November 7th, 2013
It's a big week with several first run releases, some big TV on DVD, releases, and more to deal with. The only one that truly rises to the level of Pick of the Week is Mad Men: Season Six, but the screener arrived late and I hate awarding Pick of the Week to a title when that happens. The only other release I really want to see is White House Down, but that's more guilty pleasure than Pick of the Week. I guess it goes to Mad Men: Season Six on DVD or Blu-ray.
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August 15th, 2013
We are entering the beginning of TV on DVD season on the home market. As the fall schedule ramps up, more and more TV on DVD releases will come out. This week we have Once Upon A Time: The Complete Second Season on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as Girls: The Complete Second Season, also on DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack. Both are worth checking out, but I'm waiting for the screeners for both, so I don't want to award either the Pick of the Week. Instead, I'm giving that honor to The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray. Meanwhile, What Maisie Knew on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack is a close second.
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May 15th, 2013
Iron Man 3 earned first place for the third weekend in a row, this time pulling in $89.3 million on 9,921 screens in 55 markets for totals of $664.4 million internationally and $949.3 million worldwide. At this pace, the film will have no trouble getting to $1 billion this coming weekend, while it should enter the top ten of all time by the end of the weekend. The film's single best market of the weekend was China, where it added $32.7 million over the week to its running tally, which now sits at $97.2 million.
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May 8th, 2013
Iron Man 3 remained in top spot on the international chart with $174.3 million on 29,160 screens in 72 markets for totals of $502.8 million internationally and $676.9 million worldwide. The film opened with $64.07 million in China, which makes China the film's biggest international market, despite playing there for half as long as most other major markets. The film dominated Russia with $22.82 million on 1,188 screens over the weekend, which was more than five times the nearest competitor. It also opened in first place in Germany, but with a more subdued $6.91 million on 618 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $10.07 million. This is not a great opening, but one market is nothing compared to the monstrous international run so far. Iron Man 3 held on very well in South Korea down just 19% to $13.53 million on 1,388 screens over the weekend for a total of $43.23 million after two. In the U.K., the film made $9.80 million on 558 screens for a two-week total of $38.17 million.
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April 25th, 2013
After getting pushed back into third place last weekend, G.I. Joe: Retaliation returned to first place this weekend with $40.0 million on 13,616 screens in 62 markets for totals of $211.7 million internationally and $322.9 million worldwide. Of its weekend haul, $33.14 million was earned in China. That's really close to what it earned during its domestic opening weekend. Granted, it did open on a Thursday and that likely diluted its weekend number, while the Chinese results are for the full week, but this is still an impressive result.
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April 14th, 2013
Sports movies can be a risky proposition financially. While they potentially have a built-in audience among fans of the sport in question, they can also turn off people who don't much care for the sport. It takes a really compelling story to reach out to non-fans, and it seems as though the story of Jackie Robinson is compelling enough to draw in a broad audience for 42, which will open atop the box office chart this weekend with a projected $27.25 million, according to Warner Bros.' Sunday morning estimate. A 25% uptick on Saturday suggests good word of mouth for the film so far. Less good word of mouth is being earned by Scary Movie 5, which is projected to end in second place with $15.15 million. That's well behind previous outings for the franchise, which have clustered around the $40 million mark.
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April 11th, 2013
Despite falling 50%, G.I. Joe: Retaliation remained in first place on the international chart with $40.2 million on 9,220 screens in 60 markets for a two-week total of $145.2 million. This is already more than it cost to make, but this decline is troubling. Its biggest market of the weekend was Russia, where it slipped to second place with $2.57 million on 1,267 screens over the weekend for a total of $13.25 million so far.
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April 8th, 2013
Evil Dead led the way at the box office matching predictions (nearly) perfectly. It fell just a little short of the predicted $26 million, and it was the only film in the top five to miss expectations. This helped the overall box office hold up better than expected. Granted, it did fall 8.7% from last weekend to $134 million, but that was 8.8% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2013 is still taking a beating down 11% at $2.47 billion to $2.79 million, but this win is still helpful. If 2013 can string together a few more wins, then the start of summer and The Avengers won't sting quite as bad.
