Blu-ray Sales: Steel Grabs the Loot

February 8th, 2012

There was no competition on the Blu-ray sales chart, as Real Steel topped all new releases and holdovers by a healthy margin. It sold 799,000 units and generated $22.36 million in sales giving it an opening week Blu-ray share of 54%. Hopefully we will see a lot more films crack 50% as the winter blockbusters start to come out. More...

Awards Season: Avatar Not Hurting for Oscar Nominations

February 2nd, 2010

Oscar nominations were announced at 5:38 this morning, continuing a tradition that have never been adequately explained to me. (Why so early in the morning? Does earning an Oscar nomination become sweeter if people have to wake you up to congratulate you?) Leading the way in nominations were Avatar and The Hurt Locker, both of which pick up nine nods each, many of them in the same categories. More...

DVD Sales: Going Up

November 25th, 2009

As expected, Up dominated new releases on this week's sales chart as it earned first place with $88.13 million in consumer spending at retail and 5.30 million units. This instantly places it fourth on the overall chart for 2009. More...

DVD Sales - Rise of G.I.Joe

November 18th, 2009

There were five new releases sprinkled throughout the top 30 on this week's sales chart, mostly in the top ten. This includes a new number one best selling DVD, G.I.Joe - The Rise of Cobra, which sold 2.54 million units and accounted for $41.00 million in consumer spending at retail. This is on par with Wolverine sales late in September. More...

DVD Rentals - G.I.Joe Takes Top Spot

November 18th, 2009

There were five new releases top reach the top 30 of the rental charts, including the top two rentals. G.I.Joe - The Rise of Cobra generated roughly 28% more rentals than The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. This is obviously much closer than they were theatrically. More...

DVD Sales - Ice Age a Little Chilly in Stores?

November 11th, 2009

Five new releases reached the top 30 on the sales chart this week, including Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs, which took top spot with 2.46 million units sold and $43.62 million in opening week consumer spending at retail. This was enough for first place by a margin of nearly 1 million units; however, that was 44% lower unit sales that The Meltdown sold during its first week of release. Granted, there are some mitigating circumstance here, including the overall decline in DVD sales, as well as the rise in Blu-ray, but it is still troubling. More...

DVD Rentals - Dinosaurs Have Their Revenge

November 11th, 2009

Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs led the new releases to take top spot on the rental chart with roughly 50% more than second place Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen took in during its second week of release. More...

DVD Sales - Did We See a Transformation in the Record Books?

November 3rd, 2009

It came as no surprise that Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen was the best selling new release and the best selling DVD on the chart this week. During its first week of release, it sold 5.33 million units and generated $122.49 million in consumer spending at retail, which makes it the third-best selling DVD of the year and the second best in terms of revenue generated after just one week of release. More...

DVD Rentals - Fallen on Top

November 3rd, 2009

It was almost a slow week for new releases, sort of. Granted, we had the biggest movie of the year come out on the home market, but that was practically the only release of note. That release, Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen, easily won the race to top the rental chart with nearly three times the rentals as The Proposal managed during its second week of release. More...

DVD Releases for November 3rd, 2009 - Part I

November 2nd, 2009

Another week with a large selection of great releases, including several contenders for DVD Pick of the Week. (There are also more than a few releases that could have been contenders, but the screeners still have not yet arrived. I fear they will all arrive on the same day and the sheer number of them will cause my head to explode.) The best new release this week is Food, Inc. on either DVD or Blu-ray. Classic releases like North By Northwest on Blu-ray and It's a Wonderful Life on Blu-ray are must haves, as is the James Bond Blu-ray Box Set. Despite there being more than a dozen releases this week where I'm still waiting for the screener to arrive, the list as still too long to fit on one page. The second part can be found here. More...

DVD Releases for October 20th, 2009

October 19th, 2009

It's kind of a mixed week on the home market. True, we do have Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen, which should be the best-selling DVD of the year, as well as a record-breaking Blu-ray. However, it's not a very good movie and it seems to have scared away all the competition. There is a Transformers release that's worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week, but it's Transformers - 25th Anniversary Matrix of Leadership Collection. Also winning that honor is It's Garry Sandling's Show, The Complete Series. More...

