May 10th, 2009
It was a slow week for new releases with none coming close to selling 1 million units. However, this is common during this part of the year, and we still saw two new releases topping the chart. The best of these was Notorious, which sold 606,000 units generating $14.54 million in revenue.
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May 10th, 2009
There were only three new releases to chart this week; however, those three new releases all reach the top six. This includes a new number one film, The Wrestler, which should have strong legs thanks to amazing reviews.
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April 21st, 2009
Not much in the way of first run releases this week, but we do have more Awards Season players coming out on the home market. However, if you want the best of the best, you have to look to Sin City - 2-Disc Blu-ray. This week's list was a little too big to fit on one page, so the second part can be found here.
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February 22nd, 2009
Madea Goes to Jail dominated Oscar weekend at the movies with an impressive $41.1 million opening, according to Lionsgate's Sunday estimate.
That's a record for Perry, topping the $30 million debut of
Madea's Family Reunion two years ago.
Even after factoring in the exhibitor's share of box office,
Madea Goes to Jail has already recovered its $17.5 million production budget.
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February 21st, 2009
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest under way, 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 Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role.
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February 20th, 2009
With our annual
Oscar Prediction contest under way, 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 Best Female Actor in a Leading Role and Best Male Actor in a Leading Role.
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February 18th, 2009
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest under way, 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 will look at Best Writing - Original Screenplay and Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay.
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February 10th, 2009
Crips and Bloods: Made in America was the only film to reach $10,000 on the per theater chart with $13,978 in one theater during its second weekend of release.
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January 28th, 2009
There wasn't a single film to reach $10,000 on the per theater chart at the weekend.
Slumdog Millionaire led the way with $7,562, which is a better average than the film has earned in three of the five past weekends, despite expanding to the widest it has ever been by a large margin.
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January 26th, 2009
New releases missed expectations, but enough of the holdovers excelled that that overall box office was still strong. Granted, it was down 17% from last weekend, but given the post-holiday slump, this is not bad. Also, $160 million is 14% more than the same weekend last year and it keeps 2009 well ahead of 2008 $861 million to $707 million, or 22%.
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January 25th, 2009
The theatrical market continued to perform strongly this weekend, with Sony in particular having good reason to cheer.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop followed up its amazing opening weekend with a very solid hold, down just 33% to an estimated $21.5 million for the weekend and $64.8 million after two.
Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans couldn't top that performance, but did a creditable $20.7 million, which will almost certainly translate into a continuation of the franchise.
Inkheart was the biggest disappointment of the weekend, earning $7.725 million for seventh place.
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January 23rd, 2009
2009 looks to continue its winning streak with two wide releases and a lot of high-powered holdovers. It is unlikely that any of them will live up to last week's number one film, but the overall effort should live up to last year's overall box office and maintain 2009's winning streak.
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January 22nd, 2009
For a year without an obvious front-runner for the Oscar race, there were not a whole lot of surprises when it came to the nominations. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their nominations today and leading the way was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with thirteen while Slumdog Millionaire was second with ten.
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January 9th, 2009
The final guild nominations were recently announced, and there are several theatrical categories to get to. The three guilds, DGA, PGA, and WGA, announced out eight nominations in total, which really help to fill in the gaps for prediction the Oscar nods. Or in some cases, just make matters more confusing.
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January 6th, 2009
Despite earning mixed reviews, Defiance topped the per theater chart with a massive average of $61,757 in two theaters, and that's over the weekend. In total the film made more than $200,000 in 2 theaters over five days. Gran Torino's per theater average grew by 26% to $34,957 in 84 theaters. At this point, it would be fair to say it has earned some measure of mainstream success, and it expands wide this weekend. Revolutionary Road saw its theater count grow from 3 to 38, while it still managed a per theater average of $25,946. The Wrestler also saw growth with an average of $24,323, and it should expand over the coming weeks. I'm not sure it will expand wide, but it should do reasonably well. Che continues its Oscar qualifying run earning an average of $17,742 in 2 theaters. Last Chance Harvey saw small growth to $17,034 in 6 theaters, but I'm not sure how far it will expand. Waltz with Bashir was the final film in the $10,000 club with an average of $10,713 in five theaters.
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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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December 31st, 2008
The winners of our Christmas Frost contest were determined and they are...
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December 30th, 2008
Revolutionary Road was nothing short of fantastic on the per theater chart earning a stunning $190,000 in just three theaters for an average of $63,304. Gran Torino saw both is theater count and per theater average grow earning more than $2 million in 84 theaters for a stunning average of $27,652; the film might not earn as many awards as some were expecting, but its box office potential is as high as ever. The Wrestler slipped to third place during is sophomore stint with an average of $21,529 in 18 theaters, but it too should earn some measure of mainstream success. Che continued its Oscar qualifying run with $35,000 in 2 theaters for an average of $17,252. Last Chance Harvey opened with nearly $100,000 in six theaters for an average of $16,210, which would have been very impressive though most of the year, but we've hit such a winning streak recently that is feels merely average. The overall box office leader, Marley & Me earned an average of $10,448, while Waltz with Bashir barely managed to enter the $10,000 club with an average of $10,004 in five theaters.
