January 18th, 2011
A total of four new releases reached the top 30 on the sales chart this week. One of those films, Machete, topped the charts with 691,000 units sold and $11.05 million in opening week sales.
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January 11th, 2011
Only two new releases charted this week, and only one of them could lay claim to top spot. That DVD was Resident Evil: Afterlife, which sold 576,000 units and generated $9.86 million in opening week sales. On the other hand, Despicable Me could also legitimately claim first place with $9.98 million in revenue from 565,000 units. So far that film has sold 5.73 million DVDs for $96.82 million in total sales.
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December 27th, 2010
It's the last week of the year and despite some choices for Boxing Week sales, there's not a lot interesting on this week's list of DVD and Blu-ray releases. There are barely more than a dozen releases, and some of those I wouldn't have mentioned had it been busier. As for Pick of the Week, there's only one contender, Archer: Season One. It's a very funny, and very demented show and even though I'm not 100% happy with the extras, it is definitely worth picking up.
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November 24th, 2010
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I broke records on the international chart opening with a mind-blowing $192.98 million on 15,506 screens in 53 markets, for a total opening of $204.92 million internationally and $329.94 million worldwide. This is the largest worldwide opening ever, and it is enough to put the film in the top 200 after one weekend of release.
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October 20th, 2010
Despicable Me completed its climb to the top of the international chart with $27.03 million on 4751 screens in 40 markets for totals of $170.27 million internationally and $417.32 million worldwide. This week's openings include the U.K., where it topped the chart with $5.81 million on 522 screens, which is a good result, but not a great result. It placed second in Italy with less money at $4.86 million on 544 screens, but ironically, this is a better result due to the relative size of the two markets and it only placed second due to a massive local hit. Meanwhile, the film was down just 23% in France adding $3.57 million on 657 screens for a two-week total of $8.82 million. It was down 35% in Spain, but remained in first place with $2.25 million on 542 screens over the weekend and $8.27 million in total. The film is running out of places to open in, but by this time next week it should have $200 million internationally, while $500 million worldwide is still the main goal.
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October 13th, 2010
Eat Pray Love rose to top spot on the international chart with $18.47 million on 4289 screens in 55 markets for a total of $64.81 million internationally. By this time next week, the film should have more revenue internationally than it had domestically, and it was a solid midlevel hit here. The film opened in first place in Australia with $3.42 million on 328 screens over the weekend and $3.63 million in total. On the other hand, it had to settle for fourth place in Russia with $1.74 million on 223 screens.
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October 6th, 2010
Resident Evil: Afterlife was in a close race for top spot on the international chart, but lost out to Detective Dee: Mystery Of The Phantom Flame, a Chinese film. That film opened with $16.42 million on 650 screens in 4 markets over the weekend for a total opening on $17.63 million. Most of this likely came from its native market, unfortunately, China is not a market that releases box office number in anything close to a timely fashion, so exact numbers there will likely remain a mystery for a while.
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September 29th, 2010
Another week, another milestone for Resident Evil: Afterlife, this time crossing $200 million worldwide, which makes it the first in the franchise to do so. Over the weekend it led the international box office with $25.20 million on 6519 screens in 55 markets for a total of $154.71 million internationally and $206.78 million worldwide. It managed top spot during its debut in France with $2.96 million on 408 screens, but that's below average for its run so far. Meanwhile, it added $2.87 million on 633 screens in Japan for a total of $38.51 million after three weeks of release there. That's almost as much as Inception has made in that market, and its been there for ten weeks.
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September 28th, 2010
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole opened on 193 IMAX screens domestically, but only managed about $1.7 million. Its per screen average on IMAX was nearly twice its overall per theater average, but it was still a soft opening. After three weeks of release, Resident Evil: After Life has reached $8.3 million worldwide, which is impressive, as IMAX hasn't managed the same market penetration internationally as it has domestically, and this film is definitely a bigger international hit than it is domestically. However, with success stories like Inception, which crossed the $50 million mark on the global IMAX box office over the weekend, that is changing.
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September 22nd, 2010
It took just two weeks for Resident Evil: Afterlife to become the first film in the franchise to reach $100 million on the international scene. It earned $39.61 million on 6235 screens in 47 markets for a total of $103.58 million internationally and $147.48 million worldwide. Its biggest opening came in Germany where it earned $5.38 million on 434 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.85 million. It also took top spot in Mexico with $4.38 million on 658 screens, in South Korea with $3.88 million on 367, and in Brazil with $2.96 million on 298. It did fall 62% during its second weekend in Japan, which is tragic for that market; however, it still managed $5.00 million on 634 screens over the weekend for a total of $27.71 million after two. With debuts in France, Australia, and other markets still ahead of it, this film will have no trouble getting to $200 million worldwide, while $200 million internationally is a solid goal.
