2011 at the Box Office (2 Viewers)

[ArchMike]

Our local AMC told me that TF3 has some guarantees on 3D screens for 2-3 weeks, so Harry Potter might not even get the best houses. I hope that is not true. I have no interest at all in TF3, but I'm hoping they don't lock HP7B out of the best theaters in the house. I didn't think you could do that actually

 

[mattCR]

I don't think that will happen. I could see TF3 having some commitments, but I'm betting HP7B gets all the big houses on it's premiere.

 

[Chris_T]

Thanks Terry.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Originally Posted by TravisR

Let me preface this by saying that by no means do I know business- Anyway, sometimes you gotta spend money to make money but spending $300 million on an unknown (to the general public) character when the box office is already saturated with super hero movies was not a very bright move. If you spend $300 million on one movie, it has to be HUGE in order to make its money back. If you're making a movie based on a known property or a sequel or has bankable talent or that is actually a good exciting movie, maybe $300 million is not as big of a risk but spending that much on Green Lantern (especially when I think most will agree that the script wasn't that great) seems like an incredibly reckless bet to make.

Keep in mind that the $300 million number being thrown around for Green Lantern is with the marketing budget, which is not typical of how people list production budgets. The production budget of Green Lantern was $200 million. Still way too much, but no $300 million.

 

[TravisR]

Keep in mind that the $300 million number being thrown around for Green Lantern is with the marketing budget, which is not typical of how people list production budgets. The profuction budget of Green Lantern was $200 million. Still way too much, but no $300 million.

 

I understand that includes the marketing but, to my admittedly layman brain, even $200 million still seems like a crazy amount of money to spend on anything less than a 'sure thing'.

 

[Brandon Conway]

I don't disagree with you. It's just that no one goes around saying that Pirates 3 cost $400 million (even though it did - $300 million budget, probably $100 million ad campaign).

 

[Adam_S]

Also, marketing money is paid back as first dollar expenses. Meaning if a film has 100 million marketing, the entirety of the marketing budget is paid off the top of the returns, so Green Lantern needs to earn 200 domestic, more or less (about 110 returned to the studio, 90 kept by the theatres), to pay off just its marketing, and then things get really complicated in terms of how the film is paid for.

 

[Malcolm R]

Transformers: Dark of the Moon made $37.3 million on Wednesday. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen made $62 million in its Wednesday debut two years ago,

 

[TravisR]

It's just that no one goes around saying that Pirates 3 cost $400 million (even though it did - $300 million budget, probably $100 million ad campaign).

Very good point.

 

[Adam_S]

Revenge of the Fallen was also on July 1st, a much better Wednesday date to open on than June 29th.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

Revenge of the Fallen was also on July 1st, a much better Wednesday date to open on than June 29th.

Why is that?

 

[Malcolm R]

Revenge of the Fallen was also on July 1st, a much better Wednesday date to open on than June 29th.

Why is that?

Yeah, I don't get the logic of that either. It's a difference of 2 days.

 

[Adam_S]

2 days closer to the Fourth.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

Actually, I think this year is better. Instead of the 4th being a Saturday...it's a Monday. It makes the 5 day weekend and SIX day weekend.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Yeah, I don't get the logic of that either. It's a difference of 2 days.

Because many people take vacation the week of the 4th to get a week off but only 4 days of vacation. When the 4th is on a Saturday, many people take the week before off so more people were on vacation on Wed July 1st last year than Wed June 29th this year. With the 4th on a Monday, July 4th week doesn't begin until Friday.

 

[Thomas Newton]

They'd be smart to completely scrap all non Batman/Superman DC film pre-productions until they can get someone who knows how to properly bring the properties in with solid stories at a reasonable budget. If they stayed under the $80-85 million mark they'd be able to do it right. Far, far less risk that way. Spending $300 million (after marketing) on Green Lantern was asinine, especially when its biggest problems were inexpensive fixes (story/writing).

Everyone knows that space opera franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek have always been financial diasters for the studios that released them. So a space opera based on the Green Lantern Corps couldn't possibly make its money back! Having seen the film, I do agree about the weak script. The way they mashed together Krona, Parallax, an "infection" in Abin Sur's corpse, and the origin of Hector Hammond was a bit of a dog's breakfast (although the movie Parallax's technique of skeletonizing victims to generate fear ("food") in the temporary survivors was pretty neat.). Then there was the time they spent on Hammond's origin, only to

Spoiler

throw it all away by turning Hammond into hamburger meat in the first film - the same mistake that Tim Burton made with The Joker.

At least if they make a second film, we are likely to see Sinestro wearing the yellow ring.

