July 8th, 2013
It is a very busy week on the home market with four wide releases, five if you count Spring Breakers, which expanded semi-wide during its second weekend of release. None of these films were big hits at the box office. In fact, the five of them combined made $122 million. Additionally, only one of them earned good reviews. Fortunately, not only did Spring Breakers earn good reviews, its DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack are loaded, enough to be a contender for Pick of the Week. The other main contender is The Legend of Korra - Book One: Air. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for the screener for both of those releases, and I hate handing out the Pick of the Week when the screener is on its way. Because of that, I'm going with a late review, Wilfred: Season Two on DVD or Blu-ray.
More...
April 9th, 2013
The buzz certainly helped Trance, as it earned first place on the per theater chart with an average of $32,786 in four theaters. This is not quite as good as Danny Boyle's previous two limited releases, but if it doesn't reach at least one major milestone, I would be shocked. Upstream Color rode the best reviews of the week to second place with $28,649 in its lone theater. The Company You Keep was right behind with an average of $26,344 in five theaters. Mixed reviews will likely hold down its potential to expand. The Place Beyond the Pines was the only holdover to reach the $10,000 mark. It expanded to 30 theaters, but still managed an impressive average of $23,446.
More...
March 13th, 2013
There were a trio of films to top the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart. Somebody Up There Likes Me earned first place with $34,362 in its one theater. The overall number one film, Oz the Great and Powerful, earned second place with an average of $20,223 in nearly 4,000 theaters. The final film in the $10,000 club was The We and the I, which managed $10,774 in one theater.
More...
February 24th, 2013
The box office crown for Oscar weekend will be claimed by Identity Thief, according to studio estimates released on Sunday morning, even though the comedy will fall by a relatively large 41% from last weekend. So its win is in large part due to the low-key new releases: Snitch will be second with $13 million in a modest 2,511 theaters and Dark Skies is headed for 6th place with $8.85 million from 2,313 theaters. Neither new film has particularly low per theater averages ($5,177 and $3,826 respectively), so their so-so debuts are as much a factor of their smallish opening theater counts as lack of demand.
More...
February 21st, 2013
No led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $17,936 in four theaters. The Gatekeepers remained strong with an average of $11,296 in four theaters during its third weekend of release. This is very impressive longevity.
More...
February 13th, 2013
The Gatekeepers remained in first place in the per theater chart with an average of $14,024 in three theaters. The only other film to top $10,000 on the per theater chart was Identity Thief with an average of $11,000, which is amazing for a wide release at this time of year.
More...
February 6th, 2013
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 Feature-Length Documentary, which is probably not as competitive as I thought it would be. There are two films that earned perfect reviews, so it should be a close race between those two for the Oscar, right?
More...
February 5th, 2013
The Gatekeepers led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $22,226 in three theaters. The only other member of the $10,000 club was Koch with an average of $17,598 in two. Both films should continue to do well on the art house circuit, but as documentaries, I doubt they will expand significantly.
More...
February 3rd, 2013
Counter-programming will win the day this Superbowl weekend, with rombie comedy Warm Bodies posting a respectable $20.025 million, according to Lionsgate's Sunday estimate. While there's nothing special about that result, it does give the film a shot at making money, which is more than can be said for actioner Bullet to the Head. Sylvester Stallone's latest will limp to $4.5 million for the weekend, an even worse result than Jason Statham's Parker (which debuted with $7 million) and Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Last Stand ($6.3 million). Put those three together, and you get a combined opening of $17.8 million, which still wouldn't much to write home about if one of them had earned it on its own.
More...
February 1st, 2013
It's a weak week for limited releases with only two films that are earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. Those two films, The Gatekeepers and Koch, have something else in common, they are both documentaries. So, there are probably no breakout hits on this weeks list.
More...
January 10th, 2013
The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and there's certainly a lot to talk about. There are some nominations that should surprise no one. For instance, Lincoln led the way with twelve nominations, and it has been seen as the major contender for a long time. However, there were also a few surprise nominations and some major snubs. Here are the list of nominations, and some reactions.
More...
January 6th, 2013
Producers Guild of America announced their nominations this week, including the three theatrical categories. There were a number of films on the list that have been mentioned time and time again this awards season, like Zero Dark Thirty, but there were also a few surprises.
More...
