This week's list is dominated by Blu-ray releases. This is not surprising as this is the first week Paramount has released Blu-ray discs after dropping the format last August for an exclusive HD DVD commitment. However, it is another Blu-ray release that caught my eye: the National TreasureBlu-ray Two-Pack. This is the best format has to offer this week, but it is not the best movie coming out. If you want the DVD Pick of the Week, you have to grab Night of the Living DeadBuy from Amazon.
April starts out like a lion as four movies open wide, two of them are opening mega-wide, (theatre counts over 3000.) And with the box office humming along at double digit increases from last year we could see records broken this week.
n few hits this year, with even fewer surprise hits. Sure, the fact that Finding Nemo is leading the box office race is a surprise to many, but the fact that it was a hit was almost guaranteed back when it was first announced
However, if you asked earlier in the year which movies would have a shot at $200 million almost nobody would have picked Pirates of the Caribbean. It was based on a ride at Disneyland, and the previous attempt to adapt a ride led to the bomb The Country Bears. And it was a pirate movie, the last pirate movie to do well at the box office was … does Muppet Treasure Island count? But after being in the theatres just two weekends it seems like $200 million is almost a sure bet. The real question is, how high can it go?
Just 13 days into its run it is the fifth highest grossing movie of the year, having just passed Anger Management. However, there's a large gap to get to X-Men 2 at $214 million. After 13 days, X-Men 2 had $155 million compared to the Pirates' $138 million, however, the Pirates are also pulling in more than twice the weekday numbers. And in its third weekend it should earn more than X-Men did on the same weekend. Looks like beating the mutants is just a matter of time.
And that might not be the end of the Pirates conquests.
3 and it’s time to look at the state of the movie industry, and the news is decisively mixed. The overall box office is down approximately 1.5% while the average ticket price has increased more than 2.5%. And there’s no monster hit like last year’s Spider-Man. But despite this, so far in 2003 just the top ten movies represent almost 40% of the box office. (Up nearly 4 percentage points from last year.)
Good news is the dramatic increase in the number of $100, $200 million movies, and the number of $50 million openings. All are double what they were this time last year. Also good news, production budgets seem to be coming down, closer to 2001’s figures.
But even with lower average costs, of the 60 movies that received a wide release, only about half made more at the box office than it cost to make. Factor in P&A budgets and theatres’ share and only a handful will make a profit domestically.
ttp://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/MTRX2.php>Matrix Reloaded made its sensational debut in May, no one could really tell how far THIS rabbit hole would go.
But it soon became clear that Reloaded was a big thing, Critics say it has dropped off to quickly in the US. Nonsense,
reloaded has stuck in the top ten for 40 days. Thats a Long time for any flick to stay in that reigon, and its takings offshores are still strong despite the same stiff competition that knocked it off the US top rolling out across the world. But reloaded is set to stop at around 720-740 Million, depending on US performance in the months to come. "2 Fast 2 Furious" furiously smashed in at number one in the uk after extensive advertising. It took $2.7 Million($4.5 Million) for its first weekend, but Reloaded only took 660k. But with a healthy $30 Million ($50.5 Million) from the UK alone in its bank, And no sign of slipping to let the nearest rival, Identity, overtake it, Reloaded should stay in the top three for a few weeks yet.
But Identity has started out strong, knocking Anger Management down to fourth. The movie has opened to brilliant reviews and good buzz, being likened to intellegent hits like "The Usual Suspects" it did take a fairly healthy $51 Million in the us, enough to cover its budget.
But the main competition for all, sure to crush the other grosses, its the mega-hyped and Uber advertised "Bruce Almighty" which hits cinemas this friday in the UK. With three weeks of pre-release advertising under its belt, Bruce is sure to demolish the box office competition, In previews alone in limited theartres this weekend, it took an astonishing $1.8 Million($2.9 Million).