 

[TerryRL]

http://www.deadline.com/2011/07/transformers-3-hosting-3000-midnights-and-2700-sneaks-for-exclusive-3d-tuesday/ There look to be fireworks for some Hollywood action and family movies this Fourth Of July long weekend but not for Hollywood stars. Right now total U.S. and Canadian moviegoing for the holiday looks like $230M, which is trailing last year's $250M but still the 2nd biggest Fourth Of July long weekend ever. Sources tell me that early numbers show that not even the pairing of veteran Hollywood stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts could open Larry Crowne which also was produced and directed and co-written by Hanks. (Did he tell himself to dye his grey hair with the equivalent of black shoe-polish? Looked weird...) Even though the two stars did any and all publicity for it, the romantic comedy was tracking only $4.1M Friday and #4 for just a $13.5M three-day weekend and $16.8M four-day holiday from a wide release into 2,972 theaters. That's a disappointing start for two stars who individually should be able to open a new pic to at least $20M of North American grosses and presumably more when paired. (Their last film duet, Charlie's War, also bombed.) Their latest pic received a 'B' Cinemascore, but just 'C+' from audience members under age 35. Good thing Universal was only distributing, not financing, and good thing the film's negative cost was only $30M. This is the third movie with major stars to disappoint at the box office this summer following Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern and Jim Carrey in Mr. Popper's Penguins. Meanwhile, Paramount's latest Transformers: Dark Of The Moon is the giant #1 movie after opening with some 3D-only nighttime sneaks on Tuesday ($5.5M), followed by a full release into 4,013 theaters on Wednesday ($37.7M) and Thursday ($21.4M). Now Friday brings in a big $33.5M. But that's still -15% behind 2009's Transformers 2 (which did $36.7M on its Friday) despite TF3's higher 3D ticket prices. That means Michael Bay's robot actioner should reach $100M domestic this three-day weekend, and $185M through the Fourth of July. The movie has been doing better overseas where 3D is more popular. International numbers are up 35% for those markets among the 110 countries that opened Wednesday and Thursday. Projections are for foreign to close in on $200M through Monday for a $385 global cume in its first 7 days since sequels do better overseas than they do domestic. "We expected to start behind the last one," a Paramount exec tells me. "This one has an 'A' CinemaScore and better reviews, so it should play to a better multiple." Fox's counterprogramming film aimed at tween/teen girls, Monte Carlo, is performing about as expected with an 'A' CinemaScore: $3M Friday from 2,472 theaters, for $10M for the four-day weekend. Here's the Top 10 (domestic with estimates) 1. Transformers 3 (Paramount) NEW (opened Tues) [4,013 Theaters] Tuesday $5.5M (9 PM), Wednesday $37.7M, Thursday $21.4M Friday $33.5M, Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-Day Weekend $100M, Four-Day Holiday $120M First Five Days $160M, First Seven Days $185M Terry RL Notes: So far TF3 is performing just as the studio(s) expected. Earning numbers between that of the first and second films domestically, but showing a big improvement compared to both overseas. All in all, it looks like TF3 is going to be the biggest global performer of the franchise, while likely ending up the second strongest in terms of it's domestic muscle. 2. Cars 2 (Disney) Week 2 [4,115 Theaters] Friday $7.7m (-70%), Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-Day Weekend $23M, Four-Day Holiday $28M, Cume $119M Terry RL Notes: The movie took a much steeper-than-expected Friday-to-Friday hit, but Disney is expecting it to rebound during the rest of the holiday frame. 3. Bad Teacher (Sony) Week 2 [3,049 Theaters] Friday $4.3M (-63%), Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-Day Weekend $15M, Four-Day Holiday $17.5M, Cume $63M Terry RL Notes: Another steep decline, but this has been over-performing to begin with so Sony is pretty happy with how much the movie has made thus far. 4. Larry Crowne (Universal) NEW [2,972 Theaters] Friday $4.1M, Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-Day Weekend $13.5M, Four-Day Holiday $16.8M 5. Monte Carlo (Fox) NEW [2,472 Theaters] Friday $3M, Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-Day Weekend $9M, Four-Day Holiday $10M 6. Green Lantern (Warner Bros) Week 3 [3,280 Theaters] Friday $2.2M, Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-Day Weekend $7.5M, Four-Day Holiday $9M, Cume $105M 7. Super 8 (Paramount) Week 4 [3,088 Theaters] Friday $1.8M, Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-Day Weekend $5.5M, Four Day Holiday $6.5M, Cume $107M 8. Mr Popper's Penguins (Fox) Week 3 [2,861 Theaters] Friday $1.5M, Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-Day Weekend $4.3M, Four-Day Holiday $5.5M, Cume $50.5M 9. Bridesmaids (Universal) Week 8 [1,389 Theaters] Friday $1M, Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-day Weekend $3.3M, Four-Day Holiday $4M, Cume $153.4M 10. Midnight In Paris (Sony Classics) Week 7 [951 Theaters] Friday $875K, Saturday, Sunday, Monday Three-Day Weekend $3.2M, Four-Day Holiday $4M, Cume $34.2M ---Nikki Finke

 

[TerryRL]

