April 15th, 2014
It is a busy week on the home market with five films that either opened at least semi-wide or expanded semi-wide. However, unlike last week, there's no monster hit like The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug leading the way. In fact, most of the semi-wide or wide releases on this week's list were critical and box office disappointments. Only Philomena did well with critics. Fortunately, it did well enough that it is a contender for Pick of the Week without even considering the extras on the DVD or Blu-ray. There are a few other new releases that are noteworthy, but most of them are catalog Blu-ray releases. These include Touch of Evil on Blu-ray and Double Indemnity on Blu-ray. In the end, I went with Touch of Evil, but I literally had to roll a dice to decide.
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March 12th, 2014
The Grand Budapest Hotel led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $202,792 in four theaters. This is the best per theater average this year and the best per theater average since Frozen's debut last year. It is also the best per theater average for a live action film of all time, beating The Master's old record of $147,262 in five theaters set in 2012. The film will clearly expand wide enough to earn a significant measure of mainstream success, if it doesn't expand truly wide. Particle Fever was next with an average of $14,323 in three theaters over the weekend, while its total since Wednesday is $49,869. The only wide release to top $10,000 on the per theater chart was 300: Rise of an Empire, which earned an average of $13,006. Interior. Leather Bar. was a surprise entrant in the $10,000 club earning $10,902 in one theater.
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February 27th, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. We wrap up our look at the prestigious categories with the most prestigious of them all: Best Picture. Like last year, there were nine nominees. Unlike last year, none of them were completely out of left field. That's not to say they all have a legitimate shot at winning; there's definitely a favorite. However, politics could become an issue. I don't mean politics as in Democrat vs. Republican. I mean behind-the-scenes issues might play a bigger role than what is on the screen.
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February 25th, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we will look at the two writing categories, ending with Best Adapted Screenplay. This race is about as uncompetitive as it can be with nearly all analysts agreeing on the likely winner.
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February 20th, 2014
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. This week we will look at the four acting categories, finishing with Best Lead Actress. Unlike last year, this year the race is far more competitive in nearly all of the of the four acting categories this year. The person seen as the favorite has switched, more than once, and at the moment, I'm not sure who is going to win.
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February 19th, 2014
Beijing Love Story led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $18,708 in 9 theaters. This is surprisingly strong, given its weak reviews. Next up is the overall box office leader, The LEGO Movie, with an average of $13,204 and the overall second place film, About Last Night, was right behind with an average of $11,384.
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February 16th, 2014
It's looking like a healthy President's Day weekend at the box office, with one impressive debut and several movies enjoying strong second, fourth, and even thirteenth weekends. The champion opener is About Last Night, a remake of the 1986 hit, which will open with about $27 million over three days, helped by a big $13 million Valentine's Day. With the film playing in only 2,253 theaters, that represents a terrific $12,000 theater average, and continues Kevin Hart's hot streak. Handily beating About Last Night at the top of the chart, though, is The LEGO Movie, with a projected $48.8 million over three days, and around $60 million over the full four-day weekend. That's down a decent 29% from last weekend, for a theater average of almost $13,000.
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February 9th, 2014
2014 is shaping up to be a good year at the box office. After excellent openings for Ride Along and Lone Survivor in January, February is getting off to a spectacular start thanks to a huge opening weekend for The LEGO Movie. Warner Bros. is projecting an opening of $69.1 million for the toy spin-off -- far and away the biggest weekend of the year so far, and the second-best February weekend ever, behind only The Passion of the Christ. Numbers like that guarantee a sequel or three, and boost a franchise that has already built an impressive following in the video market.
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January 28th, 2014
There were not a lot of new releases to do well on the per theater chart this week, but one of them, Gloria, led the way with an average of $19.592 in three theaters. A long-time release, The Great Beauty, returned to the $10,000 club with an average of $13,121 in nine theaters.
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January 19th, 2014
Producers Guild of America announce the winners tonight, but it seems I forgot to upload the story when they announced their nominations. In my defense, they announced them on January 2nd. You don't make an announcement on January 2nd, not unless you are trying to bury a story. As for the actual nominations, there are very few differences between this group and others, except when it comes to documentaries. Then again, that's been the norm this year. No one seems to agree on what the best documentaries were.
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January 16th, 2014
The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and there are some surprises mixed in with the predictable results. Gravity and American Hustle led the way with ten nominations each while 12 Years a Slave was right behind with nine. The fact that 12 Years a Slave wasn't the leader is the first of the surprises.
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January 14th, 2014
There was only one film in the $10,000 club, but that's one more than a lot of people thought there would be. Lone Survivor expanded wide earning $37.85 million in 2,876 theaters for an average of $13,161. That's awesome, especially for this time of year.
