December 14th, 2009
Plenty of new releases reached the top 30 on this week's rental chart, including the three at the top.
Angels & Demons was numbers one, beating out Four Christmases with roughly 50% more rentals.
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December 9th, 2009
Star Trek led all new releases and holdovers to dominate the rental chart this week.
It took top spot with two-and-a-half times the rentals of last week's winner and this week's second place film, The Ugly Truth.
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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.
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November 25th, 2009
The same two new releases that topped the sales chart this week also topped the rental chart, although they were in the opposite order.
The Ugly Truth took first place with more than 50% more rentals than Up.
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November 14th, 2009
Couples Retreat expanded this past weekend but just missed the top five with $5.84 million on 1,373 screens in 18 markets for a total of $28.92 million after a month of release.
The film opened in third place in Germany under the name All Inclusive, with $2.55 million on 338 screens while it also took third place in Mexico with $446,000 on 235 screens.
Next up for the film is Spain next weekend and Italy the weekend after that, while it doesn't end its run until March when it opens in France.
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November 9th, 2009
We are getting closer to the Thanksgiving long weekend and the official start of the holiday shopping season.
Because of this, there are plenty of great releases coming out this week, including Up on a 4-Disc Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack, which is clearly DVD Pick of the Week material.
Also a DVD Pick of the Week is Monsters, Inc. - 4-Disc Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack, while the late arriving Monsters vs. Aliens - Blu-ray earns an honorable mention.
With a massive list of releases, including nearly a dozen spotlight reviews, we have once again needed to split the release report into two parts.
The first part can be found here.
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November 9th, 2009
We are getting closer to the Thanksgiving long weekend and the official start of the holiday shopping season.
Because of this, there are plenty of great releases coming out this week, including Up on a 4-Disc Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack, which is clearly DVD Pick of the Week material.
Also a DVD Pick of the Week is Monsters, Inc. - 4-Disc Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack, while the late arriving Monsters vs. Aliens - Blu-ray earns an honorable mention.
With a massive list of releases, including nearly a dozen spotlight reviews, we have once again needed to split the release report into two parts.
The second part can be found here.
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November 7th, 2009
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs fell out of the top five but still earned $5.18 million on 2568 screens in 39 markets for a total of $52.45 million so far. This was only 31% lower than last weekend, with no major market openings. In fact, the film doesn't have another major market opening till it debuts in Australia at the end of the month, while it still has openings in Italy and Spain by the end of the year, and it doesn't end its run till early next year with openings in Germany and some midlevel markets.
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October 31st, 2009
The Ugly Truth reached a major milestone over the weekend with $5.75 million on 2046 screens in 55 markets for a total of $102.27 million internationally. Its biggest market of the weekend was Spain, where it added $1.86 million on 360 screens for a total of $5.17 million. With a debut in Italy a few weeks away, it will likely fall sharply next weekend, but should have no trouble earning $200 million worldwide before its run is over.
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October 21st, 2009
Up had its best weekend on the international stage thanks mainly to two factors: It's first place opening in Italy, and its first place hold in the U.K. In Italy the film opened with $6.67 million on 652 screens over the weekend for a total of $7.15 million, which is a little weaker than Ice Age but better than Transformers. It held on very well well in the U.K. down just 19% to $8.40 million on 746 screens over the weekend for a total of $22.62 million after just two weeks of release. Ny this time next week it could have more than Cars made in total in that market, while it should end its run somewhere between WALL-E ($41 million) and Ratatouille ($48 million). Overall the film added $29.77 million on 4602 screens in 26 markets for a total of $295.15 million internationally and $587.96 million worldwide and has very likely that the film has reached $300 million internationally.
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October 14th, 2009
It took a long time, but after 20 weeks of release, Up finally took top spot on the international box office this past weekend. It earned $21.73 million on 3,616 screens in 25 markets over the weekend for a total of $257.39 million internationally and $550.03 million worldwide.
Almost half of the film's weekend haul came from the U.K., where it opened in first place with $10.10 million on 411 screens.
It is still going strong in Germany after pulling in $3.17 million on 846 screens over the weekend for a total of $20.22 million after four.
At this pace, it should earn around $30 million in that market, and with debuts in Italy and Japan, as well as other, smaller markets, the film should have no issue reaching $600 million worldwide, while $700 million isn't out of the question.
