June 3rd, 2008
This was a bad week for big movies, with not a single first run release is even worth rating a solid purchase, never mind being a contender for DVD Pick of the Week. There were a few other contenders for the title, including Dirty Harry Collection on DVD or Blu-ray. However, I found it impossible to decide which format was the better deal. Had the Blu-ray provided anything more than High Definition, or been a more reasonable price compared to the DVD, it would have been an easier choice. One of them is the DVD Pick of the Week, I just don't know which one. On a side note, there is an immense flood of Blu-ray releases, including a few I thought were coming out previously.
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August 5th, 2007
There was a close race on the DVD Sales Chart this week, with The Number 23 topping Zodiac 387,000 units to 352,000 units sold.
Premonition fell to third place with 190,000 units sold and 791,000 in total.
The Hills Have Eyes 2 placed third with 134,000 units sold for the week and 536,000 in total.
Rounding out the top five was Shooter with 109,000 units sold for the week and 1.90 million after a month of release.
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July 30th, 2007
We finally got some wide releases worth picking up this week, which have been in tight supply most of the summer.
It's been rare to find one first-run release worth picking up in any given week, but this week we have two that are contenders for DVD Pick of the Week: 300 - 2-Disc Special Edition and Hot Fuzz - Buy from Amazon.
I was a little worried that a special edition for the latter might be around the corner, but that wasn't enough to prevent me from naming it as the DVD Pick of the Week.
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July 29th, 2007
We finally saw a new release top the charts this week as Premonition was the number one renting and seller on the home market this week including taking in $7.29 million in rentals.
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July 21st, 2007
Once again, new releases were unable to top the holdovers leaving Shooter in first place with $5.40 million over the week for a three-week total of $19.70 million.
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July 13th, 2007
New releases were practically shut out this week with now new releases in the top five, or top ten, for that matter. This left Shooter with an easy path to first place adding $6.48 million for the week and $14.30 in total.
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July 7th, 2007
There were five new releases to reach the rental chart this week, and even more on the sales chart. The leader of both of them was Shooter; on the sales chart the film picked up $7.82 million during its first week of release, or about one sixth of what it made during its theatrical run.
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June 26th, 2007
It's a relatively soft week for cream-of-the-crop releases, but what this week's selection it lacks in top quality it sadly more than makes up for with mediocre offerings. None of the first-run releases were of much interest, limited releases only produced a few DVDs worth a second look, and even big name TV on DVD was mostly lacking in the must-have department.
It took an obscure release from the U.K., The New Statesmen to win that coveted honor.
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June 10th, 2007
With no worldwide opening this weekend, several studios tried to open / expand smaller films hoping to take advantage of the lull. Despite this influx of competition, Fracture was able to hold strong dipping just one place with sixth with $2.25 million on 1018 screens in 16 markets for a total of $22.33 million internationally. The film wasn't able to top $1 million in any single market, but came closest in France with $671,000 over the weekend for a $7.20 million running total.
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May 27th, 2007
Mr. Bean's Holiday fell one spot out of the top five this weekend despite showing some significant growth. The film did have a few openings, including a third place $165,000 debut on 56 screens in Turkey, but its biggest market was Germany where it grew 44% to $651,000 on 577 screens for the weekend and $22.52 million in total. Overall the film added $3.47 million on 2634 screens in 43 markets for a total of $176.19 million internationally with debuts in South Korea, Japan, and China, yet to come, (and of course it doesn't open here till August).
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May 20th, 2007
The competition is still being pushed down by Spider-Man 3 and although there were half a dozen new releases to chart this week, it was still impossible to fill out a top 30 chart with any real details. For instance, Next had no major openings and its best midlevel was a second place debut in Malaysia with $115,000 on 30 screens. However, it was still able to remain in sixth place with $2.45 million on 1347 screens in 19 markets while its running total has grown to $18.94 million.
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May 13th, 2007
With Spider-Man 3 dominating the global market last weekend, there was very little else happening on the international charts that was newsworthy. With little in the way of new releases, or even expansion for holdovers, it was impossible just to fill out a top 30 chart. And with several films expected to attempt a worldwide opening over the next couple months, it will likely be that way till mid-August.
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May 2nd, 2007
There was a very close one-two punch at the international box office this past weekend with Wild Hogs just beating out Mr. Bean's Holiday $7.62 million to $7.42 million.
Hogs had only one mid-level opening this weekend, but pulling in $74,000 on 47 screens in Turkey is barely worth noting.
On the other hand, the film added $1.68 million on 583 screens in Germany to its two-week total of $5.28 million while adding $1.31 million on 412 screens in the U.K. for a three-week total of $8.54 million.
Overall it earned $7.62 million on 385 screens in 40 markets for a running tally of $55.43 million.
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April 25th, 2007
With Spider-man 3 just around the corner, theater owners worldwide are clearing room for what is expected to be a record-breaking run.
This has led to a recent downturn in the box office both domestically and internationally.
