January 9th, 2009
The final guild nominations were recently announced, and there are several theatrical categories to get to. The three guilds, DGA, PGA, and WGA, announced out eight nominations in total, which really help to fill in the gaps for prediction the Oscar nods. Or in some cases, just make matters more confusing.
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January 7th, 2009
This week, new releases were practically non-existent on the DVD sales chart.
In fact, the best selling releases to make their debut on the chart were the late releases from last week. The best seller overall this week was The Dark Knight with 1.69 million units and $37.11 million in consumer retail spending for the week, giving it just a hair under 12.00 million units sold and $252.82 million in sales after three. This is clearly the best selling DVD of 2008 having sold over 1 million units more than WALL-E and nearly $70 million more in retail sales.
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January 7th, 2009
This week on the rental charts we have late releases from the week of the 16th, all the releases from the week of the 23rd, and early releases from the 30th. The number on rental for the week was Burn After Reading, which generated about a sixth more revenue than second place Death Race.
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January 5th, 2009
Ghajini was a surprise entry in the top five as the Indian film earned $12.85 million on 1347 screens in 22 markets, which is more than enough to be considered a monster hit. In fact, it set records in its native market and could break the record set by Dhoom 2 worldwide.
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December 28th, 2008
It turns out studio estimates were highly accurate, and the only real change from Wednesday's column involves a surprise $10 million film. If You Are The One opened in first place in China and fourth place internationally with $11.68 million on 1010 screens.
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December 21st, 2008
No new openings left Bolt out of the top five with $4.94 million on 1916 screens in 11 markets for a total of $28.69 million. Its best market was Russia where it slipped to second place with $1.20 million on 570 screens for a three-week total of $10.73 million, while it added $1.06 million on 412 screens over the weekend in Spain for a total of $3.96 million after two. The film has yet to open in most major markets, and won't until the new year, but when it is done it should surpass its domestic total while aiming for $250 million worldwide.
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December 16th, 2008
This week is a confusing one on the home market as there are DVDs coming out on Tuesday the 16th, as usual, and on Friday the 19th, and Sunday the 21st as well. While there are a number of great releases that are spread out over three days, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is the best on any day, and worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week.
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December 14th, 2008
There were nine international releases making their debuts on the charts this week, as well as several holdovers. The best of these films was Forever Enthralled, as the Chinese film took first place in its native market and sixth place internationally with $6.15 million on 1375 screens.
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December 12th, 2008
The latest set of Awards Season nominations were handed out today as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations. There was not much in the way of surprises, and it is hard to look at one film and say it was the big winner, but Frost/Nixon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button come the closest.
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December 7th, 2008
Bolt started its run on the international charts in sixth place with $7.90 million on 1417 screens in 4 markets. This includes a second place, $4.30 million opening on 570 screens in Russia, while it Italy it also placed second with $2.19 million on 467 screens. Meanwhile in Poland, it topped the charts with $855,000 on 120 screens, but this is par for the course as films of this nature tend to do very well in Poland.
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November 30th, 2008
Body Of Lies opened in a quartet of major markets, the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Russia, and that helped it climb into second place with $10.17 million on 2837 screens in 32 markets for a total of $33.62 million. It earned second place in both the U.K. with $1.48 million on 393 screens and in Germany where it scored $1.43 million on 427 screens. On the other hand, it earned more in Italy with $1.64 million on 357 screens, but had to settle for third place. Meanwhile in Russia it struggled landing in eighth place with $500,000 on 142 screens.
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November 23rd, 2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year fell below $10 million this past weekend, but we still able to remain in second place internationally earning $8.65 million on 4642 screens in 34 markets for a total of $123.01 million internationally and $207.178 million worldwide. The only opening of note this weekend came in Russia, however, the film struggled there placing sixth with $353,000 on 128 screens. Its best market was the U.K. where it added $1.46 million on 483 screens over the weekend for a total of $31.76 million.
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November 17th, 2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year remained in second place with $14.63 million on 4413 screens in 30 markets for a total of $110.38 million internationally. This is more than it will make domestically by the end of its run, and at this pace hitting $200 million worldwide will not be an issue, as it has openings in Russia, Australia, and Japan still to go. Its biggest market of the weekend was Italy where it made $2.60 million on 487 screens over the weekend for a total of $9.02 million. Meanwhile, its biggest market overall was the U.K. with $31.44 million, including $2.39 million on 470 screens over the past weekend.
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November 9th, 2008
Saw V slipped a spot to sixth place with $6.44 million on 1703 screens in 26 markets for a total of $16.52 million. This week it opened in fourth place in Russia with $745,000 on 200 screens while in earned seventh place in Mexico with just $148,000 on 120 screens. As far as holdovers go, the film fell more than 60% in the U.K. to $1.55 million on 367 screens for a total of $7.53 million.
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October 29th, 2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year opened in first place on the international chart with an impressive $40.68 million on 3,165 screens in 19 markets.
This includes first place openings in a number of markets, including the U.K. where it pulled in $9.13 million on 493 screens over the weekend for $12.92 million in total.
Other first place openings include Germany with $5.69 million on 529 screens and in Spain, where it pulled in a hair under $5.00 million on 402 screens. The film also did well in France to place second with $4.3 million, while it also pulled in more than $1 million in Brazil ($1.7 million) and Poland ($1 million). Next up for the film is Italy this weekend, while it doesn't end its run until Japan in February, so it could be in the charts for a long time.
