March 15th, 2015
New releases earned the top three spots on the DVD sales chart this week. This includes Big Hero 6, which opened in first place with 963,000 units / $14.44. This isn't at the same level as Frozen opened with, but it is already the second best selling DVD in 2015.
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March 15th, 2015
While Big Hero 6 wasn't the only new release on the Blu-ray sales chart this week, it might as well have been. Not only did it crush the competition for the week, it is already the best selling Blu-ray of 2015 by a massive margin. It sold 1.99 million units generating $37.59 million in the process. Its opening week Blu-ray share was 67%, which is stunning. This would be stunning for a visually intensive action film aimed at Fanboys. For a family film, it is hard to comprehend.
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February 24th, 2015
This list is going to be a little shorter than I wanted... a lot shorter actually. My Internet Provider decided it would be a good idea to do maintenance tonight, so I was without internet access for several hours. There are two first-run releases that are contenders for Pick of the Week: Big Hero 6 (DVD or Blu-ray Combo Pack) and Whiplash (DVD or Blu-ray). The other contender is the Criterion Collection release for Watership Down (Blu-ray). All three are worth owning, but Big Hero 6 is the Pick of the Week.
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February 23rd, 2015
Once more, entrants in The Numbers Predict the Academy Awards Contest did an impressive job of predicting winners, in spite of a volatile Awards Season. Overall, the top voter-getters in 18 out 24 categories went on to win the Oscar on the night, including all acting awards, all but one of the technical awards, and all the short films.
Our biggest misses were actually in the biggest categories: Best Picture was won by Birdman, not Boyhood; Alejandro Inarritu beat Richard Linklater for Best Director; and Big Hero 6 prevailed over How to Train Your Dragon 2.
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February 22nd, 2015
The Oscar ceremony is tonight and we will be live-blogging the winners... assuming I don't get bored and wander away. On a serious note, while my job is all about movies and I love watching movies, I love paying attention to box office numbers, I even love Awards Season. I hate ceremonies. As per usual, here is the list of nominees marked according to predictions / wishes. Nominees in Bold are the ones predicted to win by our readers. If I predicted a different film, those are in Italics. Meanwhile, the nominees I want to win, but don't think will win, are Underlined. There are a few categories where the film I really think deserves the award were not even nominated, plus a few I don't have a real opinion on.
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February 22nd, 2015
The polls are closed in our 18th annual Predict the Academy Awards contest, and it has turned out to be the most exciting two-horse race in the history of the contest.
After weeks of intense debate among our voters, we have a virtual tie in the biggest categories of all: Best Picture and Best Director. The predicted Best Picture winner is, in fact, a statistical dead heat. Boyhood garnered 47% of the total vote, and Birdman 46%, giving the Linklater epic the tiniest of edges.
Best Director is a clearer contest, but still close, and still a bout between Boyhood and Birdman. Richard Linklater is favorite to win Best Director, perhaps in part because he’s more “due” for the award than Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. As noted, though, “favorite” is strong, given the closeness of this category, with Linklater getting 55% of the votes and Inarritu taking a 46% share.
The other big story about this year’s contest is just how much of a two-horse contest it really is. With 93% of the Best Picture vote going to Birdman and Boyhood, the remaining nominees were left to split the other 7% of the vote. American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything each gathered a handful of votes from The Numbers readers, and Selma and Whiplash are given virtually no chance at all.
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February 22nd, 2015
The Independent Spirit Awards winners were announced last night and there were few surprises. Birdman led the way with 3 wins, but it wasn't the only film to come away with more than one award.
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February 20th, 2015
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 the biggest prize, Best Picture. Like with Best Director, this is a two-horse race with the same two films at the top of the list.
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February 17th, 2015
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 the two writing categories, ending with Best Adapted Screenplay. This is also a two-horse race, but one of the horses has a significant, but not insurmountable lead.
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February 12th, 2015
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 the two supporting actor categories, finishing with Best Supporting Actor. Like the Best Supporting Actress category, Best Supporting Actor isn't even close and one of the five nominees is absolutely running away with things.
