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2009 at the Box Office - Page 12

post #331 of 1466
4/14/09 at 3:51pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR
^ I'm sure he said that as a (warped) joke but it still reads pretty harsh. I can get trashing people who have made themselves easy targets like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan but goddamn what did Miley Cyrus do to anyone?

I'm not sure where the joke originated but I'm almost certain it was taken from a longer joke. I believe the original joke had him talking about "teen stars" who become "whores" and that he was waiting for Miley to do the same. I think a lot of the joke was aimed at her father for letting her date a 21-year-old guy when she was 15 as well as some current stuff she's said including her joke towards Asians.

I'm not going to praise or bash what he said but I think he was meaning for it to be more "truth" than just meanness. It certainly doesn't read well but I think it was meant to have more behind it than just what was quoted.
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post #332 of 1466
4/14/09 at 6:52pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

I didn't hear the whole show, so I don't know the whole context, but from what I did hear, it sounds like Foxx was actually making fun of the Britneys & Lindsays (i.e. go destroy yourself so we can take you seriously), although he definitely got carried away.

As for the caller's comments, it's pretty clear from the original interview that the "I'm going to ruin Radiohead's career" bit was a joke.

I'm not a huge Miley fan, but in the few interviews I've heard with her, she sounds like what she is, a 16-year-old girl; I wish everyone would give her a break. I've also grown so tired of all of us (myself included, I admit) just waiting desperately for celebrities to make an offhand remark or take a joke too far so we can all feel superior to them.

And then we can sacrifice them...for Harvest.
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post #333 of 1466
4/14/09 at 8:32pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete-D
Isn't the Watchmen the opposite example of that though?

Seems to me like they could have pared down the violence, nudity, set the story in 2009, dropped the politics, upped the action, and made it a more paint-by-the-numbers superhero group movie with a little bit of an edge to it and probably have hit $200 million.

Not saying that would've been a good thing, but Hollywood manufactures "hits" all the time.

For a big budget project, the Watchmen, aside from its glossy exterior, is a very unconventional studio film.
I was thinking more of how advertising will get first weekend results, but everything after that is simply word of mouth. You are of course correct about the film content itself.
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post #334 of 1466
4/14/09 at 10:53pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Isn't the Watchmen the opposite example of that though?

Somewhat. But Watchmen had an insane marketing effort that was more then 16 months long. Adverts that come out way early; viral website marketing that began five months before it hit the theater using YouTube and sympathetic websites. Tie-in promos to TV shows.

There were five video games created to help market (The End is Nigh, Minutemen, Watchmen DirectConnect Game, Justice is Coming, and the Iphone and BB Storm Exclusive games..) two DVD releases (The Motion Comic, Collectors Compendium), and more.

The Watchmen had an insane marketing effort.

Watchmen Hype Overload: Is It Worth It? - PC World

They cued up three DVD/BD special releases for the film; an unrated extended cut in June/July, an normal edition, and a "Freaky" uber-long marathon edition due in the fall.

The Long and Treacherous Road to ‘Watchmen’ - RopeofSilicon.com Movie News, Trailers, Reviews and More

Watchmen's biggest problem is it's going to significantly underperform all expectations, and it's going to be a country mile away from making up it's cost. Some sites have called this the "Death" of fanboy comic films; I don't know about that, but I think it's a harsh "bang" to those wanting to market "R" rated blockbusters, because it just isn't happening.
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post #335 of 1466
4/15/09 at 6:28am

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
"Did you say something inappropriate?" Jay Leno innocently queried of the Oscar winner on Tuesday's Tonight Show.

"Yeah," Foxx admitted, taking a few breaths before launching into a full-blown apology.

"I so apologize to [Cyrus], and this is sincere," he began. "I am a comedian, and you guys know that whatever I say, I don't mean any of it. [Big laugh from the audience]. And sometimes, as comedians, as we do, we go a little bit too far."

