January New Theatrical Inventory Recap And Piracy Report

Four weeks into 2023 is still a little early to project how the entire year theatrically-speaking will play out.   With that said, here’s where we are at the end of January (inventory-wise).

On average, 5.9 percent of all films destined to be released during the year arrive during the first four weeks.   It’s a mixed bag at this point, with 2023 projected to finish ahead of a disappointing 2022 with an estimated 441 new theatrical releases for 2023 versus a count of 422 in 2022.

Again, it’s early, but 18 blockbusters (films grossing in excess of $100 million) and 37 second-tier theatrical hits (films grossing between $25 million and $100 million) are projected for 2023 based on results through the first four weeks of the year.   2022 finished with 18 blockbusters and 28 second-tier theatrical hits, so the early projections are showing signs of potential improvement (modest improvement).

However, going back to pre-pandemic baselines and you would expect on average 31 blockbusters during the course of the year and 63 second-tier theatrical hits … we are still nowhere returning to those levels.

The first four weeks of the year normally produce five or six films in the top two boxes … so far in 2023 we have two, which (good news) is twice as many as the same period last year.

See below for a complete recap of new theatrical release results (to date) and the current 2023 projections based on results to date by box office category.

In inventory, there are two top-box films, Avatar: The Way of Water and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which should arrive in the home entertainment packaged media marketplace in early March.   Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has already reached the Blu-ray marketplace via “extra-legal” sources in January.

Director Gerard Johnstone’s M3GAN is showing the legs to move into top-box status, currently grossing $82.2 million, but it may run up against streaming and VOD windows that could cut it short.  

Multiple sources have already tapped into the success of Johnstone’s film with pirated Blu-ray product offerings.

The balance of theatrical releases yet to make the transition to the home entertainment packaged media arena remains thin, with just A Man Called Otto (Sony Pictures), Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (Cruncyroll/FUNimation) and Plane (Lionsgate) all looking to make the move sometime during March.

For reasons that are unclear, writer/director Zach Cregger’s Barbarian was skipped-over by Disney Media and Entertainment.   It’s odd, very odd, that a $40.8 million grossing film doesn’t make a swift transition from theatres to retail supported by DVD, Blu-ray or 4K Ultra HD buying options.   

Since nature abhors a vacuum, both DVD and Blu-rays editions of Barbarian have already been released by “alternate” sources.

 

 

 

 

MVD Entertainment Group's Film Hawk Arrives On DVD On Apr. 11

MVD Entertainment Group announced this past week that the documentary filmmaking team of JJ Garvine and Tai Parquet’s Film Hawk, the in-depth look at the amazing career of film guru Bob Hawk, will be making its DVD debut on Apr. 11.

It was an accident.  Filmmakers Garvine and Parquet had come in contact with indie film consultant — an industry fixture — Bob Hawk when they were trying to navigate the distribution and film festival market for their first film, Keeping the Peace.  

As they got to know him — and the wonderful stories he had to tell — it suddenly dawned on the pair (over dinner one night) that perhaps their next project was none other than Bob Hawk himself.   After dinner, Hawk introduced the pair to Steven Soderbergh at the screening of his latest film at the time, And Everything is Fine.  Wow, he knows everyone.   We’re doing this!!

Indeed, Bob Hawk knows everyone.  He has a story about everyone.   He mentored Kevin Smith when he was just learning the business.  He discovered Edward Burns and his indie film, The Brothers McMullen, which he guided to hit status.  

The list is long, many of which are interviewed in the film (Rob Epstein, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scott McGehee, David Siegel … and more, many more) and the industry and film stories are marvelous (which they are all very happy to tell).   Garvine and Parquet, with their documentary, Film Hawk, hit gold … indie cinema gold.  An accidental happenstance and we are all the better for it!

Whether you are a diehard film buff or just curious, MVD’s Apr. 11 DVD rollout of Film Hawk will be time well spent.

Bonus goodies include an introduction by Kevin Smith and a trio of featurettes — “Kevin Smith and Bob Hawk on the Set of Clerks III,” “Kevin Smith and Bob Hawk talk Jersey Girl” and “Kevin Smith and Bob Hawk talk Red State.”

 

 

 

 

Bayview Entertainment Tabs Mar. 28 For The Blu-ray Debut Of Calling Nurse Meow

A pop quiz for genre fans.   What do indie filmmakers Joe Cash (Carnal Monsters, Nekrology), Jason Impey (Visions of Filth, 7 Sins), Kaylan Jordan-Sen (The VHS Strangler: The Giallo Tapes), Dan Urban, John W.T. (Deathface) and Laura Barker share in common?

Tik-tok, tik-tok, tik-tok.   The answer is … the six joined forces to direct an eleven-segment anthology film titled Calling Nurse Meow, which will be making its Blu-ray debut courtesy of Bayview Entertainment on Mar. 28.

The eleven segments are variously titled “Nurse Meow and the Hunt for Sexy Bigfoot,” “The Peeping Milk,” “The Hideout,” “Booty Canon and the Nine Tails,” “Excalipurr,” “Alley Cat of the SS,” “Kittynip,” “Hatred,” “Killdo,” “Dreamies” and “Music Video.”   They are connected by the alluring Kitty Kiss (aka: Laura Barker; aka: Nurse Meow — Carnal Monsters, Nekrology, The VHS Strangler - The Giallo Tapes).

About now you are asking yourself, what is this all about?  Who is Nurse Meow?   Think: Troma (lots of alumni here).   Think: free-range Goth princess with a kinky attitude … cosplay role-playing.  Think: Weird!   Think: Banned (yes, in France)!  Think: Gore. 

