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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
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News Stories About Gigli
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2003-12-11
After surprising analysts at the box office this summer, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl has broken records at the home market. The Disney DVD sold 4 million combined VHS and DVD copies in just the first 24 hours, and went on to sell 11 million copies in its first week. That last figure is a record for most units sold in the first week for a live-action feature.
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2003-09-02
rs can't escape the California recall election.
For the second month running, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the proud owner of our most-visited actor page, pushing Viggo Mortensen into second place.
Mortensen had dominated our rankings for almost two years (and would make a great Governor of California, if you ask me...).
Rising stars among the actors: Colin Farrell (up 36 places to 6th in the chart); Brittany Murphy (up 20 to 9th), Kevin Costner (up 73 places to 12th) and Shia Labeouf (up 24 places to 19th).
Gigli boosted the page views for Ben Affleck (moving him up 24 places to 11th) and Jennifer Lopez (up 16 places to 41st).
We think the effect will be temporary.
See our complete popular people list
On the movie front, Pirates of the Caribbean continued its strong run, rising above Terminator 3 to top the charts.
Freddy vs. Jason slashed its way to number 2 in our chart, backed by some strong box office numbers.
Gigli was 4th, backed by just about the worst box office numbers anyone had ever seen (until Grind (18th in our rankings) came out).
Among future releases, The Battle of Shaker Heights has been getting surprising amounts of traffic and sits at number 8 in our chart.
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (42nd) still generates the most long-term buzz, although Troy (37th) is also garnering a lot of interest.
See our complete popu
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2003-08-26
ses this week did significantly worse than expected, however, the holdovers didn't pick up the slack as they usually do. This led to a massive 31.5% drop from last weekend but a 12.2% increase from last year. An interesting note, the top four films this week remained in the same order as they did last weekend. I don't know when that last happened.
While Freddy vs. Jason did finish first, that's a small bit of good news in an otherwise terrible second week performance. It was only able to grab $13.2 million, well below most predictions, which resulting in a 64% drop-off. The biggest second week drop off for a number one movie since The Hulk, and second largest such drop overall. Next weekend when the similarly targeted movie Jeepers Creepers 2 opens could spell an even worse result.
Second place again went to S.W.A.T. with $10.6 million. $100 million by next week is the goal and there's talk of a new TV spin-off in the works.
Just missing predictions by a rounding error was Open Range which added $9.5 million to it's total. Unfortunately, this genre usually doesn't do well internationally and the studio will most likely have to wait till the home market to see a profit.
Freaky Friday was the only movie to outperform its predictions, albeit by only a few hundred thousand. The $9.3 million earned this week makes the movie very close to showing a profit after only 3 weeks of release.
The first of three new releases this week was The Medallion, which could only manage $8.1 million and fifth place at the box office. The Medallion had the best reviews of any wide release of the weekend, but at 20% it really doesn't mean much. Despite similar reviews and international performances as The Tuxedo this movie couldn't find an audience domestically. This probably means Jackie Chan needs to do something different in his next film. And Around the World in 80 Days does look different than the usual Jackie Chan movie.
Some analysts had My Boss's Daughter finish in the top five. However, not only did it miss the top five, like I predicted, it barely landed in the top 10. It could only grab $4.9 million in its opening weekend, which was only good enough for tenth place. It also had the lowest per theatre average in the top ten. This movie wasn't screened for the critics, and for good reason. My Boss's Daughter only managed a lowly 11% positive.
Getting the worst reveiws of the week was Marci X. This could be the movie that stops people from making fun of Gigli. That's how bad it did both at the box office and with the critics. It's apropos that I compared Marci X to Grind since Marci X finished in 17th place with less than $900 thousand and Grind finished 18th. Marci X earned less in its first weekend than Finding Nemo did in its 13th. Marci X's per theatre average for its first weekend was lower than Daddy Day Care's in its 16th weekend. This is a failure that should result in people being fired and careers coming to an end.
To update the box office of the movies I mentioned on Friday, Thirteen and American Splendor both did well enough to be featured on the top ten per theatre average chart. Step into Liquid and The Magdalene Sisters both saw significant increases in their box office and both should cross the $1 million mark mid-week while The Secret Lives of Dentists crossed that mark on Friday. And Passionada saw its per theatre average increase from last weekend.
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2003-08-18
couple of surprises this week, and they were pleasant ones. This helped the box office rise by 4.9% from last week, and an amazing 32% from last year.
