the-numbers.com

Bolt (2008) - Financial Information

The Golden Compass opened, in which case it was nearly 12% higher. Either is acceptable. As for the year-to-date numbers, 2008 extended its lead over 2007 to 1.4% at $8.96 billion to $8.84 billion. It appears that 2008's lead is safe this late in the year, at least in terms of raw dollars. Ticket sales, on the other hand, will decline. More...

Earth Looks to Open Big

December 12th, 2008

There are three wide releases this week, including the only action film in the month of December, The Day the Earth Stood Still. There's no doubt it will be the biggest hit of the week. The only real question is if it can open better than I Am Legend did this week last year and help 2008 keep pace with 2007. More...

Awards Season - The Curious Case of the Frost/Nixon Globe Nominations

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. More...

International Top Five - Madagascar Chases Down Top Spot

December 10th, 2008

As expected, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa earned first place on the international chart. However, its weekend haul of $50.99 million on 5,009 screens in 33 markets was better than expected, while its total of $126.43 million internationally is close to 40% of the original's final. Its best market of the week was Germany where it pulled in $11.43 million on 841 screens, while it also performed amazingly in France ($9.54 million on 788 screens) and in the U.K. ($9.48 million on 520). Other first place debuts included Mexico ($4.53 million on 438 screens); Switzerland ($2.51 million on 152); Belgium ($1.69 million on 115); and Austria ($1.57 million on 101). More...

Holiday Guests Hang Around Another Week

December 9th, 2008

The results at the box office were mixed over the weekend with a couple of films topping expectations while a few others failed at that task. Overall, box office receipts were $82 million, which was 50% lower than last weekend; however, it was Thanksgiving long weekend last weekend so a sharp drop-off was expected. Compared to the same weekend last year, 2008 was better, but by only 0.5%. Year-to-date, 2008's lead on 2007 is now 0.5% at $8.72 billion to $8.68 billion. More...

International Details - Bolting to the Top

December 7th, 2008

Bolt started its run on the international charts in sixth place with $7.90 million on 1417 screens in 4 markets. This includes a second place, $4.30 million opening on 570 screens in Russia, while it Italy it also placed second with $2.19 million on 467 screens. Meanwhile in Poland, it topped the charts with $855,000 on 120 screens, but this is par for the course as films of this nature tend to do very well in Poland. More...

Holdovers to Punish New Releases

December 4th, 2008

There are three wide releases this week, if you have a more forgiving definition of the term, "wide." Of these three films, none have a shot at first place, while two of them might not reach the top ten. Additionally, the holdovers will take a tumble as this is a post-holiday weekend. The only bright news is this weekend last year was even worse. More...

Christmas Surprise over Thanksgiving

December 2nd, 2008

Tryptophan overload wasn't enough to slow do the box office as every film matched or exceeded Thursday's predictions (or came within a rounding error of doing so). This helped the overall box office pull in $164 million over the three-day weekend and an amazing $234 million over five. Over the three-day weekend the box office was down by less than 1% from last weekend, but it was up by just under 2% over last year and nearly 3% over the five day period. (Strangely, it is $10 million behind the record, which was set in 2000. Ticket price inflation alone should have resulted in that record going down by now.) Year-to-date 2008 has now brought in $8.60 billion compared to $8.57 billion over the same period on 2007. More...

Thanksgiving Estimates: Four Christmases, Family Films Big Winners

November 30th, 2008

Thanksgiving weekend produced three big winners, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. At the top, Four Christmases scored an excellent $31.7 million Friday-Sunday and $46.7 million over the five-day weekend, and is the third best Thanksgiving opening ever, just behind Enchanted's opening last year. Second place, Friday-Sunday, was taken by Bolt, which scored $26.6 million, and, very unusually these days, earned more in its second weekend than it did in its first. In sixth place, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa also benefited from the holiday, dropping just 7% from last weekend to earn another $14.5 million. More...

Leftovers for Thanksgiving

November 27th, 2008

The Thanksgiving long weekend has started, but none of the new releases look like they have what it takes to capture top spot. Compared to last year, there are not as many new releases this time around, nor are there any that look as strong as Enchanted was. That said, the holdovers look strong enough to compensate for this weakness. More...

Contest - End of a Journey - Winning Announcement

November 26th, 2008

The winners of our End of a Journey contest were determined and they are... More...

Vampires Bite, But in a Good Way

November 25th, 2008

Wow. The winning streak at the box office continues as Twilight had the fifth best November weekend and the 32nd best opening weekend of all time. Overall, the box office pulled in $165 million, which is 10% more than last weekend and 2% more than the same weekend last year. It is important to note that there was growth year-to-year despite this weekend last year being the Thanksgiving long weekend. Year-to-date, 2008 remains ahead of 2007, but by a barely perceptible margin of $8.34 billion to $8.32 billion. More...

Weekend Estimates: Twilight Makes Huge Debut

November 23rd, 2008

Summit Entertainment have their first blockbuster. Vampire romance Twilight opened with an amazing $70.553 million over the weekend, according to Summit's estimate. That's the fourth best opening of 2008, and might also prove to be the fourth best opening in November, although The Incredibles will run it close. (The top three November openers are all from the Harry Potter franchise, incidentally). Perhaps the best measure of Twilight's performance, however, is that it beat last week's debut for James Bond by $3 million, and topped Madagascar's opening two weeks ago by $7 million. That's pretty remarkable. More...

Movie Website Reviews for Weekend of November 21, 2008

November 22nd, 2008

There were very few movies released this week, and fewer sites that are remotely noteworthy. That said, there are two sites on this week's list, Bolt - Official Site and I Can't Think Straight - Official Site, that were given the Weekly Website Award. More...

Vampires vs. Superhero Dogs

November 20th, 2008

So far November has been an amazing month, and it looks like it is about to get even better. With two films showing strength at the box office, there should be no problem for the overall box office to top the same weekend last year, and there's even a chance that this week's number one film will top Quantum of Solace's opening from last week. More...

Contest - End of a Journey

November 14th, 2008

There are two saturation level releases next week. While Twilight could challenge Bolt for top spot on the chart, we are choosing the latter to be the target film in this week's box office prediction contest. In order to win, one must simply predict the opening weekend box office of Bolt. Whoever comes the closest to predicting the film's opening 3-day weekend box office (Friday to Sunday), without going over, will win Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Three - Remastered 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 win Bringing Balanchine Back on DVD and The Singing Revolution on DVD. Entries must be received by 10 a.m., Pacific Time on Friday to be eligible, so don't delay! More...

2008 Preview: November

November 1st, 2008

October was weaker than expected with only a few films living up to expectations, and none earning $100 million at the box office. (And only one even came relatively close.) This month, there are three films that should hit $100 million for sure this month, and all three have at least a shot at $200 million. That's good news because 2008 will to close strong to keep its lead over 2007. Top of the list for anticipated films is Quantum of Solace, but there are two kids movies, Bolt and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, that are also worth paying attention to. Additionally, Awards season is starting to heat up, so look for limited releases that could earn Oscar Buzz and become breakout hits. More...