June 17th, 2009
On the one hand, there were three new releases to reach the top five on the rental chart this week. On the other hand, there were only three new releases to reach the top thirty on the rental chart this week. Leading the way was He's Just Not That Into You with roughly 50% more rentals than second place Defiance.
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June 9th, 2009
A severely weak list of new releases left Paul Blart - Mall Cop at the top of the sales chart this week. The DVD sold an additional 554,000 units and added $9.92 million in consumer spending at retail to lift its total to $39.33 million.
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June 9th, 2009
New releases were a little more plentiful on the rental chart than they were on the sales chart, but a holdover still led the way.
Paul Blart - Mall Cop earned first place for the second week in a row, generating about 30% more rentals than Taken, which rose to second place.
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May 26th, 2009
It's a slow week, not that you can tell from the number of spotlight reviews. Over the past week, I received close to a dozen DVDs that were late. Fortunately, I was able to get to all of them, at least I until this afternoon when a couple more arrived late. (It never ends.) As for the DVD / Blu-rays coming out this week, there's not much of a selection. The best is Jeeves & Wooster - The Complete Series, but the lack of extras prevents it from being awarded the DVD Pick of the Week. On the other hand, the best on this week's list is Star Trek - Original Motion Picture Collection, which actually came out a couple of weeks ago. Even so, it is deserving of the DVD Pick of the Week. A slow week plus a lot of late reviews still results in a list so long it had to be spit into two. The second part can be found here.
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February 9th, 2009
2009 returned to its winning ways after a tiny 1% drop-off last week. Not only did the number one film beat expectations, but five of the six films on Thursday's column beat expectations. This led to a 22% jump at the box office to $155 million, which is 38% more than the same weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2009 has now pulled in $1.22 billion vs. $1.02 billion for the same time last year, which is an outstanding 19.6% increase.
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February 4th, 2009
The winners of our Chill Out contest were determined and they are...
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February 2nd, 2009
Taken took on the competition and won with $24.72 million over the weekend, which was the second best Super Bowl weekend debut behind Miley Cyrus's stunning opening of Best of Both Worlds. This is much better than expected, as the male-oriented rescue / revenge story faced stiff competition from Super Bowl 43, which turned out to be a much better game than anticipated. More...
February 1st, 2009
Moviegoers took Taken to the top of the chart this weekend, in spite of conventional wisdom that says that action thrillers can't work against the power of the Superbowl.
Strong performances on Friday and Saturday will propel the movie to a $24.6 million opening weekend, according to Fox's estimate released on Sunday morning.
Sony are delighted with another strong hold for Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which was down only 35% to $14 million, while The Uninvited had a decent $10.5 million weekend for Paramount.
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January 31st, 2009
Slow week for movie releases with the best of the bunch being merely average. To be fair, most of the sites are at least average, but none come close to being worthy of the Weekly Website Award.
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January 29th, 2009
It could be tough this weekend for 2009 to maintain pace with 2008 for a few reasons.
First of all, this time last year was the first weekend of February, and this time it is still the last weekend of January.
Secondly, it is Super Bowl weekend, and the two widest releases are aiming at a male audience.
Thirdly, this time last year Miley Cyrus proved she was a box office powerhouse, and there's no equivalent this year.
That said, while the top of the chart might not be that strong, there is a lot more depth this year.
A lot more.
In fact, there is a slim chance that the sixth place film will make $10 million or more at the box office this weekend, and it is unlikely that any of the new releases will truly bomb, unlike last year.
(Also, the Super Bowl is a lot less interesting this year compared to last.)
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January 23rd, 2009
New in Town, or as it was previously known, Chilled in Miami, is one of three widish releases next week. However, while it is expected to have the smallest theater count amongst the three, it is the target film this week, as we have a fabulous prize pack from the movie to give away. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of New in Town.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a New in Town prize pack that comes with a mini-poster, full sized poster, T-shirt, postcard, bookmark, luggage tag, and more.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will win Henry Poole is Here on Blu-ray.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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January 1st, 2009
Happy New Year!
If it's January 1, it must be time to take a look at this month's releases, and analyze how 2009 at the box office will compare to 2008.
2009 is looking to get off to a fast start, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. For one thing, 2008 stumbled down the stretch, which means the box office is relatively soft at the moment. Also, 2008 got off to a great start, which means it will be harder for 2009 to keep pace early on. (On a side note, if the box office is sluggish as expected, it could set the tone for the box office coverage and bad news tends to beget more bad news.) While there are a few films that are aiming for $50 million or more, none have the advance buzz that Cloverfield had, and it is unlikely that any will match its box office.
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August 16th, 2008
This week's round of new casting information contains updates for Chilled in Miami, Dorian Gray, Surfer Dude, and more!
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August 12th, 2008
This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive!
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August 10th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Chilled in Miami, Tooth Fairy and more!
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