November 22nd, 2010
This Friday is Black Friday, but there's a lull on the home market with not a whole lot of great releases.
(This is the usual pattern for Thanksgiving.)
The biggest hit coming out is The Expendables, which should top the chart, while there are a number of smaller releases that are in contention for Pick of the Week. The best of these is Metropolis: The Complete Metropolis, which comes out on Blu-ray this week after being released on DVD last week.
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July 26th, 2010
It is a deceptively slow week in the video market.
I love that word, "deceptively", because it really has no meaning.
In the first sentence it could mean the week appears to be busy, but it is really slow.
Or it could mean the week appears to be slow, but it is really busy.
In this case, it's the former.
While there are 350 releases for the week on Amazon.com, there's only one significant first run release, Clash of the Titans.
Moving down the list of best sellers, it doesn't take long until you run into second tier, or even third or fourth tier releases.
Arguably the best release on this week's list of reviews is Mother, but that came out last week it's on the list because the screener was late.
The two competitors for Pick of the Week from this week's releases are Batman: Under the Red Hood - Blu-ray with Litho Cell and Ip Man - Collector's Edition Blu-ray.
Which one wins depends on whether you like martial arts movies or comic books more.
For me, it's a tie.
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June 18th, 2008
Another week with no powerhouse new releases has left National Treasure: Book of Secrets atop the DVD sales chart. During its third week in a row in first place, it sold 483,000 units for $7.45 million in revenue and running tallies of 4.91 million units and $78.33 million, which places it in third for the year.
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June 18th, 2008
Semi-Pro led a trio of new releases on top of the rental charts this week, earning a solid $8.1 million in its first week.
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June 10th, 2008
New releases did not make much of an impact on the home market this week while overall sales slumped dramatically. This is not unusual for this time of year, especially the week after the last winter blockbuster came out. That blockbuster, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, remained in first place on the sales chart, even after collapsing more than 70% to 941,000 units sold. Overall the film has sold 4.43 million units for $70.88 million in revenue, which places it fifth on the yearly chart.
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June 10th, 2008
There were more new releases to reach the top 30 on the rental charts, including Rambo, which was the new number one rental with $8.55 million in revenue. However, that was the only new release in the top five.
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June 8th, 2008
Sex and the City made its international debut this past weekend, and while it wasn't able to top the charts like it did domestically, it still managed a fantastic $32.77 million on 3590 screens in 14 markets over the weekend for a total of $37.52 million. Its biggest opening came in the U.K. where it dominated the market with $17.22 million on 460 screens, which is equivalent to an $80 million to $100 million opening here. It also finished first in Germany with $7.41 million on 836 screens. It also did very well in France with $6.12 million on 551 screens and in Italy with $2.74 million on 552 screens, finishing second in both markets. The film opened in Australia and South Korea this past weekend, while it doesn't end its run till late August with Japan and it should reach several major milestones before then.
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June 1st, 2008
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian slipped 21% during its sophomore stint adding $19.35 million on 3681 screens in 13 markets for a still early total of $51.26 million. This includes a first place, $5.34 million opening on 782 screens over the weekend in Japan, while the film has $7.81 million including midweek numbers. This was below the original's opening in that market of $8.92 million, which is troubling. More troubling news came in Mexico where it was down 51% to $3.05 million on 842 screens over the weekend for a total of $11.58 million while in Russia it was down 55% to $3.03 million on 735 screens over the weekend for a total of $11.54 million after two.
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May 27th, 2008
There's a small section of big-name first run releases this week, but that doesn't mean there's little to buy. In fact, there are several DVDs that were contenders for DVD Pick of the week including some TV on DVD releases (Absolutely Fabulous - Absolutely Everything - Buy from Amazon and Degrassi The Next Generation - Season 6 - Buy from Amazon), classic cinema (The Thief of Bagdad - Criterion Collection - Buy from Amazon), foreign cinema (Come Drink With Me - Buy from Amazon and Heroes of the East - Buy from Amazon), as well as a collection of short films (The H.P. Lovecraft Collection - Volume 1 - Cool Air, Volume 2 - Dreams of Cthulhu, Volume 3 - Out of Mind, and Volume 4 - Pickman's Model). It would be nearly impossible to name just one of these releases as the DVD Pick of the Week, but The Thief of Bagdad - Criterion Collection - Buy from Amazon would likely please the most people.
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March 16th, 2008
No Country For Old Men slipped out of the top five but still added $7.07 million on 1881 screens in 47 markets for a total of $60.56 million. It is on track to top its domestic box office shortly, which would give it $150 million worldwide.
