July 26th, 2015
There was not a single first run release among the new releases for July 7th, which meant Get Hard remained on top of the combined DVD and Blu-ray chart for July 12th. It sold an additional 268,000 units and generated $5.21 million for the week, giving it totals of 760,000 units / $13.75 million after two.
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July 22nd, 2015
Only one of the new releases for June 30th was a really big seller on the DVD and Blu-ray chart for July 5th. That was Get Hard, which led the way with 503,000 units / $8.81 million during its first week of release. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 31%. This is lower than the market average, but not that bad for a comedy.
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July 14th, 2015
The list of new releases for June 23rd was not good and the best DVD release, Teen Beach 2, wasn't even released on Blu-ray. This left holdovers on top of the DVD and Blu-ray chart for June 28th and The Kingsman: Secret Service claimed top spot with 198,000 units / $3.41 million units for the week for totals of 1.11 million units / $17.84 million after three weeks of release.
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July 5th, 2015
Back on schedule, not that there's much to talk about. The biggest new release for the week ending June 21 was Chappie, which barely made more than $30 million domestically. This meant a holdover, American Sniper, rose to top spot on the home market chart with 378,000 units / $5.30 million for the week. This gives the film totals of 2.76 million units / $49.44 million after a month of release.
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July 4th, 2015
It was a busy week in real life, with the July Preview, Canada Day, and July 4th holidays messing with schedules. Because of that, the home market numbers were late this week. However, this week's numbers will be up in the next two days, so it was a very short disruption. That said, there's not much to talk about when it comes to new releases on the home video sales charts for the week ending June 14. Sure, The Kingsman: Secret Service earned first place on the home market chart, but there was only one other new release in the top five and only a few others in the top 30. The number one release of the week sold 591,000 units and generated $10.29 million in consumer spending. This includes an opening week Blu-ray share of 51%. Anything above 50% is worth celebrating; however, the overall numbers are still lower than anticipated.
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June 22nd, 2015
It was a busy week on the home market, sort of. There were plenty of new releases on the video chart, with new releases earning five of the top six spots. However, the number one film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water wasn't a major hit, selling 584,000 units / $11.52 million. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 47%, which is really good for an animated film aimed at kids. Overall, this isn't a bad start, but I was really hoping for more. Its box office numbers were much better than expected, plus it was a great movie, but its home market debut is only good.
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June 17th, 2015
Wow. Slow week. There are a few releases that are notable, but we very quickly run into titles that would be considered filler during the average week. In fact, there are no first run releases that are contenders for Pick of the Week. There are a trio of limited releases that are in the running for that title: Time Lapse (DVD or Blu-ray or Video on Demand); Wild Tales (DVD or Blu-ray or Video on Demand); and The Wrecking Crew (DVD or Blu-ray or Video on Demand). There were also two catalog releases of note: The Cat Returns (Blu-ray Combo Pack) and Spirited Away (Blu-ray Combo Pack). Both are excellent, but Spirited Away is the better of the two films and it is the Pick of the Week.
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June 13th, 2015
Kingsman: The Secret Service is based on a comic book co-created by Mark Millar, who previously created the Kick-Ass comic book series. (On a side note, apparently there is a Hit Girl prequel comic book in the works and if that does well, there might be a Kick-Ass 3 movie that focuses more on Hit Girl. She was definitely the best part of the second movie.) It was a February release, so expectations were good, but not great. However, the film managed more than $125 million domestically and $400 million worldwide. That's fantastic. Is it as good as its box office numbers? Or did it thrive thanks to terrible competition?
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June 8th, 2015
It is a good week, but not a great week on the home market. There's really only one major release to talk about, Kingsman: The Secret Service. It is also one of the best releases of the week and one of a trio of Pick of the Week contenders that earned between 70% and 80% positive reviews. The other two are The Duff and The Sisterhood of Night. All three are worth picking up, but the winner of the Pick of the Week title is Red Army on DVD or Blu-ray / Video on Demand.
