November 5th, 2013
Twilight came out in 2008 to a mixture of high buzz and abject horror. There were a lot of people who were major fans of the book series by Stephenie Meyer, while others consider Stephenie Meyer the worst author of all time. That might be a bit harsh. The first movie opened with mixed reviews, but smashed through all expectations with nearly $200 million domestically. A year later, New Moon came out and despite earning just 27% positive reviews. That's awful any way you look at it, but even so, it earned nearly $300 million at the box office. Clearly this franchise is critic-proof and I'm under no delusion that any of my criticisms will stop anyone from buying this 10-disc Blu-ray box set. I'm so convinced that no one will change their minds over my opinion of the movie that I'm going to keep that portion of the review to a minimum and concentrate on the extras instead. After all, anyone interested in this box set has already made up their mind about the movie and just want to know if this box set has enough extras to be worth the price.
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April 24th, 2013
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 remained on top spot on the March 10th, 2013 edition of the DVD sales chart, while there were seven new releases to put in an appearance in the top 30. Part 2 sold an additional 1.35 million units / $20.23 million during its first full week of release for early totals of 3.47 million units / $51.87 million. It is the best selling DVD of the year.
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April 19th, 2013
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 was one of four releases from the franchise to come out this week on Blu-ray. Normally it would be great news for the Blu-ray market when a monster hit like this comes out; however, the target demographic isn't the prime demographic for Blu-ray. The overall sales actually fell when compared to last week, albeit by less than 2% in terms of units and 15% in terms of revenue. Additionally, sales of 1.61 million units / $37.46 million for the week were 94% / 79% higher than the same weekend last year. You can't complain about that. The overall Blu-ray share took a beating falling to 27% in terms of units and 32% in terms of revenue. This is just an anomaly given the top release(s).
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April 19th, 2013
A pair of new releases led the way on the March 3rd, 2013 edition of the Blu-ray sales chart. Or perhaps there was only one. It depends on how you look at things. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 earned first place with 649,000 units / $12.96 million. However, second place went to the Breaking Dawn double-shot, which sold 173,000 units / $3.77 million. Technically those are two different releases, but one could count them as one movie. Individually, they have opening week Blu-ray shares of 23% and 29%, which is pretty bad for a first-run release. However, this franchise has always pulled in more women than men, and movies aimed at women tend not to do as well on Blu-ray.
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April 19th, 2013
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 dominated the new releases and easily took first place on the March 3rd, 2013 edition of the DVD sales chart. It sold 2.12 million units and generated $31.64 million, and did so during a shortened sales week. (It came out on Friday.) Second place went to a Breaking Dawn double-pack, which was an exclusive release. The double-shot sold an additional 418,00 units and generated $16.70 million more in sales. Add them together, and this film is already the best selling DVD of 2013, at least so far.
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February 26th, 2013
It's a good week on the home market with not only one of the biggest films of the last year coming out, but also one of the best. The biggest is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2, which should be the best selling DVD and Blu-ray for the week, but it isn't a contender for Pick of the Week. For that honor, we go back a few weeks to Frankenweenie. The screener arrived late, but it was worth waiting for and the 3D Combo Pack, while a little pricey, is worth picking up. Also in contender for Pick of the Week is Rocko's Modern Life: The Complete Series.
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March 26th, 2012
It's not a particularly strong week when it comes to the home market. The biggest box office hit coming out this week is Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked, but that film missed expectations at the box office and was savaged by critics. It should be the best selling DVD and Blu-ray of the week, but that's because it is a slow week overall. As for the best of the best, Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIII is my choice for Pick of the Week. Others might go with South Park: Season 15 instead, while A Dangerous Method would also be the top choice of many. By a strange coincidence, I'm waiting for the screeners for all four of these films.
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March 13th, 2012
Puss in Boots remained in first place on the DVD sales chart during its first full week of release. It sold an additional 798,000 units and generating $12.16 million in revenue for totals of 1.65 million units / $26.74 million so far.
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March 7th, 2012
Like it did on the DVD Sales Chart, Puss in Boots opened on first place on the Blu-ray sales chart. It sold 571,000 units generating $15.99 million in sales, and that's just from Friday through Sunday. Its opening Blu-ray share was 40%, which is excellent for a kid's movie.
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March 7th, 2012
Puss in Boots opened in top spot on the DVD Sales Chart despite coming out on Friday instead of Tuesday. Over the weekend, it sold 851,000 units generating $14.58 million in sales. As a point of comparison, Shrek Forever After sold about twice as many during its first week of release, but it was a Tuesday release and it came out during the heart of Christmas shopping season.
