February 23rd, 2009
Lakeview Terrace repeated on top of the rental chart this week, despite there being four new releases trying to cram into the top five. This week it was a close race as it earned just over 10% more than the second place Madagascar 2 - Escape to Africa.
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February 17th, 2009
This felt like a slow week to me, but looking at the list there were 15 spotlight reviews, which is a huge amount for one week. There are a large number of DVDs worth checking out, but looking at the top of the list, I think Christopher Titus - Love is Evol is the best DVD coming out this week, and the winner of the DVD Pick of the Week. As has happened pretty much every week this year, there are so many DVDs on this week's list that is had to be split into two. The second part can be found here.
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February 10th, 2009
New releases dominated the DVD sales chart this week, taking the top three spots, four of the top five, and seven of the top ten. This includes a surprise number one film, Open Season 2, which took first place with 554,000 units sold, and it was the only release to crack $10 million with opening week sales of $11.07 million.
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February 10th, 2009
While Lakeview Terrace only managed third place on the sales chart this week, it led all new releases and took first place on the rental chart, generating about 33% more revenue than last week's winner, Max Payne
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February 3rd, 2009
New releases were all over the top 30 this week, including Max Payne, which took first place with 543,000 units sold for the week and $12.92 million in sales.
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February 3rd, 2009
New releases were just as spread out on the rental chart as they were on the sales chart, including taking the top two spots with Max Payne generating about 25% more revenue than Saw V.
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January 20th, 2009
A terrible week for first run releases. There are five such releases on this week's list, but they has a combined haul of around $130 million, and nearly $100 million of that came from two films. With no big releases, we had to look other places for the DVD Pick of the Week. Repo! The Genetic Opera on Blu-ray is a clear contender for that title, but its lack of mass appeal is troublesome. This American Life - Season Two is a safer pick, but it is a Borders Exclusive release. Regardless of these issues, both releases are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week. Despite the weakness at the top, there are still more than enough total releases to cause this column to stretch into two parts. The second part can be found here.
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December 14th, 2008
There were nine international releases making their debuts on the charts this week, as well as several holdovers. The best of these films was Forever Enthralled, as the Chinese film took first place in its native market and sixth place internationally with $6.15 million on 1375 screens.
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December 7th, 2008
Bolt started its run on the international charts in sixth place with $7.90 million on 1417 screens in 4 markets. This includes a second place, $4.30 million opening on 570 screens in Russia, while it Italy it also placed second with $2.19 million on 467 screens. Meanwhile in Poland, it topped the charts with $855,000 on 120 screens, but this is par for the course as films of this nature tend to do very well in Poland.
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November 30th, 2008
Body Of Lies opened in a quartet of major markets, the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Russia, and that helped it climb into second place with $10.17 million on 2837 screens in 32 markets for a total of $33.62 million. It earned second place in both the U.K. with $1.48 million on 393 screens and in Germany where it scored $1.43 million on 427 screens. On the other hand, it earned more in Italy with $1.64 million on 357 screens, but had to settle for third place. Meanwhile in Russia it struggled landing in eighth place with $500,000 on 142 screens.
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November 23rd, 2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year fell below $10 million this past weekend, but we still able to remain in second place internationally earning $8.65 million on 4642 screens in 34 markets for a total of $123.01 million internationally and $207.178 million worldwide. The only opening of note this weekend came in Russia, however, the film struggled there placing sixth with $353,000 on 128 screens. Its best market was the U.K. where it added $1.46 million on 483 screens over the weekend for a total of $31.76 million.
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November 17th, 2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year remained in second place with $14.63 million on 4413 screens in 30 markets for a total of $110.38 million internationally. This is more than it will make domestically by the end of its run, and at this pace hitting $200 million worldwide will not be an issue, as it has openings in Russia, Australia, and Japan still to go. Its biggest market of the weekend was Italy where it made $2.60 million on 487 screens over the weekend for a total of $9.02 million. Meanwhile, its biggest market overall was the U.K. with $31.44 million, including $2.39 million on 470 screens over the past weekend.
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November 9th, 2008
Saw V slipped a spot to sixth place with $6.44 million on 1703 screens in 26 markets for a total of $16.52 million. This week it opened in fourth place in Russia with $745,000 on 200 screens while in earned seventh place in Mexico with just $148,000 on 120 screens. As far as holdovers go, the film fell more than 60% in the U.K. to $1.55 million on 367 screens for a total of $7.53 million.
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October 29th, 2008
High School Musical 3: Senior Year opened in first place on the international chart with an impressive $40.68 million on 3,165 screens in 19 markets.
This includes first place openings in a number of markets, including the U.K. where it pulled in $9.13 million on 493 screens over the weekend for $12.92 million in total.