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April 16th, 2015
Furious 7 remained just as dominant at the international box office this weekend as it did in its opening weekend earning $198.7 million in 66 markets for totals of $550.47 million internationally and $802.0 million worldwide. It became the first film in the franchise and just the 46th film overall to crack the $800 million market worldwide. This past weekend, the film earned first place in China with $63.24 million in just one day. The film opened on Sunday there, with a record opening day for that market, which was close to its opening day domestic box office. The film opened in first place in Russia with $15.86 million on 1,184 screens. At this pace, the film will top $1 billion over the weekend and I can't imagine the studio won't try to make an eighth installment.
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April 9th, 2015
Furious 7 dominated the international chart with $245.05 million on 10,683 screens in 63 markets for a worldwide opening of $392.22 million. Unless the film has terrible legs, it should get to $1 billion. Speaking of $1 billion, Universal announced they reached $1 billion worldwide for the year in the earliest ever time for the studio. The previous record was May 31st, which was set in 2013. So not only did they beat the record, they crushed it. The film's best individual market was Mexico, where it earned $21.5 million on 685 screens. It also cracked $15 million in the U.K. ($18.7 million on 537); Germany ($15.9 million on 650). Additionally, the film topped $10 million in France ($11.4 million on 707); Brazil ($11.4 million on 551); Australia ($11.3 million on 255); Taiwan ($10.3 million on 80). This is an incredible run so far and could be a good omen for the upcoming summer blockbuster season.
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April 2nd, 2015
Cinderella returned to first place after a week in second. It did so with $40.0 million in 53 markets for totals of $187.7 million internationally and $337.3 million worldwide. The film opened in a number of major markets, including the U.K., where it earned first place with $5.65 million in 554 theaters. The film took $3.8 million in France and $3.7 million in Australia, while Brazil was close behind with $3.4 million. The film's debut in Spain wasn't as strong at $2.1 million, but that was still the best result of the weekend and the third best opening of the year. Meanwhile in China, the film added $12.33 million over the full week for a total of $65.92 million after three. At this pace, the film will have no trouble getting to $400 million worldwide, which will be enough to cover its entire production budget and perhaps all of its P&A budget.
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March 26th, 2015
As expected, Insurgent earned first place on the international chart earning $48.4 million on 10,187 screens in 76 markets. The film's biggest market was France, where it opened in first place with $6 million, while it made $4.37 million in 497 theaters in the U.K. earning first place there as well. Its best growth came from Brazil, where it nearly tripled the first film with $4.2 million. The film had to settle for second place in Russia with $3.76 million on 1,570 screens, but that was still close to 20% more than its predecessor opened with.
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March 24th, 2015
As expected, Insurgent led the way at the box office; however, it didn't live up to Divergent's opening from last year. Worse still, both The Gunman and Do You Believe? failed to match low expectations. Overall, the box office did dip from last week, but by less than $1 million or 0.5%. Its decline from last year was more troublesome at 7.3%. Year-to-date, 2015 is still ahead of 2014, but by only 2.2% at $2.18 billion to $2.13 billion.
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March 18th, 2015
Cinderella led the way on the international box office, but it can't be described as a Cinderella opening, as every one expected it to earn first place. The film pulled in $62.4 million in 31 markets during its first weekend of release. This includes $25.01 million during its first weekend in China, which was easily enough for first place. It also earned first place in Russia with $2.62 million on 1,550 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $7.06 million. The film placed first in Mexico ($5 million) and Italy ($4.6 million). It is still too early to tell where it will finish, but this is a strong start. By this time next week, it will likely have pulled in enough to cover its entire production budget.
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March 16th, 2015
As expected, Cinderella easily won the race to the top of the box office. However, it didn't quite do as well as expected. Additionally, Run All Night's opening was also a little softer than expected. Fortunately, despite this, the overall box office still bounced back from last weekend growing by 47% to $132 million. This was also higher than last year by 16%, which is really high for a year-over-year comparison. Year-to-date, 2015 is ahead of 2014 by 2.3% at $2.01 billion to $1.97 billion. This is not a huge lead, but it is still enough growth that the overall industry should be happy.
