September 7th, 2012
The Hunger Games dominated the Blu-ray Sales Chart during its first full week on the home market. It saw its sales numbers grow a little bit to 1.75 million units / $34.99 million for the week giving it totals of 3.42 million units / $68.32 million. It is already in the top ten best-selling Blu-rays of all time and the best-selling Blu-ray of the year. It likely won't last in first place for long, as The Avengers is coming out soon and should be record-breaking on Blu-ray.
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September 5th, 2012
Depending on how you look at things, there were more than ten new releases to reach the top 30 on the DVD Sales Chart. One of the confusing "new" releases is The Hunger Games, which spent its first full week on the home market, but came out a few days before Tuesday. It sold 2.50 million units and generated $42.48 million during its first full week of release, for totals of 4.68 million units / $79.46 million and it is already the second best selling DVD of 2012 and should be in first place very shortly. I was amazed that the film actually sold more this week than it did last week, even with its shortened opening week. After all, Breaking Dawn, Part 1 also opened with a shortened week, but fell nearly 40% during its first full week of release. Clearly this movie has much better word-of-mouth.
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September 3rd, 2012
This week is again loaded with TV on DVD releases, including several in the top best sellers according to Amazon.com. The best TV on DVD release in terms of comedy is 2 Broke Girls: Season One on DVD or Blu-ray, while Person of Interest: Season One on DVD or Blu-ray is the best TV on DVD release as far as the dramas are concerned. Both are contenders for Pick of the Week, but neither quite gets there. The Five-Year Engagement on Blu-ray Combo Pack comes a little close, but in the end I went with Headhunters on DVD or Blu-ray. Just keep an eye on the price of the Blu-ray.
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September 3rd, 2012
Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles have made a career of making semi-improvised movies based around one of Sacha's many personas. However, while Borat was a huge surprise hit, Brüno missed expectations and The Dictator was even weaker at the box office, at least domestically. Has the quality of the films also dropped? Or did he just over-saturate the market?
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August 22nd, 2012
It is an amazing week on the home market, if you count The Hunger Games. That film made its DVD and Blu-ray debut on Saturday, so it didn't quite come out this week, but it is still selling well. The best-selling Tuesday release was NCIS: Season Nine - Buy from Amazon, while the top five is dominated by Blu-ray catalog releases. I think Bernie comes close to being a Pick of the Week Contender and A Separation is even better, but I'm going with The Hunger Games as top pick.
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July 26th, 2012
Some international numbers were late in reporting, others are still limited to studio estimates, but it is clear which film came out on top. The Dark Knight Rises only opened in 17 markets, but that was still enough to earn first place during its first weekend in international release. It managed $88 million on 7,173 screens in those 17 markets, with the U.K. leading the way with $22.23 million on 594 screens. South Korea was next with $15.65 million on 1,210 (including $12.90 million over the weekend proper), while Australia was right behind with $15.50 million on 628. It was not quite as potent in Spain, but it still earned first place with $4.17 million on 624 screens. The film will more than triple its market count this coming weekend with debuts in France, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and many smaller markets, so it should rise even further.
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June 27th, 2012
For the third weekend in a row, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted earned top spot on the international chart, this time pulling in $35.43 million on 9,499 screens in 43 markets for a total of $214.17 million internationally and $371.26 million worldwide. Its best market of the weekend was Mexico, where it remained in first place with $3.81 million on 1,612 screens over the weekend for a total of $20.78 million after three. Meanwhile in Russia, the film has amassed a total of $43.05 million, including $3.41 million on 1,485 screens this past weekend. The film's next major market is Spain, but it doesn't open there till the end of July. It doesn't finish its run till October when it opens in the U.K.
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June 20th, 2012
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted held firm on top of the international chart with $52.82 million on 11,633 screens in 43 markets for a total of $158.43 million internationally and $277.44 million worldwide. It fell just 36% in Russia for a weekend haul of $10.09 million on 1,830 screens over the weekend and a total of $36.00 million after two. Quite frankly, this is a stunning hold. Russia is known for steep declines (drop-offs greater than 60% are the norm). At this pace, the film could top The Avengers as the biggest hit in the market this year by this time next week. In Mexico, it made $5.03 million on 572 screens over the weekend for a total of $14.82 million after two, while in Brazil it managed $4.19 million on 870 screens over the weekend for a total of $17.53 million after two. In both of those markets the film remained in top spot. On the other hand, it slipped to second place during its second weekend in France down 45% to $4.41 million on 685 screens over the weekend for a total of $13.17 million so far. This is about on par with its run here. With many, many major markets left ahead of it, the film should have little trouble reaching more major milestones, while it should break even before it reaches the lucrative home market.
