2010 at the Box Office (1 Viewer)

[dpippel]

Kind of disappointed that "Let Me In" was even filmed.

 

[Michael Elliott]

A rather bad weekend for the horror genre as two things were made clear:


1. Don't bother making a good horror film (see box office of LET ME IN).

2. You need the MPAA to cut a movie (see HATCHET II getting yanked from theaters).

 

[Robert Crawford]

Originally Posted by dpippel

I'm not, I think it's on par with the original film.







Crawdaddy

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Michael Elliott

A rather bad weekend for the horror genre as two things were made clear:


1. Don't bother making a good horror film (see box office of LET ME IN).

Yeah, the real shame is that Let Me In was a decent and creepy movie made for adults but it won't do as good as the 4th or 5th Resident Evil sequel or the silly Piranha 3-D or probably even as good as the more or less unseen Splice did.

 

[Andy Sheets]

Marketing budget? Most people I've talked to aren't even remotely aware of Let Me In's existence, nevermind what kind of movie it is or of what quality.

 

[Malcolm R]

Originally Posted by Andy Sheets

Marketing budget? Most people I've talked to aren't even remotely aware of Let Me In's existence, nevermind what kind of movie it is or of what quality.

I saw plenty of TV ads, but I think it was dumb to change the title. Anyone familiar with the story from the book or the foreign film knows it as "Let the Right One In." I'd imagine some people who might have been interested were not even aware "Let Me In" was the same story.


Like filming "Gone with the Wind" and just calling it "Gone."

 

[TravisR]

The title Let The Right One In always reminds me of an episode of The Flintstones where Pebbles and Bam-Bam sing "Let The Sun Shine In" so it always stuck in my head as a totally goofy title. I know I'm probably the only person in the world that has made that silly connection but it's made me like the title Let Me In much more. I don't think using or not using the original title had any bearing on the film's success because outside of movie message boards, no one has ever heard of that movie and the bulk of the people that know of it have already discounted it because it's a remake.

 

[fanny8788]

Her is my list.I am not including the months:

Knight and Day

Letters to juliet

Robin hood

iron man 2

Just Wright

Jonah hex

Piranha 3d

A nightmare on elm street

Resident Evil

The last exorcism

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Malcolm R


I saw plenty of TV ads, but I think it was dumb to change the title. Anyone familiar with the story from the book or the foreign film knows it as "Let the Right One In." I'd imagine some people who might have been interested were not even aware "Let Me In" was the same story.

Except the English translation of the book was published as Let Me In; that's where they got the movie title from. I saw the Swedish original in theaters, enjoyed it, had no desire to see a remake. I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt that way.

 

[Malcolm R]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt


Except the English translation of the book was published as Let Me In; that's where they got the movie title from. I saw the Swedish original in theaters, enjoyed it, had no desire to see a remake. I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt that way.

Hmmm...I never saw that. The copy of the book I purchased (in English) had the full original title.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Interesting. Was your copy a movie tie-in version for the original film? I think those were the only times it was published stateside with the full original title.

 

[Malcolm R]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

Interesting. Was your copy a movie tie-in version for the original film? I think those were the only times it was published stateside with the full original title.

Probably. It was a large, softcover edition with a pic of the girl from the original film on the cover.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

That explains it. The title issue reminds me of the first Harry Potter book/film, when Scholastic thought American readers would be too dumb to know the legends surrounding Nicholas Flamel and would therefore be turned off by a seemingly intellectual title like "Philosopher's Stone". On the other hand, it comes in handy for the filmmakers as a way to differentiate the remake from the original.

 

[Malcolm R]

Friday Estimates:


1. Life As We Know It $5M
2. The Social Network $4.5M

3. Secretariat $4.2M

4. My Soul To Take $2.5M

5. Legend of the Guardian: The Owls $1.8M

6. The Town $1.8M

7. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps $1.4M

8. Easy A $1.2M

9. You Again $750K

10. Case 39 $750K


Very slow weekend at the box office, as the #1 film will gross under $20 million.

 

[Michael Elliott]

It's funny that the horror genre was doing much better earlier in the year rather than closer to Halloween time. Three major bombs in a row and another (P-3D) that didn't do much either.

 

[TerryRL]

To say that the box office is struggling right now would be a very mild understatement. The box office has been a source of anxiety for the studios since the end of July. While this past September did post the second biggest box office tally in the month's history ($544.4 million second only to 2007's $554.5 million haul), it was also the lowest attended (about 68.5 million) September since the mid-90s. September '10 marked only the second time (2008 being the other) that the month didn't sell more than 72 million admissions since the mid-90s. Overall attendance remains down for the year compared to previous four years. Not good considering that ticket prices are going to continue to rise due to more and more films being released in 3D.


YEAR TO DATE ATTENDANCE MARKS

2010: 1.037 billion admissions

2009: 1.065 billion admissions

2008: 1.041 billion admissions

2007: 1.093 billion admissions

2006: 1.078 billion admissions


The studios have suffered through high profile films such as 'Legend of the Guardians', "Let Me In", "Devil", "Machete", and "The American" all either flopping or under-performing. Even films that are doing decent business will struggle to earn back their high production costs. 'Legends of the Guardians' cost $80 million to make, while $70 million was spent on the 'Wall Street' sequel. The current #1 flick at the box office, "The Social Network", is doing solid business (but hasn't proven to be nearly as big as was hoped for thus far), but still cost more than $50 million to make.


