September 3rd, 2012
This week is again loaded with TV on DVD releases, including several in the top best sellers according to Amazon.com. The best TV on DVD release in terms of comedy is 2 Broke Girls: Season One on DVD or Blu-ray, while Person of Interest: Season One on DVD or Blu-ray is the best TV on DVD release as far as the dramas are concerned. Both are contenders for Pick of the Week, but neither quite gets there. The Five-Year Engagement on Blu-ray Combo Pack comes a little close, but in the end I went with Headhunters on DVD or Blu-ray. Just keep an eye on the price of the Blu-ray.
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August 12th, 2011
It was a slow week on the home market, especially on Blu-ray, where it was a rare week suffering from year-over-year declines. But more on that in a bit. The number one selling Blu-ray was Source Code with 189,000 units. It was a little disappointing on DVD and its opening week Blu-ray ratio was just under 33%, acceptable, but not great. It was visual enough that upgrading to High Definition wasn't a bad choice, but second-tier enough that I would understand if a lot of people just didn't want to bother with the extra price.
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July 21st, 2011
With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 off to a record-breaking start, the biggest-earning franchise at the worldwide box office is nearing its end. A few records are still to fall (notably, it will overtake Star Wars in a day or two to become the biggest domestic franchise), but we thought now would be good time to look back at how Harry Potter has shaped the movie industry, and the financial records it has broken along the way. For each film, we look at both the box office receipts and domestic spending on DVD, Blu-ray and video rentals. Warning: some readers may find the large numbers presented disturbing.
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October 18th, 2010
There's a bit of a lull in activity on the home market this week, at least in terms of big sellers. The best selling release is Predators and while I recommend picking up the Blu-ray, the movie barely made $50 million at the box office, so I have realistic expectations regarding its sales potential. Meanwhile, the Pick of the Week is a classic from 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show - 35th Anniversary Blu-ray.
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March 18th, 2006
Despite the release of
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,
Walk the Line remained in first place on the rental charts with $10.03 million over the week and $21.81 million in total.
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December 3rd, 2005
War of the Worlds easily won the race on the rental charts with $15.54 million in combined rentals, which is one of the best results of the year.
This is more of a surprise than it may first seem, since people usually buy blockbusters like this and not rent them as much.
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November 26th, 2005
New releases finished one, two, three on the rental charts this week with
Madagascar leading the way. The film earned $7.94 million in combined rentals, which was ahead of the second place film by just over half a million dollars.
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January 25th, 2005
The Oscar Nominations were announced this morning and at first glance it appears that most of the nominations went to films with smaller budgets and box office results.
Box office hits were nearly shut out of the major nominations.
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November 22nd, 2004
Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section, including the winners of the DVD Pick of the Week,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -
Buy from Amazon and
Seinfeld -
Giftset.
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October 13th, 2004
With openings in nearly a dozen new markets,
Shark Tale was able to take top spot on the international charts with $9.4 million in 16 markets, pushing its early total to $19.2 million internationally and over $100 million worldwide. Highlights include $4.4 million in the U.K., (including previews) and $2.05 million in Mexico. How happy the studio is with these results depends on their expectations. Compared to the average film,
Shark Tale is a massive hit. But compared to
Dreamworks previous
digitally animated film,
Shrek 2, it is a large drop.
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October 6th, 2004
Collateral finished first on the international charts breaking
The Village's five week run on top. Although, with a weekly take of only $9.4 million in 28 markets, it has as much to do with the weakness of the competition as it does with the strength of the film itself. The largest chunk of that box office came from France, where the film earned $3.8 million.
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September 21st, 2004
The Village once again top took spot on the international scene, but by a very narrow margin. Still being plagued by sharp drop-offs, the film earned $11.2 million on 3,500 screens in 34 markets. So far the film has taken it $117 million internationally, higher than its $113 million it earned domestically. Although, it is much lower than
M. Night Shyamalan's previous movie
Signs.
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September 14th, 2004
The Village again was the weekend champ in the international box office with $15.3 million on nearly 3,500 screens in 31 markets. Highlights for the weekend include and impressive debut in Germany at $5.5 million and a less spectacular $3.1 million in Japan. The film also suffered a 55% drop-off in its second weekend in Australia while it held up much better in Brazil. So far the film has earned $63.2 million internationally and is well on its way to matching its $112 million domestic total.
