October 15th, 2008
The DVD Release Report finally comes out this week after a couple of delays. At least it is worth the wait as one of the most anticipated films of the year, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, comes out on both Two-Disc Collector's Edition and Blu-ray. This release is clearly the DVD Pick of the Week, on either format, while there are so many other releases that the list had to split into two. You can find the second part here.
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February 21st, 2008
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 Female Actor in a Lead Role and Best Male Actor in a Lead Role.
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January 22nd, 2008
The Oscar nominations were announced today and there is no shortage of contenders.
In fact, with no real juggernaut to deal with, the competition is more up in the air that most years.
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January 13th, 2008
Bee Movie slipped to sixth place this weekend with $14.34 million on 4820 screens in 49 markets for a total of $131.97 million. This includes a first place opening in South Korea where it earned $1.96 million on 334 screens over the weekend and $2.30 million in total, but this is not a particularly strong start.
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January 7th, 2008
Since most new releases were released on Sunday, it comes as no real surprise that The Simpsons Movie remained in first place on this week's DVD sales chart.
This time around, the film sold 1.05 million units for a two-week total of 3.81 million units while it generated $16.84 million in revenue for a total of $64.98 million.
This is a very good start, but lower than expected after its phenomenal theatrical debut.
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January 7th, 2008
For most of the year, it was hard to find a single rental to earn $10 million during the week. This week we have four such films. This includes the 'new release' of Rush Hour 3, which actually came out on Sunday and appeared on last week's list as well. This week it pulled in $11.85 million in rentals for a total of $18.20 million so far.
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January 6th, 2008
Alien vs. Predator: Requiem opened in sixth place internationally with $16.43 million on 1877 screens in 20 markets. The film opened in second place in Germany with an impressive $4.64 million on 553 screens, while it debuted in fourth place in Australia with $1.86 million on just 182 screens over the weekend and $2.95 million since Boxing Day.
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December 31st, 2007
There were 12 new releases to chart this week, including 6 in the top ten alone; however, The Bourne Ultimatum remained in first place with $12.76 million in rentals for the week and $28.20 million in total.
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December 23rd, 2007
The Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced this week, but again there were no clear front runners for the six theatrical categories.
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December 18th, 2007
Another deceptively weak week for DVDs.
Sure, there appear to be plenty to choose from, but it feels like half the top 20 are Blade Runner releases.
In fact, one of the two DVD Picks of the Week are for that movie.
For those who are big fans of Blade Runner, grab the Four-Disc Collector's Edition - DVD, or 5-Disc Collector's Edition - Blu-Ray or 5-Disc Collector's Edition - HD-DVD if you can.
(Given the choice between those last two, pick 5-Disc Collector's Edition - Blu-Ray.)
For those who are huge fans of Blade Runner, and I mean stupid level fans of the movie, grab 5-Disc Ultimate Edition - DVD, 5-Disc Ultimate Edition - Blu-Ray, or 5-Disc Ultimate Edition - HD-DVD.
But good luck, I pre-ordered mine months ago and there are reports they are sold out in many places. The second DVD Pick of the Week goes to The Simpsons Movie - Blu-Ray.
The light extras are disappointing, but that transfer is immaculate.
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December 13th, 2007
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their Golden Globe nominations this week, but there were no truly dominate films out of the 14 theatrical categories.
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November 25th, 2007
Elizabeth: The Golden Age nearly reached the top five with $5.79 million on 1579 screens in 12 markets for a total of $21.80 million. This includes a first place, $1.89 million opening on 470 screens in Russia, while the film added $933,000 on 394 screens in the U.K. for a total of $8.40 million so far.
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November 18th, 2007
Stardust fell out of the top five, but still added $5.80 million on 2327 screens in 48 markets lifting its running tally to $83.50 million. Its best market remained the U.K. where it climbed a spot to second place with $2.66 million on 459 screens for a total of $23.59 million. The film has no major openings left, but $100 million internationally is still within reach.
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November 4th, 2007
The Orphanage may have fallen out of the top five internationally, but it remained the top draw in Spain with $4.11 million on 373 screens over the weekend for a three-week total of $20.78 million. This is more than Ratatouille has earned in that market after three months of release and equivalent to $200 to $300 million here. It won't make $200 to $300 million here, in fact, it might not make $20 million here. It all depends on how well it does with critics and award committees.
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October 14th, 2007
The Heartbreak Kid missed the top five by less than $20,000 over the weekend earning $5.74 million on 819 screens in 4 markets during its opening weekend on the international charts. This includes openings in to major markets including the U.K. where it opened in first place with $2.52 million on 409 screens, but this was still a disappointing debut, much like it was domestically. Conversely, the film opened in second place in Russia with $2.31 million on 360 screens, but this is a much better performance compared to the overall box office size of the marketplace.
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September 25th, 2007
Into the Wild took top prize on the per theater chart earning an average of $53,110 in four theaters. The only other film to top $10,000 was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford with nearly $150,000 in 5 theaters for an average of $29,562.
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September 25th, 2007
It was a rather predictable weekend with no result shocking analysts too much.
Overall, we did see a rather large boost in the box office as the weekend ticket sales were close to $98 million, which was a 24% jump from the last weekend.
However, it was also roughly 1% lower than the same weekend last year. This means 2007's winning streak is over (assuming nothing significant changes after the chart is certified later in the week), but year-to-date there has been a 7% growth over last year and we are still on a record-setting pace.
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September 20th, 2007
September marches on but there are signs of weakness that we haven't really seen since before summer started. The recent winning streak on a year-to-year comparison is likely over as the margin of victory was just 1% last weekend and this week's batch of new releases are much weaker than last year's were.
However, it should be noted that 2007 is already a success on many levels and it would take a real collapse during the fall for studios to become worried.
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September 18th, 2007
While no wide release cracked $5000 on the per theater chart, three limited released topped $10,000, two by massive margins. This was led by possible Oscar contender, Eastern Promises, which pulled in an impressive $550,000 in 15 theaters for an average of $36,473. Meanwhile, Across the Universe opened in more theaters, 23, but to a smaller average, $29,034. Finally, In the Valley of Elah managed an average of $14,840 in 9.
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September 16th, 2007
A stronger week for website than we've seen in a few weeks, including the launch of a potential fall blockbuster. However, that site is mostly marked coming soon allowing Elizabeth - The Golden Age - Official Site to take the Weekly Website Award this week.
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September 14th, 2007
Dozen films on this week's list, but only Eastern Promises has a clear shot at mainstream success. A couple others might do well on the art house circuit, while most won't find an audience till the home market, if that.
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September 9th, 2007
Another week without any top-notch websites, at least one that hasn't previously won the award. At least there are a few with possibilities and the fall blockbusters should start coming launching their sites shortly so the pace should pickup soon.
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September 1st, 2007
After a record-breaking summer, we come to the worst month of the year. There are a few films that look promising, but for the most part the month is filled with projects that should probably never been given the greenlight to begin with. September is a dumping ground for failed projects, and like most similar times of the year, it is crowded with 20 movies that at least have a shot at opening or expanding wide over a period of just four weeks. Five new releases a week is far too many, even if they were all high quality at least half will fail just due to the competition.
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August 25th, 2007
After a few busy weeks in a row, there was a total collapse in the number of sites on this week's list. Not only are there only a couple dozen sites this week, nearly half of them are films that are coming out this week and most of those had no updates to report. This leaves us with no sites that are award-worthy, and precious few that have to potential to make it there in the coming weeks.
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