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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November 4th, 2007
There were seven new releases to chart this week, but The Transformers held strong down just 14% remaining in first place with $8.62 million in rentals for the week and $18.59 million in total.
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October 29th, 2007
There were six new releases on this week's sales chart, including the number one film of the week, The Transformers. That DVD sold 5.09 million units for opening week sales of $117.01 million, which was the best opening on the home market this year in terms of raw dollars. However, 300 sold more units, barely, at 5.10 million.
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October 29th, 2007
The Transformers led a list of six new releases and the overall rental chart this week, but at $9.97 million in rentals, it was a subdued victory compared to its dominance of the sales chart.
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October 19th, 2007
The first massive movie of the month, and it opens during the final weekend of the month. That film is Saw IV and it is the target film for our latest box office prediction contest.
To win one must simply predict the box office opening for Saw IV.
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 the soundtrack for The Heartbreak Kid.
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 MacBeth on DVD.
Finally, whichever of those two winners comes the absolute closest will win a Cherry action figure from Grindhouse.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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October 16th, 2007
This week we have the first of the summer blockbusters hitting the home market.
But, strangely, it was the last of the four $300 million movies that were released this year.
This signifies the unofficial start of the of the Christmas DVD rush season and I would expect every week massive blockbusters or super-special editions being release from now until the Boxing Day.
As for this week's best bets, I'm torn between two releases: Grindhouse - Planet Terror - Extended and Unrated - Two-Disc Special Edition and The Transformers - HD-DVD Edition.
I've giving both the DVD Pick of the Week honors, but I will add that while Grindhouse is the better movie, The Transformers will appeal to a wider audience.
(On a side note, this is the second time a HD-DVD release has earned the DVD Pick of the Week.
Blu-Ray better catch up to HD-DVD soon.)
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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 30th, 2007
New releases dominated this week's sales chart, taking the first seven spots, including the new number one, We Are... Marshall.
That DVD sold 449,000 units for opening week sales of $7.18 million.
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September 30th, 2007
New releases were dominant on this week's rental chart with ten charting, including first place We Are... Marshall and its $4.59 million in rentals.
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September 21st, 2007
The last weekend in September brings us what could be the biggest hit of the month, The Game Plan, which is also the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. To win one must simply predict the box office opening for The Game Plan.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win Grindhouse - Death Proof.
Meanwhile, to celebrate The Transformers taking to IMAX cinemas, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win Transformers Armada - Battle for the Mini-Cons.
In addition, both winners will also win Broken on DVD, which doesn't come out till Tuesday.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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September 18th, 2007
There are even more TV on DVD releases this week, many of them worth adding to your DVD collection.
I would say that fans of TV on DVD might be tempted to mortgage their house in order to pay for all of the great sets coming out, but after the sub-prime meltdown, that's probably no longer an option. As for the DVD Pick of the Week, I decided to go with a David Hewlett double-shot with both Stargate Atlantis - The Complete Third Season and A Dog's Breakfast winning that honor.
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September 16th, 2007
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry soared into sixth place with $4.72 million on 1521 screens in 21 markets for a total of $14.61 million internationally. The film finally hit big in a non-English speaking market earning first place with $1.27 million on 364 screens in Russia, but was soft in its debuts in South Korea and Italy. In Italy it managed $683,000 on 198 screens, but that was a tiny fraction of the first place film, while in South Korea it managed just ninth place with $275,000 on 123 screens over the weekend and $312,000 in total.
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September 9th, 2007
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix may have fallen out of the top five, but it was able to cross $900 million worldwide since last week making it only the tenth film to do so. Over the weekend the film added $7.08 million on 4486 screens in 53 markets for a total of $626.30 million internationally, which places the film sixth place on that chart just $16 million behind Dead Man's Chest. There's not much to report for individual markets with the film down 43% during its second weekend in Greece adding $612,000 on 129 screens for a total of $2.91 million. Its best market remains Japan at $1.67 million on 605 screens over the weekend for a total of $75.18 million after seven weeks. Meanwhile, the film continues to march towards $100 million in the U.K. and after earning $796,000 on 306 screens over the weekend it now sits at $97.89 million in total.
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August 12th, 2007
Live Free or Die Hard was knocked out of the top five but still earned $7.15 million on 317 screens in 29 markets for a total of $192.83 million. The film opened in first place in four markets, with the biggest being Brazil at $1.60 million on 352 screens over the weekend and $2.07 million in total. At this pace the film would hit $200 million this weekend, even if it didn't open in Australia, while it will top Die Hard with a Vengeance's worldwide total shortly.
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August 5th, 2007
No, this is not a repeat, May 18 is the name of a South Korean film that opened last weekend with $7.40 million on 534 screens over the weekend and $9.66 million in total. This was enough for first place finish in its native market and a sixth place finish internationally.
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July 29th, 2007
The Transformers held on strong dipping just 7% to $33.77 million on 4626 screens in 41 markets for a total of $192.44 million. This includes an estimated $6.4 million from previews in the U.K. The film's only major opening of the weekend was Mexico where it placed first with $5.46 million on 410 screens pushing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix into second place. The Transformers also continued its amazing run in South Korea adding $3.12 million on 442 screens for a running tally of $46.21 million, which is like making $500 million here given the relative sizes of the two markets.
