December 14th, 2013
Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their Golden Globe nominations this week, and a clear picture is forming. 12 Years a Slave was again the recipient of the most nominations, but this time it was a tie, as it and American Hustle both grabbed seven nominations. If you look down the list of other multi-nominated films, you will find a number of familiar faces.
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December 14th, 2013
SAG handed out nominations over the week, and like with the Independent Spirit Awards, 12 Years a Slave led the way and earned four nominations. It wasn't the only film that was singled out.
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November 28th, 2013
Independent Spirit Award started the Awards Season this week, handing out its nominations. 12 Years a Slave led the way with seven nominations, but it wasn't the only film to pick up multiple nominations.
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November 12th, 2013
The Book Thief was a surprise top spot with an average of $26,251 in four theaters. It was seen by some as a possible Awards Season contender, but its reviews suggest otherwise. Thor: The Dark World was first on the overall box office and second on the per theater chart with $22,322. Dallas Buyers Club fell from first to third on the per theater chart, but with a still strong average of $18,249 in 35 theaters.
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October 22nd, 2013
12 Years a Slave opened with a stellar average of $48,617 in 19 theaters. With a planned expansion, this is a great start. All is Lost was well back with an average of $15,597 in six theaters. This isn't a bad start and its reviews suggest long legs, but it might get overshadowed by 12 Years a Slave. The final film in the $10,000 club was Kill Your Darlings, which was right behind with an average of $14,750 in four theaters.
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October 20th, 2013
Gravity will become the first film in 2013 to win three straight three-day weekends, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With $31 million expected, the film is down just 28% from last weekend and has reached a formidable $170.5 million. That puts in in the top 10 for the year, with plenty more to come. Fellow Oscar-hopefuls 12 Years a Slave, All is Lost and Kill Your Darlins are the other films making waves this weekend (literally in one case).
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October 13th, 2013
What could have been a close-run race at the box office this weekend turned into a comfortable win for Gravity, but for all the right reasons. Captain Phillips opened with a sturdy $26 million, on the back of some excellent reviews. But that isn't close to enough to unseat Gravity, which will post one of the best second weekends for a wide release in a long time. Comparisons with Argo are inevitable -- the Oscar-winner fell just 15% in its second weekend, while Gravity will be off 21%, but Gravity opened with over $50 million, compared to Argo's $20 million or so, which makes the performance all the more impressive.
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October 9th, 2013
There were a ton of new releases this week, but Gravity was pulled down by the mass of new releases. It lead the way on the Per Theater Chart with an average of $15,604. The only other film in the $10,000 club was Linsanity, which earned an average of $11,051 in nine theaters.
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October 6th, 2013
Success at the box office is no guarantee of awards, but it certainly doesn't do any harm. And by that metric, Gravity's chances of picking up an Oscar or three is taking a considerable turn for the better this weekend as the sci-fi thriller heads towards a celestial $55.6 million debut, according to Warner Bros.'s Sunday projection. That will comfortably set a record for the biggest weekend in October, overtaking Paranormal Activity 3's $52.6 million back in 2011. With Captain Phillips and 12 Years a Slave opening in the next two weeks, awards season is getting interesting.
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October 2nd, 2013
There were only two films to reach the $10,000 mark on the Per Theater Chart, and they were practically tied. Muscle Shoals led the way with $13,901 in its lone theater, while Atharintiki Daaredi earned an average of $13,393 in 112 theaters.
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September 29th, 2013
As expected, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 will be the comfortable winner of this weekend's box office race with a healthy $35 million beginning, according to Sony's Sunday estimate. That puts the film on course for the 4th-biggest weekend in September and is about $5 million ahead of the opening for the first film in the franchise. Given hopes of a $40 million debut, the film could be said to have underperformed slightly (and it will almost certainly not top the original's $124.8 million domestic total), but given the timing of the release, the studio will have reason for modest celebration in the midst of their worst year since 2005. The top of the chart in general has a middling-to-good-enough look to it this weekend.
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September 24th, 2013
There were two major releases on the per theater chart with Enough Said pulling in an average of $58,200 in four theaters, while it has made $287,000 from Wednesday through Sunday. The only other film in the $10,000 club was Rush with an average of $37,458 in five theaters. This bodes well for it wide expansion on Friday.
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September 22nd, 2013
Ever since Argo won the Oscar for Best Picture, the industry has been talking and thinking about the strategy of releasing a film ahead of all the other award hopefuls and building buzz through the season. The first test of this theory comes this weekend with one wide release and one platform release. The wide release, Prisoners, will comfortably top the chart with a very respectable $21.4 million from 3,260 theaters. While hardly in record-setting territory, it is very close to Argo's $19.5 million from 3,232 venues. Audience responses have been good (with 90% audience positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, for example), but next week's drop will be a big indicator of whether the film will have the chops for an awards run: Argo declined just 15% in its second weekend. Prisoners will need to do something similar before there's real talk of nominations to come.
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September 20th, 2013
There are a few films on this week's list earning overwhelmingly positive reviews, including the The Wizard of Oz 3D re-release. This film might do well enough to reach the top ten. Rush opens in two theaters before expanding wide next weekend, so its per theater average is not as important, but could still do well. Enough Said is the big limited release hit of the week. The film has a lot of buzz, a sad real world story, and amazing reviews. It will likely come out on top.
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