The hit comedy looks like its legs will be challenged too, with Charlies Angels 2 making its debut the week after Bruce's release, it will just show how Mighty he is. One things a dead cert, 2 Fast wont be Furious enough to fight of Bruce and The Angels, its expected to drop to fourth when Bruce is released. Reloaded could make big dropoffs, but due to a surprisingly strong UK support base, its likely to fluctuate between 2-4th positions for a while.
Elsewhere on the UK Charts, Igby Goes Down, the "Indie-Teen Movie Of The Year" rose a place, knocking X-2 down to 11th while it nestled into the top ten. And John Travolta's "Basic" debuted with an embarrasing £248k ($412k) Weekend, while a good figure for UK, the number was much lower than the millions expected, but the critics trashed the return of travolta, "Connie Nielsen is like a walking acting folio, she morphs her accent more than she blinks, and Travolta is totally outshone by Jackson"
Bringing Down The House slipped three places in the charts. The Queen Latifah hit had not mirrored the huge success it enjoyed in the US, it is expected to close in the UK at around $5 Million.($8.3 Million)
British Classical Diva, Charlotte Church's acting debut, "I'll Be There" is also opening soon, but reviews have been mixed, one speaking on Church-"Is worse than Madonna and makes you realise Britney wasnt that bad in Crossroads" and another on the same subject "Church is up to the role, it was written with her personality in mind, so the acting wasnt challenging, and it shows"
=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/XMEN2.php>X-Men 2 overtook Bringing Down the House for top spot on the 2003 box office chart. It took the mutant movie only 9 days to surpass what the comedy grabbed in 65 days. The Steve Martin surprise hit will probably drop a few more places in short order. Anger Management is just $5.5 million back, less than what it earned this weekend. However, it’s unlikely that Anger Management will beat Bringing Down the House before Matrix Reloaded does.
It was a slow week as only one movie opened wide, but this is just the calm before the storm that is Matrix Reloaded. Compared to last year, the summer is falling further behind and needs Matrix Reloaded to open huge on Wednesday.
No surprise which movie came in first. X-Men 2 lost a lot in its second weekend, but not as much as some had predicted. Also not as much as X-Men dropped in its second week, so better legs could push the final box office higher than the original predictions and into the Top 20 All Time. Down 53.2% to $40.0 million for a total of nearly $150 million, just $10 million shy of the original’s total box office.
In second place was Daddy Dare Care with $27.6 million. This continues a trend for Eddie Murphy whose only big hits recently seem aimed at a decidedly younger audience. Reviews were very bad with only 29% positive, include only 19% from the cream of the crop reviewers. So that could hurt Daddy Day Care’s longevity at the theatres, and with a cost of $60 million to make and $30 million to advertise Sony and Revolution studios will probably have to wait for the home market to see a profit.
On Friday I predicted that The Lizzie McGuire Movie would have the lowest drop-off in the top five, as it turned out it had the highest dropping 58% to $7.2 million. This is very surprising considering the younger target audience, which usually means better legs at the theatre. This could be an anomaly due to Mother’s Day, or it could a sign of the Fanboy Effect, or should I say Fangirl Effect. Even with a much greater drop-off The Lizzie McGuire Movie should get the little more than $40 million needed to be profitable during its domestic run.
Holding up better than most horror / suspense films is Identity, which was down only 31% for its third. The weekend figure of $6.5 million was good enough for fourth place and brought its total to nearly $40 million. Identity should continue in the top ten for a few more weeks and surpass its combined budget before its domestic run is finished.
In its fifth week and in fifth place was Anger Management with $5.7 million for a total of $122 million. The movie is shedding theatres fast but should still put in one or two more appearances in the top ten.
Two movies with limited distribution made the top ten this week. A Mighty Wind expanded into 765 theatres and moved from 14th last weekend to 7th this weekend. The mockumentary look at folk music needs about $20 million to make a profit during its domestic run, and that is definitely in sight. The second limited release film was Bend It Like Beckham. A small increase in theatres to 555 and an actual increase in per theatre average helped the British film land in 9th spot after 9 weeks in release. Already profitable from its international run Bend It Like Beckham is getting extra exposure by finishing in the top ten, so it could still climb a spot or two in the coming weeks.
movie opens wide, Daddy Day Care, but it does open in almost 3400 theatres. Will that be enough to unseat X-Men as box office champ? In a word, no.
