Can a Summer Movie Still Have Legs? (1 Viewer)

[Dan Rudolph]

James, I think almost everyone would disagree with you about the GTA series. GTA3 wasn't all that heavily hyped. No more than most games. It succeeded based on its universally good reviews.

You may have something of a point with the others, but the truth is, you can't make a tv show popular throught rickery like you can with a movie. People tune in once, realize its crap and never watch again. Survivor is popular because people like it. A number of Fox shows do fall under your claims, but they can't seem to keep anything on the air more than a season.

Besides, if recent events have demonstrated anything, it's that movies can be successful because of hype or word-of-mouth and reviews. Better Luck tomorrow and Bend it Like Beckham have done fairly well with little advertising. And heavily hyped movies will still often flop ala Treasure Planet.

 

[Seth Paxton]

That success comes only from looks/hype is an illusion. We see those "unfair" examples and jump all over them. They become the center of our attention. But in the meantime the "deserving" winners go unnoticed because it is what we expect.

Plus, and this is a HUGE part of Oscar bashing, so many of us automatically equate our feelings and experiences with those of other people. Of course that isn't a realistic view. That's why the Oscars will never be fair to so many people because it is IMPOSSIBLE for their film to ALWAYS WIN. It's about sharing the space with others, and other people think your tastes suck. That's true for all of us.


In regards to box office, while we can all think that the BO for Scooby-Doo or Tomb Raider were unfair when films like Memento go unrewarded, we also have cases like Rollerball or Pluto Nash where a bad film gets the low box office while a MBFGW is able to earn its way into mega-hit status.

Like the rest of life BO is only screwed up half the time, and which half generally depends upon personal opinion.


And as for GTA3/Vice City, well GTA3 earned its status by word of mouth as everyone was talking about it long after it came out. WoM is why I bought it and I loved it. I though VC was even better. The idea that what I find entertaining makes me a sheep is a very close-minded view of the world.


For the record, people have ALWAYS been into the hyped things. Are people watching Survivor today MORE sheep-like than the masses pouring into churches in the Dark Ages believing in witch craft and demons?

Are we more sheepish than Romans trotting off to the Coliseum and the vomitorium?

It's nothing special about now, it's a society/culture thing, period.

 

[SteveGon]

Interesting discussion.

Personally, I don't even go to the theater that much - perhaps five or six times a year. A lot of this can be blamed on DVD as I'd probably see more movies in the theater were it not for those shiny little discs.

Now it's only the movies that I really want to see for which I make the effort. It's even rarer that I see a movie twice in the theater; the most recent example being X2 which, while not perfect, I really enjoyed. As for pre-release hype, I'm usually not swayed by that - I guess I'm gettin' old and jaded.

 

[Aaron Garman]

Hello all. Working at a theatre, I see this trend of movies having no legs whatsoever. This year more than ever just has nothing that is truly bringing in the masses I used to remember. I think a movie can have legs, but it just to be really good, appeal to many, and get some good word of mouth. Two movies I remember having forever were Greek Wedding and Chicago. They met all the above criteria and last quite awhile. Funny thing about Greek wedding was that it was released in April or May, and we did not get it until October. However, we had it for almost 3 months after we got it. We had Chicago from January until May, which is just awesome. Funny thing is, it was still doing great business when we lost it.

Yes, most of these new films just aren't anything spectacular, and just cannot last. Films like Identity and The Hunted were great, but they just don't last. I see Hollywood Homicide as the same: it will most likely be great, but we won't have it forever. The only film this summer that is going to last is Finding Nemo. I've just worked the past 2 days, and it has just done phenomenal business. Also, it is getting terrific word of mouth. Case and point: fairly busy Friday and insanely busy Saturday. The word got around! At this point, it feels as if it is doing better than my previous Pixar experience, Monster's Inc. Finally, it is a damn good film. It may be the best Pixar film out there. It is just awesome.

Can you imagine another film like Star Wars? A film that changes filmmaking, box office structure, and the entire industry forever. I said a month or so ago that the Matrix was the Star Wars of our time. What I have come to realize is that it does not even come close. Keep up this great conversation!

AJG

 

[Dave Mack]

Also remember that while not grossing nearly as much as Star Wars, Close Encounters also came out in '77 and did PRETTY good business. In adjusted dollars nowadays it would be way up there.