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October 23rd, 2008
Eagle Eye reached the top spot on the international charts this weekend with $11.48 million on 3,546 screens in 45 markets for a total of $44.81 million. This film opened in the two biggest international markets and scored second place in the both the U.K. with $1.92 million on 362 screens and in Japan with $2.44 million on 306. Meanwhile, it remained in first place in South Korea with $2.14 million on 441 screens over the weekend and $6.49 million after two.
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October 19th, 2008
First some updates on Wednesday's numbers. Due to Columbus Day, we were relying on studio estimates instead of final numbers, and while they were mostly accurate, they were not entirely accurate. The Russia film, Admiral (Koltchak), did indeed top the charts with $12.51 million on 1,223 screens in 2 markets over the weekend and $13.31 million in total. Meanwhile, Eagle Eye added $10.88 million on 3,030 screens in 38 markets for a still early total of $29.41 million. Mamma Mia! continues its quest for $400 million with $8.37 million on 3,713 screens in 46 markets for a total of $390.72 million. These three films were very close to the original figures, however, the rest of the top five was different than originally reported, starting with...
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October 9th, 2008
Thanks to an impressive opening in Italy, Mamma Mia! was able to overtake Hancock on the yearly international charts. Over the weekend the film added $14.25 million on 4,222 screens in 48 markets for an international total of $377.29 million, just ahead of the $375 million Hancock has brought in. In Italy, the film opened in first place with $2.52 million on 400 screens, while it added $1.36 million on 403 screens in the U.K. for a total of $110.14 million after thirteen weeks of release. Worldwide the film has amassed an astounding $520.01 million, and with Japan ahead, it should reach the all-time top 50 before long.
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October 5th, 2008
Eagle Eye opened in sixth place on the international chart with $4.51 million on 1,124 screens in 13 markets, much of that coming from two markets: Australia and Mexico. In the former it made $1.42 million on 231 screens while in the latter it made just a hair under $900,000 on 350 screens. In both markets the film finished in second place, while it opens in major markets every week until the end of October, while it doesn't end its run until early next year.
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September 30th, 2008
It was a relatively predictable weekend at the box office with four of the top five films matching expectations, more or less. There was only one film on Thursday's column that beat expectations by a serious degree, and it was matched by another film that missed expectations by nearly the same margin. Overall the box office just climbed above nine digits, hitting $101 million over the weekend. This was 14% more than last weekend and 11% more than the same weekend last year. 2008 is still behind 2007, but by less than 1% at $7.11 billion to $7.15 billion.
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September 28th, 2008
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor fell more than 50% this past weekend down to $4.24 million on 2905 screens in 46 markets for a total of $276.19 million internationally. It had no major market openings this past weekend, but added $1.36 million on 361 screens during its second weekend in Australia for a total of $5.13 million.
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September 25th, 2008
There are seven films opening in more than 250 theaters this weekend, but this is clearly a case of quantity over quality. Only two are opening in more than 2,000 and none of the seven are earning overall positive reviews. (Most of these films don't have a real shot at a top five placing, so we will deal with many of them in our round-up of limited releases.) There's no real question on which film will top the charts this week, as Eagle Eye is practically a lock for that position. But there are questions about whether it can top last year's winner, or whether 2008 can play catch up over last year.
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September 23rd, 2008
It was not a good weekend at the box office with just one of the four new releases beating expectations, and even then it was by just a rounding error. Overall box office receipts were $88 million over the weekend, which was down 13% from last week. More importantly, it was down 9% from the same weekend last year, which was not expected. Year-to-date, 2008 is still behind 2007, but at a margin of just $6.98 billion to $7.04 billion, and a strong fall and holiday box office would be enough to catch up.
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September 21st, 2008
The Fall Season is very much in full swing now.
Three of the four new releases opened with less than $10 million, and total ticket sales look headed for less than $100 million.
The one bright spot was Lakeview Terrace, which opened with a decent $15.6 million, according to Sony's Sunday estimate.
Burn After Reading fell 40% in its second week to finish in second place with $11.3 million.
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September 15th, 2008
Four films opened wide this weekend, and all four finished in the top four, which is the first time that's happened in more than a year and a half. The strength of the new releases helped the overall box office bounce back, as it was up 49% from last weekend at $101 million. More importantly, it was up more than 28% from the same weekend last year, which ended a seven-week losing streak. Year-to-date, 2008 is still behind, but the gap was closed somewhat with 2007 leading with $6.92 billion to $6.87 billion.
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September 14th, 2008
The Coen Brothers claimed top spot at the box office this weekend as Burn After Reading led four wide releases at the top of the chart.
The comedy thriller earned a solid $19.4 million, according to Focus' estimate, which put it safely ahead of Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys, which scored an estimated $18.02 million.
Righteous Kill also performed decently, with $16.5 million, while The Women was softer with $10.1 million.
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September 13th, 2008
September is the month to release films that studios have no real faith in. Since they have no real faith in these projects, it comes as no surprise that the best of the websites, Righteous Kill - Official Site, doesn't really stand out enough to be worthy of the Weekly Website Award.
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September 11th, 2008
There are four wide releases this week, and the odds are that all four will place in the top four on the chart. However, there are some disagreements among analysts on which films have a shot at topping the chart, and which will struggle. But (almost) everyone agrees that the overall box office will grow from last weekend, and most agree it will grow from the same weekend last year.
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