Jamie Foxx Apologized to Miley Tonight - E! Online


Talking of Watchmen, thinking back I'm surprised it made as much money as it did, no stars, it looked weird, strange and more than a little retro, the reviews were wishy washy and how many moviegoers read the comic or had even heard of it before a few months ago?

In comparison another violent comic book movie Sin City, which looked really cool, had well known stars, huge internet buzz, people were supposedly gagging to see it, and yet that topped out at $74m in the US.
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post #336 of 1466
4/15/09 at 7:10am

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

I am reading these comments regarding Watchmen with a lot of interest. I am undecided about whether to see the film or not. On another Board, it is being both trashed and praised. So at this point, I'm still on the fence. One of the criticisms leveled against it was that it was very boring and difficult to sit through, and that that was due primarily to its length. But the length of a given film has never been the reason I will or will not go see it.
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post #337 of 1466
4/15/09 at 7:36am

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

ockeghem,

if u love satires, i strongly urge u to check it out. watch it as if u would Gulliver's Travels or somn like that but for the comic book industry. just as Watchmen satirized the comic book industry, Watchmen the film satirizes recent slate of comic book films.

most people don't get that thinking that this is another superman, batman, what have u. u have to be willing to laugh at the absurdity of costumed heroes dressing up to save the world and how psychotic they really all are .

i think i was the only one laughing throughout the film.

if u don't have a stomach for hard, cynical, biting satires... i recommend skipping it or wait for the blu-ray.
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post #338 of 1466
4/15/09 at 9:35am

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Christou
Jamie Foxx Apologized to Miley Tonight - E! Online


Talking of Watchmen, thinking back I'm surprised it made as much money as it did, no stars, it looked weird, strange and more than a little retro, the reviews were wishy washy and how many moviegoers read the comic or had even heard of it before a few months ago?

In comparison another violent comic book movie Sin City, which looked really cool, had well known stars, huge internet buzz, people were supposedly gagging to see it, and yet that topped out at $74m in the US.

It's amazing to me that Sin City "only" made $74m. It feels like it made much, much more.
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post #339 of 1466
4/15/09 at 10:42am

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Christou
Talking of Watchmen, thinking back I'm surprised it made as much money as it did, no stars, it looked weird, strange and more than a little retro, the reviews were wishy washy and how many moviegoers read the comic or had even heard of it before a few months ago?
That's my take on it too. I can't see how anyone (especially people who actually make a living in the financial side of the movie business) thought that the movie would make its $150 million budget back let alone the cost of all the other stuff involved with releasing the movie. They made a movie that would not appeal to appeal to a huge number of people and I'm shocked that they somehow got Warners to give them as much money to make the movie as they did.

That being said, I loved Watchmen and I think it turned out about as well as I could have hoped.
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post #340 of 1466
4/15/09 at 2:04pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

They overspent on Watchmen ... if it was a $85-$90 million dollar budget, I don't think people would be going as crazy about its box office.

I didn't think the ad campaign was all that crazy either. Pretty typical for a "superhero" film ... the difference was Watchmen was not a typical superhero movie (to me that was a good thing, but to a lot of average joe's it might have been shock).

R-rated films in general nowadays are tricky I guess, especially with studios bailing out on even the idea of R-rated Terminator or Die Hard movies.

That would have been unthinkable in the 80s or even a large part of the 90s.
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post #341 of 1466
4/15/09 at 5:03pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
It's amazing to me that Sin City "only" made $74m. It feels like it made much, much more.

Because one thing Rodriguez is is damn efficient with his budget. That film still, today, LOOKS fantastic. It has a really unique visual style, and it was done on the absolute cheap.. they never crossed a $40M budget, and so the film from ever angle was a super-profitable good story for the studio who expected nothing. They exceeded expectations.

Watchmen was troubled. Budget somewhere between $125-$150, a high advertising budget.. and then there was a lawsuit that had them give up around 5% of gross by most thoughts.

