled in $6,768.
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Weekend Wrap-Up: Ride Laps Competition
February 3, 2014
Super Bowl turned into a blow-out, but still earned a record television audience. This explains why the overall box office numbers were down compared to last weekend. That said, there were some films that did well, including Ride Along, which completed the threepeat and by this time next week with be at over $100 million. On the other hand, the new releases really struggled. That Awkward Moment only managed third place, while Labor Day barely avoided the Mendoza Line. Week-over-week, the overall box office fell 26% to $86 million. Compared to last year, the box office also fell, but by only 3%. That said, 2014 is still ahead of 2013 by 6% at $943 million to $887 million, so the market is still healthy.
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DVD and Blu-ray Releases for February 4th, 2014
February 3, 2014
It's another slow week on the home market. There are five or so first run releases, but the biggest box office was earned by Free Birds, which earned $55 million. Fortunately, while there are no box office hits, there are some high quality releases, led by Dallas Buyers Club. Unfortunately, the DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack has so few extras that I'm convinced a special edition is on its way, so it isn't a Pick of the Week contender. So what are the Pick of the Week contenders this week? First there's Cutie and the Boxer on DVD or Blu-ray. Second there's ... Cutie and the Boxer is the Pick of the Week.
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Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Dallas Buyers Club
February 3, 2014
Dallas Buyers Club is widely considered a favorite to win at least one Oscar and it has a shot at becoming the big winner come Oscar night. Needless to say, my expectations for the film are really high. I'm hoping they are not unrealistically high. Is this the case? Or is the movie as good as its critically acclaim?
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Weekend Estimates: Ride Along Completes Hat-trick
February 2, 2014
With distributors aiming for counter-programming over Super Bowl weekend, Ride Along will win this weekend fairly comfortably, according to estimates released on Sunday. Universal is projecting a $12.3 million weekend, down 42% from last time, and a cume by Monday morning of nearly $93 million. That should set the film up to cross $100 million in the next week, and makes it a rare winner of 3 weekends in a row. Second place is a toss-up between Frozen and That Awkward Moment, although Disney is laying claim to the prize right now with $9.3 million projected, up 2% from last weekend thanks to a new sing-along version of Frozen introduced to theaters on Friday.
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Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: Escape Plan
February 1, 2014
Escape Plan features two of the biggest action stars of the 1980s, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It earned mixed reviews and failed to find an audience here. (It did perform well enough internationally that it could break even early on the home market.) Is the film better than its box office performance? Or did it fail to find an audience for a reason?
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2014 Awards Season: WGA: A.I. and Pirates Told the Right Stories
February 1, 2014
WGAs handed out their awards on Saturday and depending on who you talk to, there were a couple of major upsets. There was certainly at least one upset, but the other awards are less surprising.
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