Summer's Final Tally Sets Records

September 8th, 2009

Labor Day long weekend is over and, as we already knew, the summer of 2009 set records. Over the summer months, the box office earned $4.31 billion, which was well ahead of 2007's previous record of $4.16 billion. Granted, as mentioned before, this summer not only had two years of inflation, but also one additional weekend. Even so, there's a lot to cheer about. This past weekend, the industry pulled in $99 million over three days and $125 million over four. This is a huge amount compared to same weekend last year; however, because summer lasted one week longer, this weekend last year was the weekend after the Labor Day long weekend, so the comparison falls apart. Year-to-date, 2009 has earned $7.41 billion, which is 7.8% more than at the same point in 2008. The lead in terms of raw dollars is more than $500 million, and it would take a massive collapse for this lead to evaporate. Hopefully that will not happen, but given the performance of the three new releases this week, it is not impossible. More...

International Details - One for the Ages

August 8th, 2009

Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs became the all-time highest grossing animated film on the international scene during the past week. Over the weekend it earned $24.66 million on 8844 screens in 68 markets for a total of $551.39 million internationally, which tops the $526.88 million earned by Finding Nemo. On the other hand, that film made $866.59 million worldwide compared to this film's running tally of $733.45 million. Ice Age isn't done yet, and should reach a couple milestones before it is done. but the record is likely safe. More...

International Details - Ice Not Showing its Age

August 1st, 2009

It took Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs just a month to reach $500 million internationally becoming just the seventeenth film to reach that milestone. Over the weekend it added $40.37 million on 10,518 screens in 102 markets for a total of $505.18 million internationally and $676.68 million worldwide. The week the film opened in Japan, but it went nowhere in that market finishing in 10th place with $428,000 on 233 screens. The film opens in South Korea in a couple of weeks and in Italy at the end of the month, and when it does it should be at $600 million internationally and $800 million worldwide. More...

International Details - Harry Leaves Competition in the Cold

July 26th, 2009

Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs was pushed into second place by The Half-Blood Prince, but it became the biggest international hit of the year topping Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen. Over the weekend the film added $61.90 million on 11,089 screens in 102 markets for a total of $430.88 million internationally and $582.75 million Worldwide. It is possible that the film is already the biggest his in the franchise, but we won't know for sure till this weekend's numbers are released. More...

Hot-Blooded Weekend

July 21st, 2009

The year-to-year box office comparison has been hit hard over the weekend due to the competition from The Dark Knight, which opened this weekend last year. That film alone made $158.41 million over three days. This year, the total box office was $160 million, or 38% lower than last year. It was 12% more than last weekend, and 2009 is still ahead of 2008 by a 10% margin, $5.98 billion to $5.44 billion. But there's no chance things will rebound this coming week. More...

International Details - New Number One for the Year

July 19th, 2009

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen became the biggest hit of the year on the international scene, at least for a little while. Over the weekend it added $34.27 million on 8210 screens in 62 markets for a total of $371.24 million internationally and $710.46 million worldwide. It has overtaken Angels and Demons for the biggest international hit of 2009, for the time being, while it is just ahead of the original's worldwide total. More...

Going for Blood

July 15th, 2009

2009 has hit a bit of a rough patch when compared to 2008, and it is unlikely to get better this weekend. That is not to say there are no prime releases — far from it. However, this time last year saw the release of The Dark Knight, and there are very few who think any movie this year will be able to compete with that film. That said, the number who think we could have a huge weekend is growing. More...

Fashionably Late

July 14th, 2009

The weekend at the box office was rather boring, at least as far as box office numbers go. We had no records broken, no blockbuster releases, and no films that shocked analysts, either on the high end or the low end. Total ticket sales were at $143 million, which is 12% lower than last weekend and 5.5% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-day, 2009 is still ahead of 2008 by 11.2%, $5.68 billion to $5.11 billion. More...

International Details - Transformers Involved in Change on Top

July 12th, 2009

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen fell to second place with $57.50 million on 9158 screens in 61 markets for a total of $301.64 million. This puts the film less than $100 million behind the original internationally, which is a lead that won't last long. The film's biggest market of the weekend was South Korea where it placed first adding $7.76 million on 1076 screens to its total of $27.81 million. It also was impressive in China adding $5.2 million on 1009 screens for a total of $41.6 million, while it remained in first place in Australia with $4.95 million on 456 screens over the weekend and $21.51 million after two, and in Italy with $1.39 million on 565 screens over the weekend for a total of $8.06 million, also after two. More...

In Fashion

July 10th, 2009

There's a bit of a lull in blockbusters this week with no saturation level releases coming out, but that's not to say there isn't a potential $100 million movie. Compared to last year, the selection of new releases are not as strong, but overall 2009 might keep pace with 2008. More...

