May 27th, 2015
The top of the DVD sales chart were dominated by new releases with four of the top five DVDs new to the charts. This includes Paddington, which took top spot with 216,000 units / $3.24 million.
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May 27th, 2015
New releases took the top three spots on the Blu-ray sales chart, led by Paddington. The film sold 168,000 units and generated $3.35 million in sales. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 44%, which is amazing for a live action family film.
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April 28th, 2015
This is usually a terrible time of year on the home market with the dredges of January and February coming out and precious little else. However, this week is actually really strong with not only one of the best films of the year, Paddington, as well as a number of summer shows coming out on TV on DVD. Unfortunately, it is also a really shallow week and with the May monthly preview due on Friday, I'm not even going to pretend it's a deep week and I'm ignoring anything below second-tier releases. As far as Pick of the Week is concerned, there are really only two contenders. The first is the aforementioned Paddington DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack. The second is Mommy a Canadian movie coming out on DVD this week. Paddington is the Pick of the Week, but Mommy earns the rarely awarded Puck of the Week.
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February 22nd, 2015
The Independent Spirit Awards winners were announced last night and there were few surprises. Birdman led the way with 3 wins, but it wasn't the only film to come away with more than one award.
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February 17th, 2015
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at the two writing categories, ending with Best Adapted Screenplay. This is also a two-horse race, but one of the horses has a significant, but not insurmountable lead.
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January 21st, 2015
American Sniper expanded wide, but it still earned first place on the per theater chart with an average of $25,111 in more than 3,000 theaters. Second place went to Still Alice, which opened with an average of $17,667 in 12 theaters. Those were the only two films to reach the $10,000 club over the three-day weekend, but Ode to me Father came close enough that it probably got there over the four-day weekend.
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January 17th, 2015
The Oscar nominations were announced early in the morning, when all sensible people were asleep. There were some surprises, as well as some results that would have been surprises had it not been for the previous Awards Season nominations. Seventeen films earned two or more nods, led by Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel, both of which picked up nine nominations, while The Imitation Game was right behind with eight.
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January 13th, 2015
There was only one new release in the $10,000 club, which left American Sniper with an easy victory. It pulled in an average of $144,880 in four theaters, making it the first film ever to earn an per theater average of $100,000 or more for three weeks. Second place went to A Most Violent Year with an average of $29,135, also in four theaters. Taken 3 was the best of the new releases with an average of $10,908, just ahead of Song of the Sea with an average of $10,470.
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January 13th, 2015
Taken 3 earned first place at the box office, as expected, but it did so earning close to $40 million, which is much more than expected. Unfortunately, the rest of the box office wasn't nearly as strong as the overall number fell 19% from last week to $126 million. Compared to last year, the box office this year was 10% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2015 is behind 2014's pace by 1.8%. However, while 2014 was the worst year at the box office in nearly two decades, last January was the second-best January ever, so it is still way too early to panic.
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January 11th, 2015
A lukewarm critical reception hasn’t deterred movie fans from embracing the (possibly) final installment in the Taken franchise this weekend, with Taken 3 enjoying a $40.4 million debut, according to Fox’s Sunday estimate. That’s down somewhat from the $49.5 million posted by Taken 2 on its debut, but a theater average of $11,200 speaks for itself.
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January 8th, 2015
It is a strange weekend at the box office with the number of wide releases being outnumbered by the number of wide expansions. Taken 3 is the only wide release and it is widely expected to top the chart by a significant margin. Selma is the best film on this week's list and should do well during its first wide weekend. On the other hand, it appears Inherent Vice is not opening truly wide and that it likely won't reach the top ten. This weekend last year was led by Lone Survivor, which earned $37.85 million during its first week of wide release, while the only new wide release was The Legend of Hercules with $8.87 million. There was also another not-so wide expansion, August: Osage County, which earned seventh place with $7.16 million. Overall, it looks like 2015's batch of new releases are not quite as strong as last year's were, but 2015 did win last weekend, so perhaps the holdovers can help 2015 come out on top of the year-over-year comparison.
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January 6th, 2015
There were very few new films that came out during the first weekend of 2015, so it should come as no surprise that the per theater chart looked mostly the same as it did last weekend. This includes the top of the chart, American Sniper, which earned an average of $169,227 in four theaters, which is 7% higher than last weekend. That bodes well for its planned wide release later in the month. The best new release was A Most Violent Year, which opened with an average of $43,197, also in four theaters. This film should also expand significantly over the coming weeks. Selma was next with an average of $28,781 in 22 theaters. Inherent Vice earned an average of $15,712 in 16 theaters. It is expanding wide in just a few days, so this is a great result. Two Days, One Night was right behind with an average of $15,628 in two theaters. The Imitation Game was roughly even with last week with an average of $10,308. Leviathan rose earning an average of $10,300 in three theaters.