X-Men 2 earned so much on its opening weekend that a 50% drop is almost assumed. Before X-Men 2, more than half the movies with previous top ten opening weekends suffered a 50% drop on their second weekend. Weekday tracking, original movie’s performance, fanboy effect all suggest this trend will continue. Still, even a 60% drop would be enough to win this weekend.
Eddie Murphy’s career has been hit and miss recently, misses like I Spy and Pluto Nash are offset by hits like Dr. Doolittle and The Nutty Professor. But where does Daddy Day Care fit in? Reviews, which are poor, suggest a box office similar to Showtime. But the target audience suggests closer to Dr. Doolittle. Split the difference for a $20 million box office.
The rest of the top five will be made up last weeks 2 through 4, in the same order. The Lizzie McGuire Movie will probably have the lowers drop off in the top five, and should finish comfortably in third place with $10 million. That would make its total box office more than its total budget in less than 2 weeks. We will be seeing a lot more of Hilary Duff after this.
Identity will drop to fourth place, with a little more than $6 million. Identity’s total box office could reach $40 million by this weekend on its way to a $55 million total box office. Not bad for a movie that cost about half that to make.
Anger Management is really shedding theatres, while Holes is still picking some up. So we could see Holes overtake it to stay in top five for one more week. Either way, the fifth place finished should grab an additional $5 million.
Two additional notes for this weekend: A Mighty Wind is expanding into 765 theatres and should end up in the top ten. Also, The In-Laws is having a preview in 800 theatres on Saturday; it opens wide on May 23rd.
The first weekend of summer started a little weaker than last year, but it is still very strong. Of course, it wasn’t long ago when summer didn’t start till Memorial Day.
X-Men 2 easily won with $85.6 million, on the high end of the estimates. Better reviews, and a better internal multiplier than the first movie, suggest X-Men 2 should have better legs. However, the sequel will have stronger competition when The Matrix Reloaded opens in just 10 days. Even with this increased competition, $250 million should be an easily obtainable goal.
Opening in second place was The Lizzie McGuire Movie at $17.3 million, $2 million more than it cost to make. It will still take quite a bit more at the box office till the studios share pays for production and advertising, but it’s well on its way to profitability. The opening for Lizzie McGuire is better than fellow Tween movies Agent Cody Banks, What a Girl Wants and Holes. Factoring in the lower production budget and advertising budgets than any of those, Buena Vista should be very happy. Poor reviews could mean weak legs, but it will take a week or two to determine that.
In third was Identity with $9.4 million. While a drop of 41.9% would normally be considered quite bad, the genre mixed with the extreme competition makes this a better than expected result. Fourth place went to Anger Management which dropped 44% to $8.4 million. Holes came in fifth with just shy of $7 million and now has a total of over $45 million in just three weeks.
On an interesting note, Bend It Like Beckham made it’s first appearance in the top ten in its eighth week of release. The British film made $1.5 million in just 484 theatres to bring its total past the $10 million mark. Not bad for a movie that cost about half that to make.
Note: CinemaScores went to a subscription service, so I an no longer be able to use it in my analysis. Sorry for the inconvenience and I am looking for a replacement.
This week marks the official start of the Summer Box Office season. And while there are two wide releases, it seems only one is talked about by the press.
X-Men 2 is the first big release of the summer, and will be used to judge all other blockbusters to come. Fox was able to get X-Men 2 the largest release domestically, (opening in 3,741 theaters, 59 more than the previous record) and worldwide, (opening in 93 markets in just 3 days.) And with excellent reviews this movie should open huge, and it must with a production budget of $125 million and Print & Advertising budget estimated at $50 million. If X-Men doesn’t place in the top 5 biggest weekend (about $75 million) it will be seen as a disappointment. Second place is a real possibility ($90+ million), but beating Spider-Man is doubtful at best.
