April 7th, 2015
Just as it was on the Blu-ray Sales Chart, there was a tight race for top spot in the DVD sales chart, only the combatants weren't entirely the same. Exodus: Gods and Kings topped Annie in terms of units at 226,000 units to 202,000 units, but the pair finished in the opposite order in terms of revenue with $3.59 million to $3.38 million.
More...
April 6th, 2015
It is a slow week on the home market, because it is the Tuesday after Easter. Easter tends to be a busy weekend for DVDs and Blu-rays, mostly family-friendly films. It is also post-Christmas on the home market. The final big releases from the holiday season have mostly come out and there are only a few limited release stragglers to deal with, but for the most part we are entering the summer dead zone on the home market. That doesn't mean there are no releases worth picking up. In fact, there are a few contenders for Pick of the Week, led by A Most Violent Year (Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack). Meanwhile, we have a Puck of the Week, The Book of Negroes on DVD, for the best Canadian release of the week.
More...
April 5th, 2015
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is the third film, and likely final film, in the Night at the Museum franchise. The previous two films were very profitable, but the films have never really won over critics. This film had the weakest run at the box office, but is it also the weakest in terms of quality?
More...
March 29th, 2015
Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 was one of the biggest hits of 2014, so it should come as no surprise that the week after it was released was not a great week on the home market. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb was the best new release and it couldn't even match Mockingjay's second weekend of release on the Blu-ray Sales Chart. This causes overall sales to fall 26% when compared to last week, both in terms of units and revenue. The home market held up a little better when compared to last year, down 18% in terms of units and 20% in terms of revenue. DVD held on better week-over-week, so the overall Blu-ray share fell to 42%, which is a little weak.
More...
March 29th, 2015
Despite there being five new releases on this week's DVD sales chart, there was a holdover hanging onto top spot. Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 sold 472,000 units and generated $6.36 million in sales during its first full week of release for early totals of 1.19 million units / $16.28 million.
More...
March 29th, 2015
Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 remained in first place on the Blu-ray Sales Chart during its first full week of release with 499,000 units / $9.98 million for the week giving it totals of $1.71 million units / $34.19 million after two weeks of release. It is losing ground on Catching Fire and it might not get to 3 million units in the end.
More...
March 22nd, 2015
Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 was the best of the new releases and won the race to top spot on the Blu-ray Sales Chart. Unfortunately, it wasn't strong enough to help the overall Blu-ray sales, which were down across the board. Compared to last week, sales were down 17% in terms of units and 12% in terms of revenue. Compared to last year, sales were down 15% in terms of units and 14% in terms of revenue. You can't blame Mockingjay here, as it topped Catching Fire. There was just no depth this time. As expected, the overall Blu-ray slipped a bit dropping to 52%, but this is still a fantastic number.
More...
March 11th, 2015
It's a short list this week for two reasons. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1's DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack came out on Friday and this scared away the competition. This is also partially due to the fact that I'm dealing with what is clearly an alien disease. Friends came over on Saturday and one of them must have been infectious, because on Sunday my mouth tasted like salt. I Googled reasons why that could happen (never a good idea) and it turns out it could be from an infection. I used some Listerine to get rid of whatever bacteria was causing it, but the salty taste overpowered the flavor of the Listerine. That tells you how strong the salty taste was. The next day, the salty taste wasn't as bad, but my throat was killing me. I figured it was Strep throat. The next day, the salty taste was gone, my throat felt fine, but my sinuses were so clogged that the sinus pressure was making my teeth hurt. The next day, the sinus pressure was down dramatically, but I had sneezing attacks ever few minutes, including while I was trying to sleep. Today, the sneezing isn't as bad, but I have a bad cough and it feels like I broke a rib while sneezing. Clearly this isn't a normal cold, but instead I believe I am the subject of an alien experiment. Regardless, the best new release of the week is The Legend of Korra: Book Four: Balance and the DVD or Blu-ray is absolutely worth picking up. However, the best release on this week's list is The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. I finally got to the review of the Blu-ray Combo Pack and it is the Pick of the Week.
More...
February 19th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey dominated the international box office with an opening weekend of $158 million in 58 markets over the weekend for a total opening of $173.56 million. Worldwide, the film took $258.73 million during its opening weekend, which puts it just behind Taken 3 for the year. It became the biggest hit shortly after the weekend ended. The film's biggest market was in the U.K., where it made $20.90 million in 586 theaters. This is better than it opened with here, relative to the size of the two markets, so we can blame the U.K. for the success of this film. It also did incredibly well in Germany ($15.2 million on 741 screens); France ($12 million on 785); and Russia ($10.68 million on 1,105). Obviously the film is going to be turned into a franchise.
More...
