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2009 at the Box Office - Page 33

post #961 of 1466
7/29/09 at 11:16am
GI Joe appears to be a movie dedicated to realizing what a 10 year old child might be imagining while he smashes his favorite action figures into each other. Unfortunately I don't think that's nearly a good enough concept to justify investing over $100 million in a film :)
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post #962 of 1466
7/29/09 at 4:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mattCR View Post

I rarely use this choice of words, but GI Joe should have been aborted somewhere early in the process.

 

GI Joe looks like a film with a budget that spiraled and absolutely no concept at all behind it.  Even core "Joe" fans are wondering "what the hell is up with SuperSuit Technology?" etc. 
 

It's like the live action "He-Man" from years ago, a complete misfire.  Everything I've seen on this makes me think that the problem is simply not one they can recover from.  It's not "it's a bad trailer" the problem is that it misses the point.  It entirely, completely misses the point.

The Masters of the Universe movie made a fatal mistake. People were expecting the Filmation cartoon storyline on the big screen, and it had none of it. Having the characters running around on Earth, when fans wanted to see more of Eternia was another blunder.

If Hasbro had come up with Supersuits back in the day, the cartoon would have incorporated them. ;)
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post #963 of 1466
7/30/09 at 11:04am
GI Joe Cartoons were awesome i used to watch them alot when i was a kid. Hope they live upto the expectation. Harry potter HAlf blood prince is good movie was worth watching

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Sheets View Post

GI Joe appears to be a movie dedicated to realizing what a 10 year old child might be imagining while he smashes his favorite action figures into each other. Unfortunately I don't think that's nearly a good enough concept to justify investing over $100 million in a film :)
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post #964 of 1466
7/30/09 at 2:38pm
I know I'm probably in the vast minority here, but I honestly think Stephen Sommers is a better director than Michael Bay.  For all the problems I have with some of his films, Sommers seems to have at least a basic understanding of how to put a story together.  And his films tend to be far less pretentious than Bay's.

I'm sure that sounds weird, because one of the defenses I've heard about TF 2 is that it "doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is."  But I have to disagree; it pretends to be entertaining, which it isn't (to me, anyway).

So, I'm still kind of looking forward to G.I. Joe, even if it ends up not really being G.I. Joe.
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post #965 of 1466
8/1/09 at 2:10am
Thread Starter 
Uh oh...

From Nikki Finke...

Apatow's 'Funny People' No Laughing Matter; Dramedy Opens To Soft $8M Friday And Disappointing $22M Weekend

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post #966 of 1466
8/1/09 at 8:41am
^ I thought that would have happened next weekend when word is out that Funny People is a real movie rather than a dumb comedy that the ad campaign tries to portray it as.
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post #967 of 1466
8/1/09 at 8:46am
Yeah, it's a movie destined to make Woody Allen coin. There was a line to see it at the 10 pm show when I went, but it's definitely not a second Knocked Up. Self-referential Hollywood pictures never seem to do the business the Industry expects they will, either. It turns out, America is not as enamored with the mechanics of Hollywood as Hollywood is.
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post #968 of 1466
8/1/09 at 9:01am
Quote:
It turns out, America is not as enamored with the mechanics of Hollywood as Hollywood is.
...with the exception of Entourage?
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post #969 of 1466
8/1/09 at 9:29am
Or Get Shorty or Tropic Thunder or any number of other examples. Don't worry Eric, it's just something people say to make themselves feel superior.
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post #970 of 1466
8/1/09 at 9:59am
"Entourage" barely breaks a 1.0 rating; it's niche programming for a premium audience. I'll grant you Get Shorty and Tropic Thunder, although the former is first and foremost an Elmore Leonard crime story and the latter is first and foremost an action comedy. Regardless, I don't think anyone has to worry about it, and I wasn't trying to be overly smug. I just think the successes succeed in spite of all the insider baseball, so to speak, and not because of it.
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post #971 of 1466
8/1/09 at 10:27am
Get Shorty was a gangster film first, and it made about $70M and has been a lackluster sale on DVD.  Tropic Thunder was a breakout because it lampooned hollywood and made fun of it with a big cast and it brought the funny.  Still, it made $110M, so it wasn't even in the same earnings league as a "Knocked Up" "Hangover" etc., despite the buzz, marketing and in the end an Oscar nod.