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March 1st, 2012
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 and Lady and the Tramp switched places on the Blu-ray sales chart. The former rose to first place during its first full week on the home market selling 455,000 units / $10.46 million giving it an early total of 1.24 million units / $28.58 million.
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February 28th, 2012
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 remained on top of the DVD sales chart, although it fell to 1.45 million units / $26.03 million for the week giving it a total of 3.80 million units / $68.77 million after two. By comparison, Eclipse actually grew during its first full week of release and had sold 5.38 million units at this point in its run.
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February 22nd, 2012
New releases took the top three spots on this week's Blu-ray sales chart, although the number one Blu-ray wasn't a new film. Lady and the Tramp came out in theaters more than 50 years ago, but it made its Blu-ray debut selling 949,000 units and generating $23.72 million.
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February 22nd, 2012
Despite being released on Saturday, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 led all new releases scoring an easy first place finish on the DVD sales chart. In just two days, the DVD sold 2.36 million units and generated $42.74 million. This is on par with the previous film's opening week.
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February 14th, 2012
New releases dominated the Blu-ray sales chart with as many as four in the top five. (Transformers: Dark of the Moon is a bit of an odd case, but more on that in a second.) Drive led the way with 420,000 units / $8.39 million giving it an opening week Blu-ray share of 57%. This is a great opening compared to the film's theatrical run.
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February 14th, 2012
It's a really slow week at the box office with only one first run release, The Rum Diary, and it bombed in theaters. Paranormal Activity 3 is coming out on DVD this week, but it came out on Blu-ray a few weeks ago, so it is not much of a factor in terms of sales this week. In fact, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 will likely lead the sales charts, despite coming out on Saturday. As for the best of the new releases, Take Shelter on DVD or Blu-ray is probably the best, but I'm still waiting for the screener to confirm that.
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February 7th, 2012
The biggest release of the week on the home market is The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, which comes out on DVD and Blu-ray ... on Saturday. So you still have a few more days to wait. As for the best release of the week, that's Lady and the Tramp, which is making its Blu-ray and is our Pick of the Week.
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December 15th, 2011
For the first time in four weeks, we had a new number one film on the international chart, as Puss In Boots continued its climb reaching top spot. It expanded into 16 additional markets, including a handful of major ones. This propelled it into first place with $47.06 million on 6,749 screens in 40 markets for a total of $143.72 million, which is just over what it has made domestically. The film's biggest debuted was Germany, where it earned top spot with $6.88 million on 680 screens, including previews. It was even more impressive in Brazil with $5.56 million on 738 screens, also including previews. Brazil is more of an emerging market than a major market, so the fact that it generated more revenue than its openings in either Australia ($4.03 million on 507 screens, including previews) or in the U.K. ($3.07 million on 510) is quite stunning. With debuts in Italy, Japan, and other markets ahead of it, not to mention the Christmas holiday, it could double what it currently has internationally, which would lift its worldwide total over $400 million.
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December 13th, 2011
After an extended slump with only a few bright spots over the past couple months, expectations for this weekend were lowered. Unfortunately, the new releases managed to fail to live up to lowered expectations and we had the worst weekend of the year. That can't be right. It's the worst weekend in three years. The overall box office was down 7% from last weekend to just $75 million, while it was down 18% when compared with last year. With only a few weeks left in the year, 2011 is down by 4% to 2010 at $9.57 billion to $9.95 billion. At this point, 2011 has virtually no chance of catching up to 2010. In fact, the box office is so weak, I think it is wise to reduce all predictions by at least 10%. ... Maybe 20%.
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December 11th, 2011
A dismal weekend is predicted all round this weekend, and the total box office is set to record its poorest score in three years, and its worst December weekend in over a decade. With Breaking Dawn, Part 1 continuing its rapid decline, and no hits coming out since, the top of the chart has a decidedly anemic look to it. New Year's Eve will be top with around $13.7 million, a number that is miles behind last year's $56.3 million debut for Valentine's Day. The Sitter will come second with $10 million, which is less of an embarrassment, given its edgier nature, but still well below par.
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December 8th, 2011
We could be in for a bad weekend. Then again, most weekends this year have been bad. Neither New Year's Eve nor The Sitter are winning over many critics, while their box office potential might be even lower than previously expected. The only good news is that this time last year wasn't a great weekend at the box office either and, if one new release can be a pleasant surprise, there's still a chance 2011 can pull out a win. However, there are not many reasons to feel optimistic at this point. On the one hand, there is a chance the extended box office slump is just the new norm and the two back-to-back years of $10 billion were a fluke. On the other hand, maybe there is a pent up demand and as soon as a the big releases come out next week, we will see an explosion at the box office. We will know more after next week.