February 13th, 2015
Jupiter Ascending earned first place on the international chart with $32.5 million. At first glance, this doesn't seem too bad for an opening weekend on the international chart, except the film was playing in 65 markets, so it doesn't have a lot of room to grow. Its biggest market was Russia, where it earned first place with $4.97 million on 1,900 screens. On the other hand, it only managed fourth place in South Korea with $1.67 million on 561 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $2.03 million.
More...
February 4th, 2015
Running Man opened in top spot in both China and on the International chart with $37.05 million over the weekend in its native market. Films in China tend to have short legs, most of the time. There's still too much uncertainty to really predict the film's final box office numbers after just this weekend's results. On a side note, it wasn't that long ago that it would be unthinkable for a film opening in just China to finish first on the international chart. Now it is relatively common.
More...
January 29th, 2015
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies easily earned first place in China and that helped it rocket back to the top of the international chart with $54.3 million over the weekend for totals of $617.0 million internationally and $866.5 million worldwide. The film had a total opening of $50.00 million in China, which was more than the rest of the market combined.
More...
January 22nd, 2015
Taken 3 rose to first place during its third weekend of release earning $31.4 million in 49 markets for an international total of $99.0 million. Its biggest debut of the weekend was in the Philippines, where it earned first place with $2.5 million on 218 screens. It also earned first place in Russia, but with only $1.80 million on 1,438. Its biggest market was the U.K., where it remained in first place with $5.00 million in 500 theaters for a two-week total on $18.55 million.
More...
January 16th, 2015
There are four films opening or expanding wide this Martin Luther King Day weekend. American Sniper is expanding wide after its record-breaking limited release run. The Wedding Ringer is expected to earn second place, while Paddington and Blackhat are the other wide releases. They have opposite results when it comes to reviews, but I fear neither will find an audience in theaters. This weekend last year was led by Ride Along with $41.52 million. I don't think American Sniper will match that, nor do I think the overall box office is quite as strong, so 2015 will probably lose the year-over-year comparison. Hopefully it will be close.
More...
January 15th, 2015
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb rose to first place with $46.2 million in 48 markets for totals of $148.6 million internationally and $248.1 million worldwide. This includes a $26.39 million "opening" in China for an 8-day total of $31.06 million. 8-day opening? It also opened in first place in Russia with $5.55 million on 1,690 screens.
More...
January 13th, 2015
Taken 3 earned first place at the box office, as expected, but it did so earning close to $40 million, which is much more than expected. Unfortunately, the rest of the box office wasn't nearly as strong as the overall number fell 19% from last week to $126 million. Compared to last year, the box office this year was 10% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2015 is behind 2014's pace by 1.8%. However, while 2014 was the worst year at the box office in nearly two decades, last January was the second-best January ever, so it is still way too early to panic.
More...
January 8th, 2015
It is a strange weekend at the box office with the number of wide releases being outnumbered by the number of wide expansions. Taken 3 is the only wide release and it is widely expected to top the chart by a significant margin. Selma is the best film on this week's list and should do well during its first wide weekend. On the other hand, it appears Inherent Vice is not opening truly wide and that it likely won't reach the top ten. This weekend last year was led by Lone Survivor, which earned $37.85 million during its first week of wide release, while the only new wide release was The Legend of Hercules with $8.87 million. There was also another not-so wide expansion, August: Osage County, which earned seventh place with $7.16 million. Overall, it looks like 2015's batch of new releases are not quite as strong as last year's were, but 2015 did win last weekend, so perhaps the holdovers can help 2015 come out on top of the year-over-year comparison.
More...
January 7th, 2015
It was a big week for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, as it crossed the $500 million mark on the international box office. Over the weekend it pulled in $52.5 million in 65 markets for totals of $504.7 million internationally and $725.3 million worldwide. At this pace, the film will reach $800 million worldwide, possibly as early as this time next week. As for last weekend, there were very few new openings, but the film did earn first place in Argentina with $2.1 million on 397 screens. The film opens in China before the end of the month and the studio is obviously hoping for big numbers in that market.
More...
January 5th, 2015
2015 box office started off on a strong note with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies leading the way with $21.73 million. More impressive, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death earned fourth place with $15.03 million, which is significantly more than what most people were predicting. The overall box office was $155 million, which is 2% lower than last weekend. More importantly, it is 10% higher than the same weekend last year. Obviously it is far, far too early to judge 2015, but after what happened last year, I'll take any win and I'll be happy about it.
More...
January 2nd, 2015
The new year starts with just one new release, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death. It's a horror film, which is a genre that is becoming common for early year releases. This is probably because these films are relatively cheap to produce, so they don't need a strong box office to break even. For example, this weekend last year, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, a horror film that cost $5 million to make, was the only wide release. I don't think Angel of Death will top The Marked Ones, but last weekend was strong in the year-over-year comparison, so perhaps the holdovers can help 2015 start on a winning note.
More...
