68th Portuguese Box-Office Analysis

I’m back for a new Box-Office report, here in Portugal.
And we had a big week for movies. The top 4 films have an average above 1000 and more spectators than last weeks top ten movies. Wowwwwww…
A very big week for movies, with three new openers in the top ten and especially two new ones in the top three spots.

We had 342185 spectators for the week, which means a 29% increase. The rain is starting to pour and it’s time to hit the cinemas everywhere.
I´m there all the time so I don’t understand this migrating thing of movies being bigger nearer Christmas. Give me a good movie and I’m there.

Was Mr. Bond taken of the first place spot?
Lets answer that by saying that DanielCraigIsBond.com, hehehe.

So here are the numbers:

This concerns the week from 30 of November to 6 of December.

Legend

Position and Movie
Number of Theaters
Number of Spectators (Week)
Average per Theater / Week
Comparison w/ last Week’s Result
Number of Spectators (Total Run)
Week of Release
1. Casino Royale
79
100153
1268
-33%
250733
2nd Week
2. Borat
41
79184
1931
-
79640
1st Week
3. Flushed Away
57
72524
1272
-
72524
1st Week

4. Step Up
20
20377
1019
-1%
40899
2nd Week

5. The Departed
45
18962
421
-28%
164102
4th Week

6. Perfume: History of a Murderer
25
15521
621
-9%
93420
4th Week

7. The Queen
19
12378
651
-
12378
1st Week

8. The Devil Wears Prada
24
9668
403
-31%
210919
6th Week

9. A Special Year
15
8367
558
-8%
31684
3rd Week

10. Filme da Treta
21
5051
241
-41%
273734

8th Week

The Champion:

No news in the top spot. The new Mr. Bond is still number one. And the big news is that, it is still above 100.000 in its second week. Being above the 400.000 is still possible and that means the third place of the year is a sure thing. And Mr Bond is not in the top films of the year for some years now. Well at least in the last two ones. Before that there wasn’t any way to know. The box-office is something very new in here. One thing is for sure Daniel Craig is Bond. "Casino Royale" soars really high.
All hail the new one…

The New Players:

Some very impressive openings is what we can talk about this week. Only 5 films passed the 2000 average this year, so being near it is a very good result. In just 41 theaters “Borat” managed 79184 spectators and it seems its popularity is passing trough the entire world. Kazakhstan is definitely in the map now. The problem is still to point it out. But Borat, despite the bad publicity is almost resuscitating this country from the ashes. From being known by practically nobody to being a worldwide phenomenon. For Sasha Baron Cohen, thank god this is paying off, since there will be lots of people asking for money for being humiliated. That’s the price of fame for you.

In third place and right behind it is the last Aardman/Dreamworks (it really seems it is the last), “Flushed Away”. That special Aardman, “man made” touch with Dreamworks 3D capability made this an instant success in here, although it didn’t happen in the U.S.A. We still do love animation. And of this quality is always a welcoming sight.
It made 72524 spectators on a week with 4 movies above the 1000 average. The top 4 are in great shape. So kudos, also, to the big 2nd week for “Step Up”, just 1% down from last week in number 4.

“The Queen” opened at number 7 place. A good opening for a small film, that with the nominations to the Oscars became a little bigger. But since it opened in December it will be hard to get something out of it. But it still did 12378 spectators for the week, for an average of 651. An amazing actress that, finally, will get a just reward. The Oscar is in the bag.

The Winner of the Week:

An easy answer for this one. Very Naice… Yes, it’s true “Borat” is the biggest winner of this week in Portugal. The 79184 spectators and especially the 1931 average made this Borat week in Portugal. And now more than 1% of Portugal knows what Kazakhstan in all about. Or maybe not…hehehe.

The Looser of the Week:

Once a winner, the next day a looser. This seems like a soccer coach motto. But no, it’s “Filme da Treta” that wins this week’s prize. The looser of the week. The number 10 spot with a 241 average was the main reason for it’s prize. Also the 41% drop, in a very strong week made the decision even easier.