Suggestion, don’t ask, just snatch-up this guilty pleasure anthology from Bayview Entertainment on Mar. 28 and binge-watch the eleven segments … or savor them one-by-one-by-one as the mood strikes you!!

This announcement started off with a tease for Calling Nurse Meow, but we think so much of the “meow” power of Kitty Kiss/Laura Barker, that we’d like to call your attention to another Blu-ray heading home from Bayview Entertainment one month earlier on Feb. 28.

This is none other than writer/director Joe Cash’s Carnal Monsters, starring Harmony Filth, Lauren Annetts, Alexxa Vice, Juno Deluxxe and Laura Barker, with special guest appearances by Ian Sen as Dr. Dilf, Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman as Professor Felatio, Joe Cash as Ash Reed and Ari Lehman as Sean Voorhees.

This genre-gem has it all.   A mad scientist, a victim pool, starlets in distress, a twist or two, horror, gore … what’s not to like.  

Once you catch Cash’s Carnal Monsters on Blu-ray with Kitty Kiss/Laura Barker (and other delights) on Feb. 28, you will completely understand why Calling Nurse Meow will be a must-have on Blu-ray the following month.   

 

 

 

Cleopatra Entertainment Targets Mar. 24 For DVD/CD Combo Pack Release Of Kings of Thrash - Best Of The West: Live At The Whisky A Go Go

Cleopatra Entertainment, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has tabbed Mar. 24 as the street date for the DVD/2 CD Combo Pack debut of Kings of Thrash - Best of the West: Live at the Whisky A Go Go.

The release is in support of the groups national tour that begins on Feb. 16 at The Forge in Joliet, Illinois and runs through the middle of March, concluding at The Masquerade (Hell) in Atlanta, Georgia.

Recorded live at the famed Whisky A Go Go on October 15, 2022, Grammy Award-winner David Ellefson teams up with fellow Megadeth alumni Jeff Young and Chris Poland for this 17-song set culled from the “Killing is My Business and Business is Good” album (Megadeth’s debut album in 1985) and the “So Far, So Good So What” album (Megadeth, 1988).

Included in the set are “Last Rites,” “Killing is My Business ... And Business is Good,” “The Skull Beneath the Skin,” “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'” and “Rattlehead” from the “Killing is My Business and Business is Good” album and the entire selection from “So Far, So Good So What” album.

Supporting Kings of Trash are Black Daze’s Chaz Leon on vocals and guitar and Powerflo’s Fred Aching on drums.

Included here are the entire live concert on DVD, supported by two CDs feature the playset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mill Creek Entertainment Selects Mar. 28 For The DVD Debut Of Mike Birbiglia: Stand-Up Comedy Collection

Last week the DVD release news from Mill Creek Entertainment was about the Mar. 28 release of Jim Gaffigan: Stand-Up Spotlight, featuring two complete comedy specials — Noble Ape (2018) and Quality Time (2019) — on one priced-to-collect DVD.

This week, Mill Creek Entertainment is back again with more stand-up comedy.   This time, and also streeting on Mar. 28, is the comedy stand-up DVD set titled Mike Birbiglia: Stand-Up Comedy Collection.  This too has two complete comedy specials.

First up, comedian Mike Birbiglia takes to the stage in the 2008 Comedy Central feature-length special, What I Should Have Said was Nothing.   At one time in his life, Birbiglia was told by a therapist to keep a journal of his awkward moments … little did he know in going through the process that it would become the inspiration for a stand-up special!

Teamed with What I Should Have Said was Nothing is the 2013 comedy special titled My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, which was honed from five-years on the road touring … working on the routine; fine-tuning the bits and aging it like a fine wine.   The 76-minute stand-up routine blends storytelling with jokes and never lags for an instant.   Rat-a-tat-tat … tat of comedy and laughs without once letting up.

Mike Birbiglia: Stand-Up Comedy Collection on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment on Mar. 28!

 

 

 

Writer/Director Matthew Robbins' Dragonslayer Gets 4K Ultra HD Release From Paramount Home Entertainment On Mar. 21

Writer/director Matthew Robbins’ summer of 1981 fantasy adventure, Dragonslayer, gets a newly restored 4K limit-edition launch on Mar. 21.

Both Blu-ray and DVD editions will be available … both are stand-alone format SKUs with Digital Copy.

Dragons on screen come no better than Robbins’ Vermithrax … even after 40 years the beast remains the gold standard for such creatures.   With this new 4K film restoration of Dragonslayer, Galen (Peter MacNicol) and Ulrich’s (Ralph Richardson) combat with Vermithrax should be nothing short of stunning.

Bonus goodies include commentary with filmmaker Matthew Robbins (Corvette Summer, The Legend of Billie Jean, *batteries not included) who is joined by fellow director Guillermo del Toro (Robbins provided the screenplays for del Toro’s Crimson Peak and Mimic) and six featurettes — “The Slayer of All Dragons,” “Welcome to Cragganmore,” “A Long Way to Urland,” “Vermithrax Pejorative,” “Into the Lake of Fire” and “The Final Battle.”

 

 

Sony Pictures Looks To Feb. 28 For The Home Entertainment Launch Of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has selected Feb. 28 as the street date for both DVD and Blu-ray editions of director Kasi Lemmons’ biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, starring Naomi Ackie as the Grammy-winning recording legend.

The ARR is a swift-to-market 67 days, with domestic box office receipts currently standing at $23.4 million.

The film follows her career from the early 80s to her untimely death in February of 2012 at the Beverly Hilton from cocaine use and heart-related issues.

Bonus nuggets common to both the DVD and Blu-ray SKUs are a trio of featurettes — “Moments of an Icon,” “Becoming Whitney” and “The Personal Touch.”

Exclusive to the Blu-ray edition are deleted scenes and the “Whitney’s Jukebox” feature.