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December 7th, 2011
For the third weekend in a row, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 earned top spot on the international chart, this time with $40.2 million on 9,000 screens in 73 markets. It now has totals of $341 million internationally and $588 million worldwide. Its biggest opening of the weekend came from South Korea, where it made $3.22 million on 706 screens for a total opening of $5.12 million. Its biggest running tally comes from the U.K. where it has made $42.76 million, including $2.61 million on 523 screens this past weekend.
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December 5th, 2011
Well that was depressing. No one was expecting a huge boom at the box office this weekend, but the overall results were even weaker than expected. In fact, at just $81 million it was the worst weekend of the entire year. Needless to say, the box office was down on a week-to-week basis plummeting 51%. Year-over-year there were also declines, albeit by a softer margin of 6%. Year-to-date, 2011 has pulled in $9.47 billion and it is now 4% behind last year's pace. There's almost no chance to close the gap in just four weeks and the only hope we have is to build momentum over the next four weeks, so that 2012 doesn't continue the year-over-year declines we've been suffering through for most of 2011.
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December 4th, 2011
Breaking Dawn, Part 1 will complete a hat-trick of wins this weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday, but the fact that it can do so while falling almost 60% from last weekend shows just how weak business is overall. Based on the numbers reported so far, this will be the second-slowest weekend of the year, after the weekend of September 9 as moviegoers switch to Holiday shopping.
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December 1st, 2011
There are no wide releases opening this week, but that doesn't mean there definitely won't be a change at the top of the box office. The Fangirl Factor for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 will likely eat away at its box office much more than the three family films, and this could leave The Muppets on top over the weekend. This is what happened last year with Tangled. Unfortunately for this year, Tangled started out much better and even if The Muppets holds on better as a percentage of its opening, that likely won't be enough to for the total box office to earn a win in the year-over-year comparison.
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November 30th, 2011
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 remained in top spot on the international chart with $76 million on 10,500 screens in 68 markets for a total of $268 million internationally and $489 million worldwide. It has already topped the first film in the franchise and by the end it should improve upon the franchise's international average. Its best new market was Germany, at $10.89 million on 789 screens over the weekend, for a total opening of $13.70 million. Meanwhile, its best holdover was the U.K., where it added $7.11 million on 546 screens to its two-week total, which sits at $36.24 million.
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November 30th, 2011
The top film on the per theater chart was a silent film, The Artist, which was amazing, earning more than $200,000 in just four theaters for an average of $51,220. A Dangerous Method was also very strong on the per theater chart earning an average of $41,988, also in four theaters. Last week's winner, The Descendants, expanded into nearly 400 theaters, but still managed an average of $18,835. Finally, the overall box office leader, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, managed an average of $10,252.
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November 28th, 2011
November ended the same way it began, on a losing note. Of the three wide releases, only The Muppets really made an impact at the box office. Hugo was able to top expectations and it was the only film in the top five to do so, but it was also the smallest of the three new releases in the top five. This meant the overall box office was down 26% from last weekend to $164 million. That was behind last year's haul by 9% leaving 2011 further behind last year's pace. At the moment, the gap is close to 4% at $9.35 billion to $9.71 billion.
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November 27th, 2011
In spite of a hefty 70% weekend-to-weekend decline, Breaking Dawn, Part 1 will run out an easy winner at the box office over Thanksgiving, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Its $42 million Friday-Sunday performance is exactly in line with the $42 million earned by New Moon during its Thanksgiving weekend, but it is currently running about $9 million behind the second film in the franchise, suggesting a total gross of around $285 million. A bevy of family-friendly new releases will be unable to come all that close to the vampire film, although all studios involved are projecting strong business for the films in question throughout the Holiday Season.
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November 24th, 2011
The winners of our Happy Early / Late Holidays contest were determined and they are...
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November 23rd, 2011
It's the Thanksgiving long weekend and that means families should be flooding theaters. Fortunately, there's plenty of choices, as there are three family films opening tonight: The Muppets, Arthur Chrstmas, and Hugo. Unfortunately, this direct competition will likely mean one or two of them won't be able to match their box office potential and the studio will end up disappointed. Also, it will be nearly impossible for any of them to top The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 over the weekend. This weekend last year, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 was the number one film, but Tangled came very, very close to overtaking it as both films came within $2 million of $50 million. I don't think any film will do that well this year, so we will likely see a sharp decline on the year-over-year comparison.