The Lizzie McGuire Movie is the second wide release in 2,825 theatres, a little more than initial predictions. With a production budget smaller than X-Men 2’s Print budget alone, The Lizzie McGuire movie isn’t in the same class. However, with the popularity of its star, Hilary Duff, it could have a more profitable box office on its opening weekend. Reviews are weak, but on par with other movies with such a narrow target audience. Look for The Lizzie McGuire movie to match its production budget ($15 million) opening weekend, and have a profitable run.
Last week's 1-2-3 will finish this week 3-4-5, probably in the same order, all with $7 million - $9 million box offices. Anger Management could surpass Identity depending on which movie the X-Men overflow decides to see instead. After this weekend, only its third in release, Holes’ box office will be higher than its total budget. Something that is rarely seen these days.
The last week in Spring is usually a time when studios dump movies before the summer season officially starts, and it’s usually the slowest pre-summer weekend of the year. This year was no exception. It was better than the same weekend last year, but that could be the result of twice as many movies opening this year.
Picked by most to finish second, or even third, Identity managed to grab first spot with an impressive $16.2 million. Also impressive was its reviews at 64%, but its CinemaScores was just average at B. That, the genre, and X-Men 2 opening next week suggests Identity won’t have great legs at the box office, but with a budget of only $28 million, it won’t matter.
In second was Anger Management, which dropped another 40% to $15 million and crossed the $100 million mark. Even with much stronger legs than predicted, this film is still well behind Big Daddy for Adam Sandler’s largest box office, despite having a larger opening weekend.
Third with the smallest week to week drop in the top ten was Holes. Its more than $12.5 million represents only a 23% drop, and after two weeks its total box office is just a few million shy of its production and P&A budgets combined. After figuring in the theatre’s share of the box office, Holes should finish its domestic run just shy of profitability. But at this point, even a disappointing international box office will push this film into the black.
Malibu’s Most Wanted dropped a spot to fourth, but its box office dropped little less than 42% to $7.3 million. This was a little better than most expects predicted. With a production budget of only $15 million, and a total box office of nearly $25 million, look for more films like this to follow.
Opening in fifth place was Confidence at only $4.6 million, in line with most predictions. Excellent reviews couldn’t overcome the small advertising push. Word of mouth might help this movie receive a larger audience for the home market, but that’s a best case scenario at this point.
To say It Runs in the Family opened wide would be a bit of a stretch. At only 1200 theatres, it wasn’t in the top ten for theatre count, but it did finish 9th at the box office. Still its $2.8 million box office is a disappointment, but probably better than its bad reviews and weak CinemaScores would suggest.
It tenth place, proving that the movie going public does have taste was The Real Cancun. This movie bombed, earning $2.1 million in more than 2200 theatres. That’s a per theatre average of less than $1000 per theatre, second worse in the top twenty. Bad reviews are one thing, but the real story here is the CinemaScores. Their target audience (males under 21) gave the movie a C-, with movie goers over 35 gave it an F. Hopefully this will give the other studios contemplating Reality TV Movies something to think about.
The last weekend before the unofficial start of the summer season sees four movies opening wide, or at least sort of wide-ish.
Identity, which has been described as a mixture of Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians and The Usual Suspects, is opening the widest at over 2,700 theaters. This comes as a bit of a surprise as early estimates put the theatre count at only 2,300. And the push for more theaters seems to be justified by the good reviews. So far Identity has been able to maintain the 60% needed for an overall fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. This could give it the edge in this week's race and allow it to open in first place.
The second widest opening is for The Real Cancun, with 2,261 theatres. The reviews are surprisingly good, but that doesn't mean they are actually good. 32% positive is still really bad, but it is much better than expected. However, with a small theater count and a advertising push that was sub-par outside MTV, don’t expect The Real Cancun to do that much business. Top five this week, out of the top ten two weeks later, and three months after that the DVD release will advertise, "Includes all the stuff too hot for the theatre."