Beating practically all predictions, and not just mine, was Freddy vs. Jason. $36.4 million was not only double my prediction, it was higher than the total box office of all but one Friday the 13th movie and all but two Nightmare on Elm Street movie. Where were all these fans last year when Jason X bombed at the theatres? However, Freddy vs. Jason did have pretty bad reviews, although they were on par with the rest of the Nightmare and Friday the 13th series. Add in the genre, fanboy effect, sequelitis and your looking at a large drop next weekend. Oh, and before I get anymore more insulting e-mail on this topic please remember two things: 1.) Try and use actual words and proper grammar, when you say stuff like, 'u r stupid' it just makes me pity you. 2.) Try and be insulting. I hang out in ASVS so it takes a lot to offend me. Be creative, be witty, don't repeat, 'LOL' a dozen time and expect it to have an effect.
S.W.A.T. is holding onto its box office better than expected but it still dropped over 50% this weekend. 51.1% to be more precise leaving a figure of $18.1 million. A relatively average result.
Going back to the genre that made him a star, Kevin Costner did better than expected with Open Range. Buoyed by the best reviews of any wide release this week, it was able to earn $14.0 million this week.
Freaky Friday made just a fraction less than predicted at $13.4 million. It's probably just a couple weeks away from making Disney a profit.
Conversely, Uptown Girls made a fraction more than predicted at $11.3 million. However, reviews suggest future earnings will be hurt by word of mouth and MGM will most likely have to wait till the Ancillary market (Hotels, Airliners, Cruise Ships, etc.) before it sees a profit.
Over the weekend reviews for Grind improved all the way to 9% positive, just ahead of reviews for Gigli. However, its box office was actually worse at only $2.5 million. Grind's per theatre average was barely more than $1000, lower than Finding Nemo in its 12th weekend, and lower than Bend it Like Beckham in its 23rd weekend.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-08-14
onelook.com/?w=Schadenfreude&ls=a>Schadenfreude is a German word that doesn't have an English equivalent. It means the joy derived from the misfortunes of others. The entertainment industry is full of example of Schadenfreude at work, and I don't mean Moe poking Larry in the eyes.
The Matrix Reloaded is a perfect example. Here is a movie that made $90 million in its opening weekend, nearly $300 million domestically and over $700 million worldwide. This movie is a success by any definition of the word. But what gets the most press? The big second week drop-off and how it lost to Finding Nemo for the summer crown.
But Schadenfreude was taken to a new level with the release of Gigli. Predictions for failure were written with almost overwhelming glee. And when it had record second weekend drop-off of 82% you could feel the smugness when entertainment journalists wrote about it. (Did you know its per theatre average was only $306? That put it in 100th place out of 103 films.) And now a Boston Radio station is creating a promotion around the spectacular failure. WBCN has bought out that last showing of Gigli in the city and will be giving away all 130 tickets to lucky listeners who can win a, 'I Survived Gigli' T-shirt just by staying till the end of the movie.
I don't think we’ve seen such Schadenfreude attached to a movie since Battlefield Earth.
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2003-08-04
ter than expected this week, however in most cases it was just a slight increase. And one of the movies that missed expectations really missed them. This led to an overall drop in the box office, 8.8% from last week and 7.7% from last year.
While American Wedding finished first, it didn't dominate the box office like predicted. $33.4 million is quite short of the predicted $42 million, but not bad for a movie that cost $50 - $60 million to make, (advertising not included.) Reviewers were quite kind to the movie giving it a 55%, just shy of the overall positive mark. But considering it's a sequel, longevity at the box office is still an issue.
To say Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over didn't live up to expectations would be unfair. Sure, it only made $19.5 million when I predicted $21 million. However, my prediction was higher than most and the drop was only 42%, much better than most movies this year. Nearly $69 million after two weeks is also a great success and it should become the highest grossing movie in the Spy Kids Trilogy.
Just 25 days into its run Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl crossed the $200 million dollar mark. That ties Titanic for 10th fastest to reach that milestone. It should beat X-Men 2 sometime this week to rise to fourth place for 2003.
Seabiscuit did better than expected dropping only 15% to $17.6 million. However, that was with an increase of nearly 22% in theatre count. Taking that into account it’s a Per Theatre average drop of a little more than 30%, still impressive. But it is most likely not impressive enough for its budget.
Bad Boys II did much better in its third week dropping only 42%. The movie earned $12.7 million and could beat the original's worldwide gross with just its domestic run.
Gigli did better than expected both critically and financially. That is not to say that it did well in either case, cause it didn't. I just had really, really low expectations. It got better ratings than Boat Trip and better box office than From Justin to Kelly. Both were mild surprises. However, 7% overall and 3% from the Cream of the Crop reviewers (which was much lower than the 10% Boat Trip received) and only $3.8 million at the box office were both incredibly low. This movie's final box office could end up being less than one tenth its total budget.