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April 1st, 2013
While Easter Monday is a holiday up here in Canada, it's not in the United States and the weekend numbers have arrived. The numbers are good, or close enough to being good that I'm choosing to focus on the positive. G.I. Joe: Retaliation won the race for the top with an opening weekend that was a little better than expected. Meanwhile, Temptation also opened on the high end of expectations. On the other hand, The Host failed to live up to lowered expectations. Overall, the box office rose 6.1% from last week. Granted, it did fall compared to the same weekend last year, but it fell by less than 1% (0.99%) and compared to the year-to-date decline, that's positively glowing. I'm calling it a victory. That's right, 2013 has been so bad so far that I'm willing to call a 1% decline a victory. 2013 is still well behind 2012's pace at $2.27 billion to $2.59 billion, which is a deficit of 12% or nearly $330 million.
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March 29th, 2013
It's Easter long weekend and three films will be battling for box office domination. G.I. Joe: Retaliation is the only one that really has a shot at success. The Host is earning some of the worst reviews for a wide release for the entire year, which is not surprising given the source material. Meanwhile, Temptation is not being screened for critics. It is likely The Croods will be pushed into second place, but should remain strong thanks to the holiday. This weekend last year was led by The Hunger Games with $58 million. There's almost no chance any new release will match that. In fact, there's a chance no film will top last year's second place film, Wrath of the Titans. 2013 is going to get slapped around again.
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March 28th, 2013
The Croods debuted in first place on the international chart with $63.09 million on 11,709 screens in 46 markets, while its global opening was $106.73 million. The film led the way in Russia with $7.82 million on 2,166 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $12.65 million, including previews. It made $8.18 million on 521 screens in the U.K., also including previews, which was enough for an easy first place finish. Another first place victory came in Mexico, where it made $4.51 million on 1,990 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $8.80 million. It also debuted on top of the chart in Germany with $3.63 million on 728 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $4.21 million, while it had nearly identical results in Brazil with $3.35 million on 728 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $4.13 million. The film earned more number one debuts in Italy ($3.90 million on 711) and in Spain ($3.33 million on 763).
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March 25th, 2013
As expected, The Croods earned first place, but it didn't dominate as much as many thought it would, because Olympus Has Fallen did better than expected. The overall box office rose 29% from last weekend reaching $139 million. Unfortunately, again as expected, The Hunger Games earned more this weekend last year than the entire box office earned this year. The year-over-year decline was a massive 35%. That's stunning. That usually only happens when there is a misalignment in holidays. Year-to-date, 2013 is now behind 2012 by a 13% margin at $2.06 billion to $2.36 billion. Given the films coming out later this year and the films that came out last year, I just don't see a pathway to victory for 2013.
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March 22nd, 2013
This is one of those weekends where it is really hard to get excited about the box office. That's not to say there's nothing opening that isn't either earning good reviews or has a solid shot at the box office, there are. However, this weekend last year is the weekend The Hunger Games debuted. No film opening this weekend will compete with that. The entire box office this year won't make as much as that one film made last year. 2013 is going to be crushed in the year-over-year comparison and it could be more than a little depressing. As for this year, The Croods should walk away with the number one ranking and might even make more than twice as much as the number two film, which will probably be Olympus Has Fallen. The last new release of the week is Admission, but it might not make the top five. In fact, Spring Breakers is expanding to a little more than 1,000 theaters, but still has a better shot at the top five than Admission has.
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March 1st, 2013
February is over, and for the most part, we should be very happy it is done and buried. The biggest hit of the month turned out to be Identity Thief, which will cross $100 million shortly. There were also a couple of impressive midlevel hits, like Warm Bodies and Escape from Planet Earth, but for the most part, it was miss after miss. This is bad news for March, which is not only dealing with a slumping 2013 box office, but will be compared with a strong March of 2012. Last March started with The Lorax, which earned more than $200 million. There's a good chance no March release this year will reach this milestone. Last March was also the month The Hunger Games opened, which earned more than $400 million. There's a chance the top three films opening this month won't earn that much combined. 2013 is going to take a beating in the year-over-year comparison and it is already $100 million behind last year's pace.
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