July 14th, 2015
The list of new releases for June 23rd was not good and the best DVD release, Teen Beach 2, wasn't even released on Blu-ray. This left holdovers on top of the DVD and Blu-ray chart for June 28th and The Kingsman: Secret Service claimed top spot with 198,000 units / $3.41 million units for the week for totals of 1.11 million units / $17.84 million after three weeks of release.
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July 5th, 2015
Back on schedule, not that there's much to talk about. The biggest new release for the week ending June 21 was Chappie, which barely made more than $30 million domestically. This meant a holdover, American Sniper, rose to top spot on the home market chart with 378,000 units / $5.30 million for the week. This gives the film totals of 2.76 million units / $49.44 million after a month of release.
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July 4th, 2015
It was a busy week in real life, with the July Preview, Canada Day, and July 4th holidays messing with schedules. Because of that, the home market numbers were late this week. However, this week's numbers will be up in the next two days, so it was a very short disruption. That said, there's not much to talk about when it comes to new releases on the home video sales charts for the week ending June 14. Sure, The Kingsman: Secret Service earned first place on the home market chart, but there was only one other new release in the top five and only a few others in the top 30. The number one release of the week sold 591,000 units and generated $10.29 million in consumer spending. This includes an opening week Blu-ray share of 51%. Anything above 50% is worth celebrating; however, the overall numbers are still lower than anticipated.
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June 17th, 2015
Wow. Slow week. There are a few releases that are notable, but we very quickly run into titles that would be considered filler during the average week. In fact, there are no first run releases that are contenders for Pick of the Week. There are a trio of limited releases that are in the running for that title: Time Lapse (DVD or Blu-ray or Video on Demand); Wild Tales (DVD or Blu-ray or Video on Demand); and The Wrecking Crew (DVD or Blu-ray or Video on Demand). There were also two catalog releases of note: The Cat Returns (Blu-ray Combo Pack) and Spirited Away (Blu-ray Combo Pack). Both are excellent, but Spirited Away is the better of the two films and it is the Pick of the Week.
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May 27th, 2015
In the Name of my Daughter rose to the first place on the per theater chart with an average of $20,069 in four theaters. I'll See You in My Dreams saw its theater count expand to 26 while its average was mostly flat down to $14,593. The best new release was When Marnie Was There, which earned an average of $13,695 in two theaters. This is great for an animated film in limited release.
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May 13th, 2015
It was a milestone weekend for The Avengers: Age of Ultron, as it remained in first place on the international chart with $68 million in 90 markets over the weekend for totals of $562 million internationally and $875 million worldwide. The film had no major market openings this past weekend, although it did open in China on Tuesday earning $33.9 million during its opening day. We will deal with that next week. Currently, the film's biggest market is South Korea, where it has pulled in $72.53 million, including $6.29 million on 1,295 screens over the weekend. I can't see that lead lasting more than a couple more days, not with the opening we saw in China.
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March 26th, 2015
As expected, Insurgent earned first place on the international chart earning $48.4 million on 10,187 screens in 76 markets. The film's biggest market was France, where it opened in first place with $6 million, while it made $4.37 million in 497 theaters in the U.K. earning first place there as well. Its best growth came from Brazil, where it nearly tripled the first film with $4.2 million. The film had to settle for second place in Russia with $3.76 million on 1,570 screens, but that was still close to 20% more than its predecessor opened with.
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March 18th, 2015
Cinderella led the way on the international box office, but it can't be described as a Cinderella opening, as every one expected it to earn first place. The film pulled in $62.4 million in 31 markets during its first weekend of release. This includes $25.01 million during its first weekend in China, which was easily enough for first place. It also earned first place in Russia with $2.62 million on 1,550 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $7.06 million. The film placed first in Mexico ($5 million) and Italy ($4.6 million). It is still too early to tell where it will finish, but this is a strong start. By this time next week, it will likely have pulled in enough to cover its entire production budget.