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March 9th, 2008
Meet the Spartans made its first major push into the international market this past weekend earning sixth place with $7.94 million on 1653 screens in 14 markets for an early total of $12.90 million. Its biggest opening came in Germany where it scored second place with $3.01 million on 304 screens, however, it earned first place in both Mexico with $1.35 million on 543 screens and in Australia with $1.29 million on 211 screens. On the other hand, it fell by 59% during its second weekend in Russia pulling in $526,000 on 275 screens over the weekend for a total of $2.27 million after two.
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February 27th, 2008
Jumper made another leap toward $100 million internationally after it pulled in $21.75 million on 3,984 screens in 40 markets over the weekend for a total of $60.42 million so far. The film opened in third place in France with $4.58 million on 586 screens while it remained in first in the U.K. with $2.97 million on 421 screens and in Spain with $2.25 million on 445 screens. In those two markets the film has pulled in $11.58 million and $6.65 million respectively, which is in line with its performance stateside.
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February 24th, 2008
Rambo climbed five spots just missing the top five with $6.96 million on 1989 screens in 25 markets for a total of $25.63 million. The film opened in second place in Germany with $2.78 million 405 screens while it managed third in Mexico with $704,000 on 300. Next up is the U.K., Australia, and Italy, where it opens this weekend, while it enters South Korea next weekend.
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February 17th, 2008
Thanks to an opening in the U.K., Juno shoot up the charts nearly reaching the top five with $8.28 million on 1111 screens in 15 markets for a still early total $17.15 million. In the U.K. the film placed second with $3.91 million on 363 screens, but had the best per screen average in the top 10 there. It also opened in France scoring sixth place with $1.22 million on 149 screens, which gave it the second best per screen average in the top ten there. Meanwhile in Spain the film grew by 5% to $1.03 million on 170 screens over the weekend and a total of $2.34 million after two.
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February 10th, 2008
National Treasure: The Book of Secrets slipped out of the top five, again, earning $6.94 million on 2702 screens in 34 markets for a total of $169.62 million. This includes a first place finish in Germany with $3.42 million on 641 screens for a total of $10.03 million after two there. The film opens in the U.K. this weekend and should have little trouble reaching $200 million before long.
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February 5th, 2008
The New York Giants stopped the Patriots from completing a perfect season.
However, from where I'm sitting, this isn't the biggest news of the weekend. Multiple records were broken by Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour. This helped the overall box office hit $128 million over the weekend, which is down 10% from last weekend, but this is reasonable considering this is a post-holiday weekend and Super Bowl Weekend. More importantly, the overall box office was up 40% from the same weekend in 2007, and 2008 is off to an early 16% lead from last year.
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February 4th, 2008
The Italian movie, Scusa Ma Ti Chiamo Amore, opened in first place in Italy with $7.55 million on 491 screens, which was more than double its nearest competition.
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February 1st, 2008
February starts off with what could be the most unlikely of box office hits in Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour. It isn't the only new release this week, but it is looking very likely that it will be the strongest. Granted, a lot of this has to due with Super Bowl Sunday, which siphons off a lot of potential moviegoers, especially the younger male demographic.
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January 29th, 2008
We are one month into 2008 and so far there are a lot more positives than negatives at the box office.
On the negative side, the box office was down 7% from last weekend to $144 million. But on the positive side, that was an increase of 21% from the same weekend last year and year-to-date 2008 has a 16% lead on 2007.
Granted, it is early and it is unlikely the box office will remain this hot for long, but it is still good news.
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January 26th, 2008
The last week in January isn't a great time to release a movie, and the quality of the sites reflects this. That said, the best of this week's list, Rambo - Official Site - is worthy of recognition and the winner of the Weekly Website Award.
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January 24th, 2008
It's the final weekend in January and so far the month has been stronger than expected.
Hopefully that will continue this weekend, and at the very least there should be a good battle at the top between, Rambo and Cloverfield.
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January 18th, 2008
January ends with the return of Rambo. This is the first release in the franchise in nearly 20 years, and its this week's target film. To win, one must simple predict the film's opening weekend box office.
Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win a copy of He Was a Quiet Man on DVD, as well as Fatal Contact on DVD.
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 a copy of He Was a Quiet Man on DVD, as well as Turok - Son of Stone on DVD.
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, 2008
It's the beginning of a new month, and a new year. This new beginning brings with it a sense of hope and exhilaration for many people, but this does not extend into the movie world. January is dominated by films from last year. Not only are holdovers going to overwhelm new releases at the box office for the next couple weeks, but with the award season heating up, most buzz is about who will win what. In fact, only Cloverfield seems to be able to rise above the award season buzz, but this is not a sure sign that the film will survive at the box office.
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September 16th, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for John Rambo, Smart People, Sex and the City and more!
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July 1st, 2007
This week's round of new movie release information contains release dates for The Hunting Party, The Good Night, John Rambo and more.
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