EG.. "Meet The Fockers"  $280M.... so neither of the films you're talking about were box office gold. 
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post #972 of 1466
8/1/09 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
As Adam alluded to, movies about Hollywood typically don't do very big business.  Films like "Get Shorty" and "Tropic Thunder" tend to be the exception, not the rule.
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post #973 of 1466
8/1/09 at 1:39pm
Thread Starter 
Friday Estimates

#1 "Funny People" $8.6 million
#2 "G-Force" $5.8 million ($55.2 million) 50% Friday-to-Friday drop
#3 "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" $5.4 million ($243.2 million) 42% Friday-to-Friday drop
#4 "The Ugly Truth" $4.5 million ($45.9 million) 59% Friday-to-Friday drop
#5 "Aliens in the Attic" $2.9 million
#6 "Orphan" $2.4 million ($22.0 million) 51% Friday-to-Friday drop
#7 "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" $1.72 million ($178.3 million) 35% Friday-to-Friday drop
#8 "The Proposal" $1.70 million ($145.7 million) 23% Friday-to-Friday drop
#9 "The Hangover" $1.5 million ($252.2 million) 23% Friday-to-Friday drop
#10 "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" $1.45 million ($385.0 million) 42% Friday-to-Friday drop
#11 "The Collector" $1.3 million
#12 "(500) Days of Summer" $875K ($4.9 million) 75% Friday-to-Friday increase

Edited by TerryRL - 8/8/2009 at 10:54 pm GMT
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post #974 of 1466
8/1/09 at 9:57pm
Boy "Proposal" and "Hangover" sure had great holds this week.

"The Collector" died.
"The Ugly Truth" took a well deserved tumble.

Sad to see Up! out of the top12 :(  (it had 360,000 yesterday..)  but hey, it looks like it may creep to $290M (it's at 285 right now) and dependant on how it hangs in there, it's got a shot at it.  :)
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post #975 of 1466
8/1/09 at 10:28pm
It looks like Half-Blood Prince has finally stablized, with a better third Friday than Order of the Phoenix and probably a better hold from the second weekend to the third, too.
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post #976 of 1466
8/1/09 at 11:27pm
Are there any more IMAX releases on the horizon this year after Harry Potter? I was kind of hoping my new local venue might bring back Star Trek or some other films when things slow down in the fall.
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post #977 of 1466
8/2/09 at 1:14am
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs: An IMAX 3-D Experience (September 18th)
Where the Wild Things Are: The IMAX Experience (October 16th)
Disney's A Christmas Carol - An IMAX 3-D Experience (November 6th)
Avatar - An IMAX 3-D Experience (December 18th)
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post #978 of 1466
8/2/09 at 11:45am
Thread Starter 
Weekend Estimates

#1 "Funny People" $23.4 million
#2 "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" $17.7 million ($255.5 million) -40%
#3 "G-Force" $17.1 million ($66.5 million) -46%
#4 "The Ugly Truth" $13.0 million ($54.5 million) -53%
#5 "Aliens in the Attic" $7.8 million
#6 "Orphan" $7.3 million ($26.8 million) -44%
#7 "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" $5.3 million ($181.8 million) -37%
#8 "The Hangover" $5.1 million ($255.8 million) -21%
#9 "The Proposal" $4.8 million ($148.9 million) -24%
#10 "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" $4.6 million ($388.1 million) -43%
#11 "The Collector" $3.6 million
#12 "(500) Days of Summer" $2.8 million ($6.8 million) +68%

Despite being the fourth consecutive down period compared to year-ago levels (largely due to the complete dominance of "The Dark Knight"), moviegoers spent $112.5 million on the top 12 films this weekend as the final tally for July's overall domestic box office gross to $1.158 billion, marking the third biggest July haul in history.  2009's tally trails only the July grosses of 2007 ($1.304 billion) and 2008 ($1.245 billion).  The $1.158 billion haul also represents the third biggest monthly total in box office history.  July 2009 also marked the 16th time in the modern era (since the 1950s) that a month has sold more than 160 million theater admissions (nearly 162 million).