Watchmen was in a hard row to hoe from the beginning.

As to the film.. to be honest, even if you were a fan of the comic book, it is one of those films that I feel proves the adage: there is a reason why some of the best literature is always best to remain just that.
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post #342 of 1466
4/15/09 at 8:15pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by mattCR
As to the film.. to be honest, even if you were a fan of the comic book, it is one of those films that I feel proves the adage: there is a reason why some of the best literature is always best to remain just that.
It's not like I've taken a poll but I think it was one of the better recieved adaptations of a comic book ever. Of course, some people didn't like it but given the level of expectation and that there was only story to tell with those characters (is there any other comic book movie that has ever only had one story that they had to follow? Most have hundreds or thousands of stories and elements to pick and choose from), I think it went over pretty well with the fans.
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post #343 of 1466
4/16/09 at 9:26am

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR
(is there any other comic book movie that has ever only had one story that they had to follow? Most have hundreds or thousands of stories and elements to pick and choose from)

Superhero comics? I can't think of any off the top of my head. But there's A History of Violence, Persepolis, and Ghost World that were adapted from self-contained stories.
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post #344 of 1466
4/16/09 at 10:15am

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Sheets
Superhero comics? I can't think of any off the top of my head. But there's A History of Violence, Persepolis, and Ghost World that were adapted from self-contained stories.
Ghost World takes the characters and some of the jokes and stories from the comic but the movie doesn't follow the comic's storylines in the same way that Watchmen does. I haven't read A History Of Violence or Persepolis though.
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post #345 of 1466
4/16/09 at 11:26am

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

i think the script for wanted was written before the 4 issue series was done on that comic. ive never read that series but it seems like i remember reading that

edit: oh the crow at the time only had 1 story
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post #346 of 1466
4/16/09 at 9:04pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

It may have went somewhere else later, but when I was in college and read "Sandman" it had a very long continous arch. I think there are quite a few in that format.
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post #347 of 1466
4/18/09 at 12:04pm
Thread Starter 

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Friday Estimates

#1 "17 Again" $9.5 million
#2 "State of Play" $4.6 million
#3 "Hannah Montana: The Movie" $4.0 million ($47.5 million) 77% Friday-to-Friday drop (Ouch!)
#4 "Fast & Furious" $3.8 million ($128.3 million) 64% Friday-to-Friday drop
#5 "Monsters vs. Aliens" $3.6 million ($153.4 million) 61% Friday-to-Friday drop
#6 "Crank: High Voltage" $2.7 million
#7 "Observe and Report" $1.4 million ($16.1 million) 70% Friday-to-Friday drop (Ouch!)
#8 "The Haunting in Connecticut" $1.115 million ($49.9 million) 53% Friday-to-Friday drop
#9 "Knowing" $1.105 million ($71.3 million) 53% Friday-to-Friday drop
#10 "I Love You, Man" $1.07 million ($62.4 million) 53% Friday-to-Friday drop
#11 "Dragonball Evolution" $500K ($6.8 million) 77% Friday-to-Friday drop (Ouch!)
#12 "Adventureland" $416K ($13.1 million) 66% Friday-to-Friday drop

"17 Again" had very little difficulty in taking control of the box office as the movie got out of the gates with a first-day haul of more than $9 million. WB is expecting a debut weekend tally in the neighborhood of $22-$25 million. This is definitely great news for star Zac Efron.

