February 2nd, 2015
There were not a lot of new releases to reach the top twenty on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, but we did have a new film on top. Gone Girl earned first place with 342,000 / $6.64 million for an opening week Blu-ray share of 43%. This isn't bad, for a thriller.
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February 2nd, 2015
Gone Girl led the new releases on the DVD sales chart with sales of 460,000 units / $6.97 million during its opening week of release. This is a good start for the film and probably enough to get to 1 million units before it is done. Eventually.
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January 24th, 2015
Left Behind led the new releases on the DVD chart, at least in terms of units sold, with 201,000. Its sales for the week were $2.05 million, giving it third place by that metric. This is not great for a first-run release, but not bad compared to the film's box office. It is also much better than its opening on Blu-ray.
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January 24th, 2015
The first set of new releases for Blu-ray didn't result in a change at the top, as The Equalizer remained on top of the chart during its sophomore stint. Over the week, it sold $143,000 / $3.48 million for two-week totals of 821,000 units / $17.08 million. This gives it a two-week Blu-ray share of 51%, which is good for an action film. It does have a slightly older target demographic, so that explains why it isn't as good as say...
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December 28th, 2014
Christmas day is the single biggest gift-giving day of the year... so it makes total sense that the week after Christmas is a terrible week to release any new DVDs or Blu-rays. The week is better than you would expect with a few notable releases, including The Equalizer, which earned just over $100 million during its theatrical run. It is also one of the best releases on this week's list and with solid extras, the Blu-ray is a contender for Pick of the Week. The other two contenders are Banshee: Season 2 on DVD or Blu-ray and Shameless: Season 4 on DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack. It was a bit of a coin toss, but in the end I went with Shameless.
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December 2nd, 2014
Thanksgiving weekend was... well, it wasn't good. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 easily won the race for top spot and actually topped expectations by a tiny margin. On the other hand, the two new releases, Penguins of Madagascar and Horrible Bosses 2, both really struggled. Neither managed to top their three-day prediction over the five-day long weekend. Overall, the three-day weekend fell 17% to $162 million from last weekend. Worse still, this was 22% lower than the same weekend last year. 2014 is now behind 2013 by a margin of $370 million or 3.9% at $9.20 billion to $9.58 billion. There's no way we will catch up by the end of the year. I just hope we don't fall further behind.
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November 18th, 2014
There was some good news and bad news over the weekend. The good news was Dumb and Dumber To, which managed a stronger than expected opening, despite its reviews. The bad news was Beyond the Lights, which couldn't turn its reviews into box office success. That said, the good outweighed the bad and overall the box office was quite strong. It was still down 11% from last weekend to $140 million, but that's still 12% more than the same weekend last year. 2014 remains behind 2013's pace by 3.4% or $310 million at $8.72 billion to $9.03 billion, but every little victory will help soften the blow at the end of the year.
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October 22nd, 2014
Not only did Guardians of the Galaxy return to top spot on the international chart this past weekend, it reached two major milestones along the way. Over the weekend, it pulled in $23.1 million in 22 markets for totals of $404.8 million internationally and $732.6 million worldwide. The film earned $37.97 million in China, but that was for the full week, giving it $69.04 million after ten days of release. The film has yet to open in Italy and it might have a shot at $800 million worldwide by the time it ends its run there.
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October 21st, 2014
The weekend box office was a little softer than expected, with Fury earning first place, but with much less than some were expecting. I was a little more conservative and I was still off by close to $10 million. The rest of the top five, on the whole, were also not quite as strong as expected, so the overall box office fell 11% from last weekend. However, it was 26% higher than the same weekend last year, which is the much more important figure. 2014 is still behind 2013 by more than $300 million, or 3.6%, at $8.05 billion to $8.36 billion, but if we can close the gap a little bit each week, we can at least make it a respectable race in the end.
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October 16th, 2014
Dracula Untold rose to first place with $33.9 million in 42 markets for a two-week total of $62.6 million. This week's biggest new market was Russia, where it pulled in first place with $9.81 million on 1,068 screens. It opened in second place in South Korea with $2.65 million on 477 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $4.29 million. Mexico led the holdovers with $2.78 million on 1,624 screens over the weekend for a two-week total of $9.30 million in that market.
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October 9th, 2014
Breakup Buddies led the way in China and overall with a weekend total of $38.0 million over the weekend for a six-day total of $94.13 million. That's fantastic start for a local film in this market.
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October 7th, 2014
As expected, Gone Girl won the race for top spot on the box office chart this weekend. However, while it earned more than expected, Annabelle still managed to make it a really close race. These two films, as well as the rest of the top five, all beat predictions and this lead to the overall box office growing 38% to $147 million. More impressively, this was 16% better than the same weekend last year. I was not expected 2014 to come out ahead on the year-over-year comparison, which makes this win so much more spectacular. Year-to-date, 2014 is still behind 2013 by a substantial margin of $370 million or 4.6% at $8.05 billion to $7.68 billion.
