May 7th, 2014
The winners of our Too Amazing contest were determined and they are...
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April 28th, 2014
According to Amazon, the top best selling new release of the week is Space Battleship Yamato on Blu-ray Combo Pack. Huh? This is a live action remake of a 1970s Anime series, and according to Amazon.com, it is the number one selling new release of the week. Either this is an incredibly slow week, or there's something wrong with Amazon.com's algorithm. It's mostly the former. Gloria is easily the best movie on this list, but the reviews on the DVD are weak. Star Trek: Enterprise: Season Four has a lot of extras and the season was arguably the best in the show's short run, but the Blu-ray is expensive and even the best season isn't as good as the average TNG season. I finally got to the review for Knights of Badassdom and I loved the Blu-ray, but I'm not sure there is a wide enough audience for the movie. I was tempted to go with Space Battleship Yamato as Pick of the Week. In the end, I went with Gloria.
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April 25th, 2014
Next weekend is the official start of the summer blockbuster season and The Amazing Spider-man 2 is opening and could have the biggest weekend of the year so far. (Walk of Shame is also opening wide, but won't have a major impact at the box office.) There is really only one choice for the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for The Amazing Spider-man 2.
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 Labor Day on Blu-ray Combo Pack, as well as a random DVD or Blu-ray that I've previously reviewed.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also two random DVDs or Blu-rays that I've previously reviewed.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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April 23rd, 2014
The winners of our Power Through the Competition contest were determined and they are...
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February 11th, 2014
The LEGO Movie didn't break the record for Biggest February Weekend, but it came close. The Monuments Men performed better than expected, but was still a very distant second place. On the other hand, Vampire Academy bombed, fully and completely. Compared to last week, even without The LEGO Movie, this week is almost better. With The LEGO Movie, this week is 76% better at $151 million. Compared to last year, The LEGO Movie opened with more than the top five made in 2013. Overall, the year-over-year growth was 46%. This is just a fantastic result no matter how you look at it. Year-to-date, 2014 has pulled in $1.12 billion, putting it 12% ahead of 2013's pace. It is obviously still too early to declare 2014 the winner, but this is still a fantastic start.
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February 3rd, 2014
Super Bowl turned into a blow-out, but still earned a record television audience. This explains why the overall box office numbers were down compared to last weekend. That said, there were some films that did well, including Ride Along, which completed the threepeat and by this time next week with be at over $100 million. On the other hand, the new releases really struggled. That Awkward Moment only managed third place, while Labor Day barely avoided the Mendoza Line. Week-over-week, the overall box office fell 26% to $86 million. Compared to last year, the box office also fell, but by only 3%. That said, 2014 is still ahead of 2013 by 6% at $943 million to $887 million, so the market is still healthy.
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February 2nd, 2014
With distributors aiming for counter-programming over Super Bowl weekend, Ride Along will win this weekend fairly comfortably, according to estimates released on Sunday. Universal is projecting a $12.3 million weekend, down 42% from last time, and a cume by Monday morning of nearly $93 million. That should set the film up to cross $100 million in the next week, and makes it a rare winner of 3 weekends in a row. Second place is a toss-up between Frozen and That Awkward Moment, although Disney is laying claim to the prize right now with $9.3 million projected, up 2% from last weekend thanks to a new sing-along version of Frozen introduced to theaters on Friday.
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January 30th, 2014
It's the Super Bowl weekend, so needless to say, the new releases are looking rather weak. Why would any studio want to release a film against what is the largest single sporting event of the year? There are two wide releases coming out, but neither is expected to make much of an impact. That Awkward Moment is the bigger of the two wide releases, but its reviews are terrible. It should still earn first place, because there's no competition to speak of. Labor Day's reviews are slightly better and its target demographic has very little crossover appeal with the Super Bowl. Even so, most think it will miss the top five. This weekend last year, Warm Bodies earned first place with just over $20 million. If That Awkward Moment earns $20 million, I will be shocked. It might not earn too much more than half of that.
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January 23rd, 2014
Next weekend is the last weekend of January / first weekend of February and there are two films that are opening wide: That Awkward Moment and Labor Day. Unfortunately, neither of them are expected to be big hits and it is possible neither of other will open with more than $10 million. That said, we still have to pick a target film for this week's box office prediction contest, and I'm not 100% sure Labor Day will open 100% wide, so let's go with That Awkward Moment as the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, simply predict the opening weekend box office figure for That Awkward Moment.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win the a copy of The Starving Games on DVD.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of The Starving Games on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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January 1st, 2014
It's the first month of the new year, but the biggest hit might be a film released in December. Last month ended on a slow note with all five Christmas day releases failing to become hits, some more than others. (It's a little too soon to tell if The Wolf of Wall Street or The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will do well enough to break even any time soon, but neither is a serious hit.) There are still some December releases that will likely remain on the charts through the opening weekends of January, while there are some films that opened in limited release last month with a scheduled wide release this month. Of the purely January releases, I would guess Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit will be the biggest hit. Even then, it won't live up to the previous films in the franchise, even if you don't take inflation into account. Most of the rest of the new releases will be happy if they can become midlevel hits. Last January was led by Mama, which earned more than $70 million. I think Shadow Recruit will top that figure at the box office, while there are a similar number of likely box office bombs opening this year as there were last year. 2014 could start out ahead of 2013's pace, but it likely won't be a huge difference either way.
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December 27th, 2013
There are a quartet of films opening in limited release this weekend hoping, as this is the last weekend they could open and still have a shot at Oscar glory this year. Three of the four films have already earned at least one major nomination, while the fourth has a shot at Oscar nominations in a technical category or two. Overall, however, their reviews are merely good, but not great. With all of the competition, it might be too difficult for any of them to expand wide. August: Osage County has the best combination of reviews and buzz and should win the weekend.
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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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