Disney is reporting that Pirates 4 will hit the billion-dollar mark in worldwide box office earnings sometime today (Saturday). This will give star Johnny Depp who, along with Will Smith, is the industry's highest paid actor, his third time seeing a film he has starred in top $1 billion globally, Pirates 4 joins Pirates 2 and last year's blockbuster "Alice in Wonderland". All three were produced by Disney. The studio is currently developing a fifth (and likely sixth) adventure in the extremely lucrative Pirates franchise. Word around the campfire is that the suits at Disney are hoping to snag director Tim Burton for the next flick. Burton is currently shooting "Dark Shadows" with Depp over at WB. The four Pirates films have tallied a combined worldwide box office haul of $3.7 billion, ranking fourth all-time in the top ten biggest film franchises in history. Only Harry Potter, James Bond, and Star Wars were bigger. Of the eight films in history that have been able to pass the $1 billion plateau, Disney has now produced four of them ("Toy Story 3" being the other). Fox has two with "Avatar" and "Titanic" (co-produced with Paramount), while Time Warner (WB) has the other two with 'The Return of the King' (New Line) and "The Dark Knight".

 

[TerryRL]

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3204&p=.htm As expected, the weekend's two new comedies couldn't slow down Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which easily retained the top spot on Friday. Despite settling for second, Horrible Bosses got off to a competent start, but the same couldn't be said for Zookeeper, which floundered in its debut. Transformers: Dark of the Moon fell 55 percent to an estimated $14.9 million. That was a slightly steeper decline than either of the previous Transformers movies had at the same point. Director Michael Bay's three-quel has earned $228.9 million, ranking as the ninth highest-grossing ten-day start ever, and the movie has a solid chance of passing The Hangover Part II on Sunday to become the top-grossing movie of 2011. Horrible Bosses clocked in with a strong $9.9 million, which was right in the middle of Bad Teacher ($12.2 million) and Bridesmaids ($7.8 million) among Summer 2011's original R-rated comedies. It should finish the weekend with at least $26 million, and could go as high as $30 million. Zookeeper ended up in third place on Friday with an estimated $7.4 million start. That's notably down from star Kevin James's Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which scored $9.8 million on its opening day. In fact, this was the worst debut for a Kevin James movie aside from January's The Dilemma. Still, Zookeeper was a bit better than last month's Mr. Popper's Penguins, which has so far made just under $56 million. Based on past similar movies, Zookeeper should end up with just over $20 million for the weekend. After crashing last weekend, Cars 2 stabilized a bit on Friday. The Pixar sequel dropped 39 percent to $4.8 million for a 15-day total of $138.5 million. For the first time, though, the sequel's gross lagged behind predecessor Cars, which had earned $139.8 million through the same point. Despite the somewhat similar R-rated humor, Bad Teacher appeared unaffected by Horrible Bosses. The movie eased 34 percent to $3 million for a total of $72.7 million and should finish its third weekend just shy of the $80 million mark. Last weekend's other openers, Larry Crowne and Monte Carlo, each tumbled 52 percent. Larry Crowne earned $1.96 million for a weak eight-day total of $22.2 million, while Monte Carlo added $1.5 million for an eight-day total of $13.8 million. ---Box Office Mojo TerryRL Note: TF3 has now tallied a mammoth $526 million globally thus far and could be headed for a final worldwide mark in the area of $1 billion, easily making it the biggest hit of the franchise.

 

[TerryRL]

http://www.deadline.com/2011/07/transformers-3-top-grossing-2011-film-horrible-bosses-latest-raunchfest-to-hit-zookeeper-talks-to-target-audiences/ 1. Transformers 3 (Paramount) Week 2 [4,088 Theaters] Friday $14.9M, Saturday $17.7M, Weekend $47M (-54%), Cume $261M 2. Horrible Bosses (New Line/Warner Bros) NEW [3,040 Theaters] Friday $9.9M, Saturday $10.2M, Cume $27.7M 3. Zookeeper (MGM/Sony) NEW [3,482 Theaters] Friday $7.4M, Saturday $7.2M, Weekend $21M 4. Cars 2 (Pixar/Disney) Week 3 [3,990 Theaters] Friday $4.8M, Saturday $6.3M, Weekend $16M, Cume $149.6M 5. Bad Teacher (Sony) Week 3 [2,962 Theaters] Friday $3M, Saturday $3.5M, Weekend $9.5M, Cume $79.2M 6. Larry Crowne (Vestron/Universal) Week 2 [2,976 Theaters] Friday $1.9M, Saturday $2.4M, Weekend $6.3M (-53%), Cume $26.6M 7. Super 8 (Paramount) Week 5 [2,292 Theaters] Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2M, Weekend $5M, Cume $118.2M 8. Monte Carlo (Fox) Week 2 [2,473 Theaters] Friday $1.5M, Saturday $1.3M, Saturday $3.7M, Cume $16M 9. Mr Popper's Penguins (Fox) Week 4 [1,996 Theaters] Friday $1M, Saturday $1M, Weekend $2.8M, Cume $57.7M 10. Midnight In Paris (Sony Classics) Week 9 [819 Theaters] Friday $790K, Saturday $1.1M, Weekend $2.6M, Cume $38.7M