December 6th, 2010
It's the first Tuesday of December, and the last real week with multiple major releases. After this, the next few weeks are rather shallow in terms of first run releases. This week there are a number of titles that are worth adding to you collection, including the Pick of the Week, Inception on Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack. Restrepo is also worthy of consideration for that honor, as was either of the Criterion Collection releases, Cronos and Videodrome.
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December 4th, 2010
The Last Airbender started as a cartoon on Nickelodeon in 2005 and quickly developed a loyal following. When the adaptation was announced, it was greeted with some enthusiasm, but as more details came out, there were more concerns than cheers. When it finally did hit theaters, it earned some of the worst reviews of the year, but managed more than $300 million worldwide, which wasn't terrible. So with expectations on the low side, can the film avoid living down to its reputation?
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November 30th, 2010
It was a rather slow week for new releases, as none topped 1 million units, but they still managed top two spots on this week's sales chart. Disney's A Christmas Carol opened in first place with 989,000 units / $16.81 million in consumer spending at retail, while The Last Airbender was second in terms of units sold with 751,000, but fourth in terms of dollars with $12.76 million.
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November 16th, 2010
It's getting really close to Black Friday, which is sometimes reported as the busiest shopping day of the year. (It's not. That would be Christmas Eve.) So it should come as no surprise that there's a prime release this week, or should I say re-release. Avatar: Extended Collector's Edition on Blu-ray is the biggest, and arguably the best, release of the week and it is the Pick of the Week. However, there was some competition from The Kids Are All Right on DVD or Blu-ray.
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September 29th, 2010
Another week, another milestone for Resident Evil: Afterlife, this time crossing $200 million worldwide, which makes it the first in the franchise to do so. Over the weekend it led the international box office with $25.20 million on 6519 screens in 55 markets for a total of $154.71 million internationally and $206.78 million worldwide. It managed top spot during its debut in France with $2.96 million on 408 screens, but that's below average for its run so far. Meanwhile, it added $2.87 million on 633 screens in Japan for a total of $38.51 million after three weeks of release there. That's almost as much as Inception has made in that market, and its been there for ten weeks.
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September 22nd, 2010
It took just two weeks for Resident Evil: Afterlife to become the first film in the franchise to reach $100 million on the international scene. It earned $39.61 million on 6235 screens in 47 markets for a total of $103.58 million internationally and $147.48 million worldwide. Its biggest opening came in Germany where it earned $5.38 million on 434 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.85 million. It also took top spot in Mexico with $4.38 million on 658 screens, in South Korea with $3.88 million on 367, and in Brazil with $2.96 million on 298. It did fall 62% during its second weekend in Japan, which is tragic for that market; however, it still managed $5.00 million on 634 screens over the weekend for a total of $27.71 million after two. With debuts in France, Australia, and other markets still ahead of it, this film will have no trouble getting to $200 million worldwide, while $200 million internationally is a solid goal.
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September 15th, 2010
Resident Evil: Afterlife took top spot on the international chart. In fact, it dominated with $41.70 million on 3,935 screens in 33 markets for a total of $68.36 million worldwide. After just one weekend of release, the film is nearly halfway to catching up with Extinction for best in the franchise. It goes without saying that there will be another installment. Its biggest individual market was Japan, where it opened in first place with $13.27 million on 649 screens over the weekend and $15.58 million in total. It also took the top spot in Spain with an impressive $3.36 million on 488 screens, while it was a little softer in the U.K. with a chart topping opening of $2.61 million on 361 screens. On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in Italy with $1.72 million on 270 screens during its debut there.
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September 8th, 2010
It was a busy week for Inception, as it rose to top spot on the international chart and crossed two major milestones in the process: $400 million internationally and $700 million worldwide. Over the weekend, it earned $21.00 million on 7,785 screens in 61 markets for a total of $425.15 million internationally and $702.30 million worldwide. Much of this was due to its debut in China, where it placed first with $13.6 million. It has yet to open in Italy, but it will likely start falling off at an accelerated pace from now till its premiere in that market at the end of the month.