2009's year-to-date domestic gross now stands at a towering $6.471 billion, marking a 7% bump over last year ($6.054 billion), up 9% compared to '07 ($5.963 billion), 15% stronger than '06 ($5.629 billion), and a muscular 21% improvement over '05 ($5.337 billion).  2009 has now sold about 900 million theater admissions thus far.  With a record-setting four billion-dollar earning months already (January, May, June, and July), 2009 will definitely end up being one for the books by the end of the year.

Universal/Sony's "Funny People" debuted in the top spot, but came in below industry and studio expectations.  The $75 million budgeted movie was able to earn $23.4 million (i.e. a bit more than star Adam Sandler's salary), well below the $30-$40 million many predicted.  The movie earned a per-theater average of $7,793 from its 3,008 locations, which was the second best of the top 12.  The overall critical reception was soft and exit polling indicated that this latest film from director Judd Apatow may have a short run in theaters.  Many polled were disappointed with the film's lengthy run time (146 minutes), as well as the movie being more serious than funny.  Most that saw it expected a raunchy comedy rather than a movie that plays more like a "dramedy".  It'll be very interesting to see how this one holds up in the coming weeks.

For the second straight week, WB's "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" finished in the #2 slot.  The movie was off a moderate 40% (thanks in large part to the film beginning its IMAX run this weekend) and has so far tallied $255.5 million.  A final domestic haul in the neighborhood of $295-$300 million is now expected.

Disney's "G-Force" fell to third place this weekend as it lost 46% of its business from a week ago.  The movie has now pocketed $66.5 million and seems to be headed for a final domestic haul in the area of $100 million.

Sony's "The Ugly Truth" was off by 53% this week (the largest dip of the top 12) and has earned $54.5 million thus far.  A final mark of about $80-$85 is expected.

Fox's "Aliens in the Attic" got a lukewarm reception from moviegoers this weekend as it pulled in less than $8 million, giving it only an average of $2,511 from its 3,106 locations.  Look for this one to fade fast.

WB's "Orphan" was off a modest 44% this weekend, bringing its tally to just under $27 million.  Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" passed the $180 million plateau this week.  WB's "The Hangover" is now the third R rated flick in history to earn north of the $250 million domestic mark.  WB's "The Proposal" is days away from passing the $150 million plateau.  DreamWorks/Paramount's 'Transformers' sequel now has close to $390 million in the bank so far.  Freestyle Releasing's "The Collector" crashed and burned this weekend as it was only able to earn $3.6 million, giving it a soft average of $2,736 from its 1,325 theaters.  Fox Searchlight's "(500) Days of Summer" rounds out the top 12 as it once again had the best per-theater average ($10,338 from 266 locations).  The film entered 181 more sites, resulting in a 68% increase in business.

Next weekend will see Paramount's "G.I. Joe", Sony's "Julie & Julia", and Universal's "A Perfect Getaway" all hit multiplexes.  "G.I. Joe" should have little difficulty winning the weekend, but expect a very solid showing from "Julie & Julia", which is (not surprisingly) earning star Meryl Streep Oscar buzz.  If she does go on to earn a nod, it would be the two-time winner's 17th, extending her industry record for number of acting nominations.

Edited by TerryRL - 8/6/2009 at 04:21 am GMT
Edited by TerryRL - 8/8/2009 at 10:55 pm GMT
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post #979 of 1466
8/2/09 at 12:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryRL View Post

Universal/Sony's "Funny People"... as well as the movie being more serious than funny.
 

I understand how some people could be dissapointed with that but that's exactly what I thought was good about the movie. Apatow showed growth from his previous movies (which I love too) but he already made those movies so I'm glad Funny People wasn't The 41-Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up Again.
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post #980 of 1466
8/2/09 at 12:45pm
Thread Starter 
Personally, I think the marketing department dropped the ball here.  "Funny People" was marketed as a comedy and patrons went in expecting one kind of movie, but were treated to a more serious take on the material than expected.  Apatow did show growth as a filmmaker, but my biggest problem with the movie wasn't the dramedy aspect of it.  I just thought it was too long.
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post #981 of 1466
8/2/09 at 2:37pm
Thanks for the info, Travis. One new Imax release a month now. Wow.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Travis_S View Post

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs: An IMAX 3-D Experience (September 18th)
Where the Wild Things Are: The IMAX Experience (October 16th)
Disney's A Christmas Carol - An IMAX 3-D Experience (November 6th)
Avatar - An IMAX 3-D Experience (December 18th)
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post #982 of 1466
8/2/09 at 3:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryRL View Post

I just thought [Funny People] was too long.
 