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March 15th, 2015
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Disney’s live action remake of Cinderella dominates this weekend’s box office chart with an opening that the studio is projecting will hit $70 million. That’s probably a little on the high side, based on the numbers we’re seeing, but the film will certainly be in the high 60s, which will comfortably put it in the top 10 weekends in March. By way of comparison, it’s a long way short of the $116 million opening enjoying by Alice in Wonderland during 3D’s heyday back in 2010; it’s a bit back from Oz the Great and Powerful’s $79 million start in 2013; and almost exactly on par with the $69 million pulled in by Maleficent last year. Maleficent opened in late May last year, while the other two opened in March, during school Spring Break season. The numbers suggest that Disney will continue to recycle old material in new ways in years to come. Indeed, Spring 2016 will see not one, but two more franchise recycles, with The Jungle Book and Through the Looking Glass already slated for release.
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March 12th, 2015
Last weekend was a disaster, the worst weekend at the box office so far this year. This weekend should bounce back with the opening of Cinderella. Its the first family film to come out since The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and its reviews are excellent. The other film opening wide this week is Run All Night, which is the latest Liam Neeson action film. There's not much more that needs to be said about that. This weekend last year was led by Mr. Peabody and Sherman with $21.81 million. Cinderella will crush that figure. In fact, Cinderella might make more than the top five made combined last year.
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March 12th, 2015
Jupiter Ascending returned to the international chart in first place with $25.3 million in 53 markets for a month-long total of $107.0 million internationally. This includes a first place, $23.08 million debut on 7,028 screens in China. If the film can have even middling legs in China, it will overtake its production budget on the global box office. However, it needed to make twice that to break even.
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March 10th, 2015
It was the worst weekend of the year so far with two of the three wide releases bombing compared to expectations. It was so bad, that the three wide releases combined were lower than the high end predictions for Chappie. Unfinished Business missed the Mendoza Line and will be quickly forgotten by the end of the month. Only The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has a future. Overall, the total box office was just under $90 million, which was 16% lower than last weekend. It was also 38% lower than the same weekend last year. The top five this year barely made more than the number one film from last year, 300: Rise of an Empire. The combined opening of the three new releases this year was dwarfed by the opening of Mr. Peabody and Sherman last year. Granted, 2015 is still ahead of 2014 in the year-to-date comparison, but the lead has shrunk to under 1% at $1.85 billion to $1.84 billion.
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March 8th, 2015
A soft opening for Chappie and a weak returning field will combine to make this the worst weekend at the box office since the dark days of early December last year. Total spending will be around $90 million, down substantially from this time last year when 300: Rise of an Empire opened with $45 million. Chappie won’t manage a third of that, with a $13.3 million weekend projected by Sony as of Sunday morning. A slightly stronger $8.6 million opening from 1,573 theaters for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel won’t help the overall numbers much, but does add a bit of diversity to the top of the chart.
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March 5th, 2015
March begins with three wide releases. Or to be more accurate, two wide releases and a semi-wide release. Unfortunately, both wide releases are being attacked by critics. Chappie is being called a smart idea with a dumb execution. Unfinished Business is earning some of the worst reviews of the year and its buzz is really not much better than its reviews. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is earning good reviews, but its theater count is low enough that it might not reach the top five. This weekend last year, there were two $100 million hits that debuted, 300: Rise of an Empire and Mr. Peabody and Sherman. None of the three wide releases this week will get to $100 million in total. In fact, all three films combined likely won't open with as much as 300: Rise of an Empire did. It looks like 2015 will lose in the year-over-year comparison in a significant way.
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March 5th, 2015
For the third weekend in a row, Fifty Shades of Grey ruled the international box office, this time pulling in $36 million in 59 markets over the weekend for totals of $337.00 million internationally and $484.40 million worldwide. It will reached $500 million early this weekend [ Copy Ed: Just heard it crossed $500 million today with $352 million internationally and $150 million domestically for a worldwide total of $502 million]. The film opened in South Korea, but struggled earning fourth place with $1.25 million on 510 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $1.80 million. It might have struggled in South Korea, because by the time it opened there, the word-of-mouth has overtaken the hype. Its biggest single market is the U.K. where it has made $46.27 million, including $3.43 million on 545 screens this past weekend.
