Upcoming 2012 Home Video Releases

[cakefoo]

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/aven...hina-openings/

FRIDAY 9:45 PM… REFRESH FOR LATEST… Disney is looking at even stronger North American box office for Marvel’s The Avengers in Digital 3D, RealD and IMAX 3D than even rival studios thought. The gross number now is thought to be $70 million on opening day Friday (including $18.1M midnights) and $160+M through Sunday. “Freakin’ phenomenal,” one studio mogul phoned me tonight. ”It has a real shot at the weekend record,” another movie boss emailed me. Warner Bros’ Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (also a 3D movie)holds both the Friday opening record of $91M and the first weekend record of $169M. The AMC theater chain is selling so many Avengers tickets today that its entire credit card processing system is delayed.

Another update:

The Friday opening number tonight is thought to be at least $70 million — and maybe as high as $74M because late shows were coming on strong.

#2 best opening weekend is a lock, pretty much, and Harry Potter is in jeopardy.

[Kosty]

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/aven...hina-openings/


Another update:


#2 best opening weekend is a lock, pretty much, and Harry Potter is in jeopardy.

Its going to be huge, no doubt about it.

[Kosty]

The Hunger Games Blu-ray Release Date Probably Deliberately Delayed
May 04, 2012



Now that The Hunger Games starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth is wrapping up its box office run and setting a few records in the process, Lionsgate must now turn its attention toward the film's upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release.

The Hunger Games Blu-ray and DVD is likely to shoot right to the top of Amazon.com's Blu-ray bestsellers list when it goes up for pre-order in the near future. How quickly fans can get their hands on the hot discs isn't being determined by the usual 3-4 month window between theatrical and home video releases.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Lionsgate is likely to wait a full five months to release The Hunger Games on Blu-ray and DVD. That time frame would put the release date in late August or early September.


The reason for this delay is twofold. First, The Hunger Games stellar box office performance has forced theater owners to keep it around longer than a typical film. It would make little sense to rush the movie to home video so quickly after slowly exiting cinemas.

Second, Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment are now one in the same. In looking back at Summit's history, they delayed the Blu-ray and DVD release of Twilight so it could be timed to better coincide with production on The Twilight Saga: New Moon. That strategy worked like a charm as New Moon has the highest opening weekend totals of all the Twilight films, including Breaking Dawn Part 1.

Newly confirmed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence is expected to begin principal photography on the sequel around August or September. Using the publicity of The Hunger Games home video release to alert fans that Catching Fire is on the way makes all the sense in the world.

I'll share more information on the Blu-ray and DVD release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as it becomes available.

Source: WSJ

http://www.thehdroom.com/news/The-Hu...-Delayed/10666

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...121864652.html

[Kosty]

On The Hunger Games from The WSJ

Given the monumental success of the first film in the series, Lions Gate has at stake the potential for billions at the box office and beyond. "The Hunger Games," which cost $80 million to make, has grossed $360.2 million at the domestic box office during its first five weeks, with world-wide receipts now totaling $577 million. And it became the first film since 2009's "Avatar" to top the box office for four consecutive weeks.

"It's an anchor tenant" for the next several years, said Lions Gate Vice Chairman Michael Burns, referring to the series.

That performance may help Lions Gate join the elite ranks of Hollywood's most powerful entities—the six studios known in the industry as "majors." Speaking at this week's CinemaCon trade show, John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, noted that "The Hunger Games" had the biggest March opening ever, at the same time that Lions Gate acquired rival independent studio Summit.


"We may just be witnessing the arrival of a seventh" major movie studio, Mr. Fithian said.

The studio will also rely on the DVD release of "The Hunger Games" to fuel anticipation for "Catching Fire," a strategy it credits with helping make the second "Twilight" film an even bigger success than the first. Due to the first film's exceptional box office performance, the studio is considering pushing the DVD release to five months after its theatrical opening, as opposed to the usual four-month window, according to people familiar with the matter. That time frame would also allow it to take advantage of back-to-school momentum in the retail environment.

Mr. Friedman vows to be "very aggressive" in pushing DVDs at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retail outlets.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...121864652.html

[Kosty]

Interesting article at The-Numbers.

Original is full of hyperlinks with additional data as well so its a good read.

Weekend Predictions: Will Box Office Records Be Avenged?

