November 11th, 2008
New releases were not as strong this week as they were last week, and this hurt overall sales. However, Tinker Bell still did very well, especially for a direct-to-DVD release, selling 1.94 million units and generating $30.73 million in sales during its first week of release. Had the movie opened in theaters, I would suspect it would have been a much bigger hit than Space Chimps and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, probably bigger than those two films combined, and perhaps even earned $100 million or more, depending on its release date.
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November 11th, 2008
New releases were spread thin on the rental chart this week, but one of them, Journey to the Center of the Earth, did earn first place and earned nearly 25% more than the second place The Incredible Hulk.
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October 28th, 2008
A slower week in terms of first run releases with a second tier summer release topping that particular list. However, there are a few other releases that are more interesting, including the direct-to-DVD release, Tinker Bell, which is worth picking up on either DVD or Blu-ray, but the latter is better than the former. While that release is the DVD Pick of the Week, two non-DVD releases are worth mentioning above the fold: The Mental Floss History of the World - Buy from Amazon and The Best Of Bond... James Bond - Buy from Amazon. It goes without saying that it was another busy week in terms of total DVDs on this week's list, so much so that it had to be split into two. The second part of the list can be found here.
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October 28th, 2008
A slower week in terms of first run releases with a second tier summer release topping that particular list. However, there are a few other releases that are more interesting, including the direct-to-DVD release, Tinker Bell, which is worth picking up on either DVD or Blu-ray, but the latter is better than the former. While that release is the DVD Pick of the Week, two non-DVD releases are worth mentioning above the fold: The Mental Floss History of the World - Buy from Amazon and The Best Of Bond... James Bond - Buy from Amazon. It goes without saying that it was another busy week in terms of total DVDs on this week's list, so much so that it had to be split into two. The second part of the list can be found here.
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July 29th, 2008
Man on Wire topped the per theater chart this week by pulling in an impressive average of $25,696 in two theaters. This was ahead of the overall box office leader, The Dark Knight, which earned an average of $17,216 in more than 4,000 theaters. Transsiberian also repeated in the $10,000 club, down roughly 23% to $13,280. Brideshead Revisited opened in 22 theaters, which is a lot of a limited release, but still managed an average of $10,291 during its opening weekend, which bodes well for its prospects at expansion. The final film to reach $10,000 did so by the narrowest of narrow margins as Step Brothers topped that milestone by less than 24 cents.
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July 15th, 2008
Tell No One showed strength during its expansion, which helped it take first place on the per theater chart with an average of $13,088 in 19 theaters. The overall box office leader, Hellboy 2 - The Golden Army, was the only other film to top $10,000 on the per theater chart with an average of $10,780.
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July 15th, 2008
As expected, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army debuted in top spot, but the overall box office was a little on the light side with a total of $151 million. This is 5.5% lower than last weekend, and more disturbingly, 16.6% lower than the same weekend last year. Year to date, 2008 is not behind 2007 by 2.4% at $5.04 billion to $5.16 billion. It is too early to push the panic button, but there is certainly reason to be concerned, especially if things don't turn around.
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July 13th, 2008
The weekend belongs to Hellboy, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
With $35.9 million, the franchise looks as though it's well and truly reborn, and a $100 million box office run seems assured.
Journey to the Center of the Earth was also solid, with $20.6 million. That's particularly strong given the relatively small number of digital 3-D screens installed in the US so far.
But the other opener had a harder time...
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July 8th, 2008
The Wackness opened in first place on the per theater chart with an average of $23,067. But I'm going to wait to see how well it expands before judging its chances of becoming this year's sleeper hit. After all, so many limited releases have failed to make it there this year. Second place went to fellow limited release, Tell No One, which opened with an estimated average of $21,250 in 8 theaters. The overall box office leader, Hancock, was the only other new release to top $10,000 on the per theater chart -- it earned an average of $15,789.
