April 7th, 2010
There were several new releases on the sales chart this week; as many as nine, depending on how you look at things. The best selling DVD was definitely a new release: The Blind Side sold 2.54 million units generating $41.63 million in sales.
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April 4th, 2010
The Bounty Hunter slipped a spot to sixth place with $6.33 million on 1671 screens in 29 markets for a total of $17.04 million. It opened in a number of markets, mostly on the smaller side. Its largest new market was Mexico, where it debuted in fourth place with $656,000 on 300 screens. Meanwhile, it added $1.49 million on 393 screens during its second weekend in the U.K. for a two-week total of $5.86 million. It was right behind in Russia with $1.40 million on 445 screens over the weekend for a total of $5.52 million after two.
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March 28th, 2010
Just Another Pandora's Box started its international run in sixth place with $7.57 million on 417 screens in 2 markets. These two markets include Hong Kong, where it placed third with $333,000 on 33 screens.
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March 23rd, 2010
An excellent week with at least four releases that are worthy of Pick of the Week honors: The African Queen, Mad Men: Season Three, and both Toy Story Blu-rays. (In addition, there are several other releases that are worth picking up.) I found it impossible to limit my pick to just one, so I'm going with the Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Blu-ray / DVD Combo sets as the Pick of the Week.
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March 21st, 2010
The Round Up opened in sixth place with $6.32 million on 632 screens in 3 markets. Of that, $5.67 million was earned on 602 screens in France, which was easily enough for first place in that market.
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March 14th, 2010
The Princess and the Frog remained in sixth place with $5.18 million on 3019 screens in 35 markets for a total of $149.82 million internationally and $253.53 million worldwide. This past week it opened in Japan, struggling into fifth place with $1.02 million on 363 screens. Even with that disappointing result, it should do well enough on the home market to show a profit relatively soon.
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December 20th, 2009
Arthur And The Revenge Of Maltazard fell out of the top five, but still did relatively well, earning $8.14 million on 2,198 screens in 19 markets for an early total of $23.58 million. In its native France it added $6.27 million on 925 screens over the weekend for a total of $17.57 million after two. This is not that much weaker than the original, which at this point had made just over $20 million in France.
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November 29th, 2009
Planet 51 started its international run in a limited fashion, but was only a little better than its domestic opening. Its biggest market was Russia, where it placed fourth with $1.49 million on 344 screens, which is on par with its opening here, perhaps a little bit stronger.
The film also placed fourth in Italy with $1.16 million on 255 screens, which is again on par with the US, but perhaps a little weaker.
Overall, it landed in sixth place with $3.22 million on 894 screens in 6 markets during its opening weekend, but should improve this weekend when it opens in Spain, Mexico, and Brazil.
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November 22nd, 2009
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus climbed into sixth place with $3.20 million on 764 screens in 6 markets for a total of $21.40 million after a month of release. The film opened in fifth place in France with $2.14 million on 234 screens, but that was for the full week. It cracked $10 million in Italy during its run with a total of $10.36 million, including $861,000 on 247 screens this past weekend.
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November 16th, 2009
Great news at the box office, as the number one film topped expectations by a significant margin.
In fact, the top three films all did much better than expected.
On the down side, the rest of the films we talked about on Thursday struggled and this hurt the overall box office.
The total take was up 16.9% from last weekend at $140 million, but this was 5.8% lower than the same weekend last year.
Year to date, 2009 has pulled in $8.91 billion, which is 7.0% higher than last year's pace, and by this time next week 2009 will be only the seventh year to cross $9 billion in total ticket sales.
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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 12th, 2009
Just the one truly wide release this week, but we also have a semi-wide release that could sneak its way into the top ten, as well as a limited release that is expanding.
That wide release, 2012, is a disaster flick, which might be the best word to describe the overall box office, at least compared to last year.
Very few people think 2012 will top the $67.5 million opening of Quantum of Solace, which debuted this weekend last year.
In fact, if it misses that mark by a mere $10 million, I think a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised, while if it is short by $20 million or more, not too many people will be shocked.
Additionally, the holdovers are going to get crushed in this comparison as well, so there is almost no chance that 2009 will come out ahead.
It's a matter of minimizing the damage.
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November 10th, 2009
It was a mixed weekend at the box office as the overall ticket sales reached $120 million. This was 32% higher than last weekend; however, Halloween had a lot to do with that. More importantly, it was 16% lower than the same weekend last year. Even so, 2009 remains solidly ahead of 2008 by a 7.3% margin. In fact, its total of $8.72 billion is not only well ahead of last year's pace of $8.13 billion, it is almost as much as 2005 in total, and is already the eighth best yearly total ever.
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November 8th, 2009
Disney's A Christmas Carol got off to a disappointing start over the weekend, according to studio estimates.
While a $31 million debut is nothing to sniff at, it's well below expectations and might leave the movie outside the top 50 November weekends (see list).
This might be a case of opening a Christmas movie too soon, and Disney will be looking for long legs through Thanksgiving and into the Holiday Season proper, so all is not lost yet, but the next couple of weeks will be key.
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November 5th, 2009
The holiday season unofficial starts this weekend with the first Christmas release of the year.
Disney's A Christmas Carol is clearly the favorite to top the chart, but it is the only big release coming out this week, and it is unlikely to match last year's winner, Madagascar 2.
This means 2009 will have a tough time keeping up with last year's pace.
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November 1st, 2009
October was not a month to remember, as only two films really beat expectations. (Although Paranormal Activity was the most unexpected hit during the October, it actually opened in September, so one could argue it's not really an 'October hit'.) This month we have a massive collection of potential blockbusters, some potential Oscar contenders, as well as a few unfortunate films that might be squeezed out by the competition. Compared to last November, we might have the same number of $100 million hits, assuming all movies match expectations (fat chance); we have a limited release from this month become the Awards Season darling and reach that milestone (monstrously unlikely); and we count The Princess and the Frog as a November releases (intellectually dishonest). That said, if three or four legitimate November releases reach that milestone, then 2009 will be on pace to tie or break the record for most $100 million released in one calendar year. But overall, 2009 will likely see its lead over 2008 shrink during the next 30 days.
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