March 30th, 2010
The trailing end of the winter blockbuster releases are hitting the home market over the next month. This week we have two $200 million hits, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and Sherlock Holmes. There are also a few Oscar nominated movies: An Education and The Baader Meinhof Complex. Three of these four are worth picking up (as are a number of smaller releases) but none scream Pick of the Week.
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March 24th, 2010
Red Cliff is the latest film from John Woo and it marks his return to China after an absence of nearly 20 years. This epic was released in its native market (and many Asian markets) as a two-part, four-and-a-half hour long film. In this marke,t it was cut down to a single film of two-and-a-half hours in length. Fortunately, the studio is releasing both versions on the home market. Unfortunately, I only have the shorter version, which is called the "Theatrical Version".
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March 23rd, 2010
An excellent week with at least four releases that are worthy of Pick of the Week honors: The African Queen, Mad Men: Season Three, and both Toy Story Blu-rays. (In addition, there are several other releases that are worth picking up.) I found it impossible to limit my pick to just one, so I'm going with the Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Blu-ray / DVD Combo sets as the Pick of the Week.
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November 24th, 2009
Broken Embraces opened on top of the per theater chart with an impressive average of $53,556 in two theaters, while The Fantastic Mr. Fox was in a close second place with an average $50,878 in four theaters. The overall box office leader, The Twilight Saga - New Moon, placed third with $35,497 in more than 4,000 theaters. Precious saw its best numbers of its run so far, pulling in nearly $11 million in just over 600 theaters for an average of $17,300. The Sun opened with $11,588 in one theater while The Blind Side opened with an average of $10,971 in more than 3,000 theaters.
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November 20th, 2009
Normally it is very hard for a limited release to score breakout success.
On a typical weekend, none of the films opening in exclusive engagements go on to a real measure of mainstream success.
However, this week there are three films that could be able to do just that: Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call New Orleans, Broken Embraces, Red Cliff.
It will be interesting to see which one manages to be the biggest of the three.
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April 5th, 2009
Duplicity doubled its international haul over the weekend landing in sixth place with $6.47 million on 1811 screens in 20 markets for a total of $12.21 million. The film opened in fourth place in France with $2.01 million on 380 screens, while it managed fourth in Russia as well, but with a much weaker $873,000 on 265 screens. It did hold on better than most in the U.K. down just 31% to $775,000 on 355 screens over the weekend for a total of $2.68 million after two.
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December 21st, 2008
No new openings left Bolt out of the top five with $4.94 million on 1916 screens in 11 markets for a total of $28.69 million. Its best market was Russia where it slipped to second place with $1.20 million on 570 screens for a three-week total of $10.73 million, while it added $1.06 million on 412 screens over the weekend in Spain for a total of $3.96 million after two. The film has yet to open in most major markets, and won't until the new year, but when it is done it should surpass its domestic total while aiming for $250 million worldwide.
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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 8th, 2008
It's a deceptively light week with most of the top ten DVDs on Amazon's sales chart coming from The Dark Knight.
In fact, that film is dominating sales so much that it has scared away most of the competition.
Don't get me wrong, it's not the only release worth picking up, but the either the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD or the Blu-ray w/ Digital Copy are probably the best picks this week.
Personally, I went with the Limited Edition Blu-ray w/ Batpod, but I clearly should not be trusted with money.
There are other DVDs coming out this week that are also worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week, including Man on Wire - Buy from Amazon and Lost - Season Four - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray.
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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 5th, 2008
Two of the top five films on this week's international chart opened in advance of their domestic debuts, including the new number one film, Quantum of Solace. The film broke records during its opening in Britain with a phenomenal $25.01 million on 540 screens, which was more than two thirds of the entire box office. It also opened in first place in France with $12.65 million on 807 screens an in Sweden with $2.38 million on 149 screens over the weekend for an opening total of $2.70 million. Overall it made $40.04 million on 2,114 screens over the weekend and $40.36 million in total. The film has started faster than Casino Royale, the only question is whether it can hang on as strongly as that film did.
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August 17th, 2008
Kung Fu Panda slipped to sixth place with $9.34 million on 4736 screens in 47 markets for a total of $349.69 million internationally. The film is starting to shed theaters and markets at an accelerated pace, however, it still has openings in Italy and other smaller markets ahead of it, while it could reach $400 million internationally and $600 million worldwide before the end of its run. (The latter it a lot easier than the former.)
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August 10th, 2008
Hancock fell from second to sixth with $12.03 million on 5425 screens in 68 markets, however, it still reached $300 million internationally since last week and now has a running tally of $319.43 million. Its best market of the weekend was Spain where it added $1.92 million on 567 screens over the weekend for a total of $20.56 million after two. Meanwhile, its best market overall remains the U.K. where it has $47.09 million after a month of release, including $900,000 on 318 screens this past weekend. With Japan and Italy still ahead, the film should become Will Smith's second $600 million movie, but it will end well back of Independence Day.
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August 3rd, 2008
Hancock fell 56% to $20.22 million on 7516 screens in 70 markets, however, that was still enough for second place on the international chart this week, and lifted its totals to $295.58 million internationally and $502.06 million worldwide, reaching a major milestone. The film's best market of the week was Spain where it remained in first place with $3.98 million on 575 screens for a total of $16.86 million. It is also performing well in Germany where it held on to second place with $1.70 million on 755 screens over the weekend and $33.62 million after four. However, it is starting to slip in the U.K. falling to fifth place with $1.40 million on 400 screens, but its total of $45.15 million in that market is still fantastic. Hancock likely hit $300 million early last week, and it has yet to open in Japan and Italy.
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July 27th, 2008
For the third week in a row, Kung Fu Panda performed excellently on the international scene, but was not on par with the top of the chart. Over the previous weekend, the film finished in third place with $29.02 million on 4460 screens in 51 screens for a total of $273.20 million. This week the film opened three of the four Scandinavian markets including Denmark where it opened in first place with $1.10 million on 87 screens over the weekend and $1.23 million in total. Meanwhile, the film only managed third in Norway with $834,000 on 105 screens over the weekend and $1.2 million in total and it managed third place in Sweden with $689,000 on 149 screens and $840,000 in total. Additionally, the film made $3.02 million on 466 screens over the weekend for a total of $27.57 million after three weeks. Next up for the film is Japan this weekend while it opens in Italy at the end of the month.
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July 20th, 2008
Kung Fu Panda grew to its biggest yet pulling in $45.32 million on 6314 screens in 49 markets for a total of $221.64 million. This includes openings in France where it placed second with $8.64 million on 743 screens for the full week and in Spain where it topped the charts with $6.29 million on 581 screens. The film's best holdover was The U.K. where it slipped a spot to third with $5.55 million on 456 screens for a two-week total of $21.57 million. It also held well in Germany adding $4.54 million on 838 screens for a two-week total of $11.14 million while it now has $20.38 million in Australia, including $3.17 million on 361 screens during this past weekend. Meanwhile, the film has yet to open in Italy or Japan, as well as a few other smaller markets, and should have no trouble reaching $300 million before long.
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