I can't blame you for thinking that but, overall, the movie's run time worked for me. I don't know if I need to see an extended cut for DVD and Blu-ray though.
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post #983 of 1466
8/2/09 at 4:31pm
I admit, my wife & I are both interested in "Julie & Julia" the trailers are very effective and it looks like a good "feel good' kind of film.  It's n my list.. on the other hand

Quote:
Disney's A Christmas Carol - An IMAX 3-D Experience (November 6th)
 

Just looks like an abomination.  I've seen two trailers for it so far, and it just looks TERRIBLE
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post #984 of 1466
8/2/09 at 9:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryRL View Post

Personally, I think the marketing department dropped the ball here.  "Funny People" was marketed as a comedy and patrons went in expecting one kind of movie, but were treated to a more serious take on the material than expected.  Apatow did show growth as a filmmaker, but my biggest problem with the movie wasn't the dramedy aspect of it.  I just thought it was too long.
Like Travis, I thought the film's running time felt just right. That being said, I agree 100 percent about the marketing strategy. Applying the brilliant Knocked Up ad strategy to this film was essentially an attempt to fit a square peg in a round hole. It might help with the film's opening weekend, but it's going to hurt the strategy in the future since audiences will wonder if they're facing another bait and switch. It needed a James L. Brooks-esque ad campaign.
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post #985 of 1466
8/3/09 at 6:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryRL View Post
 expect a very solid showing from "Julie & Julia", which is (not surprisingly) earning star Meryl Streep Oscar buzz.
 

Oscar buzz for Streep?  Shocking! 
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post #986 of 1466
8/3/09 at 7:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt View Post

Like Travis, I thought the film's running time felt just right. That being said, I agree 100 percent about the marketing strategy. Applying the brilliant Knocked Up ad strategy to this film was essentially an attempt to fit a square peg in a round hole.
I haven't seen the movie but the ads didn't trick anyone I know into thinking it's a comedy. The dramatic aspect comes across pretty well. The problem is that I don't think people are interested in movies about comedians that are dramatic.
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post #987 of 1466
8/3/09 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
From The Hollywood Reporter site...

'Harry Potter' repeats overseas

'Prince's' worldwide gross stands at $747.7 million

By Frank Segers

Aug 2, 2009, 03:44 PM ET

Updated: Aug 2, 2009, 08:02 PM ET

Related

'Funny People' tops modest domestic boxoffice
The international boxoffice circuit entered the dog days of summer with "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" remaining on top during its third overseas weekend, grossing $42.7 million from 13,200 locations in 64 markets.

The take for the sixth title in Warner Bros.' multibillion-dollar franchise dropped nearly 50% from its second weekend but nonetheless moved "Prince's" foreign boxoffice tally to nearly a half-billion dollars ($492.3 million) and its worldwide total to $747.7 million.

The film's weekend action in the U.K. was a mighty $5.1 million from 573 screens, raising its market cume to $66.5 million. Japan produced $5.7 million from 695 sites; "Prince's" cume there is $50.8 million. Germany came up with $4.7 million from 1,373 locations for a $48.2 million cume, and France generated $4.6 million from 750 sites for a $40.3 million cume.

Newcomers to the foreign circuit included Universal's No. 1 domestic title "Funny People," from director-writer-producer Judd Apatow and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann. The comedy about a stand-up comic facing terminal illness opened in a single market, Russia, to an estimated $500,000 from 197 locations.

In addition, Fox injected yet another family film into the overseas summer mix. "Aliens in the Attic," a CGI/live-action adventure comedy about kids on a family vacation fighting off alien invaders, debuted in Russia, Trinidad and Jamaica to $492,000 from 360 screens.

The weekend's No. 2 title overseas was Pixar/Disney's "Up," which opened in seven territories. Combined with holdovers, the film generated $23.7 million from 2,109 sites in 23 markets. A No. 1 France debut produced a whopping $9.1 million from 384 screens, and Spain opened with $8.6 million from 601 sites, the market's biggest opening of 2009.

