The Charts: Whole Lotta Freeman

Top 10 Straight-to-DVD Rentals for Week Ending 11/1/09

(source Video Business)

1. The Maiden Heist
2. Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead
3. Trick ‘r Treat
4. Lies & Illusions
5. Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure
6. 2012: Supernova
7. Stan Helsing
8. Assassination of a High School President
9. The Hills Run Red
10. The Code

Morgan Freeman bookending this week’s rental chart. The Miaden Heist, also starring William H. Macy and Christopher Walken, taking the top spot and perennial charter The Code bringing up the rear.

Tinker Bell debuting a bit lower, right in the middle of the charts (don’t worry, it’s a much brighter picture on the sales charts, you don’t need to clap or anything).

Can’t imagine why a movie named 2012 would be popular right now. And yes, that would be The Asylum‘s take on Roland Emmerich.

Horror comedy Stan Helsing debuting right behind it, though I have to question its straight-to-DVD credentials as I’m pretty sure it had a limited theatrical release.

Click on any of the above titles to buy or pre-order.

The Charts: You Can Rent, But You Can’t Buy

Top Straight-to-DVD Rentals for Week Ending 9/6/09

(Source: IMDb)

1. The Line
2. Bring it On: Fight to the Finish
3. Streets of Blood
4. Labor Pains
5. The Killing Room
6. Messengers 2: The Scarecrow
7. The Code

A couple of new entries opening strong at the top.  The Line is a drug drama starring Ray Liotta and Andy Garcia.  It’s not for sale until November, but you can rent it now.  The latest Bring It On sequel is scoring predictably high.  The Killing Room, a psychological-experiment-turns-ugly thriller starring Nick Cannon, Timothy Hutton, Peter Stormare, and Chloe Sevigny won’t be ownable til October, but is holding its own for now.  And if The Code can hang in there a little longer, we might see Morgan Freeman on this chart twice when The Maiden Heist launches next month.

Click on any of the above titles to buy or pre-order.

Another Freeman Heist Flick Goes Straight to DVD

Last month, NPR did a story about The Maiden Heist, a comedy starring Morgan Freeman, Christopher Walken, William H. Macy, and Marcia Gay Harden that got screwed by the financial meltdown. Basically, the advertising budget for a theatrical release disappeared. As of the radio piece’s airing, even a DVD release date had not been confirmed, but now it appears that The Maiden Heist will go straight to DVD on October 27th.

Directed by Peter Hewitt (Zoom, Garfield, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey) and written by Michael LeSieur (You, Me and Dupree), the film cost $20 million to produce, easily making it one of the most expensive straight-to-DVD titles of the year, right behind Freeman’s other straight-to-DVD heist flick The Code, which beats it by $5 million.

By the way, you really should listen to the NPR piece. It’s only six minutes long and it gives you a really good sense of how films intended for theatrical release end up going straight to DVD.

You can pre-order The Maiden Heist here.

The Charts: Can’t Get Enough Kilmer

Top Straight-to-DVD Rentals for Week Ending 8/23

(Source: IMDb)

1. Streets of Blood
2. Labor Pains
3. The Code
4. Messengers 2: The Scarecrow
5. The Chaos Experiment
6. Van Wilder: Freshman Year

Val Kilmer shows up twice on our list this week, topping the charts with crime drama Streets of Blood, in which he co-stars with Fiddy Cent and Sharon Stone and again at #5 as a global warming zealot in The Chaos Experiment with Eric Roberts.  Lindsay Lohan’s straight-to-DVD debut Labor Pains comes in at #2.  Did you know Creed from The Office was in that?  Morgan Freeman/Antonio Banderas actioner The Code rounds out the top three after 61 days on the chart.

Click on any of the above titles to buy.

The Banderas Code

Antonio Banderas talks to ComingSoon.net about his big budget, big director, major co-star (Morgan Freeman) S2DVD title The Code.