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February 8th, 2015
The BAFTA winners were announced on Sunday and there were a few surprises, including the number one winner. The Grand Budapest Hotel took home five awards, while Boyhood, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash earned three each.
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January 26th, 2015
The Screen Actors Guild winners were announced Sunday and there were some surprises, mostly in the negative. Birdman picked up the biggest prize, but there were six different winners in the six categories.
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January 17th, 2015
The Oscar nominations were announced early in the morning, when all sensible people were asleep. There were some surprises, as well as some results that would have been surprises had it not been for the previous Awards Season nominations. Seventeen films earned two or more nods, led by Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel, both of which picked up nine nominations, while The Imitation Game was right behind with eight.
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January 12th, 2015
We are still waiting for the DGA nominations to be announced, but we had the first major awards show on Sunday. The Golden Globes winners were announced Sunday night and while there were not a lot of surprises, there are some things worth talking about. Leading the way with three wins was Boyhood, while Birdman and The Theory of Everything each picked up a pair of wins.
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January 11th, 2015
The BAFTA nominations were announced yesterday and unlike most other Awards Season voters, the BAFTA voters gave us some real surprises. For instance, Birdman didn't lead the way. In fact, it was a comedy, The Grand Budapest Hotel, that earned the most nominations at 11. Granted, Birdman and The Theory of Everything were tied for second place with ten each, but it is still strange to see a comedy leading the way.
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January 10th, 2015
The Writers Guild of America nominations were latest to be announced, but were there any real surprises? Yes. Birdman didn't get a nomination, but Guardians of the Galaxy did. More on that later. Besides those two films, there are not a lot of surprises here and the usual contenders are present, including Boyhood and The Imitation Game, but there are also some other notable films missing.
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January 10th, 2015
The Producers Guild of America nominations were announced and there's not a lot of surprises among the three categories. Birdman, Boyhood, The Imitation Game, and others continue to get accolades, but there are also some films that are being passed over too often.
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December 22nd, 2014
The $10,000 club was crowded this weekend with six films earning per theater averages of more than $10,000. This includes Inherent Vice, which led the way for the second time in a row earning an average of $29,055 in five theaters. This bodes well for its wide expansion in January. Speaking of expanding, The Imitation Game expanded from 25 theaters to 34 theaters earning an average of $25,253 in the process. It has already earned some measure of mainstream success and with room to grow, it will stay in theaters for a while. Mr. Turner was the best of the new limited releases earning an average of $21,728 in five theaters. Song of the Sea was next with $17,967 in one theater. The overall box office champ, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, earned an average of $14,122, which is lower than anticipated, but still pretty good. Finally, P.K. opened with an average of $13,108 in 272 theaters. It is rare that we get to talk about a Bollywood film in the $10,000 club.
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December 11th, 2014
The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning, at three in the morning, because the people at Golden Globes are under the delusion that news announced at 3:00 a.m. is somehow more important if it is announced before anyone is awake. As for the actual nominations, like with the Independent Spirit Awards and the SAG nominations, Birdman led the way. It earned seven nominations, while Boyhood and The Imitation Game tied for second with five apiece. Starting to notice a pattern here? This could be a really dull Awards Season with very few surprises. On the other hand, predictable means less work for me. Plus, predictable probably means the Awards Season voters are making the right choices, as surprises usually mean someone made the wrong choice.
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December 10th, 2014
The Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced Wednesday morning. Are there surprises worth mentioning? Is the Oscar picture beginning to take shape? Like with the Independent Spirit Awards, Birdman led the way this time earning four nominations from six categories, while Boyhood, The Imitation Game, and The Theory of Everything had three nods each.
