December 31st, 2012
This week on the home market is actually worse than last week, by a considerable degree. There are no first-run releases, and only two releases are in the top 2000 on the Amazon sales chart. Ouch. Furthermore, those two releases are Cosmopolis and Being Human: Season Two and I'm still waiting for the screeners for both films. Being Human: Season Two is easily the best pick coming out this week and since the Blu-ray is the same price as the DVD, it is the Pick of the Week.
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December 31st, 2012
Killer Joe came out in limited release in July. It earned good buzz initially and it started really well, but as it expanded, it struggled. Granted, it still managed to hit $1 million, but it didn't come close to expanding wide. Was it as good as its opening couple weekends? Or was there a reason it only thrived in very limited release?
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December 16th, 2012
It's the last week before Christmas, which means it is the last chance for last minute gifts. There are a number of first-run releases coming out this week, some of which are not coming out till Friday, or even next Monday. There are also quite a few limited releases and TV on DVD releases hitting the home market this week. However, none of these were big hits and very few earned strong praise from critics. That doesn't mean there are none that are worth picking up. In fact, we have a trio of contenders for Pick of the Week. Shameless: The Complete Second Season on DVD or Blu-ray; Pitch Perfect on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack; and Arbitrage on DVD or Blu-ray. It was a close call, but in the end I went with Arbitrage. Also coming out this week is Rush: 2012 - CD and Blu-ray in a Deluxe Edition or Super Deluxe Edition, which is a clear winner of Puck of the Week.
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November 28th, 2012
The Independent Spirit Awards has a special place in the Awards Season. The nominations are the unoffficial start of Awards Season, but the actual awards aren't given out until Oscar weekend, so they are the beginning at the end of Awards Season. They also help out a lot of limited releases that would otherwise not get enough buzz, although they are not so good at predicting Oscar wins. This year, two films tied for most nominations, Moonrise Kingdom and The Silver Linings Playbook, both of which earned five nominations. They weren't the only films to earn multiple nominations though.
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September 5th, 2012
Samsara expanded from two to nine theaters, but held on well enough to rise to top spot on the per theater chart with $12,597. Sleepwalk With Me expanded to 29 theaters and was very solid with an average of $11,127.
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August 12th, 2012
After another lengthy run for the country's number one film, we will have a new top movie this weekend thanks to a strong debut for The Bourne Legacy, which will beat The Dark Knight Rises after Batman spent three weekends atop the chart. Universal is predicting that their franchise reboot will pick up about $40.3 million this weekend, somewhat behind The Bourne Legacy's $69.2 million debut, but very creditable for movie that takes the franchise in a new direction. Even better for the overall market, The Campaign is predicted to post $27.4 million for Warner Bros., which will be enough for second place.
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August 7th, 2012
Celeste and Jesse Forever opened in four theaters and earned just over $100,000 for an average of $26,946. This suggests a strong potential to expand. Killer Joe did expand going from three to fourteen theaters, but its theater average dipped roughly 8% to $11,647. That's an amazing hold and bodes well for the film's future.
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August 5th, 2012
The Dark Knight Rises will become the third film this year to top the weekend box office chart for three weeks running, thanks in part to another reasonably strong weekend (down 41% from last time), but mainly because Total Recall will muster only a decidedly so-so $26 million on debut, according to Sony's Sunday estimate. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is expected to pull in about $14.7 million for Fox, rounding out another weekend where new movies have failed to catch on with audiences.
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July 31st, 2012
The Dark Knight Rises remained on top of the per theater chart with an average of $14,101 in more than 4,400 theaters. Killer Joe opened with an average of $12,621 in three theaters, while Ruby Sparks was also strong with an average of $10,832 in thirteen. Both films have some potential to expand. Deep Sea 3-D remained strong with $10,412 in its lone theater.
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July 27th, 2012
There are not a huge number of limited releases on this week's chart, but all of them are earning overall positive reviews, and a few of them are generating some strong buzz.
Killer Joe is one such film, but its rating could prevent it from reaching a sizable audience.
Ruby Sparks has far more populous appeal, but weaker reviews.
Searching for Sugar Man has some of the best reviews of the month, but documentaries rarely escape the grasp of limited release.
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