May 23rd, 2013
There were a couple of new releases to chart on the April 7th, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. This includes The Bible: The Epic Miniseries, which earned first place with 172,000 units / $6.31 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 28%, which is low for the format as a whole, but better than expected, given its genre and target audience.
More...
May 19th, 2013
There were quite a few new releases to reach the upper echelon of the March 31st, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. Lincoln was the best of these earning first place with 496,000 units / $14.24 million during its first week of release for a Blu-ray share of 38%. This is really good for a drama.
More...
May 19th, 2013
The week of March 31st, 2013 was a strange week on the home market, as it contained Easter weekend. Easter sales helped a lot of older releases rise on the DVD sales chart. Even so, a new release, Lincoln, led the way with 818,000 units / $15.62 million.
More...
May 9th, 2013
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey dominated the new releases and easily won first place on the March 24th edition of the DVD sales chart. The film sold 1.07 million units and generated $13.05 million in opening week sales, putting it in the top ten of the year after just one week of release.
More...
April 29th, 2013
New releases did better on Blu-ray than they did on DVD with eight films charting on the March 17th, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. They were led by Rise of the Guardians, which sold 584,000 units / $11.77 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 42%, which is strong, for a kids movie.
More...
April 29th, 2013
There were not a lot of new releases on the March 17th, 2013 edition of the DVD sales chart, but one of them took top spot. Rise of the Guardians sold 804,000 units and generated $12.45 million in sales. This is a solid opening for this type of release.
More...
April 24th, 2013
Wreck-It Ralph led all new releases and helped the overall Blu-ray market sell 2.09 million units and generate $53.39 million in total sales. This was 21% more units than were sold last week, while the revenue was 34% higher. Compared to last year, 88% more units were sold and 70% higher revenue was generated. The overall Blu-ray share bounced back hitting 34% in terms of units and 44% in terms of revenue. That's more like it.
More...
April 24th, 2013
Wreck-It Ralph led a group of five new releases earning first place on the March 10th, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. The film sold 1.01 million units and generated $28.29 million in opening week sales, for an opening week Blu-ray share of 50%. This is is amazing for a kids film. Granted, it does have a high nerd nostalgia factor, which helped on Blu-ray, but this is still impressive.
More...
April 24th, 2013
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 remained on top spot on the March 10th, 2013 edition of the DVD sales chart, while there were seven new releases to put in an appearance in the top 30. Part 2 sold an additional 1.35 million units / $20.23 million during its first full week of release for early totals of 3.47 million units / $51.87 million. It is the best selling DVD of the year.
More...
March 28th, 2013
The Croods debuted in first place on the international chart with $63.09 million on 11,709 screens in 46 markets, while its global opening was $106.73 million. The film led the way in Russia with $7.82 million on 2,166 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $12.65 million, including previews. It made $8.18 million on 521 screens in the U.K., also including previews, which was enough for an easy first place finish. Another first place victory came in Mexico, where it made $4.51 million on 1,990 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $8.80 million. It also debuted on top of the chart in Germany with $3.63 million on 728 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $4.21 million, while it had nearly identical results in Brazil with $3.35 million on 728 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $4.13 million. The film earned more number one debuts in Italy ($3.90 million on 711) and in Spain ($3.33 million on 763).
More...
March 5th, 2013
It's a strange week for home market releases. On the one hand, there are some terrific films that should do really well. On the other hand, after the top couple of titles, the quality of the releases plummets really fast. By the time we get outside of the top ten, we start to get mostly filler. The best film coming out this week is Schindler's List, which makes its Blu-ray debut this week. It is absolutely a must have; however, the Blu-ray is shovelware, which precludes it from being the Pick of the Week. The release that gets that honor is Wreck-It Ralph on either Blu-ray or 3D. It is worth paying the extra money for 3D, but not a lot of people have made the leap to 3D just yet.
More...
March 4th, 2013
Wreck-It Ralph was one of three Disney animated films that earned Oscar nominations this year. It was considered by many to be the favorite to win; however, it lost out to fellow Disney creation, Brave. I'm a huge video game nerd and I've been playing video games since the Commodore 64 days. MULE, Archon, Impossible Mission, Epyx Summer Games franchise, Defender of the Crown. So many awesome old school games. I was really looking forward to seeing this movie, but I'm a little worried my expectations have grown too high. Is that the case?
More...
February 28th, 2013
A Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons remained in first place with $54.93 million in 6 markets for a total of $168.02 million after three weeks of release. It is the biggest Chinese film released this year, but it won't be the last to get to the century mark.
More...