"State of Play" got off to a solid start as it earned close to $5 million yesterday, which should translate to a opening gross of $12-$15 million. 'Hannah Montana', "Observe and Report", and 'Dragonball' all took disastrous Friday-to-Friday hits of more than 70%, while "Crank: High Voltage" drew a lukewarm reception from moviegoers.
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post #348 of 1466
4/18/09 at 12:17pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryRL
"State of Play" got off to a solid start as it earned close to $5 million yesterday, which should translate to a opening gross of $12-$15 million.
I saw that this afternoon and I was surprised by how crowded it was. I think I was the only person in the theater under 70 in the entire theater. I assume if they're drawing in the older folks, it'll end up having some decent legs too (rather than alot of movies which have a big opening weekend and a 70% or 80% dropoff in the next week).
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post #349 of 1466
4/18/09 at 12:27pm
Thread Starter 

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR
I assume if they're drawing in the older folks, it'll end up having some decent legs too (rather than alot of movies which have a big opening weekend and a 70% or 80% dropoff in the next week).

That's exactly the scenario Universal is hoping for.
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post #350 of 1466
4/18/09 at 7:59pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR
I saw that this afternoon and I was surprised by how crowded it was. I think I was the only person in the theater under 70 in the entire theater. I assume if they're drawing in the older folks, it'll end up having some decent legs too (rather than alot of movies which have a big opening weekend and a 70% or 80% dropoff in the next week).

I hope it has some decent legs. I had planned to see it yesterday, but things didn't work out and it will now be a while. It looked decent and the reviews I saw sounded pretty good. I may need to rethink that though...the movies I've been going to lately have really skewed old. Will State of Play be able to hold on to enough screens as the "big" movies come out?
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post #351 of 1466
4/19/09 at 12:02pm
Thread Starter 

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Weekend Estimates

#1 "17 Again" $24.1 million
#2 "State of Play" $14.1 million
#3 "Monsters vs. Aliens" $12.9 million ($162.7 million) -41%
#4 "Hannah Montana: The Movie" $12.7 million ($56.1 million) -61%
#5 "Fast & Furious" $12.3 million ($136.7 million) -55%
#6 "Crank: High Voltage" $6.5 million
#7 "observe and Report" $4.1 million ($18.7 million) -63%
#8 "Knowing" $3.5 million ($73.7 million) -46%
#9 "I Love You, Man" $3.4 million ($64.7 million) -46%
#10 "The Haunting in Connecticut" $3.2 million ($51.9 million) -47%
#11 "Dragonball Evolution" $1.6 million ($7.8 million) -67%
#12 "Adventureland" $1.3 million ($14.0 million) -62%

The industry continues to enjoy blistering business as moviegoers pumped $99.5 million into the box office this weekend, representing a 20% increase from last year and a nearly 40% bump over this period in '07. This April's box office has already surpassed last year's total of $497.3 million. With 11 days to go in the month, April '09 has tallied a phenomenal $514.1 million and could threaten April 2006's record mark of $683.6 million.

2009 is currently sitting on a domestic haul of $2.944 billion and this time next weekend the yearly tally will have passed the $3 billion plateau faster than any other time in Hollywood history. 2009's haul represents a 15% improvement over last year ($2.552 billion), up 14% over '07 ($2.578 billion), 20% better than '06 ($2.461 billion), and an impressive 25% stronger than '05 ($2.364 billion).

WB's "17 Again" emerged as the top choice at the box office this weekend as it pulled in $24 million. The movie earned a very solid $7,393 per-theater average from its 3,255 locations. The good start also put star Zac Efron on the map as a bankable lead, so this opening was great news for his career. WB is expecting a solid theatrical run from this one in the coming weeks.

Universal's "State of Play" got off to a pretty good start as it pulled in more than $14 million. The movie earned a decent average of $5,030 from its 2,803 theaters. The studio is expecting a leggy performance from this one throughout the next couple of months.

DreamWorks/Paramount's "Monsters vs. Aliens" has now tallied nearly $163 million. Disney's "Hannah Montana: The Movie" took a steeper than expected 61% hit this weekend and has so far tallied a little over $56 million. Disney execs are predicting a final haul in the neighborhood of $70 million. Universal's "Fast & Furious" is currently sitting on a domestic mark of $136.7 million.

