January 9th, 2016
The BAFTA nominations were announced and you can read them on their site... in alphabetical order. Alphabetical order is very useful in most circumstances, but not here. On the other hand, the nominees within each category are not presented in alphabetical order. ... Are the BAFTAs trolling us? As for the actual nominees, the big winners here are Bridge of Spies and Carol, both of which earned nine nominations. For Carol, this is just another impressive score, but this was a pleasant surprise for Bridge of Spies.
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June 18th, 2015
It's a strange week on the theater averages chart. The number one film was Jurassic World with an average of $48,855. This is the best average for a wide release in 2015 and the third best average for a film released in 2015 and the fifth best average during 2015. Second place went to The Wolfpack with an average of $21,960 in two theaters. This is amazing for a documentary. The only other film in the $10,000 club was Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, which debuted in 15 theaters, a lot for a limited release, and earned an average of $13,100. This suggests room to expand over the coming weeks.
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June 17th, 2015
Wow. Slow week. There are a few releases that are notable, but we very quickly run into titles that would be considered filler during the average week. In fact, there are no first run releases that are contenders for Pick of the Week. There are a trio of limited releases that are in the running for that title: Time Lapse (DVD or Blu-ray or Video on Demand); Wild Tales (DVD or Blu-ray or Video on Demand); and The Wrecking Crew (DVD or Blu-ray or Video on Demand). There were also two catalog releases of note: The Cat Returns (Blu-ray Combo Pack) and Spirited Away (Blu-ray Combo Pack). Both are excellent, but Spirited Away is the better of the two films and it is the Pick of the Week.
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April 7th, 2015
The overall box office leader, Furious 7, was also the leader on the per theater chart earning an average of $36,763. That's the third best average for a 2015 release, with While We're Young still earning top spot on that chart. Speaking of While We're Young, it was the only other film in the $10,000 club earning an average of $14,226 in 34 theaters. Sometime this weekend, it will have reached its first major milestone.
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March 25th, 2015
Danny Collins led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $14,631 in five theaters. However, since its reviews are merely good and not great, I doubt it will have the legs needed to thrive in limited release. The overall box office leader, Insurgent, was next with an average of $13,487. Last week's winner on the per theater chart, It Follows, was the only holdover in the $10,000 club earning an average of $10,777 in 32 theaters. It has room to grow and should have no trouble earning a least some small measure of mainstream success. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter was the only other film that did well, with an average of $8,529 in four theaters over the weekend, while it earned an average of $10,101 since Wednesday.
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February 25th, 2015
Wild Tales was the only film in the $10,000 club over the weekend earning an average of $21,275 in four theaters. However, What We Do in the Shadows is an interesting case. It expanded to 16 theaters over the weekend, sort of, earning an average of $8,033. The reason I said "sort of" is that in many theaters it had special showings, not a full run. It is really hard to reach the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart when several theaters are only showing the film once a night instead of more than a dozen times a weekend.
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February 22nd, 2015
A 73% second-weekend drop won’t be enough to keep Fifty Shades of Grey out of its top spot on the weekend box office chart, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With another $23.25 million in the bank, the erotic drama has amassed $130 million after two weekends domestically, and has now taken over $400 million worldwide.
This relative weakness in Fifty Shades' second outing isn’t a big surprise given its fervent fanbase, who are more likely to attend on the first weekend, its mediocre reviews, and the fact that last weekend was a holiday, which can increase the box office take substantially. Perhaps more to the point, taking the top spot twice and reaching $400 million is enough. Universal already has every incentive to continue the franchise.
Second and third places this weekend go to two other returning films that are also set to fall more than 50% from last weekend’s totals: Kingsman: The Secret Service will post $17.5 million for $67 million after two weekends, and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water adds $15.5 million to take its tally to $125 million after three. While it is a substantial decrease, this is a more typical second-weekend drop.
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February 20th, 2015
It is Oscar weekend, so it should come as no real surprise that there are not a lot of films opening in limited release this week. After all, the target audience for these films is paying a lot more attention to the potential Oscar winners than they are to the new releases. There is one film that will actually benefit from the Oscars, Wild Tales, which earned a Best Foreign-Language Film nomination.
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January 17th, 2015
The Oscar nominations were announced early in the morning, when all sensible people were asleep. There were some surprises, as well as some results that would have been surprises had it not been for the previous Awards Season nominations. Seventeen films earned two or more nods, led by Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel, both of which picked up nine nominations, while The Imitation Game was right behind with eight.
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