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September 8th, 2004
The weekend on the international scene was very much the same as last weekend, just a little bit slower.
The Village was again the champ, thanks to seven openings in mostly mid-ranged markets. A $2.2 million debut in Australia was the top money earner as the film took in $9 million in 23 markets. It's international total is now $45 million and should be headed to $100 million before it is done.
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August 31st, 2004
As the summer box office comes to a close,
The Village continues to set career best records for
M. Night Shyamalan, but it's the sophomore stint drop-offs that the real story. The previously mentioned career best openings were in Belgium, Sweden and Norway totaled $2.6 million, but at the same time saw its U.K. and French numbers cut nearly in half from last weekend. This week it took in a total of $10.2 million in 14 markets, lifting its international total to $30.8 million
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August 24th, 2004
A trio of new openings pushed
King Arthur into first place this week with $13 million in 33 markets. The film now sits at $88 million internationally, and should break $100 million by next weekend. Worldwide it looks headed for $200 million.
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August 17th, 2004
It's a little early to say what effect the 2004 Summer Olympics will have on the box office, but the early indication is that Eurocup 2004 had a larger effect.
I, Robot hit its first international milestone topping the $100 million mark and now sits at $107.7 million. It accomplished this feat by taking in $18.8 million on more than 5,300 screens in 34 markets over the weekend. With Japan and Italy still ahead, $300 million worldwide is almost guaranteed while $200 million internationally is not out of the question.
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August 10th, 2004
With the summer juggernauts mostly wrapping up their runs, and very little in the way of new competition,
I, Robot easily finished first on the international box office charts. Its weekend earnings of $31.3 million on more than 6,000 screens in 29 markets was nearly triple what the nearest competitor could take in. The film opened number one in the U.K. (8.7 million), Germany ($5.3 million) and Russia ($2.4 million) as well as strong holdovers in France ($2.6 million) and other nations. The film has already earned $71.2 million internationally, and should top its domestic numbers within a few weeks.
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August 3rd, 2004
I, Robot first major expansion into the international markets proved very profitable for
20th Century Fox. Big openings Europe, $5 million in France and $4.7 million in Spain; Asia, $2.5 million in South Korea, $1.8 million in Taiwan; and in $1.9 million in Mexico help it earn $20.5 million over the weekend. Still early in its run, the
Sci-Fi action film has earned $29.6 million in just 17 markets so far.
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July 27th, 2004
Despite a severe, nearly 50% drop at the box office,
Spider-man 2 remained on top with $31.6 million, including a record $1.6 million in India, the biggest opening for a Hollywood film in that market. However, the news isn't all good as big drop-offs continue to plague the
Marvel web-slinger, 56% in France, 50% in the U.K. and 59% in Spain. But it is still earning immense figures thanks to record-breaking openings and should cross $600 million worldwide early in the mid-week and $300 million internationally during next weekend.
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July 20th, 2004
Another 11 openings, mostly in European markets, helped
Spider-man 2 swing to new heights this week on the international charts. This week it earned $62.3 million on roughly 9,400 screens in 61 markets, which pushed it international total to $200.1 million and in just 19 days. Highlights include $15.7 million in the U.K., $11.6 million in France and $7.7 million in Spain. The news was less impressive in Northern Europe where a heat wave hurt the industry as a whole; specifically, this lead to smaller than expected openings in Belgium and Holland and a steep drop in Germany. Worldwide the film has topped $500 million, just the fifth film to do so this year, and the 35th all-time. With Italy the only remaining major opening left, and it doesn't open there till mid-September, the weekly numbers have most likely peaked. However, it should still quickly climb the charts.
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July 13th, 2004
With openings in more than 20 markets,
Spider-man 2 took top spot on the international charts this week with $50.9 million on 6,723 screen in 50 markets. Most of this week's openings were like its domestic opening, huge, but not record breaking. So far the film has earned $113.9 million and is ahead of the
first's film pace, in fact, it has already topped Spider-Man's total in five markets: Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand and Turkey. Worldwide the film has earned nearly $400 million and with very impressive legs it should more double that before its run is over.
