August 21st, 2013
New releases were rather sparse on the June 23rd, 2013 edition of the DVD sales chart. Granted, Jack the Giant Slayer did earn first place, but it was the only new release in the top five. It sold 319,000 units and generated $4.79 million in revenue, which is weak given the film's production budget.
More...
June 18th, 2013
It's another typical summer week on the home market. That is to say, it's a bad week on the home market. There are several first-run releases, the biggest of which was Jack the Giant Killer, which bombed at the box office. There are some limited releases that help the overall quality, but it is still a bad week. As far as Pick of the Week candidates go, Quartet on DVD or Blu-ray is the best choice. One could argue it is the only choice, but there are three Criterion Collection releases that are worth checking out, as well as some horror films, both old and new, that should please genre fans. On a side note, there are six Disney Channel releases on this week's list. That's a little strange.
More...
March 27th, 2013
Gimme the Loot led the way on the per theater chart with $21,065 in its lone theater. The overall box office leader, The Croods, was the only other film in the $10,000 club with an average of $10,786.
More...
March 5th, 2013
There was only one film able to top $10,000 on the per theater chart, as Stoker earned an average of $22,935 in seven theaters. Its reviews were only good and not great, so I'm not sure how well it will do next week.
More...
February 13th, 2013
The Gatekeepers remained in first place in the per theater chart with an average of $14,024 in three theaters. The only other film to top $10,000 on the per theater chart was Identity Thief with an average of $11,000, which is amazing for a wide release at this time of year.
More...
February 5th, 2013
The Gatekeepers led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $22,226 in three theaters. The only other member of the $10,000 club was Koch with an average of $17,598 in two. Both films should continue to do well on the art house circuit, but as documentaries, I doubt they will expand significantly.
More...
January 29th, 2013
John Dies at the End didn't crash and burn at the box office. I'm genuinely surprised. The film's reviews were mixed, and generally speaking, even great reviews are no guarantee for a limited release. Also, it opened on Video on Demand before coming out in theaters, which is usually a death sentence for a film's box office chances. However, John Dies at the End earned first place on the per theater chart with $12,467 in its lone theater. The only other film to top $10,000 on the per theater chart was Happy People: A Year in the Taiga with $10,481, also in one theater.
More...
January 23rd, 2013
Amour continues to show legs most limited releases can only dream of. Despite expanding its theater count to 36, the film topped the per theater chart with an average of $11,479. It is very rare for a wide release to reach the $10,000 level during this time of year, but that's exactly what Mama did, as it opened with an average of $10,730 during the three-day portion of the weekend. Quartet might have reached the $10,000 mark. We are still relying on studio estimates and at the moment the studio says it made $320,000 in 32 theaters for an average of exactly $10,000.
More...
January 15th, 2013
Quartet opened on top of the per theater chart with an average of $23,561 in two theaters. This is very impressive, especially for this time of year. Amour expanded from 3 to 15 theaters, but you couldn't tell from its per theater average, as it held very well down just 14% to $17,138.
More...
January 13th, 2013
As expected, Zero Dark Thirty will ride its Oscar nominations to a win at the box office this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. But the overall Oscar effect seems quite small. In fact, A Haunted House, which it's safe to say won't be on any Oscar lists this time next year, will have the highest per theater average in the top 10, and came in a very creditable second place with $18.8 million from just 2,160 theaters. Gangster Squad, which has some Oscar-style pedigree, but suffered from a delay for reshoots following the Aurora tragedy, will come in third with a slightly disappointing $16.7 million from 3,103 venues.
More...
January 11th, 2013
With the Oscar nominations announced yesterday, the focus is on the the high-caliber films from 2012 that are still in theaters. This will hurt the new wide releases coming out this week, but it will be devastating to the limited releases. There's only one film on this week's list that looks like it might escape relatively unharmed: Quartet.
More...
December 13th, 2012
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations and the same list of films that have been mentioned since the beginning of Awards Season were rewarded today. Lincoln led the way with seven nods, while Argo and Django Unchained were close behind with five.
More...