Lionsgate's "Crank: High Voltage" was pretty much d.o.a. this weekend as it pulled in a very soft $6.5 million tally. The film was only able to manage a per-theater average mark of $2,928 from its 2,223 locations. Look for this one to pull a fast fade in the next few weeks.

WB's "Observe and Report" crashed and burned this weekend as it took a disastrous 63% hit in business. The movie has so far nabbed a domestic haul of nearly $19 million. A final mark of about $30 million is now expected. Summit Entertainment's "Knowing" has now earned close to $74 million. DreamWorks/Paramount's "I Love You, Man" is closing in on $65 million. Lionsgate's "The Haunting in Connecticut" is a notch away from passing the $52 million plateau. Fox's "Dragonball Evolution" is officially a flop as it fell off by an unsettling 67%. Miramax's "Adventureland" rounds out the top 12 as it has so far tallied $14 million.

Next weekend will see the final frame of April '09 as we are just a couple of weeks away from the start of Summer '09. Sony's "Obsessed", Rogue Pictures' "Fighting", DreamWorks/Paramount's "The Soloist", and Disney's documentary "Earth" will all hit theaters next week. Can "17 Again" make in two-in-a-row? We'll see what happens.
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post #352 of 1466
4/19/09 at 12:15pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryRL
Lionsgate's "Crank: High Voltage" was pretty much d.o.a. this weekend as it pulled in a very soft $6.5 million tally. The film was only able to manage a per-theater average mark of $2,928 from its 2,223 locations. Look for this one to pull a fast fade in the next few weeks.
I'm still scratching my head as to why anyone thought this film was necessary or wanted? The first film wasn't that popular and only grossed about $26 million. This sequel will be lucky to end up with half of that total.
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post #353 of 1466
4/19/09 at 1:25pm
Thread Starter 

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

With the summer season right around the corner, the early buzz is that despite the leaked workprint cut, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" will debut well north of the $75 million mark. Fox execs are said to be hoping for something similar to the opening of 'X2' ($85.6 million), while rival studios speculate that the movie has a shot at launching as big as X3 did ($102.8 million) since it will be the first major release of the summer season.
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post #354 of 1466
4/19/09 at 3:38pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

This will be an effective test to see if internet piracy has any real impact on the box office, if Wolverine opens with under $30m gross I'd say thats a big yes. If according to Terry's post it does do $75m and over than piracy has little or no effect on a movies gross and the guys who download these things were never likely to see them at the cinema.

Of course it could do poorly because of less than stellar reviews but than again that didn't seem to stop X-Men 3 from opening with a stupendous $102m in just 3 days back in 2006.
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post #355 of 1466
4/19/09 at 3:40pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

I think it will still open big.

The weather is getting warmer, people want to get out there to the theater and see a big movie.

If it fades quickly then you may get some cries of piracy impacting the film.
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post #356 of 1466
4/19/09 at 4:27pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

If it fades, it just means word of mouth killed it.
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post #357 of 1466
4/19/09 at 4:32pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Sun
If it fades, it just means word of mouth killed it.

Probably, but the studio will use the piracy thing as an excuse in that case.
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post #358 of 1466
4/19/09 at 4:37pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Sun
If it fades, it just means word of mouth killed it.
That or there's blockbuster hopefuls the entire month that are likely to canibalize each others' grosses.
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post #359 of 1466
4/19/09 at 4:42pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

Quote:
Originally Posted by TravisR
That or there's blockbuster hopefuls the entire month that are likely to canibalize each others' grosses.

Yep, that too.

Btw X-Men 3 did almost half it's total US gross in it's opening weekend.
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post #360 of 1466
4/19/09 at 4:48pm

Re: 2009 at the Box Office

A "blockbuster" with good word of mouth (i.e. Spider-Man 2) will still bring in business in spite of release of other "blockbusters". Word of mouth and quality of the film are the main components for "legs" to materialize for blockbusters, or not.
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