On a much happier note, Finding Nemo actually climbed a spot in its tenth week in release. It reached $320 million and now sits in 9th place all time.
Also on a happy note, Fox Searchlight expanded Bend it Like Beckham into more than 1000 theatres this week. This is almost twice its previous high of 555. It pulled in another $1.8 million the most it earned in a single weekend since Memorial Day and by the end of next weekend should cross $30 million.
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2003-08-01
g released this week and both are getting better reviews that I thought they would. Neither is getting good reviews, but they are higher than I thought they'd be.
A safe bet to take first place, American Wedding is the third feature in the American Pie trilogy. Reviews for this installment are surprisingly high, currently at 58%, just shy of the overall positive mark and just shy of the first film. Also, given it's a straight up comedy and not an action film I think it will get a bit of a boost. $42 million for its opening weekend and a profitable run.
Speaking of profitable runs, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over should do much better during its second weekend that most this year. It should earn another $21 million to raise its total take to $70 million in just two weeks. That's more than its total budget, but after taking the Theatres' share into account, it still has a few more weeks till the studio sees a profit.
Becoming the 5th film of 2003 to break $200 million, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is looking at $16 million at the box office. At this point $250 million is looking like a sure thing. Can The Matrix Reloaded be overtaken, again?
Dropping the least this week will be Seabiscuit with $15 million. That's less than 30%, but still not enough given its high budget. The best the studio can hope for is some Oscar buzz when it's released to video.
Another 50% drop is in store for Bad Boys II. This will leave it with only $10 million at the box office and in fifth place. That's enough to cross the $100 million mark, but it won't beat its production budget.
Gigli has been getting a lot of press recently, and none of it good. Some are already calling it the worst movie of all time. Reviews are the worst for a widely reviewed movie this year, 4% overall and 0% from the Cream of the Crop reviewers. Most predictions have Gigli bombing at the box office, but I'm going to buck the trend and say it's going to bomb in epic proportions. We're talking bombing of From Justin to Kelly proportions. So bad Sony's stock will drop into negative numbers. So bad Miramax will push back Jersey Girl to some time in the next century. So bad the very fabric of space-time will be torn asunder. Ok, maybe not that bad, but it certainly won't be good. $3 million this week, less than $1 million the next and out on video by September.
On a happier note, Finding Nemo entered the Top Ten All-time Domestic Grosses this week. And it should pass Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by the end of the weekend. After that, there's a large gap to the next film, Forrest Gump.
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2003-07-30
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. Strange mix this week with mostly placeholders plus a few minor changes. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.
American Wedding
Current Content: Nothing has changed since I reviewed it last week. TV Spots and clips are still marked coming soon. But you can still check out the trailer, 'Bubble Clips', games, etc.
And Now Ladies and Gentlemen
Current Content: All the usual features are here, presented in a simply fashion with nice animated segues. There is, unfortunately, no sound. The inclusion of background music would have really helped this site stand out.
Anything Else
Current Content: Just a placeholder site. Currently it just has the name and release date. ... Wait a second, the trailer was just added. How's that for up to the minute updates.
Bollywood/Hollywood
Current Content: It was just learned that the movie's American release was pushed back a month, but the site has been up since it's Canadian release last year. A Bollywood Musical by way of Canada, this site naturally has a lot of music. There are six clips including Rocky's Song, which pays on the home page. Now the music is very much Bollywood themed so it's probably something you've never heard before, but it grows on you. There's also the synopsis, cast bios, the trailer and animation on every page. It's the little touches like the animations that helped this site win the wondrous Weekly Website Awards.
Bubba Ho-Tep
Current Content: Most of this site is dedicated to the press this film has received, and there is a lot of it. Reviews, stories, audio clips, etc., it's all there. There's also a synopsis and a trailer, but there should have been some more sounds as well. I would have loved to hear some Bruce Campbell as Elvis quotes.
Envy
Current Content: The VaPOOrizer site was removed and replaced with the old placeholder site.
Freaky Friday
Current Content: A few more features were added, the Wild to Mild personality test, Fortune Cookies and Teenage Translator. The bios, party planner and auditions are still marked coming soon.
Freddy vs. Jason
Current Content: New images from the Weight In were added to the site.
Gigli
Current Content: This movie opens this week and Sony still hasn't launched a flash site. The last time that happened was with Hollywood Homicide, and we all know how that turned out.
