April 7th, 2015
Just as it was on the Blu-ray Sales Chart, there was a tight race for top spot in the DVD sales chart, only the combatants weren't entirely the same. Exodus: Gods and Kings topped Annie in terms of units at 226,000 units to 202,000 units, but the pair finished in the opposite order in terms of revenue with $3.59 million to $3.38 million.
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April 7th, 2015
New releases earned the top three spots on the Blu-ray Sales Chart this week, including a tight race for top spot. Penguins of Madagascar earned first place over Exodus: Gods and Kings in terms of units, 269,000 vs 257,000. However, in terms of revenue, the pair finished in the reverse order at $5.91 million to $5.38 million. As far the their opening week Blu-ray shares are concerned, Penguins managed a very strong 58%, while Exodus managed a very healthy 54%
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March 17th, 2015
It's a busy / short week on the home market. There are four first-run releases coming out this week, which is more than most weeks. However, it is also a very shallow week and we run into filler on the first page of Amazon's list of best-selling new releases. The best of the first-run releases is Top Five, but the DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack isn't quite Pick of the Week material. For that honor, we have to look to a smaller release, Song of the Sea on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack.
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January 5th, 2015
2015 box office started off on a strong note with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies leading the way with $21.73 million. More impressive, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death earned fourth place with $15.03 million, which is significantly more than what most people were predicting. The overall box office was $155 million, which is 2% lower than last weekend. More importantly, it is 10% higher than the same weekend last year. Obviously it is far, far too early to judge 2015, but after what happened last year, I'll take any win and I'll be happy about it.
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January 2nd, 2015
The new year starts with just one new release, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death. It's a horror film, which is a genre that is becoming common for early year releases. This is probably because these films are relatively cheap to produce, so they don't need a strong box office to break even. For example, this weekend last year, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, a horror film that cost $5 million to make, was the only wide release. I don't think Angel of Death will top The Marked Ones, but last weekend was strong in the year-over-year comparison, so perhaps the holdovers can help 2015 start on a winning note.
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December 30th, 2014
We are still dealing with studio estimates for the weekend numbers, but we can at least tell you what film won, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and roughly how much it earned, $41.42 million. The new releases were much closer than expected with Into the Woods and Unbroken both earning just over $30 million over the weekend. Because we don't have enough final numbers, we really can't compare the overall box office to last weekend or last year. So far, the final weekend of 2014 pulled in $200 million and that number should grow a little bit as box office numbers filter in. This is 52% more than last weekend and 2.3% more than the same weekend last year. I'm a little more bullish about January's box office chances after this result.
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December 22nd, 2014
The Christmas break got off on a soft note with all three new wide releases failing to meet expectations by substantial numbers. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies got off to a good start on Wednesday, but plummeted the next day and couldn't recover. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb failed to live up to the low end of expectations, while Annie's opening at least came close to predictions. We are still missing some numbers. Overall, the box office rose by more than 60% from last weekend to $135 million and this figure should rise a little as other numbers filter in. However, it likely won't rise by enough to match the $140 million earned the same weekend last year. I really thought 2014 would end its year-over-year slump this weekend, but alas, it was not to be. Year-to-date, 2014 has earned $9.60 billion, which is 4.6% lower than last year's pace.
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December 18th, 2014
For most, this weekend represents the beginning of the Christmas break, so it comes as no surprise that there are three potentially big hits coming out this week. I'm a little surprised none of them are getting overwhelmingly positive reviews. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is earning the best reviews of the week, but its Tomatometer Score is barely above 60%. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb has been floating around 50% positive all week, while Annie is being destroyed by critics. This weekend last year, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug earned first place for the second weekend in a row. Meanwhile, the new releases were less impressive, as Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues earned second place with $26.23 million and Walking with Dinosaurs landed in the lower half of the top ten. The depth this year won't be as strong, but I still think 2014 will finally end its slump and win in the year-over-year comparison.
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December 12th, 2014
Next week, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies opens on Wednesday. Normally this would prevent it from being the target film in our weekly box office prediction contest. However, it will still earn more than the other two wide releases, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and Annie, will make combined. As such, The Battle of the Five Armies is the clear choice for for 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 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
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 At the Devil's Door on Blu-ray.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win a copy of Cam2Cam 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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December 11th, 2014
The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning, at three in the morning, because the people at Golden Globes are under the delusion that news announced at 3:00 a.m. is somehow more important if it is announced before anyone is awake. As for the actual nominations, like with the Independent Spirit Awards and the SAG nominations, Birdman led the way. It earned seven nominations, while Boyhood and The Imitation Game tied for second with five apiece. Starting to notice a pattern here? This could be a really dull Awards Season with very few surprises. On the other hand, predictable means less work for me. Plus, predictable probably means the Awards Season voters are making the right choices, as surprises usually mean someone made the wrong choice.
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December 1st, 2014
November is over and there are not a lot of positive things to say about what happened during the month. There were a couple of films that matched expectations, but there were no breakout hits and a few that missed expectations by wide margins. Granted, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 will top $300 million with relative ease, but that's still nearly $100 million lower than some people were predicting. The month ends with 2014 about $300 million behind 2013's pace and there's really no chance to catch up in December. That doesn't mean there are no films that will be worth watching in December. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies should at least earn $200 million, while $300 million is not out of the question. Additionally, there are several films that at least have a shot at $100 million at the box office, but not all will get there. At least this December and last December are on par with each other. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug topped $250 million while there were three others that topped $100 million. I think we will get the same result this month. Last year there were a lot more wide releases, but many of them bombed. I think this year the lack of competition will help more films reach their potential.
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