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October 7th, 2009
There was a tight race atop the international box office with barely $2 million separating first place and sixth place. Surrogates climbed into first place with $11.83 million on 2763 screens in 23 markets for a total of $28.84 million. The film debuted in first place in Mexico, but with only $872,000 on 350 screens. It opened in third place in South Korea with $2.17 million on 267 screens over the weekend and $2.60 million in total. Surprisingly, the film remained in first place in Russia despite falling 58% to $2.24 million on 603 screens over the weekend, while it now has $8.97 million in that market.
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October 4th, 2009
District 9 climbed into sixth place with $6.19 million on 2547 screens in 35 markets for a total of $56.88 million. This includes a fifth place, $926,000 opening on 253 screens in Italy, while it added $1.94 million on 448 screens during the full week in France for a total of $6.05 million after two.
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September 24th, 2009
The Founding Of A Republic opened in first place in China and first place internationally with $18.24 million on 1450 screens. It's quite rare for an non-Hollywood movie to top the international charts, but now is a great time of year for that to happen, as the summer blockbusters are (mostly) coasting on holdovers and the fall blockbusters are weeks away.
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September 19th, 2009
Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs fell out of the top five this past weekend earning $7.08 million on 3521 screens in 35 markets for a total of $670.44 million internationally and $865.11 million worldwide. It is now the third highest grossing film internationally of all time, while it is 18th place worldwide. That's quite a gap. The film remained in first place in Italy earning $3.14 million on 690 screens over the weekend for a total of $33.63 million after three. So far the film has earned more than 77% of its worldwide box office internationally, which is a very high percentage, and it will keep creeping higher as its international run comes to a close.
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September 12th, 2009
The Proposal had massive gains this past weekend and just failed to reach the top five with $5.83 million on 2160 screens in 42 markets for a total of $124.60 million internationally and $285.57 million worldwide. It is now the biggest worldwide hit for Sandra Bullock, and it still has a chance to overtake Speed internationally. This week it debuted in third place in Italy with $1.43 million on 354 screens over the weekend for a total of $1.86 million during its opening, which is much weaker than its performance here. It has yet to open in France, which is key in its quest to overtake Speed, but even if it bombs there and in Japan, it will still hit $300 million worldwide.
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September 5th, 2009
G-Force just missed the top five with $7.09 million on 2964 screens in 30 markets for a total of $67.97 million. The film had no major market openings this week, but it did add $2.17 million on 409 screens in Russia for a total of $8.93 million after two weeks there. Up next is Spain this weekend, which means it could climb back into the top five, if it performs well there.
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August 30th, 2009
Summer is mostly over and we're moving back to the normal schedule for the international box office columns. Mostly. There are still not enough multi-million dollar films to fill out the top 30, but as the blockbusters make way for smaller releases, that will change. Meanwhile, The Hangover remained in sixth place with $7.65 million on 2782 screens in 46 markets for a total of $152.38 million internationally and $420.65 million worldwide. The film opened in first place in Brazil with $1.13 million on 205 screens, while it remained in first place in Mexico with $1.04 million on 398 screens over the weekend for a total of $3.56 million after two. Other million dollar markets include Spain where it was down just 18% to $1.27 million on 319 screens over the weekend for a total of $3.88 million after two, and Germany where it added $1.02 million on 427 screens giving the film a total of $15.29 million after a month of release.
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August 22nd, 2009
Public Enemies remained in fifth place with $8.74 million on 2919 screens in 49 markets for a total of $76.20 million. The film opened in first place in Spain with $2.44 million on 460 screens, but had to settle for fifth in South Korea with $1.22 million on 375 screens over the weekend and $1.70 million in total. With Debuts in Italy and Japan still ahead, the film should have no trouble topping $100 million internationally and $200 million worldwide. However, it was a costly film to make, so it will have to show some strength on the home market to show a profit.
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August 18th, 2009
Nine was the lucky number over the weekend as District 9 topped the charts with better than expected results.
Also, nine of the ten film talked about in Thursday's column met or exceeded expectations.
This helped the box office bring in $142 million overall, which was only 3% lower than last weekend.
More importantly, it was 14% higher than the same weekend last year, which was much better than expected.
Year-to-date, 2009 has earned $6.86 billion in total revenue, which is 6.6% higher than last year's pace.