Transformers Reaches IMAX Milestone in Record Time

July 7th, 2009

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen made it all the way to $30 million on IMAX screens worldwide in just 12 days, which is the fastest a film has ever reached that milestone on IMAX. It added $6 million during the past weekend with a $4.6 million / $1.4 million domestic / international split. More...

Per Theater Chart Hurting for New Releases

July 7th, 2009

Only three films managed to reach the $10,000 mark on the per theater chart this week, and no new releases were able to top The Hurt Locker. That film led the way with an average or $14,578 in nine theaters, but it will need to strike fast if it wants to expand significantly. The Beaches of Agnes was the best of the new releases, opening with an average of $10,650 in two theaters. Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs opened with an average of $10,171, while the overall number one film, Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen, just missed the $10,000 market with an average of $9,995. More...

Transformers Hang on to Top Spot

July 7th, 2009

New releases were not as strong as expected, and Independence Day itself hurt a little more than I was expecting, but the overall box office was still solid at $162 million. Granted, this was nearly 19% less than last weekend, but more importantly it was 1.4% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2009 has made $5.44 billion, which is 11.6% ahead of last year's pace. More...

Weekend Estimates: Transformers and Ice Age Tie at the Top

July 5th, 2009

This weekend's box office race looked close, but how close only became apparent on Sunday morning when Fox and Paramount announced their weekend estimates. For the first time that we know of, the estimates have the two top movies in a tie, with each movie estimated to have earned $42.5 million over the weekend. Final numbers on Monday are virtually guaranteed to break the tie one way or the other, but the larger point is that both movies had strong weekends. (For the record, the closest weekend result in history was a virtual tie between CB4 and Fire in the Sky back in March, 1993. On that occasion, just $6,000, or less than 0.1% separated the two top movies.) More...

Dawn of the Holidays

July 1st, 2009

While the movie industry has been in summer mode for a full two months, for many, the July 4th weekend marks the official start of summer. To celebrate, there are two saturation level releases coming out this week, and both are opening tonight and not Friday. Both could be major hits, but they could have real trouble topping Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen over the weekend. Compared to last year, I don't think anything will top Hancock's opening weekend, but combined they should help 2009 maintain its strong pace compared to last year. More...

International Top of the Chart - Transformers Near $200 Million Mark

July 1st, 2009

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen expanded into 57 more markets earning one of the biggest weekends on the international scene. The film pulled in $165.43 million on 9763 screens in 59 for a two-week total of $189.58 million internationally, while it now has $389.65 million worldwide. This is the fourth biggest weekend haul on the international scene ever, behind Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but ahead of The Da Vinci Code. More...

Contest - Transforming Predictions into Prizes - Winning Announcement

June 30th, 2009

The winners of our Transforming Predictions into Prizes contest were determined and they are... More...

Transformers Changes the IMAX Record Book

June 30th, 2009

Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen rewrote the record book during its opening weekend on IMAX, earning $14.4 million on 169 IMAX screens for an average of $85,000. It had the biggest day on IMAX ($3.9 million); the biggest 5-day opening ($14.4 million); the biggest international day ($770,000 on Saturday); and the biggest three-day international weekend ($2.1 million). Worldwide, the film has $18.3 million in the super-large format, with plenty more upside to come. In comparison, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian managed $15.4 million worldwide during its run. More...

Hurt and Revenge Rise on the Per Theater Chart

June 30th, 2009

The Hurt Locker did something most films about the Iraq War have not been able to do: succeed at the box office. During its opening weekend it earned close to $150,000 in just four theaters for an average of $36,338. The overall number one film, Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen, managed second place with an average of $25,736, and nearly double that since Wednesday. Meanwhile, last week's number one film on the per theater average, Whatever Works, landed in third with $10,280. More...

Transformers Gets Revenge on the Critics

June 29th, 2009

The biggest opening of the year, and in some respects the biggest opening weekend ever, helped the overall box office recover from its mini-slump, with moviegoers spending just a hair shy of $200 million on tickets over the weekend. This was up 32% from last weekend and 7.9% higher than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2009 has now amassed $5.13 billion in ticket sales, which is 12% higher than last year's pace. It has been a long, long time since we've seen this kind of year-over-year growth, and while it is likely the box office will cool down over the rest of the summer, this is still an amazing performance. More...