See you next week.

Good Night and Good Movies.

The Worst of the Year

Hello. To have the best of the year, we also have to have the worst. It´s a fact of life.

This movies below where the ones that annoyed me the most in the 2006 year. Even in 2007 i already have some to talk about but that you will only know next year.

Check the worst of all now:

1- "Transe" de Teresa Villaverde

2 - "The Da Vinci Code" de Ron Howard

3 - "You, Me and Everyone We Know" de Miranda July

4 - "Mission Impossible 3" de J.J. Abrams

5 - "Memories of a Geisha" de

The other awards go to:

Worst Movie - "Transe"

Worst Director - Ron Howard

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Worst Actor - Tom Hanks in "The Da Vinci Code

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Worst Actress - Miranda July in "You, Me and Everyone We Know"

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Worst Supporting Actor - Tim in "Transe"

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Worst Supporting Actress - Keira Knightley in "Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Man´s Chest"

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Worst Script - "The Da Vinci Code"

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Worst Movie Ending - "Mission Impossible 3"

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Worst Newcomer Actor/Actress - All the Kids in "You, Me and Everyone we Know"

Disapointment of the Year - "You, Me and Everyone we Know"

Pointless Movie Award - "The Da Vinci Code" de Ron Howard

67th Portuguese Box-Office Analysis

Welcome back to the Box-Office analysis after a week in Milan.
It’s difficult to maintain this update of the blog concerning the box-office. I’m just doing my best but you have to understand the delay in terms of month and the time we are in.
I just don’t have the time. But I will continue to do it every time the time arises. This 67th analysis concerns the last openings of November 2006. And we have three new ones on the top 20 “Casino Royale”, the 21st Bond, “Step Up” and “Thank You for Smoking”. Different films and especially different audiences to seduce. But one of them is clearly the anticipated winner of the openings. Because Mr. Bond is still Mr. Bond.
A good week overall with a 18% increase in number of spectators in the top 10. This means 264752 spectators.

So here are the numbers:

This concerns the week from 23 to 29 of November.

Legend

Position and Movie
Number of Theaters
Number of Spectators (Week)
Average per Theater / Week
Comparison w/ last Week’s Result
Number of Spectators (Total Run)
Week of Release
1. Casino Royale
85
150580
1772
-
150580
1st Week
2. The Departed
57
26332
462
-51%
145140
3rd Week
3. Step Up
20
20522
1026
-
20522
1st Week

4. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
22
17052
775
-45%
77899
3rd Week

5. The Devil Wears Prada
36
14071
391
-58%
201251
5th Week

6. A Special Year
15
9081
605
-36%
23317
2nd Week

7. Filme da Treta
24
8601
358
-58%
268683
7th Week

8. Boog & Elliot
35
8251
236
-36%
72463
4th Week

9. Marie Antoinette
15
5539
369
-50%
77345
6th Week

10. Barnyard
25
4723
189
-56%
203572
8th Week
.
.
.
18. Thank You For Smoking
6
2165
361
-
2165
1st Week

The Champion:

I’m Bond, James Bond. The most famous sentence of any movie in history is back. But with a different attitude. It’s the return to the old times. The times when Mr. Bond wasn’t exactly a good man. Just a man. Doing everything he could to stop the badness of the world. Even if that meant being bad. And Daniel Craig is the perfect man for the job to ignite the Bond flame that was not believable in the last films. The reality, the toughness of being a secret agent, a 00 is back. And in Portugal we agreed with a very big weekend of 150580 spectators. One of the best openings of the year (Third one after Pirates and Da Vinci Code) and an 1772 average per theater.
One of the winners of the week, for sure. It´s "Casino Royale" time.

