June 22nd, 2013
New releases for this week were a little bit stronger than last week earning the top three spots on the DVD sales chart and three of the top four spots on the Blu-ray sales chart. Unfortunately, those three releases were the only new releases to chart. Additionally, while they finished higher than last week's new releases, they didn't sell that much more. The Silver Linings Playbook opened in first place with 379,000 units / $6.36 million on DVD and on Blu-ray with 210,000 units / $4.82 million. This is weaker than I was hoping for. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 36%, which is great for a dramedy. Since then, the film has sold 727,000 units / $12.04 million on DVD and 375,000 units / $8.57 million on Blu-ray. The film made more than $100 million domestically and earned an Oscar, so I was hoping for much more.
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May 8th, 2013
The winners of our Ironing Out the Details contest were determined and they are...
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April 30th, 2013
Like I mentioned last week, this week the biggest release on the home market is Silver Linings Playbook, while there are a couple other sizable releases, like Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Three on Blu-ray. However, you quickly run into filler as you look down the list. Fortunately, Silver Linings Playbook is such a great movie that the Blu-ray Combo Pack would be Pick of the Week material, even during a busy week. It is not the only contender for that title. Even sight unseen, Kyatto-Ninden Teyandee Complete Series Megaset comes a close second, while Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Three earned that title last week.
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April 25th, 2013
May finally begins, which is good news for a year that has struggled at the box office. (At least it would normally be good news, except last year was record-breaking.) Iron Man 3 is the only film opening wide and given the buzz and the reviews, it should be a monster hit. It is the only choice for the target movie for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Iron Man 3.
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 Broken City on Blu-ray.
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 Broken City on Blu-ray.
Broken City Blu-ray Special Features include:
- Alternate Ending
- Five Deleted / Extended Scenes
- Putting It All Together Documentary – A Behind-the-Scenes look including Cast Profiles, Anatomy of a Thriller, a “Black List” script and more
Broken City releases on Blu-ray and DVD April 30 and I hope to get a screener for a full review soon.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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April 25th, 2013
The winners of our Rather Remain Oblivious contest were determined and they are...
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January 28th, 2013
January ended, and we should all be glad it did. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters did beat modest expectations, but most of the rest failed that test with Movie 43 crashing worse than even my low expectations. The overall box office fell 20% from last weekend to $112 million. This was 11% less than the same weekend last year; fortunately, this was the first miss of 2013 and the year still has a lead of 10% over 2012 at $797 million to $721 million.
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January 22nd, 2013
Mama easily won the box office race over the Martin Luther King, Jr. long weekend, with Zero Dark Thirty earning a solid second place. Unfortunately, the other two new releases, Broken City and The Last Stand, were weak and weaker. The overall box office was on par with last week, down less than 1% to $139 million, over the three-day weekend. This was 6% higher than the same weekend last year, over the same period. Adding on Monday, and the total weekend was $165 million, or about 1% higher than last year. It is still way too early to pay real attention to the year-to-date stats, but 2013 is ahead of 2012 by a 7.0% margin at $658 million to $615 million.
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January 20th, 2013
For all the Oscar hype, moviegoers are voting with their feet this MLK weekend for a more straightforward entertainment bang for their buck. Mama is set to win the weekend by a large margin, with Universal estimating a $28.1 million three-day weekend and about $33 million over four days. With the film playing in a relatively modest 2,647 theaters, that translates into a per theater average of $10,625, comfortably ahead of any other wide release. Jessica Chastain has dual reasons to celebrate, with Zero Dark Thirty set to finish second for the weekend with $17.6 million. Fellow Oscar-hopeful Silver Linings Playbook will be third with about $11.35 million over three days in its first weekend in wide release.
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January 17th, 2013
There are a trio of new releases opening on Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, but it looks like Zero Dark Thirty has a good chance to remain in first place. Mama is earning pretty good buzz, even if its reviews are only mixed. The Last Stand is the widest release of the week and the reviews are positive, but the buzz is mixed, to be kind. Finally, there's Broken City, which has the quietest buzz and the weakest reviews. Last year, Underworld: Awakening opened with just over $25 million and there's almost no chance that will happen again this year. Then again, we might have better depth.
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January 11th, 2013
Next week there are three films opening wide: Broken City, The Last Stand, and Mama. All three of them appear to be on track for a $15 million to $20 million opening, and none of them appear to be runaway favorites for top spot. To pick the target film for this week's box office prediction contest, I flipped a coin and Mama came out on top. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Mama.
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 Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie 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 Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie 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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January 1st, 2013
December ended on a positive note with 2012 topping 2011 with a week to spare. Hopefully this will translate into strong box office numbers going forward. There are several January releases that actually look very interesting, but you always have to ask, if the films are as good as they look, why are they opening in January? The biggest hit on this list will likely not be a January release, but a limited release from December that is expanding wide in January. Zero Dark Thirty opened in limited release the Wednesday before Christmas and right away it got off to an incredible start. If it can turn some of its Awards Season nominations into wins, which seems very likely at this point, it should be the biggest hit of January. If it can earn some major Oscars, then it might crack $100 million. Unfortunately, no other film on this release list is likely to come close to the $100 million mark. Last January was unseasonably strong with three films opening with $20 million or more and four films finishing with $50 million or more. It is possible that none of the new releases will reach those relatively weak standards.
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