The Avengers. That's all that really matters. The Avengers has no competition from any film playing this weekend and will finish in first place by a margin of well over $100 million. It has no competition with any film that opened last year and it might beat Thor's opening by $100 million. It's only real competition comes from The Hunger Games for biggest opening of the year at $152.54 million, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, for Biggest Opening of All Time.

The Avengers is the culmination of a plan that started back in 2008 with the release of Iron Man. Super Hero movies have been box office gold for a while now, but the thought of making a super hero team scared studios, because they thought it was asking too much of moviegoers to know all of the characters and their backstories and relationships, while introducing them all in one movie would take far too much time, leaving no room for plot. Introducing a number of characters in their own movie before combining them into one movie seemed like the only real solution, but would moviegoers be interested in a overall continuity that spanned multiple franchises?

We are about to find out how North American audiences will react, but there are some great signs going into the film's opening. Firstly, the movie is earning Oscar worthy reviews. I know, it's a Super Hero movie, so Awards Season voters will likely ignore it, for the most part, but at 92% positive, it's reviews are better than half of last year's Best Picture Nominees. Secondly, the film has already opened in numerous international markets and has scored record-breaking debuts in many of them. Doing a bit of math... with an international opening of $181.5 million in 70% of the international marketplace, and assuming a 40% / 60% domestic / international breakdown at the global box office, we get an opening of $172.86 million. Could The Avengers earn that much money in the next three days? It is possible. It is on the high end of expectations, I won't deny that. However, given the tracking numbers and the pre-sales for tickets, coming close is possible. I'm predicting $167 million, which is just shy of the record, but even if I'm off by $40 million, it will be more than enough to ensure a sequel, plus other ensemble super hero movies.

Despite the evidence to the contrary, There are other movies playing in theaters besides The Avengers; some are still pulling in millions of dollars. The best of the rest will be Think Like a Man, which should add another $9 million to its running tally, lifting it to $74 million. This is more than enough to ensure a profit.

There should be a logjam for third place with four films each earning $5 million, plus or minus $1 million. The Pirates! Band of Misfits should lead this pack with $6 million. It doesn't share a lot of its target audience with The Avengers, but families might want to avoid crowds. The Hunger Games has shown very strong legs after the typical sophomore stint Fanboy thumping, so it should place fourth with just over $5 million. Five-Year Engagement opened behind The Lucky One last weekend, but the latter is losing some theaters and that will likely cost it a spot in the top five. Both films should make just under $5 million over the weekend.


- C.S.Strowbridge


Date posted: 2012-05-03

Movies
Marvel's The Avengers
Think Like a Man
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
The Hunger Games
Five-Year Engagement
The Lucky One

http://www.the-numbers.com/interacti...hp?newsID=7238

[Kosty]

FRIDAY PM/SATURDAY AM… REFRESH FOR LATEST… What a sensational Summer 2012 kick-off! The first weekend of May is one of the most lucrative release dates each year, especially for Marvel comic book adaptations. And Disney is reporting stronger North American box office for Marvel’s The Avengers in Digital 3D, RealD and IMAX 3D than it dared to hope and even rival studios thought possible.

The Friday opening number is now $80.5 million because late shows were coming on strong for the 2nd biggest single day gross and Friday opening of all time in box office history. That includes a whopping $18.7M midnights – or more than Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America combined. In terms of records, it was the 8th biggest midnights opening, and the biggest superhero midnights debut. IMAX reported $1.31M from midnights playing at 273 locations for a record digital-only release and a sell-out across the board.

Now Disney says the domestic total is on pace for a record-setting $175M through Sunday from 4,349 U.S. and Canadian locations, including 3,364 plays in 3D. This would make it the all-time biggest domestic weekend opening ever. (Past Warner Bros’ 3D Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 which stll holds the Friday opening record of $91M but no longer the first weekend record of $169M.)

Disney also just updated the international gross to $334.3M after adding another $30M Friday. That would make the worldwide total at least $575M through Sunday with this weekend’s addition of China, Russia, and of course North America. And, just to rub it in to rival studios, the well-reviewed Avengers also received a rare ‘A+’ CinemaScore from American audiences. This is the first Marvel Studios film from The Walt Disney Studios which took over marketing and distribution duties from Paramount after CEO/President Bob Iger bought the comics entertainment company – so the pressure was on. (Paramount still gets marquee credit and a portion of the fees.)