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August 16th, 2009
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince became just the second film of the year to reach $500 million on the international chart, but the sixth film of that franchise to reach that milestone. Over the weekend it earned $22.85 million on 9346 screens in 63 markets for a total of $548.68 million internationally and $822.53 million worldwide after just four weeks of release. The film is running on holdovers, but it did place third in France adding $3.78 million on 918 screens over the weekend for a total of $45.08 million in that market. Meanwhile it remained in first place in Germany with $2.74 million on 908 screens giving it $54.68 million in total. Its best market overall remains the U.K. where it has made $73.85 million, including $2.25 million on 535 screens over the past weekend.
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August 14th, 2009
As summer slows down, the number of new releases speeds up. This week we have five films with a shot at reaching the top ten, but only three of those are opening truly wide, and only one is a saturation-level release.
It's hard to say if this week is much stronger or weaker than last year, but it should be close.
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August 3rd, 2009
2009 took another hit at the box office over the weekend, bringing in just $125 million.
This might seem like a huge amount, but that's 17% lower than last weekend and 18% lower than the same weekend last year.
Year-to-date 2009 has earned $6.43 billion, which is 7.0% more than the running tally from this time last year, and if 2009 can just maintain pace with 2008 for the rest of the year, then the total ticket sales will reach $10 billion for the first time ever.
However, we haven't matched box office numbers in nearly a month, so things will need to turn around soon.
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August 2nd, 2009
On a weekend that was modest overall for the industry, Funny People took top spot on the box office chart with a $23.4 million opening weekend, according to Universal's Sunday estimate.
The movie is Judd Apatow's third directorial effort, and the opening falls in the middle of his range so far, ahead of The 40-Year-Old Virgin's $21.4 million but some way behind the $30.7 million opening enjoyed by Knocked Up.
It's also something of a disappointment for an Adam Sandler movie, as he has become more accustomed to $30 million plus openings.
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July 30th, 2009
The final weekend in July starts today, while August starts the day after. It's not a great weekend to open a movie, and of the three wide releases, only one has any real box office potential. Even worse, this time last year there were two films that made $40 million or more at the box office, which means 2009's lead on 2008 will continue to shrink.
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July 28th, 2009
In the Loop lead the way on the per theater chart with an impressive average of $23,983, and with its reviews, it should be able to expand significantly. (500) Days of Summer landed in second place with an average of $19,244, which is about a third less than its opening weekend average. But it is now playing in 85 theaters, which is more than triple its opening weekend theater count, so this is a fantastic hold. Those were the only films to top $10,000 on the per theater chart, but The Ugly Truth came relatively close with $9,579.
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July 28th, 2009
As expected, the weekend box office was soft compared to last week, as well as the same weekend last year. That said, it was not as bad as it could have been and all three new releases topped expectations. Overall, total ticket sales were $151 million over the weekend, down 5.8% from last weekend and 16% from last year. Year-to-day, 2009 still has a substantial lead over 2008 at $6.22 billion to $5.76 billion and even the lack of a The Dark Knight type hit won't be enough to close that gap. It would take an extended slump at the box office before 2009 relinquished its lead.
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July 27th, 2009
July 26th, 2009
G-Force showed that 3-D movies are still enough of a novelty to generate good business over the weekend as the kid adventure beat Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the top of the chart, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The margin of victory is sufficiently small that the 1/2 spots could be reversed when final figures are announced on Monday.
The Ugly Truth wasn't far behind in third place.
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July 26th, 2009
There were seven releases this week, including three wide releases. All three wide releases have websites that are at least average, with two have substantial extras, and one, G-Force's Official Site being worthy of the Weekly Website Award.
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July 23rd, 2009
There is almost no chance 2009 will be able to keep pace with last year, and saying 'almost no chance' is overstating 2009's chances. This time last year, The Dark Knight added $75 million to its box office, which is more than all three new releases will earn this week, combined.
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July 22nd, 2009
July 1st, 2009
June gave us some unexpected hits in The Proposal and The Hangover, as well as expected hits like Up, not to mention the biggest hit of the year, so far, in Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen. However, despite this, 2009 lost a bit of ground to 2008, and this will likely continue this month, as this month last year saw the release of The Dark Knight.
This year we have a couple of potential $300 million hits, but nothing likely to perform on that scale.
Then again, I only predicted Dark Knight would make $250 million, so we could be surprised again this year.
The box office is certainly hot, and is currently running more than 12% ahead of last year's pace.
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April 6th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Underworld 3, Pink Panther 2, Nottingham and more!
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February 19th, 2008
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
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January 31st, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Duplicity, G.I. Joe, Public Enemies, and more!
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