Confidence is the next on the list of largest openings this week at less than 1,900 theatres. Originally scheduled to open in December for an Oscar bid, the movie was pushed all the way back until now. This is usually a bad sign, but the reviews have been excellent> Its nearly 80% Rotten Tomatoes score is head and shoulders above the rest of the wide releases. Without the theaters, it won't compete for first place, but a place in the top five and some strong legs could be in store.
The last movie to open wide, if you call it wide, is It Runs in the Family. It opens in only 1,207 theaters, which is two less than Chicago in its 18th week. This movie has been bounced around a few times, and unlike Confidence, the reviews confirm this is a bad sign. Its 28% is even lower than The Real Cancun, although it did receive significantly better reviews from the Cream of the Crop reviewers. Still, it might have trouble making the top ten.
Two notable holdovers, Anger Management and Holes, will battle Identity for first place. For Anger Management, expect another drop of 40% or more at the box office, on its way to a $100 million total this weekend. A smaller than expected drop will mean a third straight first place finish, a greater than expected drop could leave it in third place. Holes has held up surprisingly well mid-week, especially for a movie aimed at kids. Usually kids movies suffer mid-week then bounce back for a very low week-to-week drop. The strong mid-week performance could lead to Holes maintaining most of its first week box-office and stealing first place.
having Friday off, this Easter Weekend was not as strong as the same weekend last year, which was not even a long weekend. And it was about a quarter less than last Easter weekend.
Anger Management was able to hang on to first place but even with the long weekend it dropped more than 40%. Still, it looks like it will be able to match Mr. Deeds’ $126 million, or at least come close. But with a production and advertising budget estimated to be over $100 million, that might not be enough.
In second place was the kids movie Holes. Originally planned for a January release, it was moved to Easter weekend, and that strategy seems to have paid off. Its $16.3 million opening weekend is just a few million shy of its production budget. And the good news continues Holes not only had great reviews, but also great CinemaScores, something that hasn’t happened in a while. Look for this movie to have legs, and it might launch the careers of some of the mostly unknown actors who played the kids of D-Tent.
Malibu’s Most Wanted did a little better than expected with $12.6 million, good enough for 3rd place. Reviews were poor, but better than expected and CinemaScores were average, also better than expected. With the lowest costs in the top five, Warner Bros. should be happy and this could result in a sequel, which will not make many critics happy.
Doing much weaker than originally forecasted, and weaker than the lower revised prediction was Bulletproof Monk. After getting horrible reviews, it did receive average CinemaScores. But the $8.7 million opening weekend after getting $3 million Wednesday and Thursday is nothing short of disaster.
Rounding out the top five was Phone Booth with just under $6 million. Phone Booth has already paid for its production budget, but is not enough to solidify Colin Farrell’s star status.
The only other movies to open in more than a few select cities were not able to maintain their early momentum. After opening in fifth place, Chasing Papi dropped all the way to eleventh. A Mighty Wind finished 13th after opening in the top ten. However, both were just a few hundred thousand away from the 9th place. In fact, there was less than $1 million between 8th and 15th.
set to open today, after three opened on Wednesday, but it looks like none of them will give Anger Management much competition for first place. Originally, I predicted Bulletproof Monk would finish second, but that may no longer be the case. Wednesday’s take was only $1.4 million, which indicates roughly $10 million for Friday to Sunday.
Despite opening in only 2300 theatres, Holes should finish second this weekend. Holes has several things going for it. It’s a long weekend, it’s based on the popular and award-winning children’s book, and it has good reviews. Its reviews are the best for a wide release this weekend, with over two thirds of the reviews positive. With a relatively low budget movie ($20 million for production and a little more than that for advertising) Holes should make Disney very happy, and it could make close to its production budget on opening weekend.
Battling for third place with Bulletproof Monk will be Malibu’s Most Wanted. Surprisingly, this spin-off from the Jamie Kennedy Experiment is getting better reviews than Bulletproof Monk. Although, that is not saying much as both are getting hammered by the critics.