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June 13th, 2012
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted led the way on the international chart with $77.28 million on 10,877 screens in 28 markets. Its best single market was Russia, where it pulled in $9.80 million on 1,670 screens, which was easily enough for first place. It was also dominant in France with $7.96 million on 685 screens. A pair of Latin American markets also contributed to its overall success with it earning $7.53 million on 890 screens over the weekend in Brazil, for a total opening in that market of $10.85 million. In Mexico, it earned $6.98 million on 1,965. The studio is going with a spread out release schedule, so it doesn't have a whole lot of major markets in the coming weeks, while it doesn't end its international run till October when it debuts in the U.K.
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June 7th, 2012
Men in Black 3 held on extremely well during its second weekend of release on the international scene earning an easy first place with $78.67 million on 20,554 screens in 90 markets for a total of $275.17 million internationally. This is already more than Men in Black 2 made during its entire run. Worldwide the film has $386.25 million, which is higher than the high end of the film's reported budgets. It's on track to reach between $500 million and $600 million worldwide, which is enough to put it on track to earn a profit sometime on the film's home market run. Amazingly, the film actually held on well in China, where it was down less than 30% to $15.4 million on 5,200 screens over the weekend for a total of $51 million after two. Perhaps it will reach the century mark there. In Germany, it grew by 3% to $5.32 million on 742 screens over the weekend for a total of $13.44 million. It also grew by 3% in the U.K., but fell to third place with $4.69 million on 533 screens over the weekend for a total of $12.30 million after two. In Britain, it was the Jubilee Holiday, so that explains the growth.
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June 4th, 2012
Snow White and the Huntsman not only earned first place on the weekend box office chart, it did so with ease, topping all but the most bullish predictions. In fact, it even topped last year's opening of X-men: First Class, which means the film nearly helped 2012 back in the winning circle. The overall box office did fall 7% when compared to last weekend, but it was the post-Memorial Day weekend, so that's a very strong finish. The year-over-year decline was 11%, which normally would be really disappointing, but the previous weekend, the decline was over 30%, so this represents a huge recovery and bodes well for the next few weeks. 2012's lead over 2011 has shrunk to just under 10% at $4.47 billion to $4.07 billion, but even if the overall box office is flat for the rest of the year, a $400 million increase over the full year would be worth celebrating.
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May 31st, 2012
Snow White and the Huntsman is the only new wide release of the weekend and it is looking to overthrow Men in Black 3 on the top of the chart. It should have a pretty easy time winning, if not, the box office is in serious trouble. It is more important to compare its opening to that of X-men: First Class, which opened this weekend last year. Asking Snow White to make $55 million is probably asking too much, while the holdovers won't be able to match last year's crop, so June will likely start off on a low note when compared to last year. After an amazing start to the year, 2012 is starting to really struggle. Hopefully it is just a minor bump in the road.
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May 30th, 2012
After Men in Black 3 missed expectations domestically, its international numbers became a lot more important. I have good news and bad news. The good news is, it opened in first place with $126.31 million on 22,195 screens in 103 markets over the weekend for a total opening of $135.29 million earning first place in 101 of those markets. The bad news is, it has nowhere else to go. It's going to need to rely on strong legs to keep going. In a lot of international markets, films tends to have better legs than they have here. For instance, Japan. But the opposite is true in places like Russia and China, where pump and dumps rule. Speaking of which, the film's best single market was China where it made $20.6 million on 6,073 screens, which was just ahead of The Avengers' opening there, but that film had to deal with a massive local hit. MiB3's second biggest market was Russia, with $16.92 million on 1,549 screens, which was also more than The Avengers managed. Unfortunately, those were the only two major markets where that was true.
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May 29th, 2012
While the latest installment of the Men in Black franchise topped the box office over the Memorial Day long weekend, it was The Avengers that continued to be the big story of the year. Men in Black 3's opening was merely average given the release date, and well below average given the film's production budget. On the other hand, The Avengers continued to break records. Overall, the box office was up by 7% from last weekend reaching $153 million over the three day portion of the weekend. However, that's 31% lower than Memorial Day last year. Ouch. Over four days, the weekend pulled in $194 million, which was 30% lower than last year. Again, ouch. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011, but the lead is down to 12.5% at $4.28 billion to $3.85 billion.
