2008 at the Box Office - Page 27

DavidPla · 06-14-2008, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TerryRL

M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening" also got out of the gates with a strong start as it pulled in close to $13 million yesterday. The film is now expected to launch with a much stronger than expected mark in the area of $25-$30 million. The exits haven't been that encouraging thus far, indicating that this one may end up having a short shelf life in theaters.

As much hate as there seems to be for M Night, he can still pull in audiences opening weekend with a thriller. Unfortunately, this film looks to tarnish his future as the exits have shown. If this film's quality delivered on the Signs level, he would've been able to really get back in the game.

Adam_S · 06-14-2008, 07:03 PM

I find it sort of ironic that a blockbuster spy spoof movie and a mike myers movie are opening on the same weekend and they aren't the same movie.

Douglas Monce · 06-14-2008, 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete-D

I'm sure as well that Speed Racer generated a pretty fair penny on all those video games, toys, and other merchandising, which is all paid for in advance.

This is also why directors like the Wachowskis will never have to worry about getting work. Even when they have a flop like this, it'll still probably break even in the end, and then who knows the studio execs are always banking that next time they might deliver a Matrix-sized hit. If they don't, well you still break even at least.

I'm not so sure about the toys. A few weeks ago I was in walmart and they had two whole endcaps full of Speedracer toys marked 50% off. But there was a big empty spot where all the Indy toys were.

Doug

Malcolm R · 06-14-2008, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

I'm not so sure about the toys. A few weeks ago I was in walmart and they had two whole endcaps full of Speedracer toys marked 50% off. But there was a big empty spot where all the Indy toys were.

Doug

Yeah, the reports are that the SR merchandise was a flop, as well. Most stores marked it way down just to get rid of it.

Adam Lenhardt · 06-15-2008, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidPla

As much hate as there seems to be for M Night, he can still pull in audiences opening weekend with a thriller. Unfortunately, this film looks to tarnish his future as the exits have shown. If this film's quality delivered on the Signs level, he would've been able to really get back in the game.

Just got back from seeing it. It's definitely a lot of fun on a train wreck sort of level. I had a lot of fun in the its-so-bad-its-good sort of a way. Terrible script, terrible performances, mindless gore -- the works. And for all the fuss over what could be causing this event in the trailers, the movie basically gives it away within the first half-hour. Like Signs, it's essentially a feature-length "Twilight Zone" episode. But Signs was much, much better executed.

On the other hand, The Incredible Hulk doesn't look bad enough to be good. It looks so-so, which is probably my least favorite kind of movie.

Michael Elliott · 06-15-2008, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malcolm R

EDIT: I just looked around the Great Escape theaters website and there's nothing there that indicates matinee pricing depends on the popularity of the film. So either the theater is ripping you off, or whoever was working in the box office that day had quite a scam going to pad their personal paycheck (did your ticket stub actually reflect the higher price?).

Malcolm, the ticket stub is something I didn't check (and threw away when I got into the show). I plan on going to see INDY and THE HAPPENING this week so I'll see if I'm charged the extra price on those.

Pete-D · 06-15-2008, 06:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas Monce

I'm not so sure about the toys. A few weeks ago I was in walmart and they had two whole endcaps full of Speedracer toys marked 50% off. But there was a big empty spot where all the Indy toys were.

Doug

Doesn't matter, all the licensing fees for the toys is paid for well in advance of the movie's release.

Douglas Monce · 06-15-2008, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete-D

Doesn't matter, all the licensing fees for the toys is paid for well in advance of the movie's release.

Sure licensing fees are paid. But Warner would also get its share of the profits from every toy sold. In the case of Speed Racer, there doesn't seem to be a windfall coming from the toys to make up for the lackluster boxoffice.