"Up's" overseas rollout, which began May 31, is a marathon, not a sprint, according to Disney. The run concludes Dec. 5 in Japan. The film's foreign cume stands at $80.2 million, with China and Singapore opening this week.

At No. 3 was Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," which elicited $22.3 million from 9,244 screens in 68 markets. After five rounds overseas, the threequel has drawn a $549.7 million cume, making it the foreign circuit's highest-grossing animation title to date. The previous record-holder was Disney's "Finding Nemo," which generated $525 million in 2003.

At No. 4 was Disney's "The Proposal," a comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds that expanded its run to at least a half-dozen new markets, drawing $11 million from 2,693 screens in 32 territories and hoisting its overseas cume to $78.2 million.

Placing fifth was producer Jerry Bruckheimer's big-budget Disney film "G-Force," which spread its 3D animated wings in 14 new markets during its second weekend of overseas release. Its gross during the frame was $10.9 million from 1,615 locations in 15 territories.

"G-Force," a live-action/animation hybrid about weapon-toting guinea pigs, opened a close No. 2 in the U.K., crowding "Prince" for the top spot with $4.5 million from 531 screens. Its international cume stands at $11.4 million.

Buoyed by openings in eight markets, Universal's "Public Enemies" spurted to $9.7 million from 2,900 locations in 42 territories, raising its foreign cume to $50.4 million. Leading the pack was Australia, where director Michael Mann's Depression-era crime drama, starring Johnny Depp, drew $2.7 million from 228 sites for a robust $11,842 per-screen average.

Flying past the $100 million overseas benchmark was Warners' "The Hangover," which drew $7.9 million from 2,307 screens in 43 territories. The hit comedy's international cume stands at $111.8 million.

"Bruno" laughed all the way to $4 million from 2,500 screens in 33 territories handled by Universal, Sony and Mandate. The Sacha Baron Cohen comedy clocked in at No. 7 in the U.K., where its 24-day market total is $24.1 million. To date, "Bruno" has grossed $66 million on the foreign circuit.

DreamWorks/Paramount's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" grossed $3.8 million from 4,815 locations in 63 territories, lifting its overseas cume to $422 million through six weeks.

In Japan, Disney's 2008 title "Bolt" finally opened to $2.6 million from 350 screens, pushing its overseas cume to $187 million. In France, the local-language romantic comedy "Until You," from writer-director Jennifer Devoldere, opened at No. 11 with $400,000 from 110 screens.

"Drag Me to Hell," director/co-writer Sam Raimi's tongue-in-cheek horror title, opened solidly at No. 3 in Spain ($1.3 million from 282 screens) via Universal, which is handling the film's foreign release with other distributors. Its overseas cume from all distributors is $25 million. Universal's "Adrift," a Portuguese-language drama about a girl's coming of age, opened in Brazil to $175,000 from 41 screens.

Other international cumes include Universal's "State of Play," $49.1 million; Pathe/Fox's "Slumdog Millionaire," $220.3 million; Universal's "Land of the Lost," $10 million (after a $1.1 million U.K. bow at 338 sites); Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," $185 million; and Fox's "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," $213 million.
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post #988 of 1466
8/5/09 at 2:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryRL View Post

2009's year-to-date domestic gross now stands at a towering $6.471 billion . . .  2009 has now sold about 900 theater admissions thus far. 

Wow, those were some expensive tickets! 
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post #989 of 1466
8/5/09 at 5:51pm
Terry...I am shocked by Ice Age's foreign gross.  Was this type of haul expected?  Does it have the potential to reach 600 million?  I assume there will be another go around with the IA gang. 
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post #990 of 1466
8/5/09 at 9:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB View Post
Wow, those were some expensive tickets! 



Doh!  My bad.  That should say 900 million.  I did fix it though.  Thanks for pointing that out.

Chris, the 'Ice Age' flicks have now tallied close to $1.8 billion worldwide and yes I think that 'Dawn of the Dinosaurs' will end up topping the $600 million plateau overseas.  Fox will continue making these movies as long as they continue to bring in these type of numbers, on top of the solid home video and (decent) toy sales the series has enjoyed thus far.  The studio is targeting either 2012 or 2013 for the fourth IA adventure. 
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