Updated: Transformers US Weekend Numbers

June 29th, 2009

Paramount have released final weekend numbers for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The reported three-day weekend number is just a shade short of $109 million, for a five-day total just above $200 million. Although the Friday-Sunday weekend numbers were a little lower than Paramount's Sunday estimate, the studio revised its reported grosses for Wednesday and Thursday, which added just enough to the total to take the number above $200 million. Late reports from about 300 IMAX venues and theaters in Puerto Rico account for the increased numbers on Wednesday and Thursday.

The official five-day total is $200,077,255, with a weekend total of $108,966,307. More...

Transformers International Weekend Numbers: China Leads the Way

June 29th, 2009

Paramount Pictures International released international weekend numbers for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen this morning. China led the way with an impressive $15.8 million Friday-Sunday and a total gross of $24.3 million since the movie was released on Wednesday. South Korea was equally strong, with a Friday-Sunday gross of $10.8 million. But the movie was impressive everywhere, topping the charts in all 58 markets that it opened in over the weekend.

Note that Paramount is reporting an estimated total for the weekend of $162 million. This number includes Wednesday and Thursday receipts. Our estimate for the three day weekend is $106.2 million. More...

Transformers Powers to $200 Million

June 28th, 2009

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has powered to a five-day total of $201.25 million, according to Paramount's estimate released on Sunday morning. The action pic earned an estimated $36.8 million on Friday, $40.6 million on Saturday, and it projected to pick up an additional $34.6 million on Sunday. If it does (or comes close), it will match The Dark Knight's record of reaching $200 million in just five days (see complete list). More...

Movie Website Reviews for the Weekend of June 26th, 2009

June 28th, 2009

For a weekend that features what could be the biggest movie of the year, the list of movie websites is merely average. Then again, I've noticed this trend for a few years that movie websites have stagnated in quality. I blame Running Scared. The website was so popular, that it crashed the server, but the movie itself bombed. It was at this point that I believe studios realized that having a popular website doesn't mean a movie will be a hit. Since then, the amount of effort put into websites has dropped off with more sites featuring less sound and animation; even sites for wide releases are rather cookie cutter at the moment lacking interactivity or creativity. This is part of the reason why I'm strongly considering phasing out this column. There's very few sites worth writing about, and it would give me more time to concentrate on reviewing DVDs, which takes up a considerable amount of my time already. I haven't finalized my decision, so if you have any thoughts, e-mail me. More...

New Movie Trailers

June 27th, 2009

This week, we're starting a new feature on the site: a weekly round-up of movie trailers added to the site. For your convenience, the trailers are added to the movie's page, along with cast and crew information, and, of course, box office data once the movie goes into release. More...

Transformers Adds $28.6 Million on Thursday, $20 Million Internationally

June 26th, 2009

Variety reports this morning that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned an estimated $28.6 million on Thursday, bringing its two-day total to $89.2 million. Internationally, it picked up around $20 million, which will take its international total to about $80 million, and its worldwide gross to a shade short of $170 million. More...

$100 Million Weekend for Revenge?

June 26th, 2009

It looks like the high end of expectations might not have been high enough as Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen opened with more than $60 million on Wednesday, including midnight showings. This bodes very week for its weekend haul, which should help the overall box office from last year. To put this into perspective, last year's number one film, WALL-E earned $63 million over the weekend, or barely more than Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen earned in one day. More...

Transformers International Grosses

June 25th, 2009

Breakdown of grosses by country for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, at the end of its first day in worldwide release (June 24). More...

Transformers Wednesday: $60,628,141 US, Movie Stands at $59.2 Million Internationally

June 25th, 2009

Paramount has released opening day numbers for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, with the movie racking up an incredible $60,628,141, including midnight screenings in the early hours of the day. That's the second-best day in movie history, behind The Dark Knight's $67.2 million last year. More...

Transforming the Record Books?

June 24th, 2009

We may have a number of records broken this weekend, as potentially the biggest hit of the year, Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen, makes its debut. Or perhaps the film will have to settle for second place for a lot of records to last year's The Dark Knight, among other films. For instance, the film had midnight showings on Tuesday earning $16 million, which is very impressive, but The Dark Knight earned 15% more. But what about going forward? More...

International Top of the Chart - Transformers Changes Things Up

June 24th, 2009

In a change of pace, Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen started its international run before its domestic run opening in two markets, Japan and the U.K. While it only opened two markets, those two are the two biggest markets on the international scene, and it was able to top the chart with $19.64 million on 1174 screens. More...