D

 

[Chris Dugger]

By the way....

HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE fits the mold of FRONT LOAD...

The film is horrible and will only do biz until the word gets out....

Dugger

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

That's what we've heard, too, Chris. I think we're only playing it in two locations.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Also remember that while not grossing nearly as much as Star Wars, Close Encounters also came out in '77 and did PRETTY good business. In adjusted dollars nowadays it would be way up there.

According to one "adjusted gross" chart, it'd be 25th with a modern equivalent of $440 million...

 

[Seth Paxton]

The film is horrible and will only do biz until the word gets out....

Based on the trailer and Ford's career lately it won't even get my biz before the word gets out.

Did the dude take a "suck" pill or something. Maybe he and John Carpenter should do a film together.



I wish we had easier access to the kind of detailed numbers for older films that sites like Box Office Mojo now keep (# of theaters, daily or at least weekly takes, etc). Then we could at least really analyze the data mathematically for a comparison of # of theaters/prints/screens/showings vs box office depreciation, as well as box office competition and so on.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Did the dude take a "suck" pill or something. Maybe he and John Carpenter should do a film together.

At least people go to see Ford's films - what was Carpenter's last hit? Starman?

 

[Dave Mack]

True, Col...

But I did like "In the mouth of madness" quite a bit.

D

 

[Keith Yatsuhashi]

Well, Nemo may be the movie with the best chance of having legs (or fins). It made me remember when Lion King opened. That was huge. Maybe the last real summer movie with legs. It seemed to play for the whole summer, and there was a buzz in the general public about it for almost as long. Could it be that the blockbusters that Hollywood is looking for these days are the good old fashioned 'family' movies? Disney's been trying since Lion King, but, IMHO none of their recent animated movies have come close to it in terms of quality. There are alot of big action oriented movies that come out in the summer, and many are in the SF, comic book genre. Maybe there isn't the audience for them that the studios think there is, or maybe they're just not good enough. Maybe there's too much competition. *Shrug* I have no idea.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Well, Nemo may be the movie with the best chance of having legs (or fins). It made me remember when Lion King opened. That was huge. Maybe the last real summer movie with legs.

Dunno what you mean by "real summer movie", but Lion King wasn't the only release that summer with "legs" - Forrest Gump stayed around a long time as well.

And another summer flick - 1998's There's Something About Mary - had SERIOUS legs. It didn't reach number one on the box office charts until it'd been out for weeks!

 

[Joshua_Y]

It made me remember when Lion King opened. That was huge. Maybe the last real summer movie with legs

Ehhhmmm...Phantom Menace played throughout the entire summer and even through Sept. and Oct. in some places...

 

[Chris Dugger]

Josh....

If you saw the terms and payouts on TPM, you'd understand the front load here and the lack of legs.

Exhibitors were contracted to play through August with AOTC. Most theatres had enough muscle to get out of the obligation early, but not all.

Dugger

P.S - HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE is getting NATIONAL SNEAK PREVIEWS this Saturday.... BEWARE!

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Being in the theater business as he is, Chris Dugger is the voice of reason around here. Thanks, for your insights, Chris.

~Edwin

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

I'm also in the theatre business - Chris' assessments are 100% correct regarding front-loading and the other issues facing theatres today.

 

[Keith Yatsuhashi]

I thought about TMP Joshua, but TMP didn't have the good word of mouth that Lion King did.

 

[EdHoch]

I would argue that cost is another factor in limiting repeat viewing. Full Price movie tickets in my area are $9, matinee prices $6, and there are no second run, lower price theaters around.

Compare that to the late 70's early 80's when you could get coupons in the local paper, Tuesday night movie deals for $0.99 - $1.50 a ticket. Prices for everything have increased over the past 25 years, but not at that rate

That fact, combined with the knowledge that the movies will be coming out on DVD within the year, make repeat viewing less likely.

 

[Kevin Grey]

We will never see legs or repeat viewings like we did in the 70's and early 80's due to home video/DVD. Remember all the stories of people seeing Star Wars 100 times in the theater, etc. There's not nearly as much incentive anymore. Even in the 80's there was no way to tell when a movie would hit video. Bigger movies could take a year or more to come out. I used to commonly see movies multiple times in the theaters. The last year the only movies I've seen multiple times in the theater are LOTR and TMR.