Ryan Wishton
Screenwriter
- Joined
- May 17, 2003
- Messages
- 1,130
Holiday weekend and light competition. The most successful sequel in the series -- "Halloween: H20" -- opened in August. Also, they want to avoid "Saw 4's" competition.
"Saw 3" made around 170 million worldwide, so you can see why they might be weary opening against that series. Releasing both at the same time would hurt both, and financially speaking, it's just not wise for either.
The first "Halloween" made 47 million domestically and "Halloween: H20" made 55 million domestically. However, figuring inflation from 1978, the original "Halloween" would be placed well over the 100 million point by now domestically, so it's hard to figure. It also did well worldwide. Even "H20" is somewhere in the 70's now domestically -- it made a little over 100 million worldwide if you account for inflation.
And yes folks... "Saw 3" is one of the most financially successful horror films of the past decade. Why? Well, I'm sure people were asking this same question back in 1984 when "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" cleared number one.
And that's not a knock against that film, because I kinda dug it back in the day.
The "Saw" series is basically the new "Friday the 13th" series. They do have their similarities: Go for the gore, go for the grossout, release one a year until Jigsaw reaches Manhattan, very respectable box office numbers in their respective eras, and so forth... I'm sure the puppet itself will be the killer in "Saw 6" brought back by artificial lightning.
There will be, at least, six "Saw" movies. Numbers 5 and 6 are already greenlit and will go ahead unless number 4 completely bombs -- which isn't likely. I love that the creators are so honest: they've stated directly that they will make them as long as people are paying for them. So, we can get quite up there in the numbers due to their miniscule budgets. I mean even if "Saw 7" only makes 40 million dollars, it's still making a tidy profit.
Anyway, for a summary... Why is "Halloween" opening in August? Labor Day holiday weekend capitalization, minimum competition, and here's the main reason... Comparing all three biggie series back in the day, their most successful sequels were all released in August -- "Elm Street 4," "Friday 3," and "Halloween: H20" respectively. You can also throw in "Freddy vs. Jason."
I believe some aren't thinking about this enough: They're making the same mistake they made after "Jason X." Basically, claiming that this movie will bomb because it's coming off a bad sequel ("Halloween: Resurrection"). As the past taught us with the "Jason X," "Wes Craven's New Nightmare," and "Freddy vs. Jason" comparison, sometimes it just doesn't matter.
Leatherface is a fine example. His whole series of sequels bombed (he never had a sequel even clear $8.5 million; how he even got three greenlit is anyones guess), and his resurrection was the second most successful horror films of '03. So, there you go... Sometimes, it just doesn't matter. You never know.