February 21st, 2013
Thanks to the Chinese New Year, Journey To The West: Conquering The Demons rocketed into first place with $94.26 million in 5 markets over the weekend for a total run of $113.09 million. The film broke a number of records in its native China, including biggest opening day for a Chinese film ($12.3 million) and biggest single day of all time ($19.6 million) and fastest to $100 million in China (8 days). At this point, someone in North America should be interested in grabbing the film for a domestic release.
More...
February 14th, 2013
For the third weekend in a row, Django Unchained earned first place on the international chart. This weekend it earned $19.55 million on 5,090 screens in 65 markets for totals of $187.71 million internationally and $342.23 million worldwide. It has now made more than Inglourious Basterds made worldwide, and it is a week away from becoming Quentin Tarantino's undisputed biggest hit of his career. Plus, it has yet to open in Japan and a few other markets, so it might have more milestones ahead.
More...
February 6th, 2013
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 look at Best Animated Feature Film, which is surprisingly competitive this year, especially compared to most years. There is a Pixar film nominated, but it isn't the overwhelming favorite. In fact, all five films have a legitimate shot at winning, although there are some with better chances than others.
More...
January 28th, 2013
Producers Guild of America gave out their awards over the weekend, and there were a couple surprises, including a big win for Argo.
More...
January 23rd, 2013
Django Unchained began its international run in first place with $49.70 million on 5,863 screens in 54 markets. It opened in first place in a number of major markets, led by Germany, where it made $9.84 million on 482 screens, while it was nearly as potent in France with $7.54 million on 610 screens. It also earned first place in Italy with $4.60 million on 541 screens and in Spain with $3.40 million on 541. It had to settle for second place in the U.K. ($4.45 million on 445 screens); in Russia ($5.52 million on 736); and in Mexico ($999,000 on 451). It only managed third place in Brazil with $1.27 million, but it was only playing on 187 screens. Overall, this debut was 30% better than Inglourious Basterds' debut in the same markets.
More...
January 16th, 2013
Life of Pi remained in first place on the international chart with $34.95 million on 9,291 screens in 67 markets. Its totals reached $359.11 million internationally and $453.91 million worldwide. The film's biggest market of the weekend was Russia, where it earned $4.45 million on 1,575 screens over the weekend for a total of $25.07 million after two.
More...
January 10th, 2013
The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and there's certainly a lot to talk about. There are some nominations that should surprise no one. For instance, Lincoln led the way with twelve nominations, and it has been seen as the major contender for a long time. However, there were also a few surprise nominations and some major snubs. Here are the list of nominations, and some reactions.
More...
January 10th, 2013
Life of Pi rose to first place with $59.30 million on 10,027 screens in 64 markets for a total of $302.04 million internationally and $393.08 million worldwide. The film reportedly dominated the Russian box office with $14.2 million on 1,600 screens. It had to settle for second place in Australia with $5.18 million on 545 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.36 million. It managed third place in South Korea with $3.06 million on 392 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.35 million. This film has yet to open in Japan and a few smaller markets, so it isn't done yet and it should have no trouble getting to $500 million worldwide.
More...
January 6th, 2013
Producers Guild of America announced their nominations this week, including the three theatrical categories. There were a number of films on the list that have been mentioned time and time again this awards season, like Zero Dark Thirty, but there were also a few surprises.
More...
January 3rd, 2013
We are still stuck with studio estimates, but it is clear The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey repeated on the top of the international box office chart this past weekend. It earned $106.5 million in 62 markets for totals of $464 million internationally and $686 million worldwide. Its biggest opening of the weekend was from Australia where it earned $18.6 million on 560 screens. This is the biggest opening in the franchise. It also remained strong in Germany with $17.17 million on 888 screens over the weekend, which represented an 11% increase and pushed its total to $61.14 million after three weeks of release. It was also able to earn more than $10 million in the U.K. with $11.18 million on 596 screens over the weekend for a total of $58.51 million after three weeks of release. The film has yet to open in a few markets, so getting to $1 billion worldwide is still the main target.
More...
December 20th, 2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey entered the international chart in first place with $138.0 million on 18,165 screens in 56 markets. Leading the way was the U.K. with $18.80 million on 598 screens, while it also cracked $10 million in Germany with $15.13 million on 877 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $17.19 million. It also came very close in France with $9.77 million on 958 screens. The film had similar strong openings in Spain with $7.98 million on 1,052 screens and in South Korea with $7.29 million on 1,028 screes over the weekend, although it had a total opening of $8.50 million.
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...
December 13th, 2012
Rise Of The Guardians reached first place on the international chart with $26.71 million on 9,620 screens in 58 markets for a total of $91.33 million. The film had no major market openings, but it did rise to first place in the U.K. with $2.57 million on 495 screens over the weekend for a total of $6.51 million after two. It also remained in first place in France with $2.86 million on 649 screens, giving it a two-week total of $7.79 million. The film does have a few more markets left to open in, including Australia this coming weekend, so it should earn enough to break even sooner rather than later.