Tuesday Grosses, Developing News on Transformers

June 24th, 2009

Variety reports that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opened with $16 million in midnight screenings last night -- a record for a movie opening on a Wednesday, and only slightly behind the $18.5 million earned by The Dark Knight at its Friday midnight screenings last year. Paramount will be including the midnight screenings in its calculation of the total opening receipts, which will be released in its official report tomorrow. We will post the numbers as soon as we receive them (most likely around 12.30pm, Pacific, although Paramount may release data earlier).

Revenge of the Fallen is playing in 4,234 theaters today, and will be gunning for an opening day in the mid-$50 million range. (see list of biggest single days). We'll keep you posted on any news as it breaks. More...

Contest - Transforming Predictions into Prizes

June 19th, 2009

What could be the biggest movie of the year opens next weekend. Actually, Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen opens before the weekend, and, thanks to Independence Day, its opening weekend is extended, but we only care about the Friday to Sunday numbers. In order to win our contest, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen. 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 Baby on Board on Blu-ray, as well as El Dorado 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 win a copy of Morning Light on DVD and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance on DVD. Remember - while the movie opens on Wednesday, we are only interested in the three-day weekend. That's Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so take that into account when sending in your predictions. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2009 Preview: June

June 1st, 2009

So far we are one month into summer, and it looks like we will have six $100 million movies already (as I'm writing this, only two are confirmed, while three more should reach that milestone over the weekend.) However, June doesn't look as strong, either compared to last month, or the same month last year. It's not entirely bad, and we could have the bigget movie of the year opening this month, but don't expect six more $100 million movies. In fact, there's a chance we won't get half that many. More...

Star Trek's Sophomore Stint Breaks more IMAX Records

May 20th, 2009

The second weekend for Star Trek saw even more records fall as it added $5.3 million on 138 screens over the weekend for a per screen average of $38,000, both of which are records. Overall the film has made $19.9 million worldwide playing on 163 screens, which is also a record for this point in a film's IMAX run. That's the good news. The bad news is on Friday, the film will be booted out of IMAX theaters to make room for Night at the Museum 2. More...

Star Trek Rewrites Record Book on IMAX

May 14th, 2009

The Star Trek prequel re-wrote the history of the franchise a little bit, but while that didn't please all fans, the box office results should. In fact, the film broke records on IMAX earning $8.5 million on 138 screens for a record setting per screen average of $62,000. It also made $1.1 million internationally on 25 screens. More...

IMAX Opening of Monstrous Proportions

March 31st, 2009

Monsters vs. Aliens broke several records over the week on IMAX screens on its way to a weekend haul of $5.1 million on 143 screens, which is the highest opening for an IMAX 3-D film. Additionally, the film earned $2.02 million on Saturday, which was the highest Saturday box office for any IMAX film, 3-D or not. The film's per screen average on IMAX was $35,682 compared to its non-IMAX per screen average of roughly $8,400. Internationally, the film broke IMAX records in a number of markets, including Russia, the Ukraine, and the Philippines, but numbers were not immediately available. More...

Cast Updates - June 26, 2008

June 26th, 2008

This week's round of new casting information contains updates for The Ghost, Stay Cool, The Stone Angel, and more! More...

Cast Updates - June 19, 2008

June 19th, 2008

This week's round of new casting information contains updates for 2012, Public Enemies, Transformers 2, and more! More...

Cast Updates - May 22, 2008

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...

Cast Updates - May 4, 2008

May 4th, 2008

This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Angels and Demons, Red, Transformers 2, and more! More...

Cast Updates - December 27, 2007

December 27th, 2007

This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Fly Me To the Moon, Justice League, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and more! More...

Cast Updates - October 11, 2007

October 11th, 2007

This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Avatar, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek XI, and more! More...

New Movie Announcements, Stars and Directors - October 9, 2007

October 9th, 2007

This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive! More...

Date	Rank	Gross	% Change	Screens	Per Screen	Total Gross	Week
2009/06/25	-	$10,900,064		457	$23,851	$15,744,823	1
2009/10/02	-	$4,178		5	$836	$34,859,544	15

Territory	Release Date	Opening Weekend	Opening Weekend Screens	Maximum Screens	Theatrical Engagements	Total Box Office	Report Date
Australia	6/24/2009	$10,900,064	457	457	462	$34,859,544	3/27/2017
North America	6/24/2009	$108,966,307	4,234	4,293	28,686	$402,111,870
Rest of World						$399,548,285
Worldwide Total						$836,519,699	3/27/2017

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen (Final Theatrical Trailer) from Bay Films/Michael Bay Dot Com on Vimeo.