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March 3rd, 2015
As expected, Focus led the way at the box office, but sadly did so with a much lower opening weekend result than predicted. The rest of the top five were a little stronger than predicted each earning between $10 million and $12 million. That said, the overall box office was still weak, down 10% from last week to $107 million. It was also down 13% from last year. This caused 2015's lead over 2014 to drop. Granted, 2015 is still ahead of 2014 by $110 million or 6.8% at $1.74 billion to $1.63 billion, so it would take a while to lose that lead at this pace.
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February 26th, 2015
The month ends with two wide releases: Focus and The Lazarus Effect. Neither film is expected to be a big hit, but at least Focus is expected to earn first place overtaking Fifty Shades of Grey. Overall, I think the box office will drop when compared to last week. Worse still, the box office looks weak when compared to last year. Last year, the box office was led by Non-Stop, while three films earned more than $20 million over the weekend. This year, there's a chance no film will earn $20 million. 2015 is very likely going to lose in the year-over-year comparison ending 2015's winning streak.
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February 25th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey remained in first place internationally with $68.1 million on 10,323 screens in 58 markets for totals of $280.5 million internationally and $409.7 million worldwide. The film had no major market openings this weekend, but it does open in South Korea this weekend. It is already the biggest hit of the year after just ten days of release and it has made enough to justify a sequel. However, its legs are definitely weak and I'm don't think the sequel will match its box office dominance.
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February 24th, 2015
While there were three new releases to reach the top ten, the top three spots were held by holdovers. As expected, Fifty Shades of Grey won the box office race, but it did so with a much lower number. McFarland, USA was the strongest of the three new releases, while The DUFF earned the best per theater average. The less said about Hot Tub Time Machine 2's debut, the better. Overall, the box office fell 45% to $119 million compared to last weekend. At first glance, this is a disaster; however, this is a post holiday weekend and last week's number one film was artificially inflated at the box office due to hype and Valentine's Day. Compared to last year, the box office was 7% higher. This helped push 2015's lead over 2015 to 8.5% or $1.60 billion to $1.48 billion.
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February 22nd, 2015
A 73% second-weekend drop won’t be enough to keep Fifty Shades of Grey out of its top spot on the weekend box office chart, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. With another $23.25 million in the bank, the erotic drama has amassed $130 million after two weekends domestically, and has now taken over $400 million worldwide.
This relative weakness in Fifty Shades' second outing isn’t a big surprise given its fervent fanbase, who are more likely to attend on the first weekend, its mediocre reviews, and the fact that last weekend was a holiday, which can increase the box office take substantially. Perhaps more to the point, taking the top spot twice and reaching $400 million is enough. Universal already has every incentive to continue the franchise.
Second and third places this weekend go to two other returning films that are also set to fall more than 50% from last weekend’s totals: Kingsman: The Secret Service will post $17.5 million for $67 million after two weekends, and The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water adds $15.5 million to take its tally to $125 million after three. While it is a substantial decrease, this is a more typical second-weekend drop.
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February 20th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey will again win the weekend box office race. In fact, it could make more than the three new wide releases make combined. The biggest of these three wide releases is Hot Tub Time Machine 2, but it is unfortunately earning terrible reviews. The DUFF's reviews were amazing, but it has since settled on merely good. McFarland, USA is earning the best reviews, but unfortunately its buzz is really quiet. Granted, its target audience doesn't tend to get hyped about movies, but this still isn't a good sign. This weekend last year, The LEGO Movie remained in first place with just over $30 million. This is about the same as Fifty Shades is expected to earn. If 2015 is to win, it will need to rely on depth. Since we could have seven films earning $10 million or more, that won't be an issue.
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February 19th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey dominated the international box office with an opening weekend of $158 million in 58 markets over the weekend for a total opening of $173.56 million. Worldwide, the film took $258.73 million during its opening weekend, which puts it just behind Taken 3 for the year. It became the biggest hit shortly after the weekend ended. The film's biggest market was in the U.K., where it made $20.90 million in 586 theaters. This is better than it opened with here, relative to the size of the two markets, so we can blame the U.K. for the success of this film. It also did incredibly well in Germany ($15.2 million on 741 screens); France ($12 million on 785); and Russia ($10.68 million on 1,105). Obviously the film is going to be turned into a franchise.
