October 21st, 2008
The number of DVDs reaching my door is increasing each week (so are the number of ones that are late, or so it would seem). However, while there was a wide selection, the choice for DVD Pick of the Week was easy: Looney Tunes - Golden Collections - Volume 6. ... And
James Bond - Blu-ray Uber Collection, as well as Casino Royale on Blu-ray. One last note, as has happened more often than not, this week's list is split into two. The second part can be seen here.
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April 21st, 2008
Despite numerous new releases that charted this week, seven in fact, Alvin and the Chipmunks remained in top spot on the DVD sales chart. It's rare for a film to repeat on top of the charts, but Alvin was able to do so despite a 72% drop-off from its opening and added 872,000 units and $14.38 million in spending. This lifts its total to 4.02 million units / $66.34 million making it the third best selling DVD of the year so far.
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April 21st, 2008
Like on the sales chart there were plenty of new releases. However, there was a new number on film on the rental chart as There Will Be Blood opened in first place with $8.54 million. I did find it strange that a critically acclaimed, Oscar winning movie would do better on the rental charts than the sales charts. Usually this happens when people want to try before they buy, but this doesn't seem the type of movie that would happen with.
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April 14th, 2008
Only three new releases charted this week, but this includes the two top-selling DVDs. Leading the way was Alvin and the Chipmunks with an impressive 3.15 million units for opening week sales of $51.96 million. The movie is already in the top five for 2008.
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April 14th, 2008
There were only two new releases to reach the top 30 on the rental chart, but they placed one - two on the charts. Alvin and the Chipmunks led the way with $8.74 million while Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Baker Street was right behind with $8.08 million.
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April 1st, 2008
A mixed week when it comes to top-notch releases and there were very few that caught my eye. There are several that are worth picking up, but only Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Baker Street - 2-Disc Special Edition was a contender for DVD Pick of the Week.
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March 16th, 2008
No Country For Old Men slipped out of the top five but still added $7.07 million on 1881 screens in 47 markets for a total of $60.56 million. It is on track to top its domestic box office shortly, which would give it $150 million worldwide.
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March 9th, 2008
Meet the Spartans made its first major push into the international market this past weekend earning sixth place with $7.94 million on 1653 screens in 14 markets for an early total of $12.90 million. Its biggest opening came in Germany where it scored second place with $3.01 million on 304 screens, however, it earned first place in both Mexico with $1.35 million on 543 screens and in Australia with $1.29 million on 211 screens. On the other hand, it fell by 59% during its second weekend in Russia pulling in $526,000 on 275 screens over the weekend for a total of $2.27 million after two.
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February 27th, 2008
Jumper made another leap toward $100 million internationally after it pulled in $21.75 million on 3,984 screens in 40 markets over the weekend for a total of $60.42 million so far. The film opened in third place in France with $4.58 million on 586 screens while it remained in first in the U.K. with $2.97 million on 421 screens and in Spain with $2.25 million on 445 screens. In those two markets the film has pulled in $11.58 million and $6.65 million respectively, which is in line with its performance stateside.
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February 25th, 2008
The Oscars have all been awarded and No Country for Old Men was the big winner at the Oscars, taking home four major awards.
(It was shut out of the technical nominations.)
The second biggest winner of the night was The Bourne Ultimatum with three awards, all technical.
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February 24th, 2008
Rambo climbed five spots just missing the top five with $6.96 million on 1989 screens in 25 markets for a total of $25.63 million. The film opened in second place in Germany with $2.78 million 405 screens while it managed third in Mexico with $704,000 on 300. Next up is the U.K., Australia, and Italy, where it opens this weekend, while it enters South Korea next weekend.
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February 21st, 2008
With our annual
Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the
nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Female Actor in a Lead Role and Best Male Actor in a Lead Role.
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February 17th, 2008
Thanks to an opening in the U.K., Juno shoot up the charts nearly reaching the top five with $8.28 million on 1111 screens in 15 markets for a still early total $17.15 million. In the U.K. the film placed second with $3.91 million on 363 screens, but had the best per screen average in the top 10 there. It also opened in France scoring sixth place with $1.22 million on 149 screens, which gave it the second best per screen average in the top ten there. Meanwhile in Spain the film grew by 5% to $1.03 million on 170 screens over the weekend and a total of $2.34 million after two.
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February 6th, 2008
Asterix at the Olympic Games, the latest adaptation of the popular comic series, opened in first place on the international charts thanks to a number of big debuts.
This included a first place opening in its native market of France where it pulled in $23.35 million on 1,078 screens.
Meanwhile, it earned a very, very close second place in Russia with $4.45 million on 550 screens.
