Our DVD and Blu-ray sales estimates are based on weekly retail surveys, which we use to build a weekly market share estimate for each title we are tracking. The market share is converted into a weekly sales estimate based on industry reports on the overall size of the market, including reports published in Media Play News.

For example, if our weekly retail survey estimates that a particular title sold 1% of all units that week, and the industry reports sales of 1,500,000 units in total, we will estimate 15,000 units were sold of that title. The consumer spending estimate is based on the average sales price for the title in the retailers we survey.

We refine our estimates from week to week as more data becomes available. In particular, we adjust weekly sales figures for the quarter once the total market estimates are published by the Digital Entertainment Group. Figures will therefore fluctuate each week, and totals for individual titles can go up or down as we update our estimates.

Because sales figures are estimated based on sampling, they will be more accurate for higher-selling titles.

September Preview: Tenet Heads a Month with a Wide Release Planned Every Weekend

September 1st, 2020

We finally had some wide releases in August, and things went well, relatively speaking. Antebellum was pulled from the schedule at the last minute, leaving Unhinged as the only semi-wide release for the weekend of August 21, and that helped it open better than anticipated with $4 million. Then The New Mutants had the best opening since the pandemic first caused theaters to close, with $7 million last weekend.

That record won’t last long as Tenet is now playing in US theaters, officially as an “Early Access” release on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, then “In Theaters” (which seems to be basically the same thing, only more so) from Thursday. It should outpace The New Mutants’ running tally, and maybe as early as its opening day. Not only will it have the biggest opening in months, it should stay in first place for the entire month, mainly due to a lack of competition. Three other films are getting wide releases, and each on their own weekend, so there’s no competition between them; however, that’s the end of the good news as the buzz for all three films is quiet. In fact, the buzz for Antebellum is in some ways louder, and that will be going direct to Apple TV on September 18.

Here’s the complete rundown of major movies coming to theaters this month. More...

International Round Up: Harry Potter Puts a Spell on China, Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide

August 20th, 2020

The slow march to recovery at the box office continued in international markets at the weekend as theaters opened up and moviegoers continued to return. Progress is being slowed by the lack of new films, particularly from US studios, but catalog titles are filling the void. China took advantage of an opportunity to release a movie from the Harry Potter archive for the first time in the territory, and Australian film fans got a chance to enjoy some original Star Wars. Some local films are also doing well, partly thanks to the lack of competition.

Here’s a round-up of what’s playing around the world, and how markets are recovering. More...

International Round Up: Deliver Us from Box Office Doldrums

August 13th, 2020

South Korea had an explosive weekend with Deliver Us From Evil earning the best opening in that market since January. The film pulled in $10.59 million on 1,997 screens over the weekend for a total opening of $15.03 million. There is still some bad news in the market though. For instance, Steel Rain 2: Summit fell 70% from last weekend to $1.49 million on 1,016 screens for a total of $10.74 million so far. Peninsula fell a further 67% to $748,000 on 639 screens for a total of $27.08 million after four weeks of release. These are sharp declines, even for South Korea, which isn’t known for long legs. That said, they are not a disaster. Additionally, while the overall box office is only about half of what it was this weekend last year, there are still restrictions in seating capacity in theaters and the lack of depth are still factors, so it appears the box office is in shape to truly bounce back once the situation has returned to normal. More...

Greenland Trailer

June 25th, 2020

Disaster movie starring Gerard Butler opens in theaters August 14 ... Full Movie Details.

A family fights for survival as a planet-killing comet races to Earth. John Garrity, his estranged wife Allison, and young son Nathan make a perilous journey to their only hope for sanctuary. Amid terrifying news accounts of cities around the world being leveled by the comet’s fragments, the Garrity’s experience the best and worst in humanity while they battle the increasing panic and lawlessness surrounding them. As the countdown to global apocalypse approaches zero, their incredible trek culminates in a desperate and last-minute flight to a possible safe haven. More...