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December 28th, 2008
The Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced last Friday, but in the holiday rush, they fell through the cracks. Perhaps that's because most SAG talk these days revolves around possible strike action. The big player here is undoubtedly Doubt, which picked up four individual nods and one for its primary cast.
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December 23rd, 2008
The Wrestler had one of the best opening per theater averages this year, pulling in just over $200,000 in 4 theaters for an average of $50,679; this impressive beginning is even more impressive once one realizes it was a Wednesday opener, which undoubtedly cut its weekend average. Gran Torino tripled its theater count but its per theater average held well at $24,643 during its second weekend of release. Likewise, Doubt saw a significant increase in its theater count while earning an average of $17,460 over the weekend. The Reader remained in 8 theaters with an average of $11,599, and it will be interesting to see how well it expands at this point, but momentum is not on its side.
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December 19th, 2008
There are a huge number of wide releases coming out next week, but none are coming out on Friday, which makes our box office prediction contest a little trickier than usual.
To make things even trickier, our target film isn't one of the wide releases.
Instead, you will have to predict the Friday-Sunday weekend total for Frost/Nixon, which is expanding into an estimated 200 theaters.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a Frost/Nixon hat and a full sized poster from that film. Additionally, they will win Goldilock and the Three Bears on DVD, 199 Lives on DVD, and The Big Jump in hardcover.
Meanwhile, whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going under, will also win 199 Lives on DVD and The Big Jump in hardcover, as well as The Singing Revolution in hardcover.
Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay!
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December 17th, 2008
Gran Torino opened on top of the Per Theater Chart with an outstanding average of $45,287 in six theaters. Wide expansion seems inevitable at this point. Likewise, Doubts debut of just over $500,000 in 15 theaters gave it an average $33,815 making expansion almost assured. Che - The Argentine was close behind with $30,535 in two theaters. The Reader opened with an average of $21,006 in 8 theaters, which most weeks would be enough to score top spot; however, given the competition, without continued success during Awards Season, it could struggle to expand. There were only two holdovers in the $10,000 club with Frost/Nixon earning an average of $16,061 and Slumdog Millionaire earning $12,873. The final $10,000 film was Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, which opened with $10,985. However, both My Name Is Bruce and Wendy and Lucy came relatively close with averages of $9,119 and $9,109 respectively.
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December 12th, 2008
The latest set of Awards Season nominations were handed out today as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations. There was not much in the way of surprises, and it is hard to look at one film and say it was the big winner, but Frost/Nixon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button come the closest.
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December 9th, 2008
Frost/Nixon had one of the best openings of the year, earning a per theater average of $60,236 in three theaters.
Second place on the per theater chart was Milk with an average of $18,534 in just a hair under 100 theaters.
Slumdog Millionaire is showing incredible legs and earned an average of $17,977 theaters in 78 theaters while My Name is Bruce rounded out the $10,000 club with $17,214 in one theater, the best weekend of its run.
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December 7th, 2008
Four Christmases held on at the top of the chart for a second weekend, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.
The comedy fell only 41%, the best hold in the top ten, and easily topped the chart ahead of Twilight, which had a better third week, down around 50% to $13 million.
The wide openers were generally weak.
Punisher: War Zone only managed $4 million in 2,508 theaters.
Cadillac Records did much better on a per theater basis, averaging over $5,000 per location, but limited release in 686 theaters meant it was only able to land in 9th place with $3.5 million.
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December 7th, 2008
This is the weakest week for wide releases for the entire holiday season, but there were still several sites that are worth checking. This includes The Punisher - War Zone's Official Site, which is the best of the best and the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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December 5th, 2008
Seven limited releases this week, but only two that are opening in more than one theater. However, while the quantity is not great, the quality is with two potential Oscar winners opening this week: Frost/Nixon and Hunger. Additionally, both Timecrimes and Tokyo! are also worth checking out.
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December 1st, 2008
We end the year with a winning streak, one that will hopefully continue right through the New Year holiday. It seems nearly every film released this month is either an Oscar contender or a potential $100 million hit. Sometimes both. If all six films with box office potentials of $100 million or more reach that milestone, and Bolt and Four Christmases have the legs to make it there as well, we could set the record for most $100 million released in a single year. (It is currently at 29 films set in 2003.)
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April 6th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Underworld 3, Pink Panther 2, Nottingham and more!
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March 16th, 2008
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for Henry Poole is Here, The Rocker, Humboldt Park and more!
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