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July 8th, 2007
Some very interesting news on the international front this weekend regarding Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. First of all, it fell out of the top five; however, it was still able to pull in more than $10 million over the weekend. Not too long ago it was a chore to find a dozen films that cracked $1 million, while this past weekend we had 6 that earned $10 million or more. Over the weekend the film added $14.02 million on 5775 screens in 104 markets for a total of $608.89 million internationally. It is the sixth film to cross $600 million internationally and is now in fifth place on that chart. Worldwide the film has $906.89 million making it the ninth highest grosser of all time. The U.K. is still the film's best market at $78.51 million compared to second pace Japan where it has made $74.02 million. However, that gap continues to narrow with the film making $3.23 million on 691 screens in the latter and $1.37 million on 401 screens in the former.
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July 1st, 2007
There was a troubling lack of final results this week and this results in a few studio estimates with some of the numbers. However, it appears that Black House was able to place fourth on the international charts after winning the box office race in South Korea The film was able to top its native market with $2.71 million on 325 screens over the weekend and $3.35 million in total.
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June 24th, 2007
Spider-Man 3 fell out of the top five for the first time during its run, but since it has already hit $500 million internationally and is closing in on $900 million worldwide, this is hardly a reason to panic. Over the weekend the film added $3.02 million on 3914 screens in 65 markets for a total of $543.87 million, putting it in 11th place all time, just behind Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings. Worldwide the film had $873.88 million at the end of the weekend, which means it also places 11th on that all-time chart, but will top Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets before long.
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June 17th, 2007
300 returned to the international chart this week thanks entirely to its opening in Japan.
In that market, the film opened in second place with $2.71 million on 452 screens over the weekend and $3.39 million including last week's premiere in Tokyo.
This was enough for it to capture sixth place internationally with $2.75 million on 576 screens in 8 markets, while lifting its total to $236.89 million.
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June 10th, 2007
With no worldwide opening this weekend, several studios tried to open / expand smaller films hoping to take advantage of the lull. Despite this influx of competition, Fracture was able to hold strong dipping just one place with sixth with $2.25 million on 1018 screens in 16 markets for a total of $22.33 million internationally. The film wasn't able to top $1 million in any single market, but came closest in France with $671,000 over the weekend for a $7.20 million running total.
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April 16th, 2007
The weekend box office numbers were mixed. On the one hand, there was a small drop in the overall box office numbers with the total ticket sales coming in at $119 million, which was 4% lower than last weekend and 1% lower than the same weekend last year. However, while that's hardly a reason to worry, there were six wide releases meaning the merely average box office numbers had to divided up amongst a crowded field and that really hurt a lot of the new releases. In fact, only one of the six had any real reason to celebrate.
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April 9th, 2007
No new release made much noise at the box office this weekend and, even with the holdovers holding on better than expected, the overall box office still slipped to $124 million.
That's roughly 3% lower than last weekend, but still 8% higher than the same weekend last year. Hopefully the new releases going 0 for 4 this weekend is a momentary blip and not a sign of weakness in the marketplace.
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April 7th, 2007
It's the Saturday after Good Friday, which explains why this column was delayed one day. But while the Friday was good, this week's sites were mediocre, at least they were compared to high expectations. If this was January, it would be a great list. However, at this point of the year I'm expecting one potential summer blockbuster to have a major website launch each week, and that didn't happen this time. We still had an award-worthy effort with Grindhouse - Official Site.
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April 5th, 2007
While there are four wide releases opening this Easter weekend, only one of them, Grindhouse, is given much of a shot at first place. The rest of the new releases are tracking for a middling start, a weak opening and a disastrous debut.
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April 1st, 2007
April is an interesting month to open a movie. Interesting, but not a particularly good month. This year it does start with Easter, but that's traditionally not a strong long weekend. Only one movie has topped $40 million over that weekend and only one other has cracked $30 million. Worst still, it's jammed right up against May, the start of the summer blockbusters season.
Ironically, the closer you get to this most lucrative time of year, the tougher it is for films to make a buck.
No movie wants to open the weekend before Spider-man 3, for instance.
Overall, there are a few hits to be found in the month, and a few misses, but nothing that really stands out above the pack.
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March 31st, 2007
Awesome. We are finally getting some major updates to the summer blockbuster movies. The ones people are watching to see if they break records. This includes the first half of the massively interactive website for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - Official Site. And while the site isn't done yet, it is still more than enough to win the Weekly Website Award.
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March 17th, 2007
We are starting to get some serious updates on the websites for the summer blockbusters, however, it will be a few more weeks before this list is dominated by such films. In the meantime, it is a website for a new release, Dead Silence - Official Site, that is the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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February 23rd, 2007
Big week in terms of flash sites launching, but a tough one when it comes to picking a winner. There were several sites that were contenders, and a few that will likely be winners after a few more updates, but none that stood out as the best for the week. It's almost like there were so many that were so close to winning the award that none were able to stand out and get me excited. However, there was one site that was updated this week that did, The Simpsons Movie - Official Site. This site did get a new look, but the real draw here is the first full trailer, to go along with the three previous teasers. Is that enough to make it award worthy? No. But while my rational side was distracted by a game of Sudoku the Fanboy in me made that decisions, and all Fanboy freak-outs are legally binding. Hopefully the final site will live up to the award. I have a feeling it will.
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February 17th, 2007
While the big summer blockbusters are sill M.I.A., there are plenty of other films to pick up the slack. This includes this week's winner,
Bridge to Terabithia -
Official Site.
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January 6th, 2007
Big list as I try to catch up after the holidays. I think I caught all the updates. Not only are there a lot of sites on this week's list, several of them are potential award winners with the best of the best being
Smokin' Aces -
Official Site.
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