The industry needs to see big returns from the month's remaining high profile releases "Jackass 3D", "Red", "Paranormal Activity 2", and "Saw 3D" to pump new life back into the box office. Of the four, I think PA2 has the best shot at earning big numbers. We'll see what happens.

 

[Malcolm R]

I think 3D is quickly becoming an albatross for some films. It's bad enough that you have to pay extra for the 3D ticket, but it makes it even worse when it's a bad film or has badly converted 3D effects. I know I'll be seeing fewer films in theaters if my only option is 3D. If I were a studio, I'd think very hard about whether or not to issue a film in 3D. I've seen five or six 3D films so far, and I'd only consider two of them as being worthwhile in 3D. It's definitely made me think twice before attending any 3D film.


Regarding "The Social Network," I think the overwhelming praise heaped on it before it's opening may have worked against it. I know several people just within my circle who actively avoid films that are so universally hyped with rave reviews and predictions of many Oscars. They expect them to be slow, talky, boring films. So when every media outlet is screaming, "You have to see this film...RIGHT NOW!!!!" they've probably lost at least a small percentage of the mass audience. From reports, there's also a big discrepancy between attendance at TSN in the large urban coastal areas vs. middle America, so apparently at least some struggling working-class people aren't falling all over themselves to spend their money to see the story of some lucky young computer nerds becoming billionaires.


I'm also not sure why studios keep making horse-themed films. Of the 24 horse-themed films listed by BoxOfficeMojo.com only 5 of those have grossed more than $50 million. It seems like a genre that's box office poison.

 

[TerryRL]

I'm in complete agreement with you on both 3D and the (in my opinion overdone) media reaction to "The Social Network.


TSN is the current Oscar favorite for Best Picture and should end up becoming the fourth biggest hit movie (behind 'Benjamin Button', "Seven", and "Panic Room") for director David Fincher out of the eight he's helmed.


I'm all for movies being shot and released in 3D, but not everything should be released in the format. Do we really need to see 'Jackass' in 3D? There are currently 25 films set to be released in the 3D format in 2011, with more to come in 2012 and 2013.

2011 3D RELEASES...

"The Cabin in the Woods" (MGM) 1/14

"The Green Hornet" (Sony) 1/14

"Sanctum" (Universal) 2/4

"Drive Angry" (Summit) 2/11

"Gnomeo & Juliet" (Miramax) 2/11

Justin Bieber Concert Film (Paramount) 2/11

"Mars Needs Moms" (Disney) 3/11

"Sucker Punch" (WB) 3/25

"Priest" (Sony) 5/13

"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" (Disney) 5/20

"Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom" (DreamWorks/Paramount) 5/26

"Green Lantern" (WB) 6/17

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two" (WB) 7/15

"The Smurfs" (Sony) 8/3

"Spy Kids: All the Time in the World" (Weinstein) 8/19

"Dolphin Tale" (WB) 9/16

"Fright Night" (Disney) 10/7

"Contagion" (WB) 10/21

"Puss 'N Boots" (DreamWorks/Paramount) 11/4

"Immortals" (Rogue) 11/11

"Happy Feet 2" (WB) 11/18

"Arthur Christmas" (Sony) 11/23

"Hugo Cabret" (Sony) 12/9

"Alvin & the Chipmunks 3" (Fox) 12/16

"The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" (Paramount) 12/23

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I think Warner Bros.'s decision to cancel the post-converted 3D rollout for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 over quality concerns is a big moment in the development of 3D. I know I wasn't the only one who was relieved he'd be able to see the movie in IMAX without 3D. Real 3D (Avatar, CG animated films) can work spectacularly well. Even quality postconverted 3D releases like Nightmare Before Christmas are to one degree or another a muddled mess.

 

[TerryRL]

Overseas box office reporter from The Hollywood Reporter. While this year's domestic figures have proven to be somewhat disappointing, business is absolutely booming overseas.


After drawing relatively tame box office for nearly two months on the foreign theatrical circuit, Sony's "Eat Pray Love" emerged center stage over the weekend, claiming the No. 1 spot with a $17.4 million gross collected from 4,280 screens in 56 markets.

Director Ryan Murphy's romantic drama has rolled up a box office total of $64.1 million since it opened overseas on Aug. 12, and is rapidly closing the gap between its domestic cume of more than $80 million. The Julia Roberts vehicle was sparked by seven No. 1 market openings on the weekend, the best of which was Australia ($3.57 million at 328 locations).

While overall overseas action is generally anemic this time of year, the six major Hollywood studios are collectively surging to a foreign box office record in 2010.

According to studio figures, the six majors have realized January-September overseas box office of $9.85 billion, an increase of nearly 35% over 2009's nine-month total for the companies. (In calendar year 2009, the studios collectively logged a record $10.7 billion in offshore box office.)