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July 8th, 2008
Hancock lived up to expectations, but it was the only film in the top five that did so. This led to overall box office receipts of just $160 million over the weekend, which was 8% lower than last weekend and 14% lower than the same weekend last year. This is the first time in a month that 2008 hasn't kept pace with 2007, and year-to-date 2008 has again fallen behind 2007, $4.81 billion to $4.84 billion. There's a strong case for mitigating circumstances, however, as July 4th landed on the Friday and Independence Day is not a holiday that is normally associated with strong box office numbers. So 2008 could regain its lead if The Dark Knight proves to be a big hit.
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July 6th, 2008
It's six years since Men in Black 2, and twelve since Independence Day, but Will Smith has again shown that he has what it takes to fill movie theaters over the July 4th weekend.
The $66 million Friday-Sunday opening for Hancock tops all of Smith's previous holiday openings, and stands as his second-best opening weekend ever, behind December's I am Legend.
It's also the third-highest weekend for the July 4th holiday.
Spider-Man 2 remains top of that list with $88 million back in 2004, while last year's Transformers debut will most likely retain second place with $70.5 million.
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July 1st, 2008
It's a really, really long weekend as Hancock starts its box office run tonight. Additionally, Kit Kittredge expands tomorrow, while we have limited releases opening on Thursday and Friday. Busy week, so let's jump right in.
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July 1st, 2008
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl repeated on top of the per theater chart this week, pulling in close to $110,000 in 5 theaters for an average of $21,404. However, that was more than 50% less that its opening weekend average, which is a sharp drop-off for a limited release. The Last Mistress opened in second place with an average of $16,777 in two theaters. Two wide releases were neck-and-neck with Wanted earning an average of $16,040 and WALL-E right behind with $15,803.
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July 1st, 2008
July is going to have a tough time following June. Last month only one movie missed expectations by any meaningful degree which helped 2008 climb above 2007's pace. Perhaps if The Dark Knight can become the biggest hit of the year so far and 2008 tops 2007's pace in terms of ticket sales, July will be seen as a better month than June, but that will be very tough to do. Compared to last year, July doesn't seem to have as much strength at the top, but its strength is in the midrange hits and it should at least keep pace with 2007.
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June 24th, 2008
The prestige release of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl went smashingly as it topped the per theater chart with an outstanding average of $44,059, which bodes very well for its expansion on Friday. Meanwhile, Encounters at the End of the World grew by more than 4% to earn $18,519 in its lone theater. On a side note, Get Smart, which won the race to the top of the overall box office chart came within a hair of the $10,000 club with an average of $9,891.
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June 21st, 2008
Slow week for new releases, therefore, it's a slow week for websites. However, at least ever release had a site, and none were below average, while the best was The Love Guru - Official Site.
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June 20th, 2008
Just three new limited releases this week, while My Winnipeg expands into its native Canada. Of the three new movies, Kitt Kittredge has the best shot at expanding, mainly because its wide release is already scheduled for next weekend. Additionally, the advertising push for its wide release could help it during its one week limited engagement.
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June 1st, 2008
June is filled with top picks, and practically only top picks. The best schedule for the overall health of the movie industry is only two wide releases, the potential blockbuster and the counter-programming release. This month that's exactly what happens; however, almost every week the counter-programming film has a serious shot at $100 million as well. If everything goes well, then we could have 8 films opening this month that crack 9 digits and that would put 2008 back on track. Even a more conservative estimate has four $100 million movies coming out this month, but there's a lot of uncertainty involved here. On the limited front, none of May's limited releases managed to breakout and expand wide, so there's still an opening for sleeper hit of the summer. That role could be filled by The Promotion, which appears to have the best shot at escaping the art hour circuit and reaching multiplexes.
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March 2nd, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, Where the Wild Things Are, How to Train Your Dragon and more!
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February 24th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Hoodwinked 2, Shanghai, and more!
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June 2nd, 2007
A busy week for new sites with roughly a dozen making their first appearance on this week's list. However, it was a site making its last appearance, Knocked Up - Official Site, that was judged best-of-the-best.
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April 29th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Introducing the Dwights, Daddy Day Camp, Dedication and more.
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