More...
November 26th, 2012
The Thanksgiving long weekend was stronger than anticipated with nearly every film topping predictions, some by pretty big margins. In fact, some earned more over three days than they were expected to earn over five days. Despite this, the box office was actually down 17% from last weekend to $208 million over the three-day portion of the weekend. This was 26% higher than the three-day portion of last year's Thanksgiving long weekend. Over five days, the box office pulled in $291 million, which is the most ever for a Thanksgiving weekend and 25% higher than last year. Year-to-date, 2012 has pulled in $9.75 billion, which is 5.5% higher than last year's running tally of $9.24 billion. If 2012 can simply match 2011 the rest of the way, then we will set a new all-time yearly box office total with about $10.7 billion.
More...
November 21st, 2012
It's the beginning of Thanksgiving long weekend tonight, which means it is a busy day for new releases. There are three new releases opening wide, plus another film that is expanding wide enough that is has a shot at the top ten. Unfortunately for the new films, there's little hope any of them will top The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 over the weekend. In fact, there's a chance none of them will top Skyfall for second place. Rise of the Guardians is the only one with a real shot at second place, while Life of Pi and Red Dawn will be in a tough battle for fifth place. Finally, Silver Linings Playbook is expanding to more than 400 theaters and could grab tenth place. The box office last year looks very similar to the box office potential this year. With a little luck, there will be mostly pleasant surprises rather than serious disappointments and 2012 will have another solid win.
More...
November 21st, 2012
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 opened internationally and dominated the chart with $199.45 million on 13,400 screens in 61 markets during its first weekend of release. It opened in a number of major markets, scoring first place in all of them. In the U.K., the film made $25.20 million on 558 screens, while it also topped $20 million in Russia with $21.97 million on 1,366. In France, the film pulled in $16.56 million on 823 screens, while in Brazil it earned $12.24 million on 1,213 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $17.87 million. In Spain it made $11.76 million on 1,052 screens over the weekend and $12.11 million including previews. It earned $10.58 million on 856 screens over the weekend in Italy for a total opening on $13.34 million. Mexico was close behind with $9.94 million on 2,642 screens over the weekend and $12.29 million in total. It didn't hit the $10 million market in South Korea; in fact, it barely earned first place there with $5.91 million on 665 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $7.17 million. A local hit, A Werewolf Boy was right behind, but more on that below.
More...
November 19th, 2012
While The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 wasn't quite as strong as predicted, it still had a monster opening. Likewise, the two big holdovers both fell a little further than anticipated. The only film in the top five that really beat expectations was Lincoln. Fortunately, all of the films in the top five came close enough to matching the predictions that the overall box office was still very strong. Compared to last week, the box office grew by 44% to just under $250 million. Compared to last year, the box office grew 12%, which is a much more important number. Year-to-date, 2012 has pulled in $9.41 billion and is now 4.8% above last year's pace. It is still technically possible that 2012 will fail to match last year at the box office, but it is ferociously unlikely.
More...
November 15th, 2012
As The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 prepares to re-write the record book, it would be easy to overlook the rest of the top five. However, there are a few other films of note. Firstly, Lincoln, which is expanding this weekend and will nearly be at the truly wide level. Nearly everyone thinks this film will grab a spot in the top five. Also, despite a lot of people predicting Breaking Dawn will break records, a lot of people think Skyfall will hold up pretty well over the weekend. By comparison, last year, Breaking Dawn, Part 1 had an impressive opening, but it was the only thing about the weekend that was impressive, as Happy Feet 2 crashed and burned. There's a slim chance Breaking Dawn, Part 2 will open with more than the combined openings of those two films. Adding in Skyfall and 2012 should come out with a major win this week.
More...
November 15th, 2012
For the third weekend in a row, Skyfall remained in first place on the international chart with $89.08 million on 11,909 screens in 80 markets for a total of $429.63 million. This is the biggest international total for the franchise and it is very close to topping the worldwide total of all of the pre-Daniel Craig Bond films. Worldwide, the film has $520.19 million and is on pace to add at least $200 million more, likely $300 million to its worldwide total before it is done. There were no major market openings this weekend, but the film did become the biggest non-3D release in the U.K. with $114.50 million, including $16.61 million on 589 screens this past weekend. It is fifth on the all-time chart in that market, but it likely overtook Toy Story 3 ($116 million) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 ($117 million) already. Up next is Titanic at $127 million and Avatar at $149 million. I wouldn't be willing to bet money it would become the all time leader, but I also wouldn't bet money against it.
More...