Doug

TerryRL · 06-15-2008, 02:50 PM

Weekend Estimates

#1 "The Incredible Hulk" $54.5 million
#2 "Kung Fu Panda" $34.3 million ($118.0 million) -43%
#3 "The Happening" $30.5 million
#4 "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" $16.4 million ($68.8 million) -57%
#5 "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" $13.5 million ($275.3 million) -41%
#6 "Sex and the City" $10.2 million ($119.9 million) -52%
#7 "Iron Man" $5.1 million ($297.4 million) -31%
#8 "The Strangers" $4.1 million ($45.4 million) -54%
#9 "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" $3.0 million ($131.7 million) -47%
#10 "What Happens in Vegas" $1.7 million ($75.8 million) -51%
#11 "The Visitor" $450K ($6.7 million) -6%
#12 "Baby Mama" $408K ($58.8 million) -49%

The industry basked in the glory of having the biggest three-day top 12 haul of the year thus far, as well as the second biggest June weekend in history (behind the first-weekend haul of '04 that saw the third 'Harry Potter' obliterate records). The top 12 films pulled in a whopping $174.3 million, marking a 26% improvement over last year, as well as a 25% bump over this frame in '06.

For the first time this year, the top 3 movies all topped the $30 million mark. For the seventh consecutive week, the #1 movie earned more than $50 million, establishing a new industry high-water mark (four weeks in a row had been the previous record).

2008's year-to-date domestic gross now stands at a towering $4.191 billion, which is a 1% improvement over last year ($4.135 billion), up 7% over '06 ($3.925 billion), an impressive 10% stronger than '05 ($3.800 billion), and a nearly 1% bump over '04 ($4.167 billion).

In terms of hard ticket sales, '08 has now moved just about 600 million admissions. Past years at this point saw '07 selling 606 million tickets, '06 had moved about 599 million, '05 sold 593 million, and '04 was sitting on a mammoth total of 671 million. '08 has been able to cut into past year admission sales thanks to the last seven weeks of business.

Marvel/Universal's "The Incredible Hulk" easily topped the box office this weekend as it pulled in $54.5 million. The opening was down compared to the $62 million debut of the previous 'Hulk' film from '03, but neither Marvel or Universal expected this new film to soar that high. In fact, TIH debuted a little higher than the studios expected. Internals at the studio said the film would open in the $48-$51 million range, while industry wide tracking had it opening in the area of $55.

'Hulk' earned the sixth best opening of the year, as well as the seventh biggest debut the month of June has ever enjoyed. The new film tallied a scorching average of $15,560 from its 3,505 theaters. The exits have been much stronger than the ones for the '03 film and the two studios are optimistic that the $150 million budgeted movie will have strong legs in the coming weeks.

DreamWorks/Paramount's "Kung Fu Panda" fell to second this weekend as it lost a very moderate 43% of its business from last weekend. The film has so far tallied $118 million and looks headed for a final mark well past the double-century plateau. This will mark the first non-'Shrek' title for DreamWorks animation to cross $200 million. And yes, there is talk of a sequel.

Fox's "The Happening" debuted stronger than anticipated as it pulled in $30.5 million this weekend, marking the third best opening mark for director M. Night Shyamalan (behind "Signs" and "The Village"). The exits haven't been that strong, but Fox still expects this one to go on and perform well over the coming weeks.

Sony's "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" took a sizeable 57% hit, but the film still looks headed for a final mark well north of the $100 million mark. Indy IV continues to perform well as it passed the $275 million plateau. "Sex and the City" took another 50%-plus hit, but has now tallied just under $120 million.

Next weekend will see two comedies go head-to-head as WB's "Get Smart" and Paramount's "The Love Guru" both hit theaters. Right now, the tracking is favoring "Get Smart", which is looking as if it'll debut in the area of $30-$35 million, while "The Love Guru" looks headed for an opening in the $20-$25 million range. Next weekend could see the top four films once again all earning more than $20 million depending on how well 'Hulk' and "Kung Fu Panda" perform.

Chuck Mayer · 06-15-2008, 03:37 PM

Looks like Iron Man will crack the $300M next week. I speculated it would be big, and I considered $300M possible, but unlikely. Opening first really helped the film find an audience. I think the second one will do QUITE well opening weekend.

Indy looks like it'll get by the $300M mark, though it's not going to go much farther. Still, a nice haul for the film. Will it wheeze by Iron Man in the late weeks of summer? How is it tracking, Terry? I don't think it will, but LFL films always have a long tail.

Hope Hulk shows some strong legs. That's not the strongest opening for a tentpole, but considering the last version was pretty unpopular (though I liked it, and loved parts of it), that's not bad. Word of mouth on it should be pretty strong, and it has no action competition until Hancock in 2.5 weeks.

It's the calm before WALL-E, I guess.