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January 7th, 2014
It was a slow week for new releases as none topped $10,000 on the per theater chart. There were some holdovers that performed well, led by Lone Survivor, which pulled in an average of $42,429 in two theaters. This is compared to $45,436 during its opening weekend. Such a small decline is great news for its upcoming wide expansion. August: Osage County was next with an average of $27,983 in five theaters, which is 22% lower than its opening average of $35,860. Its running tally is already at nearly half a million and it has potential to expand, especially if it continues to do well during Awards Season. The final film in the $10,000 club was Her with an average of $15,378 in 47 theaters. It is already at nearly $3 million after three weeks of release and it expands wide this weekend.
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December 17th, 2013
American Hustle started its box office run in limited release with a stunning average of $123,409. This is the second best per theater average for the year, behind only Frozen. Saving Mr. Banks opened in 15 theaters earning an average of $27,558. It should do well in its upcoming expansion. Inside Llewyn Davis expanded, playing in 15 theaters over the weekend while its per theater average fell to $23,786. It will continue to expand. The overall box office leader, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, was the final film in the $10,000 club earning an average of $18,869.
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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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December 14th, 2013
SAG handed out nominations over the week, and like with the Independent Spirit Awards, 12 Years a Slave led the way and earned four nominations. It wasn't the only film that was singled out.
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December 12th, 2013
Inside Llewyn Davis had an incredible opening earning more than $400,000 in four theaters for a per theater average of $101,353. This is the third best per theater for the year behind just Frozen and Blue Jasmine. Mandela Long Walk to Freedom had a strong hold with an average of $19,413 in four theaters. The reason for this is obvious, but a little ghoulish to talk about.
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December 8th, 2013
Frozen will come out the winner at the box office this weekend, topping Catching Fire $31.6 million to $27 million, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Both films are down over 50% from last weekend's holiday frame, but Frozen enjoys an advantage as the more seasonal of the two and will likely maintain its lead, at least until The Hobbit blows them both away on Friday.
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December 4th, 2013
Mandela Long Walk to Freedom earned first place on the per theater chart with an average of $21,071 in four theaters. However, its reviews are only good, not great, and it likely won't have great legs. Frozen and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire were neck and neck with averages of $18,009 and $17,819 respectively.
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November 27th, 2013
Thanksgiving long weekend won't be remembered for the quality of the films opening wide. In fact, of the three new releases on this week's list, only one of them is truly opening wide. Homefront is debuting in 2,500 theaters, while Black Nativity is only opening in 1,500. Oldboy is only opening in 600 theaters, but it still has a reasonable shot at the top ten. If it weren't for the wide expansion of Frozen and hopefully a strong hold by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the weekend would be a write-off. As it is, 2013 should crush 2012... mostly because there is a misalignment and this weekend last year was the weekend after Thanksgiving. The post holiday slump meant the top five was only able to bring in a little under $75 million. I'm not saying Catching Fire will top that number, at least not over three days, but it should clear at least that much over the next five days.
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November 26th, 2013
Frozen begun its short prestige release before its wide expansion on Wednesday and it was fantastic. The film pulled in $243,390 in one theater giving it the best per theater average for the year so far, topping Blue Jasmine and pushing Spring Breakers into third place. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was in a distant second place with an average of $37,971 in more than 4,000 theaters. Philomena did very well with an average of $32,109 in four theaters. The Great Beauty remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $17,452 in three theaters. Nebraska rounded out the $10,000 club with an average of $11,634 in 28 theaters. It should continue to expand and start hitting major milestones.
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November 24th, 2013
As expected, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire topped Delivery Man to win at the box office this weekend. OK, topped is perhaps an understatement when the gap between the two movies is about $150 million. Catching Fire will easily record the biggest November weekend of all time, topping The Twilight Saga: New Moon. It's also heading towards the 4th-biggest weekend of all time, per Lionsgate's Sunday estimate, although there's a good chance it'll end up just behind The Dark Knight Rises' $160.8 million from last year. It will definitely end behind Iron Man 3's $174 million from earlier this year, but continued big earnings for Catching Fire over Thanksgiving means that this year's box office championship race is about to get interesting.
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November 22nd, 2013
This week's list of limited releases is kind of mixed. Frozen is coming out this week for a prestige opening before expanding wide on Wednesday and it is virtually guaranteed box office success. On the other hand, most of the rest of the films are documentaries, which almost never have breakout success. Every documentary on this list looks interesting, but of the non-Frozen releases, I think Philomena has the best shot at box office success.
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