June 27th, 2012
It was a nearly record-breaking week on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, which is very strange for this time of year. Granted, we had the last of the winter blockbusters, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, leading the new releases, but it was still better than expected. That film sold 1.77 million units generating $40.71 million for a for an opening week Blu-ray share of 54%.
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June 26th, 2012
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows dominated the new releases and easily took top spot on top of the DVD sales chart this week. It sold 1.52 million units and generated $22.71 million in revenue, which is substantially more than its predecessor made during its opening week, despite selling fewer tickets while in theaters. It's hard to explain that.
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June 11th, 2012
It's another strong week at the home market, at least for this time of year. Usually at this time of year we are dealing with January and February releases, which tend to be rather bad and are rarely big hits at the box office. However, we have the last of the winter blockbusters coming out this Tuesday. The Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Blu-ray Combo Pack will be the best selling release of the week, and good enough to buy, but it is not Pick of the Week material. There were a couple others that came close, like Too Big to Fail on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack and In Darkness on DVD or Blu-ray. In the end, I went with Shallow Grave's Criterion Collection Blu-ray as the pick of the week, although Harold and Maude's Criterion Collection Blu-ray and Gold Rush's Criterion Collection Blu-ray are really close behind.
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March 7th, 2012
It was a slow week on the international chart with only three films that topped $10 million. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was the best, earning $15.7 million on 6,381 screens in 52 markets for a total of 185.6 million internationally and $270.8 million worldwide. It has now topped the original worldwide as well as internationally. The film opened in Germany with a mediocre total of $1.68 million on 424 screens. However, it is already a success, so the studio shouldn't complain about that result. The film has yet to open in Japan, but when it does, it should be above $300 million worldwide.
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February 29th, 2012
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance rose to first place with $21.44 million on 4,889 screens in 28 markets for a two-week total of $45.74 million. This week it opened in a trio of major markets, starting with Russia where it debuted in first place with $8.18 million on 913 screens. By comparison, Ghost Rider made $7.77 million in total in that market, so this is a great start. On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in Germany with $2.32 million on 428, which is roughly on par with its predecessor's opening. But it only managed third place in Spain with $1.16 million on 439. By comparison, the film made $3.12 million during its opening there. Mixed results make it difficult to predict the film's final box office number, but I think it is safe to say there won't be a Ghost Rider 3 any time soon.
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February 28th, 2012
There was a surprise winner at the box office this weekend as Act of Valor opened on the very high end of expectations while Good Deeds did the opposite. Overall, more films missed expectations than met them and this led to a 14% drop-off from last week. However, the total haul of $134 million was still 23% higher than the same weekend last year, which stretches the winning streak to eight weeks. Or to put it another way, every single weekend this year has been higher than the corresponding weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2012 is ahead of last year's pace by 18% at $1.62 billion to $1.38 billion. There is some bad news going forward, as I don't think March 2012 is as strong as March 2011.
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February 22nd, 2012
The winners of our Mystery Abounds contest were determined and they are...
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February 22nd, 2012
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island remained on top of the international chart with $27.5 million on 8,249 screens in 43 markets for a total of $130.0 million internationally. By comparison, its predecessor made $140 million in total. This week, The Mysterious Island opened in second place in France with $2.71 million on 436 screens, while it managed first place in Spain with $2.10 million on 468. The film is almost at $200 million worldwide, and with several major markets left to go, it should have no trouble getting to $250 million and maybe even $300 million.
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February 22nd, 2012
No films topped $10,000 on the per theaters chart; in fact, none of them come close. The Vow came closest with an average of $7,798. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was the best new release at an average of $6,968, while the best new limited release was Undefeated at $6,633.
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February 21st, 2012
Two of the three wide releases missed expectations and the best of the bunch, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, only managed third place over the weekend. However, the overall box office still pulled out a win in the year-over-year comparison. The box office did fall 19% from last weekend to $156 million, but this was 8% higher than the same weekend last year, which is much more important. The lead over last year grew to over $200 million at $1.46 billion to $1.23 billion, or 18%. Granted, it is still too early to celebrate, but so far the year-over-year numbers are fantastic while next weekend it looks even better.
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February 19th, 2012
A tight battle is brewing for box office honors this weekend, based on the studios' Sunday estimates. Safe House is currently ahead, with Universal predicting a $24 million 3-day weekend. The Vow runs in second place with $23.6 million according to Sony, which also has Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in third place with $22 million. Adding to the uncertainty, the most family-friendly film in the top ten, Journey 2: Mysterious Island is only a few million back, with Warner Bros. projecting it will make $20.1 million through Sunday. Overall, it looks as though Safe House will win both the 3-day and 4-day races, although Journey 2 could win Monday.
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February 16th, 2012
We enter Presidents Day long weekend with a substantial lead on 2011. (Although we are way behind 2010's and even 2009's pace. I choose to focus on the positive.) There are some good signs going into this weekend. Depending on who you talk to, there are two or three films that could hit $20 million over the three-day weekend and five or six that could reach $10 million. The best new release of the week, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance could make more than $30 million over three days and $40 million over four. There is some bad news, as this weekend last year was also pretty potent with six films earning more than $10 million over the three-day weekend. However, 2012 has better strength at the top, which should help it earn yet another win.
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February 13th, 2012
Another weekend, another win. For the sixth weekend in a row, 2012 has topped 2011 in the year-over-year, and like much of the year, it wasn't even close. The overall box office was up 66% from last weekend reaching $192 million. It was also 29% higher than the same weekend last year. All four wide releases beat expectations, sometimes by wide margins. Also, all earned more than $20 million, which is the first time that's happened on a non-holiday weekend. And two of them earned $40 million or more. Year-to-date, 2012 now has a 19% lead on 2011 at $1.19 billion to $1.00 billion. There is reason to be cautious however, as a lot of this growth is due to 2011 getting off to a disastrous start. It is still too soon to declare victory, but it is reason to at least be somewhat optimistic.
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February 10th, 2012
Next weekend, the widest release of the week will be This Means War; however, while the film opens on Friday, it has previews on Tuesday, Valentine's Day. I don't know how this will effect the film's box office numbers. I'm not even sure Tuesday's numbers will be kept separate from the weekend numbers. Because of this added complication, we are going to use Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance as 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 Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
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 Rebecca on Blu-ray.
Meanwhile, 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 Spellbound on Blu-ray.
Meanwhile, an additional entrant will be chosen and they will win a copy of Notorious on Blu-ray.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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February 1st, 2012
2012 got off to a great start, with January earning four wins in a row in the year-over-year comparison and finishing the month with a double-digit lead over 2011's pace. This has made me very hopeful going forward. That said, there are fourteen films opening wide or being re-released wide in February, and I don't think there's a $100 million hit in the group. In fact, I don't think any will get all that close to the century mark. There are several that should be solid mid-level hits and with a little luck, half of them could reached $50 million and there are five that could reach $75 million. Last February, Just Go With It topped $100 million while Gnomeo and Juliet came within $33,000 of doing the same. We won't replicate that this year, so we have to hope for a lot more depth. If films like Safe House, Journey 2, Ghost Rider 2, The Phantom Menace: 3D and The Vow all meet expectations, then perhaps 2012 will continue its hot start.
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