The New Players:

Still at the top three, and a big surprise is, “Step Up” with it’s 20522 opening in just 20 theaters. A very strong average for a movie that wasn’t talked about that much. But the fever of dancing that has taken over Portugal is definitely the reason this movie is so high up in the top ten. They stepped up to the challenge of dance and embraced the movie. In a very strong way. One of the most popular among the teens of the hip hop culture.

Only at number 18 we find the last opener that is “Thank You For Smoking”. Way off the collective minds of people and in just 6 theaters it just managed 2165 spectators. The smoking is not much in people’s mind with the war in Iraq, the referendum to abortion, global warming and life in general. The result is an expected one in a week with two other good surprises like the ones I talked before. The radar was way off of this one.

The Winner of the Week:

A no brainer. This week’s winner is, for sure, “Casino Royale” with it´s amazing 150580 spectators opening and an average above 1700. It’s back to the old days for Mr. Bond. And people sure do like it here in Portugal. Will be, for sure in the top ten movies of the year although first place is a very long shot. The number one is secured for “The Da Vinci Code”.

The Looser of the Week:

After a very strong week, and in fact the fourth time at the top three movies, this one is a disaster. A 58% drop in spectators, an average of 358 and the drop to number 5 in it´s 5th week. The film is “The Devil Wears Prada”. The only good news is that it passed 200.000 spectators in it’s run. Not all is bad.

No more news this in Portugal for the week.

See you next week.

Good Night and Good Movies.

66th Portuguese Box-Office Analysis

Another week of box-office Bliss in Portugal. And especially this week, it was a very special one.
We had 6 new films on the top 20 movies but not even one got to be in the top three spots. The first one just appears at number 6 and it’s the only one at the top 10. And at the front no big news. It’s the same three movies. Do we have a new number one? Did Mr. Scorsese lose his first place? Who knows? But you will in a few seconds if you continue reading.
Despite the small openers the business was up 10% comparing to last week’s results. That means 224868 spectators for the first ten movies of the week.

So here are the numbers:

This concerns the week from 16 to 22 of November.

Legend

Position and Movie
Number of Theaters
Number of Spectators (Week)
Average per Theater / Week
Comparison w/ last Week’s Result
Number of Spectators (Total Run)
Week of Release
1. The Departed
64
53939
843
-17%
118808
2nd Week
2. The Devil Wears Prada
50
33191
664
+4%
187180
4th Week
3. The Perfume
22
30764
1398
+3%
60847
2nd Week

4. Filme da Treta
33
20257
614
-1%
260082
6th Week

5. Children of Men
32
14791
462
+36%
78334
4th Week

6. A Special Year
15
14236
949
-
14236
1st Week

7. Boog & Elliot
36
12940
359
-11%
64212
3rd Week

8. Marie Antoniette
15
11060
737
+66%
71806
5th Week

9. Barnyard
34
10640
313
-1%
198849
7th Week

10. The Illusionist
12
10369
864
+52%
26229
3rd Week

11. 16 Blocks
14
8176
584
-
8176
1st Week

12. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Prequel
12
6740
562
-
6740
1st Week

13. Unknown
15
6389
426
-
6389
1st Week
.
.
15. Viúva Rica Solteira não Fica
14
4860
347
-
5223
1st Week
.
.
.
19. Corrigindo Beethoven
11
3119
284
-
3119
1st Week

The Champion:

And yes, no news at the top of the box-office throne. Mr Scorsese still calls the shots. "The Departed" is still number 1. And this is way before the Oscar buzz so this are very good news for him. His latest movies are having lots of people watching them. And this is not the best one. “The Aviator” was a bigger success, despite what the rest of the world is concerned. In it´s second week it made in excess of 50000 spectators so a very strong second week for him. Only 17% down. Expected to finish its run around 200.000 total spectators.

The New Players:

As announced the first opener appears at number 6. It’s “A Special Year” the incursion from Mr Ridley Scott in the comedy department. We have to admit that side of him is not very much shown. He tried it this time but as expected with much lower results than from his latest “Kingdom of Heaven”. That was something more than expected. We are talking Blockbuster vs Small Movie. It still made 14236 in just 15 theaters. So that means a pretty good average of 949.