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December 31st, 2014
American Sniper led the way on the per theater chart with an estimated average of $152,500 in four theaters. This is the second best per theater average of the year, behind just The Grand Budapest Hotel and ahead of The Imitation Game. Second place for the weekend was Selma, which earned an average of $30,076 in 19 theaters during their Oscar-qualifying run. Two Days, One Night was a surprise entry in the $10,000 club earning an average of $24,118 in two theaters. It earned amazing reviews, but it didn't have as much buzz behind it as other film's that opening on Christmas. Into the Woods was the best of the wide releases in the $10,000 club earning an average of $12,726 in 2,440 theaters. Last week's winner, Inherent Vice, was next with an estimated average of $12,500 in 16 theaters. The overall box office leader, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, earned an average of $10,689, while The Imitation Game was right behind with $10,618. The final film in the $10,000 club was Mr. Turner with an average of $10,498 in 24 theaters.
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December 22nd, 2014
The $10,000 club was crowded this weekend with six films earning per theater averages of more than $10,000. This includes Inherent Vice, which led the way for the second time in a row earning an average of $29,055 in five theaters. This bodes well for its wide expansion in January. Speaking of expanding, The Imitation Game expanded from 25 theaters to 34 theaters earning an average of $25,253 in the process. It has already earned some measure of mainstream success and with room to grow, it will stay in theaters for a while. Mr. Turner was the best of the new limited releases earning an average of $21,728 in five theaters. Song of the Sea was next with $17,967 in one theater. The overall box office champ, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, earned an average of $14,122, which is lower than anticipated, but still pretty good. Finally, P.K. opened with an average of $13,108 in 272 theaters. It is rare that we get to talk about a Bollywood film in the $10,000 club.
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December 21st, 2014
After thirteen years (with a lengthy break in the middle), Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth Saga finally comes to an end this weekend with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Tolkein/Jackson fans are giving the franchise a rousing farewell, with $50 million expected this weekend and $90 million in total after five days. Comparisons are a little difficult, because the previous Hobbit installments opened on Fridays, but Desolation of Smaug racked up $86 million in its first five days and An Unexpected Journey hit $100 million on its fifth day in release. So this outing seems set to perform similarly overall, with $250 million – $300 million domestically and around $1 billion worldwide. That will solidify the franchise as the fourth-most successful in history, and if it can top $1.079 billion in this outing, it will be the only franchise ever to average more than $1 billion globally per film.
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December 16th, 2014
Inherent Vice won top spot on the per theater chart with an average of $65,637 in five theaters. This is the fifth best per theater average for the year, which is much better than expected. Second place went to The Imitation Game with an average of $34,010 in 25 theaters. It still has plenty of room to expand. The final film in the $10,000 club was Wild with an average of $13,198 in 116 theaters. It too has some room to expand, while it has also reached some level of mainstream success.
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December 14th, 2014
Big budget bible epic Exodus: Gods and Kings is probably the riskiest studio bet this Holiday Season. The $140 million-budgeted film will need to do considerable business domestically and internationally to earn a profit, and biblical epics haven’t had the best of track records in recent years. Early signs aren’t great, with Fox projecting a $24.5 million opening weekend, well behind the $43.7 million earned by Noah earlier in the year. There is room for the film to recover though, as it will almost certainly be able to keep playing in a lot of theaters through the New Year. $100 million seems like the top end of domestic expectations at this point, and its international performance so far doesn’t suggest overseas coin will help make up the difference.
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December 12th, 2014
We are deep into Awards season with three major awards nominations already handed out. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of limited releases coming out this week that will be part of Awards Season. Inherent Vice is the biggest release of the week, but its reviews are only good and not great, while there are a lot of great films in theaters at the moment.
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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 6th, 2014
The Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced last week and I'm getting to them a little late, because I needed to organize the whole Awards Season stories. Firstly, I've decided to use the year the movies were released not the year the awards are handed out, unlike what we did last year. This means both will have 2014 as the year. Not ideal, but it is better to fix the mistake now than carry on making it. Secondly, the headlines are just going to be the name of the Awards and either nominations or winners. This will make it easier for readers to find later on. As for the Independent Spirit Awards nominations, Birdman led the way with 6 nods, while Boyhood, Nightcrawler, and Selma were right behind with 5 each.
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