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September 1st, 2010
The Expendables held on to top spot on the international chart with $24.70 million on 4823 screens in 38 markets for a total of $101.46 million after just three weeks of release. It had a few openings over the weekend, most notably in Germany where it placed third with $2.94 million on 531 screens. Meanwhile, it fell from first to fourth in the U.K., but still added $2.02 million on 453 screens over the weekend for a total of $10.52 million after two. With openings in Italy and Japan ahead, the film will have no trouble getting to $250 million worldwide, which is more than enough to ensure a profit.
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August 25th, 2010
Powered by openings in a trio of major markets, The Expendables climbed into top spot with $35.49 million on 4501 screens in 30 markets for a still early international total of $60.30 million. At this point, reaching $100 million internationally and $200 million worldwide is practically a given. The film's best opening of the weekend came from the U.K. where it debuted in the top spot with $6.08 million on 453 screens, while it was also triumphant in France with $4.75 million on 445 screens. On the other hand, it had to settle for fifth place in South Korea with $1.25 million on 298 screens over the weekend and $1.52 million in total. Next up for the film is Germany this weekend, while it opens in Italy next month and in Japan in October.
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August 18th, 2010
As the summer blockbuster season comes to a close, there are few major releases in theaters worldwide. Regardless, there are still a few major milestones being reached, and a few more to come. For instance, Inception maintained its hold in first place with $35.51 million on 6879 screens, in 61 markets, for a total of $320.44 million internationally. It also reached a major milestone worldwide with $568.91 million, making it just one of 78 films to reach $500 million. It is still going strong in a number of major markets, including Spain, where it remained in first place with $2.72 million on 497 screens over the weekend, for a total of $10.15 million after two. It was down just 22% in Brazil adding $1.56 million on 292 screens over the weekend and $4.43 million after two. Its best market overall is the U.K. where it has made $45.53 million after a month of release, including $2.62 million on 472 screens this past weekend. By this time next week, it should have $600 million worldwide, with $700 million becoming a lot more likely.
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August 11th, 2010
Inception remained in top spot on the international box office, with $47.70 million on 7287 screens in 59 markets for a total of $259.27 million internationally and $486.90 million worldwide. It won't have to wait till the weekend to get to $500 million. It opened in first place in Spain with $4.55 million on 491 screens, but had to settle for second place in Brazil with $2.03 million on 313. It also added $3.83 million on 418 screens over the weekend in Australia for a total of $20.64 million after three. While in the U.K., it made $3.60 million on 468 screens over the weekend for a total of $41.02 million after four. With openings in China and Italy ahead of it, $600 million worldwide is virtually guaranteed, while $700 million isn't out of the question.
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August 8th, 2010
Over the past weekend, Toy Story 3 fell to second place on the international chart with $38.69 million on 7806 screens in 42 markets. However, it rose to second place for 2010 on the international chart with $436.65 million overtaking Shrek Forever After. The only 2010 release that has made more internationally is Alice in Wonderland. Worldwide it now has $826.41 million and it has very likely already surpassed Finding Nemo to become Pixar's biggest hit. The film's only major release of the week came in Germany over the weekend, where it made $4.03 million on 740 screens, bringing the total to $4.35 million. While this is a good result, its not great, and prior to this the film had been doing great. It also remained in the top spot in the U.K. over the weekend, with $12.81 million on 564 screens, for a two week total of $62.82 million. It has likely overtaken Alice in Wonderland to become the biggest hit of 2010 released in that market. As for the film's future, it has yet to open in South Korea and Scandinavia. If it does well in those markets, $1 billion worldwide is still within reach.
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August 1st, 2010
After opening in a few markets last weekend, Inception got its international run off in earnest last weekend and climbed into second place with $56.78 million on 5,177 screens in 36 markets for a still early total of $87.86 million.
It opened in a number of major markets and debuted in first place in most of them.