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December 10th, 2014
The Imitation Game remained in first place on the per theater chart with an average of $48,658 in 8 theaters over the weekend. It also reached $1 million in the process, barely. The best new release of the week was Wild with an average of $28,896 in 21 theaters. This film will hit major milestones very soon. She's Beautiful When She's Angry just managed to earn a spot in the $10,000 club with $10,505 in one theater. Meanwhile, Zero Motivation just missed the $10,000 club with $9,427 in one theater. However, it was a Wednesday release and it earned $13,145 over five days. Had it opened on Friday instead, it very likely would have reached the $10,000 club.
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December 6th, 2014
The Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced last week and I'm getting to them a little late, because I needed to organize the whole Awards Season stories. Firstly, I've decided to use the year the movies were released not the year the awards are handed out, unlike what we did last year. This means both will have 2014 as the year. Not ideal, but it is better to fix the mistake now than carry on making it. Secondly, the headlines are just going to be the name of the Awards and either nominations or winners. This will make it easier for readers to find later on. As for the Independent Spirit Awards nominations, Birdman led the way with 6 nods, while Boyhood, Nightcrawler, and Selma were right behind with 5 each.
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December 3rd, 2014
The Imitation Game led the way on the per theater chart with an incredible average of $119,838 in four theaters. This is the second best per theater average of the year, behind only The Grand Budapest Hotel. Second place went to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, with an average of $13,725 during its sophomore stint. The final film in the $10,000 is The Babadook, which earned an average of $10,002 in three theaters.
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November 26th, 2014
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 not only earned first place on the overall box office, but it also led the way on the per theater chart with an average of $29,366. Foxcatcher earned an average of $19,764 in 24 theaters. It is nearly at $1 million and has room to grow further. The Theory of Everything expanded again, but still remained in the $10,000 club with an average of $10,798 in 141 theaters.
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November 19th, 2014
Foxcatcher was the latest Oscar-hopeful to top the per theater chart earning an average of $45,146 in six theaters. This practically guarantees some measure of mainstream success; however, unless it can earn some Awards Season nominations, it likely won't expand truly wide. Likewise, The Theory of Everything expanded to 41 theaters earning an average of $17,937. It also reached its first major milestone over the weekend and will earn more in the future. The overall number one film, Dumb and Dumber To, was next with an average of $11,450, while The Homesman was right behind with an average of $11,358 in four theaters.
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November 5th, 2014
For the third weekend in a row, Birdman led the per theater chart. In fact, this week it was the only one in the $10,000 club earning an average of $10,348 in 231 screens. At this point, the film has already earned some measure of mainstream success, while it still has room to grow.
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October 19th, 2014
Fury will top the box office chart this weekend with a solid, but unspectacular, $23.5 million, according to Sony’s Sunday morning estimate. Pre-weekend projections had the film closer to $30 million, and with an $80 million price tag, and Brad Pitt starring, the film is really underperforming at this point. By way of comparison, Gone Girl opened with $37.5 million three weeks ago. Fury will need really good legs, or a really strong performance overseas, to post a profit.
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October 15th, 2014
There were a trio of new limited releases topping the per theater chart, led by St. Vincent with an average of $27,470 in four theaters. Whiplash was close behind with an average of $22,565 in six theaters. The final film in the $10,000 club was Awake: The Life of Yogananda with an opening of $18,885 in one theater.
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October 12th, 2014
What was largely expected to be a fairly comfortable win for Gone Girl this weekend turned out to be a bit of a squeaker, thanks to a better-than-expected $23.46 million estimated opening for Dracula Untold. The vampire actioner won the day on Friday, but couldn’t maintain its pace, with $8.7 million on Saturday, against Gone Girl’s $11.3 million. Projections for today have it potentially falling into third place behind Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day on Sunday, which doesn’t bode well for its legs long-term.
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October 10th, 2014
We have a rather long list of limited releases this week, but sadly only three of them are earning overwhelmingly positive reviews. Unfortunately, two of these films will likely not do well in theaters. Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead is a horror film, which is one strike against it, while it is also playing on Video on Demand. I Am Ali is a documentary, so it could do well in art house circuits, but its chances of expanding significantly are very limited. Finally there's Whiplash, which could lead the way on the Per Theater Chart.
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