The Power of Release Dates

Release dates in the movie-going business is everything. Put out a film on the same weekend as a blockbuster and watch it get crushed but place it on a weekend where no film will control all the screens and maybe it could turn into a hit. In HK, this premise is the same. Let's look at some recent highlights and lowlights to gain a better understanding.

Pink is the new black is so yesterday

New trends have emerged over the past couple of years. Now, more than ever, distributors have gotten more strategic over the placement of their films. There have been some wild successes but massive failures as well. Here are some of the more interesting trends that have taken place in the past few years.

I told you I don't want to join your super secret boy band.

Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh...oops, wrong superhero.

Pretty much the weekend that everyone has been waiting for is finally here. Strap yourselves in, folks.

Laughter...coming to a theater near you.

a.k.a. 2013 Summer Schedule (Part 2) - Comedies
 

Part 1 is here.

Translation complete!

If you need translation into another language, my blog is now equipped with a translator!

I'm Tony Stark...bow down and worship me.

For weekend updates on Iron Man 3, please visit this website or head here.

It's Oblivion time!

This weekend will officially mark the start of the 2013 summer season with a couple of new entries expected to land in the top 3. Oblivion will be the first #1 film of the summer and it is looking to equal Battleship's opening weekend number from last year. Unlike Battleship, which ran the gamut at the box office same time last year, Oblivion faces a stiff challenge from the 3rd Detective, a.k.a. Conspirators.

Inner workings of HK box office - Distributors (Part 2)

Part 1 is here.

---

Distributors in HK are quite different from many territories around the world. What makes HK somewhat unique is that the distributors here own the theater chain and will schedule films accordingly depending on type of film and size of release. 6 out of the 7 theater chains are owned by a parent company who distributes and markets films. In this part, we'll cover both theater owned distributors and non-theater owned distributors.

2012 theater market share

 The winner:

  (Broadway/AMC)

2013 Q1 box office

Local box office took in $43.4m through the period ending March 28 with A Good Day to Die Hard taking top honors with 3.68m. That was down 2% from last year when the first 3 months collected $44.2m and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island roped in 4.5m. The first 3 months of 2013 can be summed up by 1 weekend: Chinese New Year. 4/5 top 5 films have come from CNY weekend alone including the top 2, which are the only films to have made more than 3m.

An atypical Thursday

Unlike the majority of Thursday's, today is a holiday. It's rare when an opener gets a chance to maximize their profits on their very first day as everyone has to wait until the weekend to show it. For all holdovers from last week, that means it gets 2 weekends with holidays in them. That's a pretty good head start.

Iron Man 3 B.O.

Kid: Mom, I wanna see Iron Man 3.
Mom: Ok hun, but we have to wait 3 more weeks for it to come out. Can you wait that long?
Kid: Nooo, I want to see it now!
Mom: Oh, I thought you wanted to watch Oblivion? And The Host? And...
Kid: Mom, I already told you. IRON. MAN. 3. *sad face*
Mom: Ok well, there's still 24 days before it comes out.
Kid: That's too far away!!!
Mom: Oh, make that 25. Thursday is a schoolday.
Kid: MOM!!

April 25.

(And no, B.O. doesn't stand for a funky smell emitting from a body part with sweat glands.)