January 1st, 2015
For the third week in a row, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies held onto first place with $89.0 million in 62 markets for totals of $405.1 million internationally and $573.6 million worldwide. The film opened in first place in Australia with $10.1 million on 603 screens, while the film was particularly strong in Poland earning $5.3 million on 699. By this time next week, it should be at $500 million internationally and $700 million worldwide, which is enough to break even, but not enough to keep pace with the franchise average.
More...
December 30th, 2014
We are still dealing with studio estimates for the weekend numbers, but we can at least tell you what film won, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and roughly how much it earned, $41.42 million. The new releases were much closer than expected with Into the Woods and Unbroken both earning just over $30 million over the weekend. Because we don't have enough final numbers, we really can't compare the overall box office to last weekend or last year. So far, the final weekend of 2014 pulled in $200 million and that number should grow a little bit as box office numbers filter in. This is 52% more than last weekend and 2.3% more than the same weekend last year. I'm a little more bullish about January's box office chances after this result.
More...
December 23rd, 2014
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies remained in first place with $109 million in 59 markets for a two-week total of $269 million internationally and $358 million worldwide. It is still too early to tell where this film will end up, but by this time next week it should be well past $500 million worldwide, which is enough to pay for its production budget. The film debuted in first place in South Korea with $10.3 million. Meanwhile, it was tops in Spain and Italy with $6.5 million and $6.1 million respectively. Despite opening in nearly two dozen new markets, the film's biggest market was a holdover, Germany, where it added $13.3 million over the weekend to its running tally, which now sits at $38.6 million. It was also strong in the U.K. earning $8.5 million over the weekend for a total of $31.8 million after two, while in France the film made $8.2 million over the weekend for $25.5 million, also after two weeks of release.
More...
December 22nd, 2014
The Christmas break got off on a soft note with all three new wide releases failing to meet expectations by substantial numbers. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies got off to a good start on Wednesday, but plummeted the next day and couldn't recover. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb failed to live up to the low end of expectations, while Annie's opening at least came close to predictions. We are still missing some numbers. Overall, the box office rose by more than 60% from last weekend to $135 million and this figure should rise a little as other numbers filter in. However, it likely won't rise by enough to match the $140 million earned the same weekend last year. I really thought 2014 would end its year-over-year slump this weekend, but alas, it was not to be. Year-to-date, 2014 has earned $9.60 billion, which is 4.6% lower than last year's pace.
More...
December 21st, 2014
After thirteen years (with a lengthy break in the middle), Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth Saga finally comes to an end this weekend with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Tolkein/Jackson fans are giving the franchise a rousing farewell, with $50 million expected this weekend and $90 million in total after five days. Comparisons are a little difficult, because the previous Hobbit installments opened on Fridays, but Desolation of Smaug racked up $86 million in its first five days and An Unexpected Journey hit $100 million on its fifth day in release. So this outing seems set to perform similarly overall, with $250 million – $300 million domestically and around $1 billion worldwide. That will solidify the franchise as the fourth-most successful in history, and if it can top $1.079 billion in this outing, it will be the only franchise ever to average more than $1 billion globally per film.
More...
December 18th, 2014
For most, this weekend represents the beginning of the Christmas break, so it comes as no surprise that there are three potentially big hits coming out this week. I'm a little surprised none of them are getting overwhelmingly positive reviews. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is earning the best reviews of the week, but its Tomatometer Score is barely above 60%. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb has been floating around 50% positive all week, while Annie is being destroyed by critics. This weekend last year, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug earned first place for the second weekend in a row. Meanwhile, the new releases were less impressive, as Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues earned second place with $26.23 million and Walking with Dinosaurs landed in the lower half of the top ten. The depth this year won't be as strong, but I still think 2014 will finally end its slump and win in the year-over-year comparison.
More...
December 12th, 2014
Next week, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies opens on Wednesday. Normally this would prevent it from being the target film in our weekly box office prediction contest. However, it will still earn more than the other two wide releases, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Annie, will make combined. As such, The Battle of the Five Armies is the clear choice for 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 Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
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 At the Devil's Door on Blu-ray.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a copy of Cam2Cam on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
More...
December 1st, 2014
November is over and there are not a lot of positive things to say about what happened during the month. There were a couple of films that matched expectations, but there were no breakout hits and a few that missed expectations by wide margins. Granted, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 will top $300 million with relative ease, but that's still nearly $100 million lower than some people were predicting. The month ends with 2014 about $300 million behind 2013's pace and there's really no chance to catch up in December. That doesn't mean there are no films that will be worth watching in December. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies should at least earn $200 million, while $300 million is not out of the question. Additionally, there are several films that at least have a shot at $100 million at the box office, but not all will get there. At least this December and last December are on par with each other. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug topped $250 million while there were three others that topped $100 million. I think we will get the same result this month. Last year there were a lot more wide releases, but many of them bombed. I think this year the lack of competition will help more films reach their potential.
More...
-Thumbnail.jpg)
