Following up a solid but unspectacular box office run, director George Clooney's star-studded political thriller "The Ides of March" looks to find its adult audience in the home market this week and won't have much in terms of competition. Taylor Lautner's seldom seen thriller "Abduction" is also hitting stores along with low-budget drama "Courageous," which will play to a mostly niche Christian audience. Older titles getting re-released this week include Blu-ray versions of Robin Williams' "Good Morning, Vietnam," Steven Soderbergh's Oscar-winner "Traffic" and Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple."
Backed by plenty of critical support and a cast that includes Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei and Paul Giamatti, "The Ides of March" had a long, stable box office run with its intended adult demographic last fall. Though it didn't gather the awards season buzz that it seemed it might, "Ides" was still lauded for its sharp look inside electoral politics, with Gosling and Giamatti standing out as two opposing political advisors testing each other's loyalty.
In the end, "Ides" ended up with a fairly strong $40 million domestically and $64 million worldwide, which are decent numbers for a limited release that hit just 2,199 theaters at its apex. On DVD and Blu-ray, "The Ides of March" also won't have to compete with major releases like "Real Steel," "Footloose" and "Paranormal Activity 3," three films that took away a portion of the adult demographic in theaters.
The biggest competition this week for "Ides" is Taylor Lautner's "Abduction," a PG-13 thriller that struggled to find a domestic audience and was eviscerated by critics. Directed by John Singleton, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind "Boyz N the Hood" and "Higher Learning," "Abduction" tells the story of a young man looking to the find the truth about his childhood. A retread of countless thriller elements, "Abduction" was even mostly skipped by its intended teenage demographic and it shouldn't do too much better in the home market.
The other major new DVD release this week is "Courageous," the most recent film from "Fireproof" director Alex Kendrick. After "Fireproof" was one of the most profitable films of 2008, "Courageous" did nearly as well commercially, with a $34 million domestic haul despite a production budget of only $2 million and a very limited marketing campaign. Predominately targeting devout Christians, Kendrick seems to have found sway with a sizeable chunk of his intended audience that should continue to help his films get produced in the years to come.
Movie lovers looking for a couple of older titles on Blu-ray are also in luck this weekend. Robin Williams burst onto the scene with 1987 comedy "Good Morning, Vietnam," a movie that brought Williams his career-defining role as a quick-talking army radio jockey stationed in Vietnam during the war. Williams ended up getting nominated for his first Oscar for the role and "Vietnam" ended up one of the biggest commercial hits of 1987, making Williams one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time.
Also getting launched on Blu-ray this week is Steven Soderbergh's highly acclaimed "Traffic," which takes audiences deep inside the drug trade taking place between Mexico and the U.S. Soderbergh won a Best Director Oscar for his realistic portrayal of an unstoppable drug culture and the various players on both sides caught up in the vicious cycle of addict and supplier. "Traffic" was even one of the rare Soderbergh films to end up a major commercial success, as it ended up grossing a surprising $124 million in the U.S. and $207 million worldwide.
Released in 1985, Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple" was another highly touted drama that was both a major player at the Oscars and a significant commercial success. Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery were all nominated for Oscars for their roles in telling the uplifting story of a young African American woman and her struggles against a social system stacked against her. Though not considered one of Spielberg's groundbreaking films, "The Color Purple" still stands as a loving retelling of the Alice Walker classic novel that will be a good fit on the high-definition of Blu-ray.
Those looking to go a little bit older than the mid-1980s might turn to another special edition set of Orson Welles' masterpiece "Citizen Kane," which is getting released in a special 70th anniversary Blu-ray box set. Released in 1941, Welles' first feature film would turn into the most acclaimed movie of the 20th century, a vivid and tragic tale of a newspaper tycoon who ends up being his own worst enemy.
After a week with few big new titles, next week will see the home market release of commercial hits like "Real Steel" and "Paranormal Activity 3," not to mention indie gem "50/50." Film buffs can also find special edition Blu-ray sets of three of director Alfred Hitchcock's most famous films, "Notorious," "Spellbound" and "Rebecca." Other prominent titles on Blu-ray include Woody Allen classics "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan," with both landing in high-definition for the first time.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.