On the other hand, the film opened in limited release in the U.K. earning just under $20,000 on 3 screens. It also opened in second place in Germany with $2.99 million on 600 screens while it slipped to second place in Poland with $609,000 on 136 screens for a total of $1.94 million. Overall it now has $38.30 million on 3,002 screens in 19 markets for a total of $39.76 million, which is a great start, but unless it does well in many other markets, it will have trouble making back its budget of nearly $100 million, which makes it the most expensive French film.
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January 30th, 2008
There was another record-breaking homegrown release in Russia as The Very Best Film earned topped spot on the international charts with $17.82 million on 790 screens in 2 markets. Of that, $16.48 million on 702 screens came from its home market, which is a record opening in that market.
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January 27th, 2008
National Treasure: The Book of Secrets fell from second to sixth, but it was relatively close with $8.37 million on 3883 screens in 36 markets for a total of $143.30 million. Even if the film had no more markets left to open in, it would reach $150 million and beyond. However, it has yet to open in Germany, the U.K., and France and should top its domestic total before it is done.
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January 22nd, 2008
The Oscar nominations were announced today and there is no shortage of contenders.
In fact, with no real juggernaut to deal with, the competition is more up in the air that most years.
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January 14th, 2008
The WGA strike meant the Golden Globes ceremony was cancelled last night and the winners were instead announced during a half-hour press conference. For people who think the awards have become bloated, this was welcome news.
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January 2nd, 2008
2007 ended on a high note. Whole not every film was able to meet expectations, there was a trio of films that hit milestones, either just before the weekend, on the weekend, or just after the weekend ended. Overall the box office added $186 million over the weekend, which was up 16% from last weekend. More importantly, it was up 15% from the same weekend last year given 2007 a total box office of $9.68 billion, which was 4% more than 2006 and 2% more than 2004's record. Ticket sales, on the other hand, was flat down less than 0.1% from last year and this is the fourth down year out of five for this vital stat.
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December 28th, 2007
It's the final weekend of 2007 and, like most years, there are no wide releases to deal with.
However, there are three films that opened wide on Christmas Day, as well as five films from the weekend, and two others from the weekend before that.
All in all, there's plenty to discuss.
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December 27th, 2007
Over five days, 8 wide releases debuted in theaters, which is an insane amount of competition. It comes as no surprise that only a couple excelled while almost half failed to find a real audience. Overall the three-day weekend brought in $160 million, which is within a rounding error of last weekend. Comparing it to last year, on the other hand, is moot since December 24th landed on the weekend, and it is one of the worst days at the box office. Without that issue, 2007 was up by 34% from 2006, but that is a misleading number.
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December 22nd, 2007
There's a big list of wide releases this week and that means there is a big list of big sites. There are three that stand out, but only one, National Treasure: Book of Secrets - Official Site, that can be given the Weekly Website Award.
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December 20th, 2007
The weekend before Christmas sees five films opening in wide release, by varying degrees. We have has a record-setting holdover and a surprisingly strong kids film to deal with, not to mention the three films opening on Christmas day. This will make for a very, very crowded marketplace and it is hard to imagine all films earning a place with moviegoers. However, figuring out which films will be squeezed out is very difficult.
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December 13th, 2007
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their Golden Globe nominations this week, but there were no truly dominate films out of the 14 theatrical categories.
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December 1st, 2007
It's been a while since we went into the final month of the year on such a down note.
Since mid-September the box office has been down on a year-to-year comparison every weekend but two.
There is some good news, including a competitive Oscar race and a strong group of films aiming for box office glory.
While there are no films that appear to be heading for the monster hits territory, there are also no films that look like outright bombs.
(Although a couple would be there if it weren't for the holidays.)
Every week at least one Oscar contender and one box office giant are being released.
This means that every weekend there is at least one film that should hit $100 million, or more.
If five or more can reach that milestone, 2007 will set the record for most $100 million films in a year.
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October 6th, 2007
We are starting to get full websites for some of the massive holiday season releases, which should mean there will be at least one award worthy website on each week's list. As for this week, there were a few that have potential assuming the sections marked coming soon live up to the rest of the site. But just one site, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising - Official Site, that was worthy of the Weekly Website Award.
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September 9th, 2007
Another week without any top-notch websites, at least one that hasn't previously won the award. At least there are a few with possibilities and the fall blockbusters should start coming launching their sites shortly so the pace should pickup soon.
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June 17th, 2007
There weren't as many websites on this week's list as in the past few weeks, but there were at least three that earned some consideration for the Weekly Website Award. In the end, that honor went to I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry - Official Site.
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April 1st, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Nanny Diaries, Sweeney Todd, The Happening and more.
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