“16 Blocks” is found at number 11 with 8176 spectators. In any other week this result would have land him in the top 10 but not on this. That place was, this week, above 10000 so though break. Still a decent result for a film with 0% marketing and that landed from the air in the middle of the theater, unannounced. The result was then, the expected.

At number 12 is “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Prequel” with just 6740 spectators. The horror has gone from extremely profitable, when the remake of the Texas Chainsaw was out to now that is complete box-office poison. At least in here. But I think the world is following. Will disappear as fast as it appeared.

At number 14 we have "Unknown". A complete ovni in here. We don´t know where it came from but it had some very respectable people in it. Caviezel, Kinnear, Pantoliano, Pepper. And it happens in a very small place. It really builds up, the tension. But what it didn´t build up on was in spectators. Only 6389 answered the call. But i guess they went to it blank because this one not even a glimpse i had of it. This was an alien for sure.

“Viúva Rica Solteira não Fica”, the latest Portuguese movie from José Fonseca e Costa finished at number 15 with only 5223 spectators and a far from impressive 347 average. Portuguese movie industry is still in bad shape. Wait, Portuguese movie individuals (since the 50´s there isn’t a industry here). But I think this was a good try. But what came before really took it’s tool and this movie paid the price. People outside Portugal might not understand this last sentence but that live here sure do.

Finally, the last opener of the top 20 was “Copying Beethoven" that landed in 19 with just 3119 spectators. Another one that was made for Oscar bait and what didn´t finish the race. They say Ed Harris is impressive, as Beethoven, but since nobody saw it, nobody is sure of it. Every year there are this movies that just don´t make the cut. This was one of them. Was it unfair? Maybe.

The Winner of the Week:

This was surely not expected. The winner of this week was Sofia Copolla´s latest “Marie Antoniette” due to an impressive 66% rise in spectators and a average rise from 393 to 737. It almost doubled the result, which constitutes the most amazing rise, ever in the Portuguese Box-Office. Amazing.

The Looser of the Week:

It´s "Copying Beethoven" with 3119 spectators and failing to deliver what was expected of it. And the average below 300 speaks for itself. Pretty disapointing for Ed Harris, one great actor for sure.

See you next week.

Good Night and Good Films.

The Best and Worst of 2006

Here it is. The list. Not as magical as Schindler but with it´s importance.
Ok, i admit it´s a ridiculous list but it is mine. So it is always special.

Check out the best and the worst of the year, but this concerning the films opening in Portugal in the year of 2006. So if you are not portuguese don´t be surprised to see some 2005 movies. They opened here in 2006 so hence their presence at the list.

So without anymore delay, look at the best first:

1- "A History of Violence" de David Cronemberg

2 - "Lady in the Water" de M. Night Shyamalan

3 - "The Squid and the Whale" de Noah Baumbach

4 - "Nobody Knows" (Ninguém Sabe) de Hirokazu Koreeda

5 - "The New World" de Terence Malick

6 - "Match Point" de Woody Allen

7 - "The Departed" de Martin Scorsese

8 - "Borat" de Larry Charles

9 - "Munich" de Steven Spielberg

10 - "The Proposition" (Escolha Mortal) de John Hillcoat

The other awards go to:

Best Movie - "A History of Violence"

Best Director - M.Night Shyamalan

Best Actor - Paul Giamatti in "Lady in the Water"

Best Actress - Scarlett Johansson in "Match Point"

Best Supporting Actor - Danny Huston in "The Proposition"

Best Supporting Actress - Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine"

Best Script - "A History of Violence"

Best Movie Ending - "Match Point"

Best Newcomer Actor/Actress - Owen Kline in "The Squid and the Whale" e Q´Orianka Kilcher in "The New World"

Surprise of the Year - "Nobody Knows" de Hirokazu Koreeda

Groundbreaking Movie Award - "Borat" de Larry Charles