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November 23rd, 2011
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 wasn't the only film playing internationally, but it might as well have been with how much it dominated the box office. It opened with $152.9 million on 9,950 screens in 54 markets for a global opening of $291.0 million. This was the best opening for the franchise so far, although Part 2 will likely top it. Its biggest opening came from the U.K. where it managed $21.84 million on 543 screens, while it also topped the chart in Russia with $15.85 million on 1,268. It earned nearly identical results in Italy ($12.10 million on 719) and in Australia ($12.01 million on 618). Other first place results include Spain ($11.73 million on 957); Brazil ($10.29 million on 1,008); and Mexico ($10.12 million on 2,176). On the other hand, it had to settle for second place in France, but still managed a very strong $14.85 million on 759 screens. The film opens in Germany this weekend, while it doesn't finish its run till February when it debuts in Japan.
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November 23rd, 2011
There were only two films that were able to crack the $10,000 club this weekend, but they were both huge hits. The Descendants opened with more than $1 million in 29 theaters, for an average of $41,038. Add in the film's reviews and its Awards Season buzz and there's little doubt that the film will expand wide. Speaking of wide, the only other film in the $10,000 club was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1. The overall box office leader took in $138 million in 4,061 theaters, for an average of $34,012.
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November 21st, 2011
Normally the breaking of the dawn is a sign of hope, and normally a film opening with close to $140 million is a reason to celebrate. However, despite the success of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1, there are some troubling signs ahead. If we can focus on the positive for a bit, the film did help the overall box office rocket up 63% from last weekend to $222 million, which was 14% higher than the same weekend last year. That's not enough to suggest 2011 will catch up to 2010 by the end of the year. We are still 3.5% behind last year's pace at $9.09 billion to $9.42 billion and we are rapidly running out of time. Plus there are worse signs ahead.
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November 20th, 2011
Twilight-mania continues this weekend at the box office, as The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 is set to post a $139.5 million opening, according to Summit's Sunday estimate. That will be the fifth-biggest weekend in history, just behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which remains the best in the franchise with a $142.8 million debut, which was also posted the weekend before Thanksgiving, in 2009. Breaking Dawn's Friday performance of $72 million is the third-best day in history, also just a fraction behind New Moon's first day. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II continues to hold the records for biggest weekend and day.
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November 19th, 2011
Displaying remarkable consistency, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 almost exactly matched the opening day or its November-opening predecessor, The Twilight Saga: New Moon with $72 million, according to Summit's Saturday morning estimate. Assuming they don't find another $800,000 tucked away somewhere, that will be the third-biggest opening day in history (see full list). The figure is a modest uptick from the $68.5 million debut day of Eclipse in June last year.
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November 17th, 2011
2011 got some much needed good news last weekend, as the overall box office topped expectations and we saw year-over-year growth. The industry sure hopes we can continue that winning trend this week. There are some reasons to be optimistic, even though this weekend last year saw the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, which made just over $125 million during its opening weekend. Most analysts think The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 will top that figure with relative ease. Additionally, Happy Feet 2 looks like it will be a very solid counter-programming release and, on the high end, the top two films could make more this weekend than the entire box office made last year. It's probably too late for 2011 to catch up with 2010, but every victory is still worth celebrating.
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November 11th, 2011
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 is not the wide release opening next weekend, but it is clearly the biggest and it is the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. As for the prizes, we have two prizes celebrating the holidays and by holidays I mean Halloween. (The SpongeBob DVD includes Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's Day, so two out of the three are not late.) In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office number for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1.
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 SpongeBob SquarePants: Holidays with SpongeBob on DVD.
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 DreamWorks Halloween Double Pack 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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November 1st, 2011
October was a bit of a write-off. After the last weekend of September, the 2011 box office was about $280 million behind 2010's pace, but after the final weekend in October, that gap increased to $340 million. November will obviously bring in more box office dollars than October did. After all, it has one of the most important long holiday weekends of the year, Thanksgiving. However, the important question is not, "Can this November top last month?" It's, "Can this November top last year?" The biggest hit of last November was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, which earned just shy of $300 million. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 should match that figure. Tangled reached $200 million and maybe Happy Feet 2 will match that figure, but that's far less certain. There's a chance The Muppets will match Megamind while Tower Heist should top Due Date. If Jack and Jill and / or Hugo can become surprise $100 million hits and one of the limited releases can become a monster hit, like The King's Speech was able to, then suddenly the box office looks whole lot rosier going into the final month of the year. It's possible, but it's kind of like getting a backdoor full house in Texas Hold'em to beat a straight. I wouldn't bet on it. On the other hand, there doesn't appear to be many Skyline, The Next Three Days or Faster films that bombed at the box office. So while we might not be as strong at the top, there is better depth this year and hopefully that will be enough.
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