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October 2nd, 2014
The first weekend in October promises to be better than the average weekend in September was, but then again, it would practically have to. Gone Girl is aiming for first place and most analysts think it will get there. On the other, Annabelle has an outside shot at top spot over the weekend. That seems unlikely, but thanks to its genre, it has a better shot at earning first place on Friday's daily chart. The final wide release of the week is Left Behind, which as it turns out isn't opening truly wide. The buzz is so bad that some expect the film to open below the Mendoza Line. This weekend last year, Gravity opened in first place with $55.79 million. No film is going to open with that much money. In fact, all three wide releases combined might not make that much. 2014 is going to lose in the year-over-year comparison, but frankly we should all be used to that by now.
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October 1st, 2014
The Maze Runner easily won the race for top spot on the international chart with $28.8 million in 62 markets for a three-week total of $92.4 million. This is already enough to cover its production budget, so the studio should be very, very happy. The film remained in first place in South Korea with $4.37 million on 655 screens over the weekend for a total of $11.94 million after two weeks of release. It also topped the charts in Russia with $3.13 million on 1,486 screens for a two-week total of $10.49 million. The film has yet to open in Italy, the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, and others. It should surpass $200 million internationally and $300 million worldwide before it is done. That is excellent for a film that cost $34 million to make.
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October 1st, 2014
The winners of our All Things Being Equal contest were determined and they are...
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October 1st, 2014
There were only three films in the $10,000 club and it was a holdover leading the way. Not Cool pulled in $24,964 in one theater for a two-weekend total of $35,688. The best new release was Pride with an average of $13,662 in six theaters. The final film in the $10,000 club was also the number one film on the overall box office, The Equalizer, with an average of $10,549.
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September 30th, 2014
September is over and while it got off to a bad start, a really, really, truly terrible start, it actually ended on a bit of a strong note. Granted, no film has yet to reach $100 million, but The Maze Runner and The Equalizer both could get there in the end. As for October, we might go another month without a $100 million hit. There are a couple of films that have the potential to reach the century mark, Gone Girl and Fury. Hopefully they will get there, but given the recent box office woes, it is probably best to keep expectations low. Last October, there were two films that earned more than $100 million. Bad Grandpa just made it passed that mark. On the other hand, Gravity was a monster hit earning nearly $275 million. It you compare its run to this year's batch of films, it only ranks behind Guardians of the Galaxy. ... There's no way any film opening this month is going to match that. ... There no way the top two films will match that. ... The top three films might not match that. ... 2014 is going to get crushed in the year-over-year comparison and by the end of the month, it will be safe to say its chances of ever catching up to 2013 will be over. It is going to be a depressing month.
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September 30th, 2014
The Equalizer easily won the race for the top of the box office chart this weekend earning almost as much as the next two films combined. Those next two films were The Maze Runner and The Boxtrolls, both of which exceeded expectations, albeit by tiny margins. The strength of these three films helped the overall box office reach $106 million, which is 4% higher than last weekend. On the other hand, this was 2% lower than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2014 has pulled in $7.51 billion, which is a massive amount when you look at it without context. However, it is nearly $400 million or 4.9% lower than last year's pace, which is also a massive amount. It is technically possible for 2014 to catch up to 2013 before the end of the year, but only if October is a really strong month at the box office. It won't be.
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September 25th, 2014
The Equalizer and The Boxtrolls opens wide this week. They are an action film and a family flick and the last weekend of September has been kind to both genres. The Equalizer could become the fastest opening film of the month, which might be enough to get it all the way to $100 million during its entire run. The Boxtrolls, on the other hand, is a Stop-motion animated film, which rarely rises above the midlevel hit. This weekend last year, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 opened with $34.02 million, which is right in the middle of the expected range for The Equalizer, plus the depth is better this year, so 2014 should win the year-over-year competition.
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September 19th, 2014
Next weekend is the last weekend of September and there are two wide releases that are trying to avoid the September doldrums. The Boxtrolls and The Equalizer should both do relatively well at the box office, but The Equalizer has the best chance at being a breakout hit and because of that, it is the best 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 The Equalizer.
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 ScaryPants Collection 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 Dora the Explorer: Celebrate With Dora 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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September 1st, 2014
August was a great month, it is as simple as that. Not only did Guardians of the Galaxy break records, but Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a surprise hit as well. These early gains led to an extended winning streak in the year-over-year comparison. Granted, 2014 is still more than $300 million behind 2013, but this is substantially less than the gap was before the month. Can September maintain this run? I'm not sure. Last September was strong compared to most Septembers with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 earning more than $100 million while Insidious Chapter 2 came relatively close. This year, there likely won't be any $100 million hits, but I think The Equalizer should at least come close. Meanwhile, there are some who think The Maze Runner will be the biggest hit of the month, but I'm not among them. There have been too many similar releases that have struggled to think this one will be a hit. I think September will get off to a terrible start, but overall I think it will be close to last year.
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