July 10th, 2012
Wrath of the Titans led a trio of new releases on top of the Blu-ray sales chart. It sold 800,000 units and generated $18.37 million in revenue, giving the film an opening week Blu-ray share of 55%. A visually-intensive action movie opening with a Blu-ray share above 50% is no longer a noteworthy event.
More...
July 9th, 2012
New releases dominated the DVD sales chart with four of them placing in the top five. Things were led by 21 Jump Street, which sold 869,000 units while generating $14.77 million in opening week sales. This is a fine start, but given its theatrical run, it isn't a great start. On the other hand, it didn't need a great start to break even.
More...
June 25th, 2012
It's a good week on the home market, especially for this time of year. Not only do we have a first-run release that hit $100 million at the box office, 21 Jump Street, but we have an art house film that found massive success with moviegoers, critics, and even Awards Season voters, The Artist. There are also a couple of wide releases that should have some impact on the overall sales, Mirror Mirror and Wrath of the Titans, as well as some TV on DVD releases, limited releases, catalogue titles, etc. that are also of interest. As for Pick of the Week, The Artist on Blu-ray is the most obvious choice, but The 39 Steps on Blu-ray and Sound of Noise on DVD were also in the running. Finally, Phineas and Ferb: - The Perry Files arrived late, but it too is worthy of that honor.
More...
March 26th, 2012
The buzz surrounding The Hunger Games became nearly deafening by the time it opened. There were some concerns that the film couldn't possible live up to the hype. However, not only did it live up to the hype, it crushed expectations and set records. Overall the box office pulled in $214 million, which is the ninth best combined weekend total and the best non-Holiday season weekend (Summer blockbuster season and the Thanksgiving to New Years holiday run). This was 93% higher than last weekend and 76% higher than the same weekend last year. Needless to say, 2012 stretched its lead over 2011, and it now sits 19% ahead of last year's pace at $2.41 billion to $2.02 billion. This is behind 2010's running tally of $2.69 billion, but ahead of 2009, which had $2.38 billion at this point of the year, so while we are not quite on a record-breaking pace, it has been a very good year so far.
More...
March 22nd, 2012
At the beginning of the month, most people were expecting The Hunger Games to have one of the biggest openings of March and one of the all-time biggest openings for a non-sequel film. However, that's changed... for the better. Instead of analysts predicting $70 million to $80 million over its opening weekend, expectations have grown to the point where it could earn over $100 million over the next three days and still be considered a disappointment. In fact, there are many who are predicting The Hunger Games will make more by itself than the entire industry made last year. Needless to say, if that happened, 2012 will make up for last week's 3.6% year-over-year decline in a huge way.
More...
March 19th, 2012
2012's winning streak finally came to a close, but it was close. Overall the total box office was $111 million, which was 17% lower than last week and more importantly, down 3.6% compared to the same weekend last year. 21 Jump Street did hold up its end of the box office numbers, but since the only other new release in the top ten was Casa di me Padre, is wasn't enough. Year-to-date, 2012 is still ahead of 2011's pace by 16% at $2.16 billion to $1.87 billion. That lead will grow next weekend with the release of The Hunger Games, which could be record-breaking at the box office and is just as strong with critics.
More...
March 12th, 2012
As expected, Doctor Seuss' The Lorax led the way at the box office, but unfortunately, it was on the low end of expectations. Unfortunately, while John Carter did land on the high end of expectations, it really wasn't able to pick up the slack. Overall, the box office fell 21% from last week to $133 million. This was higher than the same weekend last year, but by only 3%. At least the streak is still intact and has now reached ten weeks. Year-to-date, 2012 has reached $2 billion and is now ahead of 2011 by 18% at $2.01 billion to $1.70 billion. Let's hope next week is just as lucrative.
More...
March 11th, 2012
Although John Carter's opening won't be as bad as the direst predictions, an anemic $30.6 million debut will condemn the film to the record books for all the wrong reasons and (in spite of good international numbers) almost certainly cause a write-down for Disney. Or more immediate embarrassment, the film will fail to win the weekend, coming in second to The Lorax, which is set to post $39.1 million in its second weekend, according to Universal's estimate. That combination of two $30 million plus films will give 2012 another weekend win over last year.
More...
March 8th, 2012
Three films open wide release this week, but none of them look like they will compete with the Doctor Seuss' The Lorax for top spot. John Carter is the only one with a real shot at first place, but there's a chance it won't make half as much as The Lorax does over the next three days. Silent House is the best-reviewed new release of the week, and if it can remain above 60% positive, it will be the only film in the top ten with overall positive reviews. Finally there's A Thousand Words, but the less said about that film, the better. (It's opening in under 2,000 theaters with zero positive reviews.) Last year Battle: Los Angeles opened in first place with $35 million, a figure The Lorax should top, while the rest of the top ten look about same this year as last. The winning streak should continue.
More...
March 1st, 2012
February continued 2012's winning streak, which has now reached eight weeks. Will that streak continue in March? I'm not sure it will. There are some very good signs. For instance, last March, only one film reached $100 million, Rango, while there were a couple others that cracked $75 million, Battle: Los Angeles and Limitless. Plus the final weekend of this month lines up with the first weekend of April last year, which also had a $100 million hit, Hop. This time around, things look a whole lot better at the top with a potential $200 million hit, The Hunger Games, and two more that should hit the century mark, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, and Wrath of the Titans. Plus a couple others, 21 Jump Street and John Carter of Mars, that could top $75 million. However, there are a few weeks that look soft when compared with last year. I suspect The Hunger Games will be such a huge hit that overall March 2012 will perform better than March 2011, but I also think there will be a couple weeks of year-over-year declines. On the plus side, very few films feel like filler; in fact, there are very few films, period. Over the next five weekends, only nine films are opening wide, which is odd for this time of year. In fact, it would be slow for the heart of summer, when most weeks have a blockbuster and one counter-programming film. Will this help the overall box office, as no films will be squeezed out? Or will the lack of choices hurt the box office? We will soon find out, but I remain cautiously optimistic.
More...
June 19th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for 2012, Public Enemies, Transformers 2, and more!
More...
May 22nd, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Doubt, The Go-Getter, Veronika Decides to Die, and more!
More...
April 22nd, 2008
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
More...
April 17th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Mardi Gras, The Uninvited, A Thousand Words, and more!
More...