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February 18th, 2015
What We Do in the Shadows dominated the per theater chart earning an average of $41,778 in two theaters. This is high enough to suggest the film will be able to expand significantly. Additionally, its reviews are stunning, so its chances at box office success are even better. However, the comedy stylings of Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi are not really mainstream and that might hurt its chances. The second place film on the per theater chart was the overall number one film, Fifty Shades of Grey, which earned an average of $23,360. The Last 5 Years was next with an average of $17,158 in three theaters. Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem opened with an average of $12,105 in two theaters. Meanwhile, the second wide release of the week, Kingsman: The Secret Service, was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $11,300.
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February 18th, 2015
As expected, Fifty Shades of Grey dominated the weekend box office, while Kingsman: The Secret Service was strong in its own way. Overall, the box office earned $214 million over the three-day weekend and $247 million including Monday. Its three-day number is 41% more than last weekend. It is also 21% more than the same weekend last year. The four-day box office was 19% higher than the same weekend last year. 2015 has now opened up a 6.0% lead over 2014 at $1.45 billion to $1.37 billion.
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February 15th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey has overcome poor (although generally not disastrous) reviews and unusually risque material to dominate at the box office over Valentine’s Day weekend. Universal is projecting a $81.67 million three-day weekend as of Sunday morning, the second-biggest February weekend at the box office, just behind, ironically, The Passion of the Christ. Passion’s weekend was $83.8 million, and Fifty Shades could still overtake it for the best weekend of all-time in the month. Watching people suffer is apparently a thing in February.
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February 13th, 2015
Fifty Shades of Grey will win the weekend box office race and then aliens will come down to Earth and eliminate us as a species. Okay, that second part is just wishful thinking on my part. Kingsman: The Secret Service will open in a distant second place, despite earning reviews that are really good, for this time of year. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water will fit somewhere in-between the two new releases. Last year, The LEGO Movie remained in first place with $49.85 million. Fifty Shades of Grey will crush that figure, leading 2015 to an easy victory.
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February 13th, 2015
Jupiter Ascending earned first place on the international chart with $32.5 million. At first glance, this doesn't seem too bad for an opening weekend on the international chart, except the film was playing in 65 markets, so it doesn't have a lot of room to grow. Its biggest market was Russia, where it earned first place with $4.97 million on 1,900 screens. On the other hand, it only managed fourth place in South Korea with $1.67 million on 561 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $2.03 million.
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February 6th, 2015
Next weekend, Fifty Shades of Grey opens and while Kingsman: The Secret Service looks like the better movie, Fifty Shades of Grey is going to crush it at the box office. As such, it is 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 Fifty Shades of Grey.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Frankenprize, featuring Syrup on DVD, among other prizes.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win a Frankenprize, this time featuring Tasting Menu 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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February 4th, 2015
Running Man opened in top spot in both China and on the International chart with $37.05 million over the weekend in its native market. Films in China tend to have short legs, most of the time. There's still too much uncertainty to really predict the film's final box office numbers after just this weekend's results. On a side note, it wasn't that long ago that it would be unthinkable for a film opening in just China to finish first on the international chart. Now it is relatively common.
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February 1st, 2015
It was a record-breaking January thanks entirely to American Sniper, which set records, both during its limited release run and especially when it expanded wide. There were a couple of other films that did well, but for the most part, it was a typical January. The question is, will American Sniper boost the overall box office, which would help February, or will its effects fade as it does? There are ten wide releases in February; there are a few films that may or may not open in the top ten. Of these, there are only two that have a real shot at true box office success. The biggest film in terms of buzz is Fifty Shades of Grey, which looks so, so bad. Personally, I would rather watch The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water a hundred times than sit through just the trailer for Fifty Shades of Grey. If Fifty Shades of Grey becomes the biggest hit of the month, it will mrean the end of civilization. Because. I. Will. End. Civilization. Last February was mostly mediocre, except for The LEGO Movie which was a huge early year hit. There's no chance any film opening this month will match The LEGO Movie; the top two films likely won't match The LEGO Movie. Because of this, 2015 will need to rely on depth to come out ahead. I'm not sure how likely that will be.
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