Hollywood now is congratulating the filmmakers. ”Freakin’ phenomenal,” one Hollywood studio mogul phoned me Friday night. ”It has a real shot at the record,” another movie boss emailed me. Why did this superhero actioner do so well at the box office? As one of my commenters succinctly summarizes: “Note to Hollywood: This is what happens when you let comic fans do comic book movies. Joss Whedon knocked it out of the park. The right mix of humor without camp, special effects without overusage, and action with good script. Having actors who like and/or know the characters doesn’t hurt either. Props to the casting folks.”


The Avengers was promoted as “The Super Hero Team Up Of A Lifetime” because it featured all in one pic the iconic Marvel figures Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Nick Fury. The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, and Samuel L. Jackson. It’s based on the Marvel comic book series “The Avengers” first published in 1963. Here’s what a phenom this movie is: I learned that the AMC theater chain sold so many Avengers tickets Friday that its entire credit card processing system was delayed so moviegoers couldn’t charge the pic or concession snacks right away. This, after AMC announced it made $4M from the pic overnight. More details below.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/aven...hina-openings/

[Kosty]

‘

AVENGERS’ $175M-$179M RECORD!

$60M-$64M Saturday & $80.5M Friday For Biggest Domestic Weekend And $575+M Worldwide

By NIKKI FINKE | Saturday May 5, 2012 @ 8:45pm PDT




SATURDAY PM… REFRESH FOR LATEST… Sources tell me that Marvel’s The Avengers is looking at $60M-$64M for today after making $80.5M Friday (including $18.7M midnights) and is still on track for that record-setting $175M-$179M domestic weekend opening. Refined numbers later…

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/aven...medium=twitter

[cakefoo]

It keeps updating with a higher value for OW-- now it's $185M+!

The article was updated to include $68M in Saturday sales.

And don't get excited, but...

Even $200M seems possible.

Word is that $185M is a "laughably" low projection based on the known Fri-Sat pacing. $200M+ is looking like a REAL possibility, not just a pipe dream.

[MarekM]

it could end with $70M + for saturday...

[Kosty]

‘THE AVENGERS’ NOW BIGGEST OPENER! Shocking $200M Record Domestic Weekend: Expecting $640+M Global From First 12 Days

By NIKKI FINKE | Sunday May 6, 2012 @ 8:52am PDT
Tags: Hollywood box office, International Box Office, Marvel Disney, Marvel's The Avengers

SUNDAY AM… REFRESH FOR LATEST… It’s now official — Marvel’s The Avengers is a monster worldwide hit for Disney in 2D, Digital 3D, RealD, and IMAX 3D theaters. The studio says 52% saw it in 3D, 40% in traditional 3D, 8% in IMAX, and 4% on premium large format.

Exit polls showed the actioner attracted a four-quadrant audience with 50% over age 25 and 50% under 25, while 60% were male and 40% female. Also 55% were couples, 24% families, and 21% teens. Hollywood couldn’t be happier because it kicks off the all-important Summer 2012 movie season with sensational numbers.

Avengers lived up to its billing as the ‘Superhero Team-Up Of A Lifetime’ by featuring all-in-one pic the iconic Marvel figures Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Nick Fury.

Disney says it’s looking at a record $69.7M grosses for Saturday after making $80.5M Friday (including $18.7M midnights) from 4,349 U.S. and Canadian locations, including 3,364 plays in 3D. Studio confirms it’s on track to shatter the domestic weekend opening record with $200.3M. (Warner Bros’ 3D Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 finale used to hold that record with $169M.)

I believe Disney is being overly conservative and the final figure will exceed that since Avengers should make over $50M on Sunday. (And I thought SNL Kagan’s report predicting that $200M domestic debut before the weekend was nuts. Not now…) Disney will report exact international numbers later Sunday but says the worldwide total is already $640M after playing almost everywhere around the globe for the past 12 days including Russia and now China.

Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) went to the Beijing Film Festival to help open the film Saturday. One more thing to keep in mind: Avengers accumulated a massive foreign number without opening yet in the major market of Japan. Globally, IMAX Avengers grossed $21.1+M this weekend and the global IMAX cume will be approx $31.2M as of Sunday night. IMAX Avengers brought in $6.1 mil internationally (which includes an amazing first day gross in China of $1.1M) on 174 digital-only locations.

In North America IMAX had one big issue: it ran out of seats to sell. Avengers grossed $15+M domestically on 275 digital-only IMAX screens, which looks to be a virtual tie with the Harry Potter finale for the highest grossing opening weekend in IMAX’s history. It reports 17 of the top 20 engagements in North America playing the film were IMAX runs, and 110 domestic IMAX locations established a new opening Saturday record.