Twentieth Century Fox and Disney have grossed more than $2 billion overseas so far this year, and Warner Bros. International will do so before the end of December thanks to its release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" beginning in mid-November.

Paramount and Sony have already exceeded the $1-billion foreign box office mark while Universal expects to do so by mid-November.

Sony exceeded the $1-billion benchmark on Oct. 1. The company logged $1.030 billion through Oct. 3 on the strength of a muscular September on the foreign circuit -- $305 million in box office for the month, the best showing among the big six. (September action raised the company's nine-month box office total to $995.7 million.)

Top studio so far this year is 20th Century Fox, which tallied January-September box office of $2.42 billion, of which $96.3 million was logged in September. Other studios' respective nine-month totals and September returns: Disney, $2.060 billion and $99.4 million; Warner Bros., $1.9 billion and $175 million; Paramount, $1.592 billion and $83.6 million; and Universal, $882.1 million and $69.4 million.

Meanwhile, Sony oversaw weekend overseas openings of "The Social Network," director David Fincher's drama about Mark Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook, at 452 locations in seven markets for $3.2 million, averaging slightly more than $7,000 per screen. Warner Bros. weighed in with "Life As We Know It" in the U.K., where the romantic comedy costarring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel opened at No. 2 with an estimated $1.6 million at 397 locations.

No. 2 on the weekend overall was Universal's "Despicable Me," which garnered $16.6 million from 3,500 venues in 35 territories, hoisting its overseas cume to $135.5 million. The family-oriented 3D animation title voiced principally by Steve Carell claimed the top spots in France ($5.3 million from 655 sites) and in Spain ($3.1 million from 575).

No. 3 was Warner's "Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole," which opened in first place in Mexico and drew $11.3 million overall on the weekend from 4,500 situations in 35 markets. Cume for director Zack Snyder's animation fantasy stands at $25.8 million.

Fourth was director Oliver Stone's "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," which collected $10.28 million from 3,526 spots in 58 markets, pushing its overseas cume to $37.1 million. Top market was the U.K., where the Michael Douglas vehicle took the No. 1 spot with $2.87 million from 438 locations.

Constantin Film's "Resident Evil: Afterlife," which had occupied the No. 1 spot for several rounds, slipped to fifth position with a weekend tally of $8 million, nudging its foreign cume to nearly $200 million (actual total, $198.7 million) collected since opening offshore on Sept. 10. Sony, which is handling the Milla Jovovich action vehicle at 2,640 screens in 45 markets, provided $4.5 million of the weekend total.

Resurfacing on the foreign circuit with Japan and Italy openings was Fox's "Knight and Day," which grossed $7.26 million from a combined 1,002 locations. The action comedy costarring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz took the No. 1 spot in Japan -- where Cruise films are generally popular -- with a mighty $5.97 million drawn from 589 situations. Overseas cume stands at $161.6 million.

Remaining No. 1 in Italy was director Luca Miniero's comedy "Benvenuti Al Sud" (Welcome to the South), a re-doing of the French hit "Welcome to the Sticks." Second round for the Medusa Film release was an estimated $4.5 million from 472 locations for a market cume of $13.2 million. Warner's "The Town" from director-actor Ben Affleck generated $4 million from 1,300 screens in 12 markets for a cume of $18.8 million.

Sony's cop comedy, "The Other Guys," costarring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, raised its foreign cume to $28.1 million thanks to a $3.6 million weekend at 1,400 screens in 35 markets. Universal's "Charlie St. Cloud," a drama starring Zac Efron, opened No. 3 in the U.K. and grabbed a weekend total of $3.2 million from 1,568 sites in 23 markets. Overseas cume stands at $8 million.

Sony says "Grown Ups" is now Adam Sandler's best grossing title overseas after his latest comedy drew $2.3 million from 1,245 spots in 45 markets, pushing its foreign gross total to $102.3 million. Fox's horror spoof "Vampires Suck" drew $2.36 million on the weekend from 1,299 situations in 16 markets for a cume of $30.8 million.

Other international cumes: Disney's "Toy Story 3," $644.4 million; Fox's "Avatar: Special Edition," $2.018 billion; DreamWorks/Paramount's "Dinner for Schmucks," $11 million; Fox's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," $10.3 million; Paramount's "The Last Airbender," $180.5 million (after a $2.2 million weekend at 1,346 locations in 60 territories); Mars Distribution's "Des homes et des dieux," (Of Gods and Men), $16.7 million over five rounds in France only; and Disney's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," $149.9 million.

Also, Warner's "Inception," $515 million; Paramount's "Made in Dagenham," $3 million in the U.K. only; Universal's "Back to the Future" (reissue), $1.5 million in the U.K. only; Lionsgate's "The Switch," estimated $12.8 million; Fox's "Nosso Lar," $19.25 million over six rounds in Brazil only; Universal's "Devil," 11.2 million; Lionsgate's "Alpha & Omega," estimated $4.8 million; and Paramount's "Tomorrow When the War Began," $12.8 million in Australia and New Zealand.

Final international cumes: Fox's "Date Night," $54 million; Fox's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," $25.5 million; and Fox's "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief," $138.5 million.