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September 20th, 2010
It was a good news / bad news weekend at the box office. On the one hand, the overall numbers bounced back from last weekend up 23% to $101 million. On the other hand, they were down from the same weekend last year, albeit by less than 1%. Year-to-date, 2010 still has a lead on 2009 at $7.94 billion to $7.64 billion. As long as 2010 can avoid double-digit declines from now till the rest of the year, it should finish with the lead, at least in terms of raw dollars. On the other hand, it is behind in ticket sales by 1.7%, and I don't know if it will be able to turn that around.
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September 19th, 2010
The Town kept up September's decent run at the box office by delivering an higher-than-expected $23.8 million weekend and winning the weekend, according to Warner Bros. Sunday estimate.
With three other wide openers delivering reasonable numbers, this weekend looks as though it will be up overall from last year, in spite of having to compete with the opening of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
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September 16th, 2010
After Resident Evil: Afterlife had the new release schedule all to itself last weekend, this weekend we have four wide releases making their debuts. However, thanks in part to the competition, none look to be particularly strong and there will likely be a sizable drop-off at the top of the chart. On the other hand, they should do well enough combined to help the box office grow and perhaps even keep pace with last year.
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September 15th, 2010
Resident Evil: Afterlife took top spot on the international chart. In fact, it dominated with $41.70 million on 3,935 screens in 33 markets for a total of $68.36 million worldwide. After just one weekend of release, the film is nearly halfway to catching up with Extinction for best in the franchise. It goes without saying that there will be another installment. Its biggest individual market was Japan, where it opened in first place with $13.27 million on 649 screens over the weekend and $15.58 million in total. It also took the top spot in Spain with an impressive $3.36 million on 488 screens, while it was a little softer in the U.K. with a chart topping opening of $2.61 million on 361 screens. On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in Italy with $1.72 million on 270 screens during its debut there.
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September 15th, 2010
The winners of our Taking Out the Competition contest were determined and they are...
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September 14th, 2010
Resident Evil: After Life opened on 132 IMAX screens domestically and pulled in $2.6 million, while it opened on 24 internationally, earning $1 million.
It only has a two-week run before Legend of the Guardians debuts, but this is a strong start compared to its regular box office numbers.
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September 13th, 2010
Resident Evil: Afterlife nearly matched expectations during its opening weekend, but it was the only bright spot on the box office chart and overall the box office plummeted to just $82 million. That's 23% lower than last weekend and 11% lower than the same weekend last year. The only good news is 2010 is still up on 2009 by nearly 4% at $7.81 billion to $7.51 billion. 2010 could still blow its lead if the box office remains as weak as it was over the weekend, but that seems like a longshot.
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September 12th, 2010
Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D dominated a tepid weekend at the box office, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The movie's $27.7 million estimated opening will be a franchise record (see Resident Evil franchise history), although its $4 million increase from the opening of 2007's Extinction is basically accounted for by ticket price inflation.
Still, it's fairly unusual for a franchise to hold up this well over four installments.
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September 9th, 2010
The weekend after Labor Day long weekend is often the worst weekend at the box office for the entire year. This time around there is only one wide release, Resident Evil: Afterlife, which will have no trouble topping the chart. In fact, it will be the only film to reach $10 million over the weekend. Will it do well enough to help 2010 keep pace with last year when there were four wide releases?
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September 3rd, 2010
There's only one wide release next week, Resident Evil: Afterlife, which will obviously be the biggest new release of the week. It is also the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Resident Evil: Afterlife.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of The Assassin Next Door on DVD.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a copy of The Assassin Next Door on DVD.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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September 1st, 2010
Summer has ended and while there were some bigger than expected hits in August, this trend is unlikely to continue in September. There are four weekends this September and nearly a dozen films opening wide, plus a few more that may or may not open wide. Of all of those films, maybe three of four will be midlevel hits, while only one film, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole 3D, has a real shot at reaching the $100 million milestone. This is compared to last year when we had two $100 million hits, although one of those was Paranormal Activity, which didn't expand truly wide till Halloween. Hopefully 2010 can gain ground on 2009 overall, even if it doesn't have as many $100 million hits.
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