November 16th, 2011
Not only did Cars 2 lead the way on the DVD sales chart, it led the way on the Blu-ray sales chart as well. It dominated new releases and holdovers alike, selling 1.76 million units and generating $44.57 million in opening week sales. Its opening Blu-ray ratio was 47%, which is very good for a kids movie and an unexpected boon for the format.
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November 16th, 2011
While there were only four new releases to reach the top 30 on this week's DVD Sales Chart, three of them took the top three spots. Cars 2 earned first place with ease, selling 1.98 million units and generating $31.24 million in opening week sales.
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November 1st, 2011
The selection of home market releases is rather soft this week. Sure, Cars 2 was a major hit at the box office, but it is the only major hit on this week's list. The best selling TV on DVD release is Californication, which is a cable show, while the top ten selling titles according to Amazon.com include limited releases, catalogue titles and direct-to-DVD releases. There are more second-tier Christmas releases than any other type of release. There are far fewer titles that are worth picking up than last week, and the the Pick of the Week contenders are even more limited. Transformers: Beast Wars comes out on a Complete Series Collection and that could be Pick of the Week material, but I'm still waiting for the screener.
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October 31st, 2011
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was directed by Wayne Wang, who first came to prominence when he made The Joy Luck Club. He also made several other independent films that explored the Asian-American experience. He went on to make a number of mainstream Hollywood films as well, like Maid in Manhattan and Because of Winn-Dixie. None of these films lived up to his earlier films. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was seen as a possible return to form and the advance buzz was stronger than most limited releases are blessed with. Unfortunately, the hype didn't translate into ticket sales and it petered out after hitting $1 million in limited release. Limited release is always a risk, but did this film deserve better?
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October 30th, 2011
Water for Elephants is yet another attempt by a Twilight alumnus to prove they can be a box office draw. This time its Robert Pattinson and, while the film did better than Remember Me, it wasn't exactly a blockbuster. The question of his box office drawing power won't be answered with this film, but will those who do see, want to see more from the actor?
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May 18th, 2011
Fast Five remained in top spot on the international chart with $58.34 million on 8,819 screens in 61 markets for totals of $272.24 million internationally and $441.93 million worldwide. The film's only major market opening was in China, where it grabbed $9.1 million, which was easily enough for first place. It remained in first place in France ($4.97 million on 500 screens) and in Mexico ($4.77 million on 1,003) while it now has $15.17 million and $17.22 million in those two markets respectively. Its biggest market so far has been Russia, where it has earned $27.39 million after three weeks of release, including $2.53 million on 752 screens this past weekend. At this point, $600 million worldwide is becoming very likely, even with few additional markets left to open in. In fact, its next major market is Japan, but it doesn't open there till October.
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May 11th, 2011
Fast Five expanded worldwide and stormed into first place with $85.77 million on 7,363 screens in 58 markets for a total of $184.54 million internationally and $324.32 million worldwide. This is the biggest international weekend for an Universal film ever, just edging out King Kong's debut. It opened in 44 markets, finishing in first place in all of them. Highlights include France with $9.13 million on 500 screens, Mexico with $6.99 million on 1,743, Brazil with $4.85 million on 517, and Italy with $4.78 million on 533 screens over the weekend and $7.04 million in total. Meanwhile, the film held onto first place in Russia with $5.15 million on 1,100 screens over the weekend for a massive total of $22.64 million after two and it also repeated on top in Germany with $4.61 million on 645 screens over the weekend for a total of $16.72 million, also after two. Finally, the film completed the hattrick in Australia, leading the way for the third weekend in a row, with $1.97 million on 349 screens over the weekend lifting its total to $23.11 million. Fast Five doesn't have many more markets left to open in, but it is already an overwhelming success, so the studio should be ecstatic, so much so that extending the franchise is practically guaranteed at this point.
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May 2nd, 2011
There's finally reason to celebrate at the box office as Fast Five surpassed even the high end expectations and helped the overall box office numbers to their best levels of the year at $159 million. This was up 17% from last weekend and was a stunning 56% improvement over the same weekend last year. Granted, 2011 still lags behind 2010 by $500 million at $3.04 billion to $3.54 billion, but this is great news in the short term, and perhaps its a sign of strength to come.
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April 28th, 2011
Analysts are optimistic this week, and for good reason. Not only is one of the most anticipated films of the spring opening this week, it is opening with better than expected reviews and with buzz that is growing at the right time. There's an outside chance that the number one film this year will earn more than the top ten films earned this weekend last year. Even if the top film misses expectations by a 50% margin, 2011 should still earn its third victory in a row in the year-over-year comparison.
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April 25th, 2011
That's two wins in a row. This weekend pulled in $136 million, which was 5% higher than last weekend and an impressive 37% higher than the same weekend last year. Granted, Easter landed on a different weekend last year, but this is still an impressive win. Also, it helped 2011 close the gap on 2010 to 17% at $2.84 billion to $3.41 billion. It still going to take a lot just to catch up by the end of the year, but at least there's some reason to be optimistic going into the summer.
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April 24th, 2011
After a typically topsy-turvy Easter weekend, with Friday the best day at the box office, it looks as though Rio will top the chart with an estimated $26.8 million 3-day weekend. Madea's Big Happy Family still stands a small chance of finishing first, but is currently projected to end the weekend about $1 million back with $25.75 million. Both those figures are about in line with expectations, but Water for Elephants did slightly better than expected with $17.5 million for third place.
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April 21st, 2011
The box office is looking to extend its winning streak to two this weekend. There is some great news regarding that goal, as this time last year was really poor, with the three new releases earning less than $30 million combined. I would be shocked if Madea's Big Happy Family opened with less than that. With the Easter holiday, Rio and Hop should hold on well and 2011 should finally start digging itself out of the huge hole it is in.
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April 15th, 2011
There are two wide releases opening with Water for Elephants likely opening in many more theaters than Madea's Big Happy Family. However, I've learned to not bet against Madea and it is the latter film that is the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Madea's Big Happy Family.
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 3 Idiots on DVD.
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 3 Idiots 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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April 1st, 2011
Another month has gone by and 2011 has slipped further behind 2010's pace. March was a bit of an improvement over the first two months, but only in the most generous of terms. It still lost ground to 2010, but not at the same disastrous pace as January and February did. There is some good news, as last April was rather weak and there's a chance 2011 could actually gain ground. After all, only Clash of the Titans earned $100 million last year (although Date Night came awfully close). This year, there are three or four films that could hit the century mark. That would be welcome news indeed. On a side note, April is usually a bit of a dumping ground as studios fear going head-to-head with summer blockbusters opening in May. However, I get the feeling that this year they are hoping to extend summer by having it open a couple of weeks early. Maybe they'll succeed.
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