The only other two movies released in more than a handful of theatres could both make it into the top ten. Chasing Papi is almost assured a spot in the top ten after finishing 5th on Wednesday. On the other hand, A Mighty Wind might not make it, but it should finish near the top of the Per Theatre Average chart.
The second widest opening today is for Chasing Papi, which is getting even worse reviews. In fact, not one of the 12 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes is positive. Opening is about 550 theatres, Chasing Papi will struggle to make the top ten.
The last film to open today is A Mighty Wind. The third collaboration between Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy, A Mighty Wind opens in 133 theatres. Since most of the regulars are back and the reviews are excellent, currently just shy of 90%, it should do even better business than their first two collaborations, (Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman) A place in top ten isn’t assured, but it is more than deserving.
m about Asian-American students, Better Luck Tomorrow grabbed $360,000 in just 13 theatres to lead the Per Theatre Average with $27,751. With a cost of only $250,000 and a per Theatre Average that suggests at least some main stream success is in order, this could be the year’s independent darling.
The last movie to carry the hopes, Bend it Like Beckham, is still hanging in the top ten on the Per Theatre chart in its 5th week of release. And it is slowly moving up the total box office charts with its expanding release.
This week’s Box Office Champ, Anger Management was the first movie to open wide with more than $10,000 per theatre since Bringing Down the House. And it was the best Per Theatre Average for a wide release since The Two Towers.
Anger Management broke the record for largest April opening, and it helped the Box Office to break out of its slump. Not only was the Box Office higher than last week, but for the first time in 4 weeks it was higher than the same weekend in 2002. But before studios and theatre owners celebrate, week 15 was a slow week in an otherwise strong spring in 2002. But in 2003, week 15 looks more like a small bright spot in a weak year.
As previously noted, Anger Management broke the April opening record with $42.2 million, about $3 million less than initial studio estimates; this is also personal records for both the stars. However, that’s where the good news ends. After getting great early reviews, the final tally for Anger Management was lass than 50%, and the CinemaScores were even worse. The target audience did give the film an A-, but it quickly dropped off from there bottoming out with a D+ from woman aged 35 and older. All this suggests this movie will be a pump and dump losing more than 50% next weekend.
The second largest opening was for House of 100 Corpses. This movie did much better than was expected on Friday, opening in fourth place. However, it lost more than 13% by Saturday. Box office drops from Friday to Saturday are rare to begin with, but a double-digit drop is almost unheard of. In the end it could only hang on to 7th place. Better than many expected, but don’t expect much more during the rest of its run.
The rest of the top five positions were held by last week’s holdovers, with Phone Booth taking second spot with $7.6 million. That drop-off was just shy of 50%. Still, the studio’s take of the box office is enough to cover the $13 million production budget, so Fox should be quite happy.
What a Girl Wants came in third with $6.2 million, an unexpectedly large 45% drop from last week. High CinemaScores and a younger target audience suggested this movie should have better legs than this. However large the drop was, it was the best in the top five, and only Chicago had a better week to week record in the top ten.
In fourth place, up a place from last week, is Bringing Down the House with $4.5 million. What more can be said about this movie? Already the highest grossing film of 2003, it continues to be one of the few bright spots in a soft year.
In fifth with a larger than expected drop-off was A Man Apart. Losing almost 60% of what was already a weaker than expected opening weekend, A Man Apart shows that Vin Diesel isn’t the superstar some were calling him. At least not yet.
This weekend only one movie is opening wide, but it should open huge.
Anger Management is opening in over 3500 theatres, and it should be first by a huge margin - maybe even breaking Adam Sandler’s previous record for opening weekend, ($41 million for Big Daddy). Reviews are surprisingly high give Adam Sandler’s track record, or to look at it another way, a little low give Jack Nicholson’s track record.