Grind
Current Content: This site has an impressive amount of behind the scene clips. However, it is missing some of the regular info, like synopsis and cast and crew bios. There is some info on the characters and images and a game to play.
Gothika
Current Content: Typical Warner Bros. placeholder site with just a single image and a synopsis. Full site should be launched as the release date nears.
Intolerable Cruelty
Current Content: The site just launched but the movie doesn't come out till October. So right now there's just the synopsis, trailer and a few photos.
The Magdalene Sisters
Current Content: It's a Miramax site. So you know what that means.
The Run Down
Current Content: Slightly different format for the placeholder site. The trailer was added, and so were some animation and quotes for the transitions.
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Current Content: Placeholder site with just the poster, photos (two of them) and news from the set.
The Secret Lives of Dentists
Current Content: This site screams for sound, which is too bad cause it has pretty much everything else. All the usual suspects are here, including not only the trailer bur four clips. There's even a section for the music, but no actual music.
Under the Tuscan Sun
Current Content: Placeholder site with trailer, poster and 20 images.
Wonderland
Current Content: Another placeholder site with just the trailer.
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2003-07-24
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.
American Wedding
Current Content: Cast and crew bios and production notes are up, TV Spots and clips are still marked coming soon, however.
Buffalo Soldiers
Current Content: One word: Miramax. This is a Miramax site. Small image of the poster. Trailer. Showtimes. Cast and crew, (no bios.) Synopsis. Just like every other Miramax site.
Civil Brand
Current Content: The placeholder site was removed and replaced with the standard Lions Gate Films under construction warning. Eventually it redirects you to the Lions Gates Films index page. This might be due the 'Caged Heat' vibe the images used on original site was giving off. Or was I the only one that felt that way?
Fighting Tempations
Current Content: Just a placeholder site with a synopsis, trailer and nine images.
Gigli
Current Content: A flipbook was added with about half a dozen images. I also heard Jennifer Lopez's 'booty' was trimmed down for the poster. But I can neither confirm nor deny that.
Hotel
Current Content: Another movie being released this week whose site that hasn't been updated since the last review. Which is a shame, as this site's only purpose seems to be to try to shock. It uses foul language, nudity and violence in a most unappealing way. Maybe if they talked more about the plot and characters it would be more engaging. Then again, if what some people are saying is true Hotel doesn't have a plot.
Intolerable Cruelty
Current Content: None, the URL just redirects you to Universal Pictures movie index.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life
Current Content: Major new look right before its release. It's mostly the same content with a better format. Animated segues, sound effects, background music. In fact, there are clips of nine songs. Impressive. In addition to the usual suspects there is also information about some of the mythology in the movie, lots of images and video clips. Also, there was something called iPIX but that wouldn't work with my browser.
Masked and Anonymous
Current Content: It appears that nothing has changed since this site was last reviewed in the beginning of the month. So the review again before it opens this week: This movie has a huge cast of very famous people, and the site wisely focuses a lot of attention on them. There’s page after page of information: Cast and crew bios, production notes, two essays, etc. The amount of multimedia is limited to the trailer and a couple of songs. But the text is so well written that no more is needed.
Mondays in the Sun
Current Content: As far as I can tell, nothing has changed on this site since it opened three months ago. More time is still spent on the director and producer than the rest of the movie.
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Current Content: Sony's typical placeholder site. Synopsis, cast and crew (no bios), trailer and a few images. Expect a flash site within a few weeks.
The Run Down
Current Content: Another placeholder site. This time with a synopsis, cast and crew (no bios) and 9 images in the image gallery.
Seabiscuit
Current Content: The rest of the content has filtered in, but the overall continuity failed come together. Too bad, because it is an otherwise great site.
Second Hand Lions
Current Content: This movie site received a bit of a rework this week. It has the same content as before, just a different format. Now each section is linked by a picture with some animation and sound.
Spider-Man 2
Current Content: Would it be too early to call this the biggest movie of 2004? So far it's just a placeholder site with a synopsis and wallpaper.
Spy Kids 3D - Game Over
Current Content: The last two levels were added, theoretically. You see, you have to beat each level to progress to the next. And since I'm old and my reflexes are no longer as sharp as they once were, I'm unable to beat Platforms, the third level game. (Several hours pass) Woohoo! I finally beat Platforms. Never say I'm not willing to waste my time to bring you the information you desire. Moving on ... Level 4 (Lava Mountain) was much easier and allowed me to take on play the Unwinnable Level. If you can win here all hidden secrets can become unlocked, (with a little searching.) Even before the bonuses are unlocked this site is excellent, with them it easily wins the surreal Weekly Website Award.
Submitted by: C.
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