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March 16th, 2015
As expected, Cinderella easily won the race to the top of the box office. However, it didn't quite do as well as expected. Additionally, Run All Night's opening was also a little softer than expected. Fortunately, despite this, the overall box office still bounced back from last weekend growing by 47% to $132 million. This was also higher than last year by 16%, which is really high for a year-over-year comparison. Year-to-date, 2015 is ahead of 2014 by 2.3% at $2.01 billion to $1.97 billion. This is not a huge lead, but it is still enough growth that the overall industry should be happy.
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March 15th, 2015
The winners of our Easy Breezy contest were determined and the entrants with the closest predictions for Chappie opening weekend were...
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March 12th, 2015
Last weekend was a disaster, the worst weekend at the box office so far this year. This weekend should bounce back with the opening of Cinderella. Its the first family film to come out since The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and its reviews are excellent. The other film opening wide this week is Run All Night, which is the latest Liam Neeson action film. There's not much more that needs to be said about that. This weekend last year was led by Mr. Peabody and Sherman with $21.81 million. Cinderella will crush that figure. In fact, Cinderella might make more than the top five made combined last year.
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March 12th, 2015
Jupiter Ascending returned to the international chart in first place with $25.3 million in 53 markets for a month-long total of $107.0 million internationally. This includes a first place, $23.08 million debut on 7,028 screens in China. If the film can have even middling legs in China, it will overtake its production budget on the global box office. However, it needed to make twice that to break even.
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March 10th, 2015
It was the worst weekend of the year so far with two of the three wide releases bombing compared to expectations. It was so bad, that the three wide releases combined were lower than the high end predictions for Chappie. Unfinished Business missed the Mendoza Line and will be quickly forgotten by the end of the month. Only The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has a future. Overall, the total box office was just under $90 million, which was 16% lower than last weekend. It was also 38% lower than the same weekend last year. The top five this year barely made more than the number one film from last year, 300: Rise of an Empire. The combined opening of the three new releases this year was dwarfed by the opening of Mr. Peabody and Sherman last year. Granted, 2015 is still ahead of 2014 in the year-to-date comparison, but the lead has shrunk to under 1% at $1.85 billion to $1.84 billion.
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March 8th, 2015
A soft opening for Chappie and a weak returning field will combine to make this the worst weekend at the box office since the dark days of early December last year. Total spending will be around $90 million, down substantially from this time last year when 300: Rise of an Empire opened with $45 million. Chappie won’t manage a third of that, with a $13.3 million weekend projected by Sony as of Sunday morning. A slightly stronger $8.6 million opening from 1,573 theaters for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel won’t help the overall numbers much, but does add a bit of diversity to the top of the chart.
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March 5th, 2015
March begins with three wide releases. Or to be more accurate, two wide releases and a semi-wide release. Unfortunately, both wide releases are being attacked by critics. Chappie is being called a smart idea with a dumb execution. Unfinished Business is earning some of the worst reviews of the year and its buzz is really not much better than its reviews. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is earning good reviews, but its theater count is low enough that it might not reach the top five. This weekend last year, there were two $100 million hits that debuted, 300: Rise of an Empire and Mr. Peabody and Sherman. None of the three wide releases this week will get to $100 million in total. In fact, all three films combined likely won't open with as much as 300: Rise of an Empire did. It looks like 2015 will lose in the year-over-year comparison in a significant way.
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March 1st, 2015
February was strong thanks to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and Fifty Shades of Grey, both of which beat expectations. This March could actually be even better, as there are three or four films that have a decent shot at earning $100 million or more. The top film will likely be Cinderella, which has a real shot at $200 million. Insurgent will almost assuredly get beyond the $100 million mark, while Get Hard, Home, and perhaps Chappie will also get to the century mark. Last March, there were four $100 million hits, led by Divergent, which pulled in $150 million. While this March should be better than February, I'm not sure it will be better than last March. I don't think March 2015 will be much worse than last year, but I think its percentage lead will be chipped away at by the end of the month.
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February 27th, 2015
Next weekend, there are three wide releases, including Chappie, which should lead the way on the box office chart over the weekend. (The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Unfinished Business could be midlevel hits, but nothing more.) Because Chappie's box office potential is about twice that of the two other new releases, it is the only real choice for target 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 Chappie.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Frankenprize, including Life's a Breeze 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 Frankenprize, including Life's a Breeze 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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