Even so, there are a few reasons to celebrate, including the continued strong performance by Mr. Bean's Holiday, which remained in top spot for the fourth weekend in a row, pulling in $13.51 million on 5,928 screens in 44 markets for a total of $145.30 million.
That was enough, in the end, to beat Wild Hogs into second place.
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April 22nd, 2007
Sunshine climbed into sixth place with $5.20 million on 1866 screens in 30 markets for a total of $10.20 million. However, while it nearly doubled last week's opening, this was entirely due to the film's expansion. Its biggest market of the weekend was France where it placed fourth with $1.36 million on 339 screens while it placed eighth in its debut in Australia with just $611,000 on 161 screens. On the other hand, the film only managed $508,000 on 192 screens during its debut in Japan and while likely see a sharp drop-off next weekend given its weak per screen average. Meanwhile in the U.K. the film suffered the worst week-to-week drop-off in the top ten down 57% to $879,000 on 409 screens over the weekend and a total of $4.45 million in total.
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April 8th, 2007
Norbit saw its weekend haul sliced neatly in half landing in sixth place with $4.09 million on 2270 screens in 39 markets for a total of $49.38 million. The film wasn't able to crack $1 million in any single market, but Italy came the closest with $940,000 on 263 screens for a two-week total of $3.19 million.
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April 2nd, 2007
March ended on a similar tone as it began, but not as strong as recent weeks.
Overall the weekend total gross was $128 million, down 5% from last weekend.
That is also down 10% from the same weekend last year.
However, it is important to note that was the weekend Ice Age: The Meltdown opened with nearly $70 million and 2007 is still 6% ahead of 2006's pace.
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April 1st, 2007
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started its international run this past weekend and just missed the top five on debut.
It did manage $3.92 million on 1,004 screens in 8 markets over the weekend and $4.53 million including previews.
Of this box office, nearly half of it came from a pair of third place openings in England ($1.27 million on 368 screens over the weekend and $1.86 million in total), and Australia ($379,000 on 58 screens).
The film also opened in Russia where the strong mutant demographic helped the film capture second place with $1.38 million on 360 screens.
(That was a Chernobyl joke, by the way.)
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March 29th, 2007
March started like a lion when Wild Hogs opened to nearly $40 million and was even more ferocious the weekend after that when 300 broke records. It is folklore that if March starts like a lion, it ends like a lamb. So what does this mean for this week's box office? Nothing, it's just folklore. The box office looks very vigorous this weekend with two top-tier releases opening at saturation level (3,000 or more theaters).
As an added bonus, both films are aimed at different target demographics, so both could be big hits.
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March 27th, 2007
Six wide releases in a single weekend appears to have been at least three too many as most struggled at the box office.
On the other hand, with so many new films opening and so many different demographics being targeted, it was a good week at the box office overall with receipts hitting $133 million, up 14% from last week and 22% from last year.
Year-to-date revenue has already hit $2 billion and is clocking in at nearly 6% higher than last year's pace.
More importantly, the number of big hits is increasing interest, and that can have a positive effect on future earnings.
I feel confident in saying records will fall this year.
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March 24th, 2007
Good week for trailers with several on the list, including a trio of major summer blockbusters. However, while those site will obviously generate the most traffic, they are not award-worthy sites, (at least not yet). The best site this week is Pathfinder - Official Site.
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March 22nd, 2007
There are six films opening in wide release this week, or at some level of wide release.
This is at least three too many, and to make matters worse, several share target demographics.
This insanity will mean that at least two films, possibly more, will fail to reach their potential.
It also makes predicting the weekend extremely difficult because of the extra variables.
Will Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appeal to just the younger crowd, or will fans of the original series also show up?
If so, will this cut into the box office of The Hills Have Eyes 2 and Shooter?
There's a lot to consider here.
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March 11th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Shooter. Pathfinder, Speed Racer and more.
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March 4th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Wendell Baker Story, Made of Honor, Star Trek XI and more.
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March 2nd, 2007
Just an average week in terms of updates, but there are a couple sites of note including the winner of the Weekly Website Award, Wild Hogs - Official Site.
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March 1st, 2007
March, a month without a holiday. In fact, It's the only month without any holidays to help boost the box office and this prevents studios from releasing big blockbusters. However, it is not the weakest month either and there are a few midlevel hits coming out over the next four weeks and even a couple that could top $100 million
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February 3rd, 2007
Busy week for limited releases and a busy week for websites, which explains why I'm wrapping things up at midnight. There wasn't a whole lot on this week's list that really attracted my attention, but I'm giving the Weekly Website Award to
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters -
Official Site, mainly for their ... extracurricular activities of the viral marketers in Boston. And remember people, real bombs are meant to be inconspicuous, they won't sing you a song or make rude gestures at you.
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January 6th, 2007
Big list as I try to catch up after the holidays. I think I caught all the updates. Not only are there a lot of sites on this week's list, several of them are potential award winners with the best of the best being
Smokin' Aces -
Official Site.
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November 12th, 2006
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Halloween, Saw 4, The Incredible Hulk and more.
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September 24th, 2006
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Horton Hears a Who, Black Snake Moan and more.
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