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May 24th, 2012
It looks like The Avengers run on top will finally come to an end this weekend with the release of Men in Black 3. It better. If The Avengers earns more during its fourth weekend of release than MiB3 opens with, then the overall box office will be in such serious trouble that I don't even want to talk about it. So the number one film shouldn't be in doubt, but there are still some questions to ask. Will Men in Black 3 live up to the previous two installments in the franchise? I am quite confident it will. However, in order for 2012 to earn the win on the year-over-year comparison, it will need to match The Hangover 2, which opened this weekend last year. I'm not very confident it will do that, to be very generous. Even if it manages the minor miracle needed to reach that level, there's still Kung Fu Panda 2 to deal with and the only other new release, Chernobyl Diaries, won't come anywhere close to that film's debut. It's probably going to be a really bad weekend at the box office.
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May 23rd, 2012
The Avengers remained on top of the international chart for the fourth weekend in a row and that helped it reach fourth place on the all time worldwide chart. Over the weekend it pulled in $59.1 million giving it totals of $726.4 million internationally and $1.18 billion worldwide. To put this into perspective, if the film had earned $700 million worldwide, it would have been considered a smash hit and it would have broken even before the home market. The film was pushed into second place in the U.K. with $4.45 million on 496 screens over the weekend, but it has $71.11 million in that market, making it the film's biggest single intentional market. China is right behind with $69.3 million. It has also topped $50 million in Mexico ($3.27 million on 1,757 screens over the weekend for a total of $53.53 million) and in Brazil ($5.40 million on 915 screens over the weekend for a total of $50.49 million). The film has yet to open in Japan and by the time it does, it will likely have overtaken Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II for third place on the all-time chart.
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May 21st, 2012
The Avengers continued its monster run and it crushed Battleship, The Dictator, and What to Expect When You're Expecting. In fact, The Avengers made more than the three new releases made combined. This is partially due to the film's strong hold, but in large part due to the newcomers' weaknesses, and this led to a 16% decline from last week to $143 million. Unfortunately, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides didn't show this weakness when it opened and the overall box office was a 15% lower than this weekend last year. 2012 still has a massive 16% lead over 2011 at $4.03 billion to $3.49 billion. Hopefully this is just a momentary blip and 2012 gets back to its winning ways very soon.
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May 20th, 2012
The Avengers will continue as the undisputed hit of the Summer this weekend, as it has proved to be too much competition for another contender. After defeating Dark Shadows last weekend, the superhero movie has crushed Battleship in its domestic debut. The nautical action movie will earn an estimated $25.35 million this weekend, according to Universal, a drop in its $209 million (according to the studio) production budget. With $55 million, Avengers will pass $450 million in its 17th day in release, marking another record.
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May 17th, 2012
For the first time all month, there is more than one new release coming out. However, despite this, it looks like The Avengers will still reign on top of the box office chart. Only Battleship has a real shot at beating it, while The Dictator and What to Expect When You're Expecting combined probably won't make as much as The Avengers will over the weekend. This is a little worrisome, as last year saw the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which opened with $90 million. There's almost no chance any film will make that much this weekend. In fact, the top two films might not make that much combined. So will 2012 lose on the year-over-year comparison? Probably not, as this year has a little more depth. It could be uncomfortably close though.
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May 11th, 2012
Next week is the busiest week of the month with three wide releases. However, The Dictator is opening on Wednesday while What to Expect When You're Expecting is strictly counter-programing, which leaves Battleship as the obvious choice for the 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 Battleship.
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 Bob's Burgers: Season One 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 win a copy of Strawberry Shortcake: Bright Lights Big Dreams 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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May 1st, 2012
There's good news / bad news going forward into May. First the bad news, April was really weak. It was weak compared to the previous month and weak compared to last year. For the first time all year, we had losses for a month on the year-over-year comparison. As for the good news... it could have been worse? Maybe there wasn't good news with regards to April, but there is certainly good news going forward. Every weekend in May has at least one film with the potential to hit $100 million, while there are a couple that could hit $200 million, and one that, pie in the sky, could reach $400 million. That one film is The Avengers, or as it is officially called, Marvel's The Avengers. I guess they don't want people reminded of the 1998 TV adaptation. While there are four films that should reach $100 million, there are only three other films opening wide, maybe two, maybe four. (More sources have Chernobyl Diaries opening wide than in limited release, but it is not a sure thing either way. Meanwhile, the opposite is true for LOL.) Additionally, there are a couple films opening in limited release this month with a real potential to expand wide: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and God Bless America. By comparison, last year had no film reach $300 million, but it had five films reach $100 million. If we are going to earn the win this year, we need strength from the top.
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