The next largest opening is Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses. Opening in only 500 theatres, it won’t land in the top five, and maybe not even in the top ten. Reviews for House of 1,000 Corpses are horrible, so far there has been only 1 positive review out of 7, and no ‘Cream of the Crop’ reviewer has even bothered to review it. Also, there has been a lack of promotion for this film. I’ve seen more TV spots for Bend it Like Beckham, which is in almost 400 less theatres.
Having possibly a better chance to land in the top ten is Ghosts of the Abyss. Opening in only 97 theatres, this IMAX film could pull in $30,000 or more per theatre. If it does it could be the first IMAX film to ever land in the top 10. The closest so far what Fantasia 2000 at 12th place. Ghosts of the Abyss does have some factors that will help out. Specifically, the lack of IMAX openings, (this is the first one since The Lion King almost 3 months ago) and the high level of talent behind it (James Cameron and Bill Paxton.)
Holdovers will dominate the rest of the top five this weekend, with Phone Booth and What a Girl Wants battling for second place. Phone Booth had quite a lead on What a Girl Wants last weekend, but the difference in CinemaScores and their target audiences suggest this week it will be a closer contest. A Man Apart will be slightly farther behind with a moderate to poor drop-off. Lastly, Bringing Down the House should climb ahead of Head of State to stay in the top 5 for the sixth weekend in a row.
k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
Alex and Emma
Current Content: Just the synopsis, trailer and a single photo. This design has been used on many Warner Bros. sites, but usually just till the full site is up a running.
American Wedding
Current Content: Just the synopsis, but it’s early and there should be plenty more added in the nearly four months till the release date.
Anger Management
Current Content: A lot of things to watch and, hear and play. Behind the scene clips, relaxing nature mp3s, some screensavers / wallpapers, and even a couple of games based on some SNES games. You can even evaluate a friend to see if they need therapy.
L'Auberge Espagnole
Current Content: Just the synopsis and the cast and crew list. But Fox Searchlight isn’t known for skimping on their sites, so look for more later on.
Better Luck Tomorrow
Current Content: Lots of information on this site, not only for the movie, but for the behind the scenes documentary, BLT Genesis. Synopsis, Trailer and Cast and Crew Bios, Images, and a lot of press. And I mean a lot of press. There are dozens of articles, several reviews and even more news and awards.
Daddy Day Care
Current Content: Flash site containing a few features beyond the usual synopsis, trailer and cast and crew bios. Wallpaper, images and instant messenger icons as well as character bios for the children. There are also two games to play, and several features marked coming soon.
Ghosts of the Abyss
Current Content: Not much new since I last reviewed it. However, there is a new ‘Bot Challenge Game to play.
House of 1000 Corpses
Current Content: This site is quite gruesome, but not as much as you’d expect given the nature of the movie. Besides the trailer, synopsis and cast bios, there are lots of images.
Identity
Current Content: It is so hard to tell if there’s new content on this site, cause it is so non-linear. (Which is what makes it stand out so much.) However, this week I’m sure there’s something new since I last reviewed it. Not quite enough for it to win the weekly award, but almost.
The Italian Job
Current Content: Just the trailer and characters (no bios, yet.) I like how the Mini Cooper is in the character list. Hopefully there will be more as the release date nears.
Pulse
Current Content: For most sites sound feels like an afterthought, if it’s there at all. For this site, it’s the main focus. Which makes perfect sense with the subject matter. Along with the usual synopsis and trailer, are extensive performer bios, two minute long slips from the soundtrack and three interactive sound sections in the Sound Lab. Including Beat Chaser, which is sort of like the old Simon game, but you have to match the sound and the tempo. Teacher’s have a section for lesson plans, educational links, etc. The impressive use of sound alone would be enough to win the Indescribable Weekly Website Award, but the overall package is excellent.
Thirteen
Current Content: Like the other Fox Searchlight sites released this week, this one has just the synopsis and the cast and crew, no bios.
Uptown Girls
Current Content: Just the synopsis and the trailer but this film isn’t scheduled to be released till late summer, so there’s plenty of time for updates.
XX/XY
Current Content: The only new additions are some images from the movie and the premiere.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
