July 22nd, 2014
I think it is fair to say it is a mixed week on the home market. There are four wide releases coming out this week, but all but one struggled at the box office. Worse still, looking down the list of new releases and you quickly run into filler. Fortunately, there are a few films that are contenders for Pick of the Week, including Blue Ruin and Next Goal Wins. However, the winner is Ginger Snaps, which is coming out on a Special Edition Blu-ray.
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June 30th, 2014
With the recent weak performance of films such as Transcendence and Edge of Tomorrow at the box office, there’s been a lot of talk recently about how much actors and actresses are really worth to a film. The poor performance of these films hasn’t come as a huge surprise to followers of the Bankability Index, which produces valuations considerably below the $20 million that Johnny Depp reportedly earned from his lead role in Transcendence, and we thought this is a good opportunity to look at what the Index says about the most valuable actors and actresses in the business.
With Angelina Jolie making headlines for all the right reasons for her starring role in Maleficent, it seemed only fitting to start with an analysis of the most valuable actresses in Hollywood. For this chart, we’ve taken each star’s worldwide Bankability Index and divided it by the number of films they make each year to get an estimate of the average value they bring to a film, as of June, 2014.
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May 21st, 2014
Godzilla got off to a milestone start on the international market earning $103.0 million on 16,946 screens in 64 markets during its first weekend of release. It was able to dominate the box office thanks to a string of first place finishes in most of the major markets. Its biggest market was the U.K., where the film pulled in $10.73 million on 550 screens, while Russia was close behind with $8.65 million on 1,814 screens. The film was surprisingly strong in Mexico, pulling in $7.21 million on 2,494 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $8.57 million. It was also strong in Australia with $6.34 million on 498 screens and in France with $5.73 million on 596. The film earned $4.97 million on 584 screens over the weekend in Germany for a total opening in that market of $5.50 million. Brazil was a strong market for Godzilla, as it opened with $4.07 million on 417 screens there. The film's opening in South Korea was nearly the same with $3.65 million on 610 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $4.37 million. Italy was next with $3.55 million on 692 screens. Finally, the film was soft in Spain with an opening of $1.29 million on 427 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $1.55 million, but this was still enough for first place there. Overall, it wasn't as strong internationally as it was domestically, relative to the size of the markets, but it is still on pace to break even before it reaches the home market.
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April 30th, 2014
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 rose to first place on the international chart with $67.34 million on 14,587 screens for a two-week total of $132.15 million. This week's new openings included South Korea, where the film dominated with $10.84 million on 1,472 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $13.85 million. This is on par with The Amazing Spider-Man. It also earned first place in Russia with $9.34 million on 1,779 screens, which is also about on par with the first film. In Japan, it only managed fourth with $4.11 million on 763 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $5.11 million, which is less than half of the opening of the first film. On the other hand, it was stronger in Italy with $5.71 million on 811 screens over the weekend for a total of $6.58 million. It added $5.66 million on 1,566 screens over the weekend for a total of $27.77 million in the U.K., which again is about on par with The Amazing Spider-Man.
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April 29th, 2014
April ended with a new film on top, The Other Woman, which finally broke Captain America: The Winter Soldier's hold on the box office chart. It was a surprisingly strong hit earning $24.76 million, but the other new releases were not as strong. Brick Mansions only managed fifth place, while The Quiet Ones missed the Mendoza Line. The overall box office was $115 million, which was 13% lower than last weekend. More importantly, this is 25% more than the same weekend last year. 2014 added to its lead over 2013, which now stands at $257 million, or 9.2%. Its running tally is $3.05 billion and summer is just about to start.
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April 24th, 2014
Rio 2 remained in first place, barely, with $47.1 million in 65 markets for an international total of $200.9 million and a worldwide total of $276.0 million after a month of release. This includes a second place opening in Italy where it pulled in $2.17 million on 711 screens. This is again weaker than its predecessor's opening there. The film earned $12.05 million in China, but that was for the full week, pushing its total to $25.01 million after two. The first film barely played in China, so this is a boost to its international numbers, but I don't think it will be enough to match what the original movie made.
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April 23rd, 2014
The winners of our Power Through the Competition contest were determined and they are...
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April 22nd, 2014
Captain America: The Winter Soldier won the weekend box office race with a better than expected result and this helped it reach $200 million. Likewise, Heaven is for Real was surprisingly strong earning second place over the weekend, despite opening on Wednesday. Unfortunately, none of the other new releases lived up to expectations and the overall box office fell 5% to $133 million. This was still 20% higher than the same weekend last year, boosting 2014's lead over 2013 to 8% at $2.92 billion to $2.70 billion.
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April 20th, 2014
Moviegoers are celebrating Easter weekend by turning out in big numbers to see Heaven is for Real. The Christian-themed movie will be the biggest opener this weekend, with a very respectable $21.5 million projected Friday-to-Sunday and a theater average of $8,895. That puts it at nearly twice box office take of the widest opener this weekend, Transcendence, which is set for a very disappointing $11.15 million debut. Also opening this weekend, and similarly posting mediocre numbers is A Haunted House 2, with a projected $9.1 million from 2,310 theaters. But, with a production budget reported at $4 million, compared to $100 million for Transcendence, the horror spoof shouldn't have a hard time earning money.
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April 17th, 2014
It's a busy weekend with four wide releases opening this week, but only one of them, Transcendence, has a real shot at opening in first place, but its reviews will likely prevent that. Heaven is for Real is aiming for a midlevel hit, to match its midlevel reviews. A Haunted House 2 hopes to match its predecessor, but it is unlikely to get there. Finally there's Bears, which has the best reviews, but the weakest box office potential. Despite the number of new releases, top spot will likely be a battle between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Rio 2. Family films tend to have better legs, so that could give Rio 2 the edge, but movies also tend to drop the most during their sophomore weekend. (That is unless their theater count collapses shortly afterward.) Last year, Oblivion opened with $37.05 million, which is a figure no film will match this year. On the other hand, 42 was the only other film to earn more than $10 million last weekend. 2014 will lose on the top of the chart, but it also has better depth than 2013 did, so that should help it come out on top in the end.
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April 10th, 2014
It's a busy week at the box office next week including Bears, A Haunted House, Heaven is for Real, and Transcendence. Only Transcendence has a real shot at first place at the box office. As such, it is the only real choice for the target film for this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for Transcendence.
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 Power Rangers: Megaforce: The Great Dragon Spirit on DVD.
Meanwhile, 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 copy of Power Rangers: Megaforce: The Great Dragon Spirit 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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April 1st, 2014
March was stronger than expected when compared to 2013 with four films earning $100 million or more, led by Divergent. (Not all of them have gotten there yet, but they are certain to reach that milestone before they are done their box office runs.) It wasn't a blow-out victory, on the other hand, as a few weekends the ticket sales were lower in 2014 than they were during the same weekend in 2013. April looks really strong with Captain America: The Winter Soldier leading the way. This film should top $200 million over the weekend, while it isn't the only film that should crack the century mark, as Rio 2 is also on track for $100 million. This is great news, as no film last April reached $100 million. Granted, 42 came close and Oblivion wasn't far behind, but The Winter Soldier should earn more than those two films earned combined giving 2014 a comfortable lead over 2013 over the full month.
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