Other first place openings include Germany with $5.69 million on 529 screens and in Spain, where it pulled in a hair under $5.00 million on 402 screens. The film also did well in France to place second with $4.3 million, while it also pulled in more than $1 million in Brazil ($1.7 million) and Poland ($1 million). Next up for the film is Italy this weekend, while it doesn't end its run until Japan in February, so it could be in the charts for a long time.
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October 27th, 2008
The weekend proved profitable, with the overall box office $133 million, which was more than 33% greater than last weekend. More importantly, it was more close to 33% greater than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date 2008 has increased its lead over 2007, but it is still up by less than 1% at $7.67 billion to $7.63 billion. However, next weekend could be tricky as Halloween lands on a Friday, and Halloween is one of the worst days at the box office.
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October 23rd, 2008
One of the most unpredictable weekends in recent memory opens today, with the debut of High School Musical 3, but it is not the only new release of the week. There are two other wide releases, plus a re-release that could challenge for a spot in the top ten. Overall the box office compares very well to last year and unless something unexpected happens, 2008 should extend its lead over 2007.
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October 23rd, 2008
The winners of our Maximum Prizes contest were determined and they are...
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October 23rd, 2008
Eagle Eye reached the top spot on the international charts this weekend with $11.48 million on 3,546 screens in 45 markets for a total of $44.81 million. This film opened in the two biggest international markets and scored second place in the both the U.K. with $1.92 million on 362 screens and in Japan with $2.44 million on 306. Meanwhile, it remained in first place in South Korea with $2.14 million on 441 screens over the weekend and $6.49 million after two.
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October 20th, 2008
It was a mixed weekend at the box office. The new releases were not able to match modest expectations, which caused the overall box office to drop 2% to $100 million compared to last weekend. However, this was close to 4% higher than the same weekend last year. Even better, year-to-date, 2008 has now just over $7.51 billion in ticket sales while at the same point in 2007, total receipts were just under $7.51 billion. With High School Musical 3 and Saw V opening this Friday, we could see continued growth at the box office.
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October 19th, 2008
Fox broke a dry spell over the weekend with two strong opening weekends.
Video game adaptation Max Payne scored a good $18 million opening.
That's not exactly blockbuster territory, but a good result for this time of year.
Searchlight's The Secret Life of Bees also scored well.
Beverly Hills Chihuahua continued its good run, falling 36% to an estimated $11.2 million, and $69 million in total.
Two other openers were third and fourth, although both were close enough to Chihuahua that the rankings could easily be reversed when final results are announced on Monday.
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October 19th, 2008
As we've seen already on the box office, the movies that came out this weekend were not strong, and neither were their sites. The best of the list was Passchendaele - Official Site, which was the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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October 16th, 2008
Another week, another four movies opening wide. At least the four films are widely different (violent action film, teenage sex comedy, political drama, and female-centric movie) and they shouldn't steal too many moviegoers from each other. On the other hand, none are doing particularly well with the critics, nor are they tracking well at the box office. Back to the original hand, five of seven wide releases from last year bombed, so this year has a shot at pulling ahead for the first time in a while.
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October 10th, 2008
There's only one saturation level opener next week and that film, Max Payne, is this week's target film. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of Max Payne.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win Mother or Tears on DVD, Feast II - Sloppy Seconds on DVD, and Alvin and the Chipmunks - Alvin's Thanksgiving Celebration 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 win Inside the Actor's Studio with Robin Williams on DVD, as well as Alvin and the Chipmunks - Alvin's Thanksgiving Celebration on DVD.
Finally, one additional entrant will be chosen at random to win Yo Gabba Gabba! - The Dancey Dance Bunch on DVD, as well as Alvin and the Chipmunks - Alvin's Thanksgiving Celebration 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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October 1st, 2008
September ends, and for that we are all very grateful. However, while we are entering the final push for 2008 at the box office, things don't look too rosy for the upcoming month. First of all, there are way too many films opening, including eight that are opening or expanding on the first weekend. Of those two, maybe three will thrive. Most will sink without being noticed, which could negatively affect the overall box office going forward. On the other hand, there are a few films opening this month that could be players come Awards Season, which is just around the corner. Perhaps this will help a few mid-level hits rise above the crowd.
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April 4th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for The Informant, The Surrogates, War, Inc., and more!
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March 20th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for The Grand, The Proposal, The Legend of Secret Pass, and more!
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March 13th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Confessions of a Shopaholic, Monsters vs Aliens, The Promotion, and more!
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February 17th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Four Christmases, Star Trek XI and more!
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November 15th, 2007
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Cirque du Freak, Max Payne, Star Trek XI, and more!
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