November 13th, 2012
Most people were expecting Skyfall to be a monster hit, but the film actually beat great expectations. Its opening helped the box office grow by 25% from last week to $173 million, which was 26% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2012 reached the $9 billion mark and not sits at $9.10 billion. By comparison, at this point in 2011, the total box office was $8.72 billion giving 2012 a 4.4% lead over last year.
More...
November 8th, 2012
There's only one wide release this weekend, but Skyfall could become one of the biggest hits of the holiday season. Nearly all analysts assume it will be the fastest opening Bond film of all time. It might make more that last year's top three films made combined. Wreck-It-Ralph should still be strong at the box office, while Flight should hold on better than most other films do. Overall it should be a very good week at the box office.
More...
November 8th, 2012
Skyfall expanded worldwide earning $156.09 million on 12,545 screens in 81 markets for a two-week total of $289.81 million. This is already more than Die Another Day finished with internationally, while it is on pace to top $500 million. This week it opened in first place in Germany with $21.28 million on 789 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $23.67 million It also earned first in Italy with $7.02 million on 632 screens over the weekend and $7.87 million in total. It had to settle for second place in Spain with $3.97 million on 639 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $6.50 million. Likewise, it only managed second place in Mexico with $2.67 million on 1,151 screens over the weekend for a total opening on $3.01 million. It dipped just 20% in the U.K. earning $25.74 million on 593 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $85.40 million. It is the biggest hit in that market all year. The film grew by 31% in France to $13.91 million on 845 screens over the weekend for a total of $28.26 million. It remained in first place in Russia with $5.74 million on 1,254 screens over the weekend for an early total of $16.67 million. It rose 1% in Brazil to $3.23 million on 558 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.78 million after two. The film was pushed into second place in South Korea, but still did well with $3.20 million on 581 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $11.59 million. The film has yet to open in Australia and Japan, while it makes its debut here this weekend.
More...
November 7th, 2012
Flight earned top spot on the Per Theater Chart with an average of $13,217, just ahead of the overall box office leader, Wreck-It-Ralph, which earned an average of $13,070.
More...
November 5th, 2012
Wreck-It-Ralph's opening was on the very high end of expectations, which was a pleasant surprise over the weekend. Also, Flight beat all but the most bullish predictions. Even The Man with the Iron Fists did a little better than expected. Overall, the box office soared 49% from last weekend to $138 million. It was also higher compared to this weekend last year by a very impressive 21%. November certainly got off to a great start. Year-to-date, 2012 is ahead of 2011's pace by just under 4.0% at $8.89 billion to $8.55 billion. After a couple weak months, the box office has shown great strength and it would take a disastrous collapse for 2012 to not come out ahead.
More...
November 4th, 2012
Wreck-It Ralph is breathing new life into the box office this weekend, after a few slow weeks, and with some help from an impressive opening for Flight this weekend will be a healthy 20% or so ahead of last year. Disney is projecting that Ralph will open with $49.1 million, which is a very creditable performance, if well behind the openings of The Incredibles and Monsters, Inc., both of which were released on the equivalent weekend in years gone by. The Pixar brand still counts for a lot, evidently. Flight's $25.01 million projection is well ahead of expectations (take a bow Denzel Washington and Robert Zemeckis), and has strong enough reviews to have good chances of legs into the Holiday Season.
More...
November 2nd, 2012
There's only one truly wide release this week, Wreck-It-Ralph, but it is opening in more than 3,700 theaters and with reviews that match its pre-release buzz. There are also two films opening in a little under 2,000 theaters, Flight and The Man with the Iron Fists, but both are earning good reviews and could have some impact at the box office by earning places in the top five. Last year the box office was led by Puss in Boots with $33.05 million during its sophomore stint. I think Wreck-It-Ralph will easily top that. The new releases were Tower Heist and A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas, which combined pulled in $36.98 million. I really doubt Flight and Iron Fists will do the same. So unless Wreck-It-Ralph has close to a $50 million opening, November will start off on a losing note in the year-over-year comparison.
More...
November 1st, 2012
October was pretty good with a few films really crushing expectations, which made up for the few duds that opened at the end. 2012 gained about $100 million over 2011 during the month of October. We really needed this success and hopefully November will continue this push forward. However, November is a bit of a weird month. There are five weekends, but only eight true wide releases, half of which open on the Thanksgiving long weekend, leaving the other four weeks with just one true wide release each. There are a couple others opening in the semi-wide level and another opening in limited release with a planned wide release, but even so, it is not a busy month. That said, it is a case of quality over quantity. There are four films that are pretty much guaranteed to reach $100 million, one of which should reach $300 million. By comparison, last November only produced one $100 million film. Granted, that film was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, which made nearly $300 million, which is a huge number no matter how you look at it. But this year, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 should top that number and with the other $100 million movies pulling in more than $400 million combined, it should be a very profitable month at the box office.
More...
