September 21st, 2011
We had good news on the Blu-ray sales chart, as X-Men: First Class opened better than it did on DVD. It dominated with 825,000 units / $19.35 million during just three days of sales. That was more than the rest of the market managed over the full week. This gave the film an opening week Blu-ray ratio of just under 60%, which is the best the format has managed for a first-run release.
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September 21st, 2011
New releases dominated the DVD sales chart this week with ten in the top thirty and three in the top five. This includes X-Men: First Class, which took top spot with 561,000 units / $10.01 million during just three days of release.
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September 7th, 2011
It's a transition week on the home market and while today doesn't mark the beginning of the Christmas shopping season, it's soon. Very soon. As in Friday. That's when X-Men: First Class comes out, which is the first of the summer blockbusters. The film earned fantastic reviews and will likely be the Pick of the Week, when the screener arrives.
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September 6th, 2011
Like many comedians before him, Will Ferrell has begun to try his hand at drama. He did earn praise for his performance in Stranger Than Fiction, but the film wasn't exactly a box office hit. Everything Must Go earned slightly better reviews, but opened in just over 200 theaters and struggled to find an audience. Granted, many films struggle when they open in "Select Cities", but it is always disappointing when a film's box office numbers are so much weaker than its critical success. Will it be able to turn things around on the home market? Or is Will Ferrell's appeal in drama just too limited.
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June 1st, 2011
It was another amazing week on the per theater chart as The Tree of Life led the way with an average of $93,230 in four theaters. This represents the best per screen average for the director and for the distributor. Add in reviews that might be Oscar-worthy, and the film should expand over the coming weeks / months. Speaking of expanding, and Oscar -worthy reviews, Midnight in Paris saw its theater count grow from 6 to 58, while its per theater average held on strong at $33,268. The overall number one film, The Hangover 2, was next with an average of $23,775, while Kung Fu Panda 2 was the only other film to cross the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart with an average of $12,142.
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May 24th, 2011
Midnight in Paris had the best per screen average for the year so far and came within a rounding error of topping $100,000. The film opened with $599,003 in 6 theaters for an average of $99,834, which represents a career best for Woody Allen. Add in its Oscar-worthy reviews, and there's no telling where it could go. The overall number one film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, was the only other film to crack $10,000 on the per theater chart, as it opened with an average of $21,697.
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May 17th, 2011
L'Amour Fou was the only film to top the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart, earning first place with an average of $18,625 in two theaters. The number two film on the overall box office chart, Bridesmaids, did at least come relatively close with an average of $8,995.
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May 15th, 2011
A bigger-than-expected opening for Bridesmaids gave the market a welcome shot in the arm this weekend, according to studio estimates. While the comedy didn't top the weekend, it did top most predictions (although C.S. just about nailed it in his Friday column) with an estimated debut of $24.4 million, continuing an excellent run for Universal after a long stretch of under-performance. Thor remained top of the chart though, and will drop a respectable 47% according to Paramount's figures. That puts it on track for about $170 million in total, which isn't bad for the first outing in a franchise, although hardly record-breaking.
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May 13th, 2011
The list of limited releases on this week's chart is not nearly as long as last weekend, but there are several that having been earning strong advanced buzz. But how many will be able to live up to this buzz?
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