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.
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November 28th, 2012
The Independent Spirit Awards has a special place in the Awards Season. The nominations are the unoffficial start of Awards Season, but the actual awards aren't given out until Oscar weekend, so they are the beginning at the end of Awards Season. They also help out a lot of limited releases that would otherwise not get enough buzz, although they are not so good at predicting Oscar wins. This year, two films tied for most nominations, Moonrise Kingdom and The Silver Linings Playbook, both of which earned five nominations. They weren't the only films to earn multiple nominations though.
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September 7th, 2012
The Hunger Games dominated the Blu-ray Sales Chart during its first full week on the home market. It saw its sales numbers grow a little bit to 1.75 million units / $34.99 million for the week giving it totals of 3.42 million units / $68.32 million. It is already in the top ten best-selling Blu-rays of all time and the best-selling Blu-ray of the year. It likely won't last in first place for long, as The Avengers is coming out soon and should be record-breaking on Blu-ray.
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September 5th, 2012
Depending on how you look at things, there were more than ten new releases to reach the top 30 on the DVD Sales Chart. One of the confusing "new" releases is The Hunger Games, which spent its first full week on the home market, but came out a few days before Tuesday. It sold 2.50 million units and generated $42.48 million during its first full week of release, for totals of 4.68 million units / $79.46 million and it is already the second best selling DVD of 2012 and should be in first place very shortly. I was amazed that the film actually sold more this week than it did last week, even with its shortened opening week. After all, Breaking Dawn, Part 1 also opened with a shortened week, but fell nearly 40% during its first full week of release. Clearly this movie has much better word-of-mouth.
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August 22nd, 2012
It is an amazing week on the home market, if you count The Hunger Games. That film made its DVD and Blu-ray debut on Saturday, so it didn't quite come out this week, but it is still selling well. The best-selling Tuesday release was NCIS: Season Nine - Buy from Amazon, while the top five is dominated by Blu-ray catalog releases. I think Bernie comes close to being a Pick of the Week Contender and A Separation is even better, but I'm going with The Hunger Games as top pick.
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July 15th, 2012
Ice Age: Continental Drift will deliver a very solid $46 million over the weekend, according to Fox's Sunday morning estimate. While that's down quite a bit from the franchise's high point, The Meltdown's $68 million in 2006, it is up from the $41.7 million debut of Dawn of the Dinosaurs. If word-of-mouth is decent enough, the film should enjoy four weeks of relatively light direct competition, and might become the first title from the franchise to top $200 million domestically. Even more encouragingly for Fox, it's living up to the gigantic performances of its predecessors internationally, having already topped $200 million and broken a number of national records. The franchise as a whole has now cruised past $2 billion in global box office receipts and stands behind only Shrek among animated franchises.
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June 19th, 2012
Moonrise Kingdom has been on the top of the per theater chart for close to a month now. The past weekend it managed an average of $12,571 in nearly 200 theaters. Unfortunately for the box office as a whole, it was the only film to reach the $10,000 market. Your Sister's Sister did come close with an average of $8,402 in thirteen theaters, which is good enough to suggest some potential to expand.
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June 12th, 2012
For the third weekend in a row, Moonrise Kingdom remained the top film on the per theater chart with an average of $16,247. Again, most limited releases would kill to have an opening week per theater average that high while playing in only a couple theaters. Moonrise Kingdom did it in its third weekend of release while playing in nearly 100 theaters. To call it a success is an understatement. Prometheus finished in second place with $15,032, while the overall box office leader, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, was right behind with an average of $14,166. Dark Horse opened with $13,551 in its lone theater. Safety Not Guaranteed opened in ninety theaters, which is a little high for a limited release, but it still earned an impressive average of $10,862.
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June 5th, 2012
Moonrise Kingdom remained on the top of the per theater chart with an outstanding average of $54,805 in 16 theaters. If it had opened with that average in four theaters, it would have been considered a huge hit, so this is a fantastic sophomore stint. Snow White and the Huntsman was the only other film in the $10,000 club with an average of $14,900.
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May 30th, 2012
To call Moonrise Kingdom's opening impressive would be an understatement. The film earned more than $500,000 in just four theaters for an average of $130,749. ... I looked up three different sources to make sure that wasn't a typo. That's the ninth best per theater average of all time, and the best for a live action film. (Disney used to release the animated tentpole releases in one or two theaters for a prestige release a week before their wide releases and these films fill the top eight spots.) Les Intouchables placed second with an average of $25,263 in four theaters, which is excellent and suggests potential for expansion. The overall box office leader, Men in Black 3, was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $12,851.
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May 23rd, 2012
The Avengers was the only film to reach the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart earning an average of $13,096. Elena probably would have earned a spot in the $10,000 club had it not opened on Wednesday. It earned $9,035 in one theater over the weekend, but $13,240 over its five-day opening.
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May 8th, 2012
The Avengers opened on top of the per theater chart with a record-breaking average of $47,698. This is the highest ever for a number one film. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was in second place with an average of $27,298 in 27 theaters. It should have little trouble expanding. Last week's winner, Bernie, slipped to third place with an average of $17,568 in five theaters. It too should expand.
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May 2nd, 2012
Bernie got off to an unexpectedly strong start with an average of $28,602 in three theaters. With 82% positive reviews, it should have strong enough word-of-mouth to expand significantly. Headhunters was the only other film in the $10,000 club earning an average of $10,753 in four theaters. As a foreign language film, it will have more trouble expanding.
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April 29th, 2012
This weekend's four new wide releases were no match for Think Like a Man, according to studio estimates released on Sunday, with the comedy's 46% weekend-to-weekend drop-off and $18 million gross still putting it almost $7 million ahead of the next-best finisher. That movie, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, also comes from the Sony stable, although it is projected to be very narrowly at the head of a pack of movies that will earn around $11 million, and could actually end up anywhere between second and fifth when the final numbers come in on Monday. The other movies in the hunt for the (not very) coveted runners-up position include new release The Five-Year Engagement and two returning films: The Lucky One and The Hunger Games (which will end the weekend with over $370 million).
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April 27th, 2012
It's a very busy week for limited releases with a dozen films on this week's list. This includes a number of films earning overwhelmingly positive reviews or earning some pre-release buzz. Jesus Henry Christ, Headhunters, Booker's Place, and Sound of My Voice all have a shot at earning some measure of mainstream success. I doubt all four will, because there's just too much competition for limited dollars, but hopefully at least a couple will do so.
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