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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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2003-08-22
ems to be little to get a movie fan interested this week. At least when it comes to wide releases.
It's almost a foregone conclusion that Freddy vs. Jason will finish first this week, just as much as it's a foregone conclusion that it will lose at least 50% at the box office. Just the genre alone would suggest that. Add in the Fanboy effect and sequelitis and the like and a drop of closer to 60% is likely. Mid-week numbers have been horrible; Freddy vs. Jason has lost more than 84% of its daily box office since last Friday. That's on par with The Hulk, which went on to lose nearly 70% at the box office during its second week. The one thing this movie has going for it is the complete lack of competition this week. This should help it grab $15 million this weekend.
The Medallion has already opened internationally and the numbers are average at best. It's currently tracking about 10% lower than The Tuxedo, and that performance should be similar stateside. Reviews are also on lower than The Tuxedo, in other words, bad. Really bad. Although most reviewers did comment on how special effects are replacing stunts in Jackie Chan's movies. (He's turning 50 next year, cut him some slack.) The Medallion should earn about $12 million this weekend.
In third place is S.W.A.T. This TV show turned movie didn't drop nearly as much as expected last weekend and should continue to show some legs. Not a lot mind you, but better than average for the summer. The $11 million is should grab this week will put it close to $90 million and it should cross $100 million by the end of next weekend.
Open Range added a few more theatres in its second week, but it's still not enough to crack the top ten theatre count this week. It will fair better at the box office coming in fourth with $10 million.
Rounding out the top five is Freaky Friday. $9 million for its third weekend is good news for this $26 million movie. $100 million total could be in the cards for Freaky Friday.
Just missing the top five will be My Boss's Daughter. When judging how well a movie will do one of the factors to consider is advertising. Not just how well is the advertising done, but does it even exist. In the case of My Boss's Daughter I've only seen a few ads on TV and it doesn't even have an official website. Earlier in the week it was expected to open in about 1200 theatres, but Dimension Films pushed to have it opening is a respectable 2200 theatres. This after being bounced around to no less than 4 release dates. Add in the fact that is wasn't screen for critics and $7 million opening weekend is about as good as it gets.
Doing even worse and just missing the top ten will be Marci X. A lot of things have been blamed for the soft summer this year from pirates to text messaging. But the real culprit is quality or the lack thereof. You can't tell me there aren't better scripts that haven't been made. Like the previous movie, Marci X wasn't screened for critics and advertising has been nearly non-existent. And with a release of just over 1200 theatres, this movie will probably do even worse than last week's loser Grind did.
But fret not brave reader. There is hope at the box office this weekend in the form of limited releases. Thirteen opened on Wednesday and if the reviews are correct it deserves to find an audience. And the reviews are even better for last week's winner of the per theatre box office, American Splendor (which expanded into 26 more theatres this week.) Other limited releases that should be worth checking out include Passionada, (reviews.) Step into Liquid, (reviews), The Secret Lives of Dentists, (reviews) and The Magdalene Sisters, (reviews.) It may take a little more effort to find a theatre showing these movies. But if enough people see them, then maybe Hollywood will make more high quality movies and fewer movies like Marci X.
Submitted by: C.
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2003-08-20
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.
The Alamo
Current Content: After the intro there is just the synopsis, trailer and cast and crew (no bios.) But as the release date nears that should change.
Battle of Shaker Heights
Current Content: It's a Miramax site. Same as all the other Miramax sites.
Beyond Borders
Current Content: Just a placeholder site with only the trailer for now.
Fighting Temptations
Current Content: The flash site launched this week and as expected music was a major focus of this site. There are half a dozen songs from the soundtrack on the site, much better than the usual 6-second-looped clip. There's even the music video for the title track, although that's just a link to the MTV site. As for the rest of the content it has all the usual features (synopsis, cast and crew bios, trailer, images, etc.) plus some more marked coming soon. (Music mixer, movie clips, media player skins.)
Highwaymen
Current Content: The release date is still months away, so the lack of content is not surprising. Synopsis, trailer, e-cards and images are there. But there is no sign of cast and crew bios, for example. There is some background music that helps the site. Hopefully more content will be added later.
House of the Dead
Current Content: A movie site should have a hook, something different that keeps a surfer's attention. For this site it's the diary. "I feel like a real actor now. I have been decorated with fake poo." You don't get that kind of insight with most sites. Besides this features, there's the synopsis, cast and crew bios, trailer (on fangoria.com) and lots of images.
Lost in Translation
Current Content: This is the second site this week with lots of music. This time, however, there are only clips of the songs. Still, this is a major step above most sites that seem to treat music as an afterthought. The transitions between sections is well done and I look forward to when the video clips are added in.
Marci X
Current Content: This movie opens this week and the only content on the site is the synopsis and the trailer. Not a good sign.
The Medallion
Current Content: Not much has changed since the last time I reviewed this site. The content is still good, the background music is still way too short, and the best part of the site is still the side scrolling game you can play.
Mystic River
Current Content: The introduction with the characters is superb. Enough is given to keep you intrigued, but not enough to spoil anything. The rest of the content is given in an understated fashion, which fits well with the tone of the movie. This mood is further enhanced by the background music. There is still some sections marked coming soon, notably crew bios and a section on Clint Eastwood.
The Order
Current Content: There's a big problem with this site. The video clips, which there are a lot, are too quite compared to the other sound effects. So you either can't hear the voices, or get blown over by the sound effects, or you have to change the volume in between every clip. This overshadows what should have been an otherwise good site.
Pieces of April
Current Content: Placeholder site with just the synopsis and the trailer.
Polar Express
Current Content: Not even a placeholder site, just a redirect to the Warner Bros. movie site.
Saved!
Current Content: Just the name. Very, very plain even for a placeholder site.
Shattered Glass
Current Content: Just a placeholder site for now.
Stoked
Current Content: This site is divided into two sites. The main site with synopsis, image gallery, timeline, etc. And the bonus site with trailer, crew bios, and play dates. The main site has animated segues and background music and another song.
Thirteen
Current Content: This is an excellent site that has much more than the usual features. Its main focus is thirteen clips from the movie and interviews with some of the cast. These give a greater insight into the movie. And the way they are presented adds to the experience. The only thing the site is missing is background music. Even so, it wins the enviable Weekly Website Award. Also worth noting, Thirteen opens in theatres today (Wednesday) so if you live in New York City, you can check it out.
Veronica Guerin
Current Content: It's been a while since the placeholder site was first launched, so it's nice to see the flash site up. However, most of the content is still marked coming soon, including cast and crew bios and film clips. There are animated introductions to the section, accompanied by an audio clip from the movie. There is also background music that is long enough and loops well enough to not become repetitive too quickly.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009