The global pressure was on because Avengers is the first Marvel Studios film from The Walt Disney Studios which took over marketing and distribution duties from Paramount. Disney CEO/President Bob Iger bought the comics entertainment company for $4 billion in 2009.

Paramount still gets marquee credit and a portion of the fees. (I’m told that when Disney bought the distribution of Avengers and Iron Man 3, Paramount was paid a minimum of $115M. It gets the higher of the $115M or the combination of its 8% fee on Avengers, plus 9% on next years Iron Man 3. “Looks like there will be overages!” a Paramount exec told me excitedly Sunday. Paramount also kept the pay rights as part of the deal so Avengers will debut on Epix.)

Why did this superhero actioner do so well at the box office? As one of my commenters succinctly summarizes: “Note to Hollywood: This is what happens when you let comic fans do comic book movies. Joss Whedon knocked it out of the park. The right mix of humor without camp, special effects without overusage, and action with good script. Having actors who like and/or know the characters doesn’t hurt either. Props to the casting folks.” More details below.

No other major pic dared go up against this juggernaut. Holdovers only total $45M this weekend which is looking like $230M – or +38% over last year. Here’s the Top 10 (based on weekend estimates):

1. Marvel’s The Avengers (Disney) NEW [4,349 Theaters] PG13
Friday $80.5M, Saturday $69.7M, Weekend $200M, Global $640M

2

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/

[Kosty]

It keeps updating with a higher value for OW-- now it's $185M+!

The article was updated to include $68M in Saturday sales.

And don't get excited, but...



Word is that $185M is a "laughably" low projection based on the known Fri-Sat pacing. $200M+ is looking like a REAL possibility, not just a pipe dream.

it could end with $70M + for saturday...

That's just silly.

When this gets released on home video it will do monster on Blu-ray and probably produce a halo effect on the sales of the previously released Marvel prequels...Iron Man Iron Man 2 Thor Captain America Incredible Hulk and box sets.


Better yet it will put movie goers in a good mood to watch more summer movies

I believe Disney is being overly conservative and the final figure will exceed that since Avengers should make over $50M on Sunday. (And I thought SNL Kagan’s report predicting that $200M domestic debut before the weekend was nuts. Not now…)

[Kosty]

‘Avengers’ Vanquish Box-Office Rivals

By BROOKS BARNES
Published: May 6, 2012

LOS ANGELES — Sorry, Harry. “The Avengers” have crushed you.




Walt Disney Pictures
Scarlett Johansson in “Marvel’s The Avengers.”
Related




In a strong start to Hollywood’s summer movie season the superhero team in “Marvel’s The Avengers” took in about $200.3 million at North American theaters over the weekend, according to Walt Disney Studios, which released the film.

That No. 1 result easily smashed what the movie industry considers the record, set last summer by “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” for the biggest opening weekend of all time. Its total was $169.2 million if you don’t account for inflation, or about $172 million if you do.

“The Avengers” — about a star squad of Marvel superheroes, including Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Black Widow — is now on track to take in over $1 billion at the global box office, analysts estimate. This 3-D picture, directed by Joss Whedon (until now best known for creating “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), has already sold about $441.5 million in tickets overseas and has yet to open in important markets like Japan.

“I’m running low on double takes,” Dave Hollis, executive vice president for distribution at Disney, said on Sunday morning. “As the numbers came in, we kept thinking, ‘Can these numbers possibly be right?’ ”

Marvel Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company, spent about $220 million to make the film and at least another $100 million on global marketing. The film played at 4,349 locations in North America, and 52 percent of its domestic ticket sales came from 3-D showings, which cost $3 to $5 more than standard screenings. About 60 percent of the audience was male, Mr. Hollis said.

“Euphoric” was the only way to describe theater chains, some of which reported that their ticket-selling systems became overwhelmed with demand. “Imax had one big issue: We ran out of seats to sell,” Greg Foster, president of Imax Filmed Entertainment, the programming division of the large-format film company, wrote in an e-mail on Sunday morning.

No other movie came close to “The Avengers” over the weekend. “Think Like a Man” (Sony) was second, taking in about $8 million for a three-week total of $73 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data. “The Hunger Games” (Lionsgate) took in about $5.7 million in third place, lifting its seven-week total to $380.7 million.