The biggest was Japan with $7.86 million on 525 screens over the weekend and $8.94 million in total.
France was also a lucrative market for the film with $8.01 million on 626 screens, while in South Korea it made $6.01 million on 583 screens over the weekend and $7.89 million in total.
Russia added $7.08 million on 895 screens to its weekend haul, while Australia produced $6.67 million on 413.
The film only managed seventh in Mexico with just $467,000 on 152 screens, but this was a low screen count.
In the U.K. the film was down just 29% to $6.47 million on 456 screens over the weekend for a total of $22.01 after two.
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July 25th, 2010
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse slipped to second place with $43.82 million on 9,527 screens in 61 markets for a total of $295.66 million internationally and $560.45 million worldwide.
This includes a first place debut in Germany with $9.76 million on 767 screens over the weekend and $12.30 million in total.
On the other hand, the film was down a stunning 75% in the U.K. to $5.19 million over the weekend and $33.84 million after two.
The amazing growth the franchise saw from installment one to two is gone, but this is still a fantastically profitable movie.
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July 18th, 2010
Shrek Forever After remained in second place with a hearty $56.42 million on 6,987 screens in 41 markets for a total of $209.55 million internationally and $443.33 worldwide.
There was some excellent news this week, as the film opened in first place in Brazil with $6.86 million on 658 screens, which is an all-time record in that market for an animated film.
Meanwhile in Spain it opened with $4.12 million on 748 screens over the weekend and $4.97 million in total, but Shrek the Third made more than $7.5 million during its opening three years ago. Finally, it opened atop Poland with $2.73 million on 235 screens. Poland isn't normally considered a major market, but when it comes to animated films, it usually is. As far as holdovers go, it held on extremely well in South Korea, down just 20% to $4.66 million on 566 screens over the weekend for a total of $12.81 million after two.
On the other hand, it was down nearly 50% in the U.K. To $6.88 million on 537 screens over the weekend and $25.81 million after two.
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July 12th, 2010
It was a great weekend at the box office with four of the top five films beating expectations. The helped the overall box office climb to $192 million, which was an increase of 2% from last weekend and considering last weekend was a holiday, this is impressive. (Granted, July 4th did land on a Sunday, which undoubtedly hurt the industry's three-day weekend haul, but I'm still impressed.) Additionally, the weekend saw 34% growth from the same weekend last year, which is beyond impressive. Year-to-date, 2010 now has a 4.9% lead over 2009, $5.94 billion to $5.66 billion.
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July 8th, 2010
It's a post-holiday weekend and that usually means a serious drop-off at the box office. Add in two films with serious Fanboy, and Fangirl, issues, and this is twice as true this weekend. However, we do have two films that are earning strong reviews and this could help mitigate the losses. Also, this time last year wasn't particularly strong either, so we won't need a $40 million debut to keep 2010 close to 2009's pace. Although that would certainly help and it is not out of the question.
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July 7th, 2010
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse not only led the way on the overall chart, but also topped the per theater chart with an average of $14,510 over three days and $18,719 over four. The second placed film overall, The Last Airbender, was second on the per theater chart as well with an average of $12,725 over three days and $16,347 over four. Cyrus expanded to 77 theaters, and earned an average of $10,058 / $14,209, which was enough to reach the top ten on the overall four-day chart. Finally, Toy Story 3 missed the $10,000 club over the three-day weekend with an average of $7,517, but made it there when you add in Monday with an average of $10,689.
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July 6th, 2010
Independence Day long weekend may not have seen as many records fall as some were hoping, but every film in the top five topped expectations (albeit by tiny margins in some cases). Overall the box office pulled in $188 million over the three-day weekend, which was an increase of 15% from last weekend, and $250 million over the four-day weekend, which was up 16% from last year. Year-to-date, 2010 has now amassed $5.66 million in ticket sales, up close to 4% from last year's pace. Higher ticket prices for 3D movies does have something to do with that, but I think the studios should still be happy with these results.
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