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July 7th, 2004
Despite crushing records domestically,
Shrek 2's prospects may be even brighter internationally. This week the
digital ogre pulled in a massive $78.7 million on approximately 4,700 screens in 30 markets. Highlights include a record breaking opening in the U.K. of $29.2 million, nearly triple the figure the
original managed there. It's international total now sits at an impressive $176.4 million and should easily top $400 million by the time it finishes. Worldwide the film has earned $587 million, good enough for third place for the year and 24th all-time.
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July 2nd, 2004
Spider-man 2 earned a record breaking $40.4 million on Wednesday, and while that was up to my
lofty expectations, it was still more than enough to break records.
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June 30th, 2004
It's not a question of whether
Spider-man 2 will open big; we all know it will. It's not even a question of if
records will fall; we all know that will happen as well. It's a question of how many records will Spider-man 2 break, and by what margin.
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June 29th, 2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban finished first for the fourth weekend in a row with an amazing $40.9 million. That's represents a tiny decrease from
last weekend. A large chuck of that figure came from Japan where the film earned $17.5 million on 782 screens. Also helping was Germany, Italy, U.K. and France being eliminated from Euro 2004. Those four nations represent 260 million people whom were closely following the soccer tournament in Portugal, which hurt the overall box office numbers. Internationally the film has now earned $321 million, putting it in second place for the year and just behind
E.T. for 25th all time. Worldwide its $533 million is also second for the year but 28th all time.
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June 28th, 2004
There was a new movie on the top of the charts this weekend, but it wasn't the film most analysts were predicting. Also good news: every film in the Top Ten beat expectations, albeit by the narrowest of margins in some cases. This led to a serious increase of 9% compared to last weekend and a massive increase of 22% from last year.
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June 25th, 2004
Three new films open wide this week, or four new films if you really stretch the definition of wide. Even so, there's a good chance there won't be a change at top spot on the charts.
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June 22nd, 2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban still leads the pack internationally despite increased competition from fellow family friendly film
Shrek 2 and from Euro 2004 coverage. With an additional $44.9 million from over 10,000 screens in 48 territories, including number one openings in 7 mostly minor markets. The lone exception was Spain, which added $6.1 million to Harry Potter's coffers, and that number would have been higher had it not been for Sunday's Spain Portugal soccer match. Internationally, the film has earned almost $270 million so far and is still tracking ahead of the other films in the
Harry Potter Franchise, but with greater week-to-week drop-offs it is unlikely to finish quite as high. Worldwide the film has already pulled in $450 million making it the second highest grossing film of the year.
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June 21st, 2004
Bit of a mixed week: we had a surprise hit at number one, but the two bigger budget films both struggled. This led to the second really big drop-off in the weekend box office in a row, this time 14.7%. And it that in turn led to the first year-to-year drop in some weeks, and it was a pretty serious decline of 9.4%. With next week looking less than impressive as well, the industry will need Spider-Man 2 to really soar to avoid a prolonged slump.
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June 18th, 2004
This weekend looks to rebound from last weekend, at least critically. Financially it's another matter as the week as already seen the release of one of the most expensive bombs in recent memory. Because of that, it would take a very strong showing from the other two films for the box office to keep up with this years pace and not fall behind last year's showing.
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June 16th, 2004
Just the lone film earned more than $10,000 per theatre this past weekend.
Napoleon Dynamite $19,444 average in 6 theatres was double the nearest competitor,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which earned an average of $9,056.
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June 15th, 2004
Despite massive competition form the TV coverage of the Euro2004 Football championships,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban help up rather well internationally. Its weekend take of $65.4 million was down just 25% from last weekend. Granted number one openings in 16 nations helped, especially the $8.5 million earned in Australia. The film's international take has already hit $204 million and with it still tracking ahead of
Chamber of Secrets in most markets, $500 million international is virtually guaranteed with $600 million not out of the question. By next weekend it will have overtaken fellow
Warner Bros. blockbuster
Troy for second biggest worldwide box office of the year.