“The Lucky One” (Warner Brothers) was fourth, taking in $5.5 million for a three-week total of $47.9 million, and “The Pirates! Band of Misfits” (Sony) was fifth, selling about $5.4 million in tickets for a two-week total of $18.6 million.

Several factors contributed to the enormous audience interest in “The Avengers,” starting with its quality. The movie, stuffed to the brim with special effects, has been popular with most critics, with the review-aggregation site RottenTomatoes.com rating it at 94 percent on the “fresh” scale. Audiences in exit polls gave the film a rare A-plus score, an indication that word-of-mouth was strong. The Hulk, played this time by Mark Ruffalo, has received particularly high marks.

“People come to the movies to see giant spectacles, but what really makes the difference is over-delivering on expectations,” said Kevin Feige, a producer of “The Avengers” and president of Marvel Studios. “Maybe it’s delivering a movie that is funnier than people expected or one that moves them a little bit more than they expected. Joss has accomplished that.”

Marvel also expertly orchestrated one of the longest marketing teases in Hollywood history. The studio planted the seeds for an all-star “Avengers” movie in 2008 with the release of “Iron Man,” played by Robert Downey Jr. Then a thunder god with a magic hammer, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), got his own movie, followed by Captain America (Chris Evans). Iron Man arrived with a sequel. All were worldwide hits.

This strategy, largely devised by Mr. Feige and mirroring how Marvel historically approached the publication of its comics, carried enormous risk. If even one of those prior films had flopped, “The Avengers” — envisioned as a multifilm series — would have been thrown into question.

More Marvel is on the way. Sony will release “The Amazing Spider-Man” in July. (Sony holds those rights in a long-standing deal that predates Disney’s purchase of Marvel.) “Iron Man 3” is scheduled for next May, with “Thor 2” following in November of next year. A sequel to “Captain America: The First Avenger” is planned for April 2014.

The turnout for “The Avengers” is being called a record by the movie industry even though independently verified box-office data is available going back only about 30 years. That means inflation cannot be taken into account when measuring the success of old blockbusters like “Gone With the Wind.”

Still, it marks an important win for Disney, which has struggled mightily at the box office in recent months. The studio’s last major release was “John Carter,” a failed science-fiction epic that prompted Disney to take a $200 million write-down. The company fired its movie chairman last month and has not yet announced a successor.

Hollywood will now try to keep the “Avengers” momentum going by releasing blockbusters every weekend until Labor Day, a season that typically accounts for 40 percent of the industry’s annual ticket sales. It’s a summer stuffed with promising new entries, like “Snow White and the Huntsman,” and franchises: the return of Will Smith in “Men in Black III,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Ice Age: Continental Drift.”


One window for armchair box-office analysts to watch in particular is Aug. 3, when two major releases will go after the same audience: “The Bourne Legacy,” the first film in that series without Matt Damon, and “Total Recall.”

The movie industry is trying hard to reverse four consecutive summers of declining attendance. Ticket sales for the summer period last year totaled $4.38 billion; attendance was about 543 million, the lowest tally since 1997. This year has been strong so far, with ticket sales up 16 percent to $3.6 billion and attendance up 18 percent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/mo...791BC432E04ACE

[Kosty]

The Hollywood Reporter's Summer Movie Summary

click link for slide show and summaries

28 of Summer's Most Anticipated Movies: 'Avengers,' 'Dark Knight,' 'Prometheus'

9:22 AM PDT 4/6/2012 by Pamela McClintock

Earth is under fire in May, sci-fi takes a front seat in June, heroes come and go in July and August closes the season with a bang. THR highlights the hottest films of Summer 2012.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gal...vengers-308238

[Kosty]

The movie industry is trying hard to reverse four consecutive summers of declining attendance.

Ticket sales for the summer period last year totaled $4.38 billion; attendance was about 543 million, the lowest tally since 1997.

This year has been strong so far, with ticket sales up 16 percent to $3.6 billion and attendance up 18 percent.

Of course declines in the box office performance since 2007 and the poor showing last year have had a direct impact on DVD+Blu-ray sales and home entertainment rentals in general. A lot of that has also been a result of the economy but the strength of releases since 1997 has also been a factor.

Hopefully that will change a bit this year with this crop of summer releases. So far so good.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/mo...791BC432E04ACE

[cakefoo]

$207.4M

WOW! And 52% of that was from 3D. Which is great in terms of revenue. And really surprising considering I was led to believe nobody should see it in 3D because it's a conversion.