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June 14th, 2004
The weekend box office was filed with bad movies and that makes predicting that much more difficult. However, while there were a few surprises, it wasn't as chaotic as it could have been. But with the three new movie combined opening barely above the drop
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban suffered. And that lead to a serious drop from last weekend of 15.75%. But last year at this time, the trio of films that opened really bombed leading to a spectacular 29% increase at the box office. That's several weeks in a row of year to year increases.
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June 11th, 2004
While three films open wide this weekend, none seem likely to finish first. In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if at least one of them misses the top 5. However, if any one new movie doubles my predictions I wouldn't be too surprised. Nor would I be all that shocked if any one movie failed to reach half of what I predicted. It's just that kind of week.
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June 9th, 2004
In its third weekend of release, Control Room saw its per theatre average increase from $24,755 last weekend to $25,320 this weekend while finishing first on the charts for the third weekend in a row. Add in the fact that this was a post holiday weekend and this film needs to expand to take advantage of the demand and it needs to expand now.
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June 8th, 2004
Despite only opening in 24 international markets,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban had both the biggest international and worldwide opening of the year. Its three day total of $87.2 million was ahead of last week's winner
The Day After Tomorrow despite opening in just a fraction of the markets (24 to 110) and significantly fewer screens (7,885 to 9,276.) If you include the weekday numbers in the U.K., (which are being treated as previews by
Warner Bros.) then it has the third biggest international opening ever with $113.5 million. This is a fare comparison since the two films ahead of it also were not strict 3-day openers either. (
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King's $125.9 million included sneak previews and
The Matrix Revolutions's $117.6 million was a five day total.) Worldwide the film has already earned more than $200 million, which is good enough for sixth place for the year.
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June 7th, 2004
Just a month ago it was looking as if 2004 would suffer through a disastrous summer as the first two tent-pole releases failed to live up to expectations. However, since then we've had record after record fall. The first weekend in June continued this trend as the top 3 films broke several records between them. Since it was a post holiday weekend, a drop in the overall box office was expected, but with a decline of just 2.8% to $186.7 million it was enough to become the largest ever 3-day weekend. And the increase from last year was an incredible 14.6% there's more and more to celebrate about 2004.
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June 5th, 2004
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban set a new record for a Friday opening, posting $41.2 million, about $2 million ahead of the mark set by Spider-Man in 2002, and an incredible $13 million more than Shrek 2 managed on its record-breaking weekend in May.
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June 4th, 2004
If you were to ask a hundred moviegoers at the beginning of the year what their most anticipated film of 2004 was, I'd bet
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban would be in the top three, if not number one. And because of that, it's no surprise that no other studio would try and take on Harry Potter.
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June 3rd, 2004
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates including the winner for the week,
Two Brothers -
Official Site . If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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June 2nd, 2004
It's looking more and more likely that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will break records this upcoming weekend. And part of that will come from the IMAX Experience that is coming to 49 theatres across North America and a handful more worldwide.
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June 2nd, 2004
It was a massive worldwide opening for
The Day After Tomorrow, which debuted in 9,276 theatres in 110 markets. It's $85.0 million over three days was almost the same has its four day domestic take. And with more than $150 million, it became the biggest worldwide debut this year. This is a great start, but the real test is yet to come. What will determine if this film is a blockbuster verses it being an elite film is how well it holds up to competition next weekend.
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June 1st, 2004
After a rather mediocre May, June looks a lot stronger with two films that should break $300 million. Not surprisingly, these monster hits are being released unopposed during their respective weeks. And also not surprisingly, they are being released at opposite ends of the month. The rest of the films are unlikely to make much of an impact, although a few should cross the increasingly irrelevant $100 million plateau.
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March 25th, 2004
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here the list of this week's releases, a couple of new sites and few updates including the winner for the week,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -
Official Site . If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
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January 3rd, 2004
The New Year makes for an interesting time to look at how last year's blockbusters have affected our All Time Top Box Office Stars list.
As usual, there are some familiar names doing well, and some surprise new entries.
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December 4th, 2003
During the past week promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here's a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week.More...
November 20th, 2003
November 13th, 2003
